A blog about all kinds of vintage technology from simple mechanisms of the late 1800s through electronics and robotics of the 1980s. Many posts will be typecast and some will be off topic bits from everyday life. The blog will wander and meander with my quasi-evolving and ever changing interests.
Rather than having options paralysis and not getting around to this blog, I'll present photos of a German WW-II Enigma Machine and leave the commentary to Wikipedia. This one of the magnificent relics residing in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential library and museum. We were there today as Spawn the Younger (aka gingercat) competed in the statewide National Geographic Bee.
As amazed as I was in seeing one of these in person and the appreciation I have for human ingenuity and engineering, the museum also has a few reminders of the Reich who used it against much of the world.
Some of Hitler's personal artifacts. This case radiated pure evil.
But do not despair, this museum is full of Allied goodness as well. It even has artifacts from early in the Cold War.
Norden Bombsight: Used by Allied forces for precision, high-altitude bombing runs.
American individualism exhibited in the form of a jacket from the Big Red 1
Recreation of home fallout shelter
Ike's presidential era podium for telecasts. Don't worry, gingercat will only use her powers for good.
Gemini and Apollo memorabilia
The actual teleprompter reel from Ike's speech on the dangers of an emerging military industrial complex. Ike was the only President to win an Emmy Award. There is big money in war machinery. I'm reminded of this on seeing full page ads in the paper versions of The Hill and Politico in Washington, DC.
Mommy! Are you my Mommy? For the uninitiated, this is a Whovian moment.
Early Jetsonian living room. This one is special for Ted Munk.
In case you are curious, all of these photos came straight out of a Fuji X100. I am in love with this camera.
Copyright notice: The images and text on this blog, unless stated otherwise, are the property of Dwayne F. Kansas brought the world John Brown and Dwight D. Eisenhower. You are best off not messing with Kansans.
Welcome to the Kansas City Maker Faire! I took my younger daughter, the Gingercat, to the pre-show party Friday night before the show and the first day of the show. These are a few of the things we saw. A larger collection is located on my Google+ stream at https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114811329730901691376/albums/5895075333409105857
As is typical in geek events, cosplay characters roamed the show. The Iron Man entourage was a big hit! The female Iron Man was a little scary.
Gingercat was wielding my old Sony NEX-3. She now has a weapon to shoot back when she catches me aiming a lens her way!
Behold the little Raspberry Pi processor that now drives this beast.
The creator had fun wandering around is costume as well. The Hammerspace makerspace and the Cowtown Computer Congress shared space and projects at the show.
And in the fun and weird category, here is a creation from one of guys at Hammerspace. He built this contraption in two weeks out of scraps laying around the shop. Children fish for babies to feed to the mother. No worries; new babies come along just as quickly.
Inky goodness! The lino cut print goes in my office. The best part about Maker Faire is getting to meet and talk with people about their projects.
This sculptor does large scale bronze. His pantograph device is pretty amazing!
Maker Faire wouldn't be complete without PowerWheels racing! This is what you get when you mix adults, battery powered kiddie cars and a whole bunch of modifications. They staged racing heats and endurance runs over the two day show.
We were happy to see Super Awesome Sylvia and her Dad, the Tech Ninja. Sylvia was showing her home brew WaterColorBot. She earned a spot at the White House Science Fair and got the run of the house while the parental units chilled.
This one is for Richard P on the current state of 3D printing. I reread his comment from last year regarding 3D printing. It was everywhere and is barely a novelty among the maker crowd today. Later this year, Staples will carry a household printer for less than $800. Kinkos may start printing services in stores. People are using Google Hangouts to collaborate on countless useful projects including mechanical hands, artificial limbs, machine parts and casts. Auto parts are made out of sintered, printed metal and MIT is experimenting with printing entire buildings.
Kansas City even has its own R2D2 builders club. These are not your run-of-the-mill models. Note the machined joints. Gorgeous!
Members of the Airship Noir group ran a little experimental station. I think this guest is being reprogrammed. Be sure to read the sign on the Jacob's ladder.
With almost 300 makers in the house, Union Station is getting pretty crowded with overflow in the parking lot and most of Science City. We almost didn't stop in one of the side rooms. Good thing we dropped in or we would have missed this cool device. What a great way to use unloved analog technology!
The photos here and on Google+ don't even scratch the surface. The show is a phenomenal success. The maker movement is strong in Kansas City with abandoned buildings being turned into maker hives. There is a reason why Google chose Kansas City for its first fiber Internet project. For more technology and artistic greatness, checkout #makerfairekc on Twitter.
I'll leave you with one of the headliners taking one of Nikola Tesla's inventions to the next level.
Yet another Copyright notice *sigh* Yep, the words and images are Copyright DwayneF of Vintage Technology Obsessions. Having tired of vague threats, I will simply remind the reader that all content creators deserve their due. Please like, share, post, Google +1, etc. and share the social love. Follow and I will likely follow you back. Commercial use requires prior written authorization from the Copyright holder. And so on...
I have to confess to a bit of a blogging dry spell as of late. I've had too much travel and more than a few kid events over the last two weeks. I promise to arrange my thoughts into something vaguely coherent in the near future. Until then, I present you with evidence of a (mostly) dead brand and a bit of quaint computing technology.
Not surprisingly, I found this early Mac detritus in a thrift store. Today, we all take 300 DPI laser printed documents for granted. In 1989, not so much. Check out that super sexy mouse!
My favorite bit of advertising puffery: "You don't have to be an artist to use The Print Shop. However, after just a few minutes, The Print Shop will unleash your creativity and make you look like an artist without even trying."
I am impressed at the grammatical accuracy exhibited on this box. It appears that True Nerds were at the helm of the Broderbund empire. You'll have to pretend that the "o" has a slash through it.
I kept the tractor feed paper for typing fun and recycled the box. It was a semi-happy trip down memory lane.
