SAM - Software Automatic Mouth

I thought this was awesome back in the day. Here's an online version that works in your browser. (Warning: turn your headphones down before you click on say)

I thought it was quite clever how it was translated to C: https://github.com/s-macke/SAM "This program was converted semi-automatic into C by converting each assembler opcode."

http://simulationcorner.net/index.php?page=sam

Mustang on the Roof

Kaboom! There's a Mustang on the roof!

http://gawker.com/driver-loses-control-of-hot-red-mustang-and-ends-up-on-1739304456

Folding Electric Tricycle

I like the way this folds up and expands at the touch of a button.

Sitting Ducks - people behaving badly

I get a kick out of these Stanley Roberts "People behaving badly" videos. Here's one about license plate readers finding stolen cars.

Man writes story for 10 cents on $5 typewriter

The doctor is in.

Miles Davis impression by door

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2015/08/26/Chicago-parking-garage-door-does-Miles-Davis-impression/5431440602502/?st_rec=1761440605132

Short yellows for red light cameras

Red light cameras in Chicago were ticketing drivers with yellow light times under 3 seconds.

"It's showing 2.9, it records 2.9 on the data bar as you see on the violation," Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld said in a recent interview. "But that actual performance is probably 2.998 — or something like that — where the variation is in the hundredths or thousandths of a second, which is imperceptible."

"City officials said the yellow light times being rejected by judges as too short are in fact valid because they fall within an allowable variance that is caused by fluctuations in electrical power."

Yes, variations in electrical power, that's definitely it...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-red-light-camera-yellow-timing-20141009-story.html



‘Entrapping drivers into running red lights’

Together, the yellow light and the all-red interval add up to what’s called a “change period.” That “change period” at the intersection where Gigov got his ticket equals the three-second yellow light, plus one or two seconds for the all-red interval -- a total of four or five seconds. Engineering practices would yield a nearly similar result: a 3.7 second yellow light, followed by 0.47 second all-red interval, totaling 4.17 seconds.

The difference is, Chicago shortens the yellow portion of the change interval, and lengthens the all-red portion.

“So from a safety standpoint, it’s probably OK, but the thing is they’re misallocating the times,” said Warren, “and so they’re basically entrapping drivers into running red lights.”

http://www.wbez.org/news/are-chicagos-shorter-yellow-lights-unsafe-or-just-unfair-110955

Traffic Tickets going sky high

"When Sgt. Eddie Chan makes traffic stops, the San Jose officer makes it a point never to tell drivers how much their ticket will cost. He's afraid they'll go ballistic.

Fines on traffic tickets have surged in the past five years as the state has added fees and penalties that can raise the cost of most infractions into the hundreds of dollars. Running a red light: $446. Driving solo in the car-pool lane: $445. Speeding at 81 mph on most freeways: at least $331. Ignoring a "don't walk" sign: $173.

Why the fine inflation? Lawmakers are seeing traffic tickets as a relatively easy source of revenue in tough times..."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14821297

Why drive an old car?

"Reason #2: I Love to Eat - After a certain number of years pass, you just stop caring about keeping the carpets spotless. I’ll eat anything and everything while driving. If it falls on the seat or floor, I’ll still eat it. And never for one moment do I worry about stains."

I guess the 5 second rule applies here...

http://cashcowcouple.com/lifestyle/why-driving-an-old-car/

Tank on empty

Help solve a mystery that has puzzled mankind for years...
How far can you go after the gas light in your car comes on?

It's probably not the greatest idea to run your car completely dry...

http://tankonempty.com/viewstory/dont-use-your-reserve-fuel-it-protects-your-pump,71

http://tankonempty.com/

Secrets of UPS drivers

“Most UPS drivers are attacked by dogs,” says one former New Orleans-based UPS driver. “What you do is jump on the hood of the nearest vehicle and don’t move. There were some drivers that sat on the hood of a car for an hour or more.”


http://mentalfloss.com/article/60556/19-secrets-ups-drivers

Japanese vertical parking

Reminds me of a vending machine where the food goes around until you get to the one you want. What could go wrong?

World's largest railroad track layer

Here's the world's largest track layer.

Replacing Railroad Ties

These machines that replace the railroad ties are amazing.

Upside down truck

Man builds 747 replica cockpit at home

Pretty cool. He even makes 3,000 pounds a month hiring the simulator out.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2609512/Man-forced-dream-pilot-spent-15-years-20-000-building-replica-cockpit-home.html

Telephone Registration Systems

I remember how we used to call up the university's telephone registration system. I can do a perfect imitation after all these years it's been so hardwired into my head.

On the first day of registration it was impossible to get in...

This particular telephone registration system is from Newfoundland.

The Ultimate Garage Queen (or maybe Barn Queen)

Don't wash that car. We're saving the dust!

The Audichron - time and temperature

That is really old school.

Dodge Daytona Talking Dashboard

Pretty stylin' for 1987. Sounds like the Ti Speak and Spell.

GM digital dashboard commercial from 1985

I always loved glowing VFD displays.

Chinese man makes his own Lambo-Volkswangini

Kitt replica cars

I came across this KITT replica and I was really impressed. It's amazing how many people want to have their very own Knight Rider car.

This one has a pac man game built in. I wish I could understand the Italian.



and another one.

ActionPrinter 2000 in Mess - awesome work by Ramiro Polla

http://blog.arrozcru.org/?p=11
http://blog.arrozcru.org/?p=38

So I started fiddling around with MESS. It already had some incomplete drivers for the Epson LX-800 and Epson EX-800 printers. I used them as a basis to get my head around the MESS codebase and add support for the ActionPrinter 2000. It shouldn’t be so hard, right? (whenever I ask “right?”, the answer is “wrong”).

...

I got a few more instructions being run and the firmware would hang again. At this point it was getting complicated having to read the assembly all the time, so I started manually decompiling the firmware. It is a 32 KB firmware. It shouldn’t take too long, right? (remember: the answer is “wrong”)

...

At this moment we take a little pause. We need to realize that the work up to here has already taken me many months. It may seem simple when being read in a blog post, but it was a lot of hard work.

I love it. I wish I had the skills to do hardware hacking...

Darth Vader Car

http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-darth-car-12-things-you-need-to-know-about-hot-wheels-life-size-150-mph-darth-vader-car/

Smart Label Pro - QBasic rendering

Finally got my Qbasic program to render the Smart Label protocol correctly.

I found a driver for the SLP440 and that uses the same basic protocol so it was just a couple of modifications to get it to work with that driver.

QBasic is so much fun to fiddle with. I like the immediacy and how it won't crash on you (most of the time).

It has some severe limitations though. Strings can only be so long and you can't declare massive arrays (I think 32767 is the limit of an integer array). I wanted to scroll the screen using GET and PUT but it wouldn't let me define an array large enough to hold a 640x480 16 color VGA screen. So I had to break it into smaller pieces.

If you're curious, here's the program.

SLP3.BAS.TXT

SLP_QBASIC.ZIP

Everything old is new again

First there was Frogger and Activision's Freeway, now it's crossy road.



and hold your breath for these Ducks crossing the road.