Post a picture.....any picture...part deux...

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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 8,337
    edited January 1
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    jdjohn wrote: »
    Tony M wrote: »

    Today, December 31, 2025, marks the 146th anniversary of Thomas Edison's grand public demonstration of his practical incandescent light bulb at Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1879. Thousands arrived by special trains to see the lab and grounds aglow with dozens of steady-burning bulbs—powered by his dynamo—heralding the electric age and inspiring our modern holiday and New Year's light displays.

    From those pioneering carbon-filament lights to the iconic Times Square ball drop (first electrified in 1907), American ingenuity has turned darkness into celebration.

    Tonight, as we welcome 2026—our nation's 250th anniversary year—let's embrace that pioneering spirit: innovating boldly, uniting joyfully, and illuminating a future of freedom and promise.

    Wishing you a sparkling New Year's Eve full of light and hope!


    qbw2rgauwmy3.png
    And in the 1920s, after saturation of the light bulb market occurred, the Phoebus cartel realized that repeat sales of light bulbs would not occur quickly enough, since the initial carbon filaments would last several thousand hours. They then decided as a group to begin using tungsten filaments, so that light bulbs would only last about 1,000 hours, creating the first "planned obsolescence" of technology.

    Of course, the same type of thing still occurs today, with computer software, hardware, and cell phones.

    I think you have your science wrong there. Tungsten was an improvement in every respect. Longer life, more durable, and brighter.
    I'm not disputing the cartel stuff. That was a thing, but they made the life shorter by making the filament thinner, which also resulted in a brighter bulb for the same wattage. The same can still be seen today with traditional incandescent headlights for cars. The ultra bright ones always have shorter lifespan.
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  • skipshot12
    skipshot12 Posts: 2,164
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    Lest we forget... Edison did not invent/create the light.
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  • skipshot12
    skipshot12 Posts: 2,164
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    Ooops... light bulb.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
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    He was also wedded to the gloriously impractical* notion of DC for electricity distribution and went to terrifying lengths to instill FUD (as we would call say nowadays) about rival Westinghouse's alternating current.
    https://www.americanheritage.com/edison-and-electric-chair
    https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/essaying-edison/essay/myth-buster-topsy-the-elephant
    _____________________
    * Admittedly, DC is kinda back in fashion today in many respects, but generated and used quite differently than the model Edison had in mind. ;)

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  • jdjohn
    jdjohn Posts: 3,447
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    pu9318pj23jz.jpg
    "This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
    "Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
    Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 9,404
    edited January 1
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    I had SDA 2a or b and SRS2's. These were for Ed the SRT king. I can tell it was a vinyl day.

    9a5hvlp47ade.jpg


    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 12,025
    edited January 2
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    Kramer's toast to feeling good all the time. :D

    https://x.com/i/status/2006741536319377792
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.

    “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”
    --Mark Twain.

    “If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.” - Steven Wright
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
    edited January 2
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    SCompRacer wrote: »
    I had SDA 2a or b and SRS2's. These were for Ed the SRT king. I can tell it was a vinyl day.

    9a5hvlp47ade.jpg


    Still Life with Cat and SPL Meter
    Gotta love that. :)
    PS (and in all seriousness) that little stand the R/S meter's on is very cool. Is that bespoke?
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  • skipshot12
    skipshot12 Posts: 2,164
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    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    He was also wedded to the gloriously impractical* notion of DC for electricity distribution and went to terrifying lengths to instill FUD (as we would call say nowadays) about rival Westinghouse's alternating current.
    https://www.americanheritage.com/edison-and-electric-chair
    https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/essaying-edison/essay/myth-buster-topsy-the-elephant
    _____________________
    * Admittedly, DC is kinda back in fashion today in many respects, but generated and used quite differently than the model Edison had in mind. ;)

    Oh yea, low voltage DC Distribution/Transmission of any longer distances wasn't a good idea back in the day of Edison.

    What's FUD?

    If anyone gets a chance to see some of the UHVDC Substations do it, they look like something out of the movie Forbidden Planet.

    UHVDC
    xadd71twyf3i.png

    UHVDC
    lqey42mh4rhe.png
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 9,404
    edited January 2
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    mhardy6647 wrote: »

    Still Life with Cat and SPL Meter
    Gotta love that. :)
    PS (and in all seriousness) that little stand the R/S meter's on is very cool. Is that bespoke?

    Thank you! Yes, it is. Manufactured from 12 gauge solid THNN wire. Viewing angle adjustable, but not infinitely. Many colors avaliable. :)

    hrgmi7woj6ca.jpg
    2ttluevf0az4.jpg

    Jasper in maintenance mode warming his rump on the Krell. Texas cat loved warmth....

    4b8un3vywsgn.jpg

    While looking through pics I remember we used to have to cover the tops of the Salk's. Jasper had rear claws.

    98y07ftup3y0.jpg
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 9,404
    edited January 2
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    9adf09usica0.jpg
    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
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  • maxward
    maxward Posts: 1,743
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    A very good point!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
    edited January 2
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    skipshot12 wrote: »

    What's FUD?
    The internet runs on it! Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
    :#
    If anyone gets a chance to see some of the UHVDC Substations do it, they look like something out of the movie Forbidden Planet.

    UHVDC
    xadd71twyf3i.png

    UHVDC
    lqey42mh4rhe.png
    mmmmmmmm...

    I am thinking the future of DC is local: PVs, batteries, and inverters.
    I am (we are), however, still resisting batteries here. :blush:

    54011105772_4cf6e0162a_b.jpgDSC_0431 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

    We did chicken out on installing a tracker system in 2024 and opted to re-do the original system on the roof (the one on the main roof). I couldn't quite rationalize the cost... but we came really close.


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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
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    maxward wrote: »
    A very good point!

    Ol' Charles Rodrigues had a way with words. B)
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  • aprazer402
    aprazer402 Posts: 3,466
    edited January 2
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    In the 70's I worked for a guy that had a purple AMC Pacer. I drove it sometimes. It really was a good running little bubble. He never had any problems with it. He traded it in for a Datsun pickup.
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 3,265
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    nlo93u6pzfre.jpeg
    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 3,265
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    tq74v273ma6x.jpeg
    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
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    from those fun-loving engineers @ ASR...
    1c0h9jsn9p2n.png
    This nicely illustrates the symmetry principle of physics. It's not a universal physical law, but symmetry is pretty widespread in the universe. B)
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
    edited January 3
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    So... the 1910 duck story I posted in the "doing it wrong" thread got me to thinking about canards (where storytelling, ducks, and French all intersect)... which, of course*, led me to the XB-70 Valkyrie.
    ... and I learned something I didn't know until today! Whoda thunk it?**
    ovj043e8zbx2.png
    source: https://www.reddit.com/r/WarplanePorn/comments/10ioghs/did_you_know_that_the_north_american_xb70/
    ______________
    * of course
    ** Who, indeed? Virtually all of the educators saddled with me would exclaim, sooner or later: There' no teachin' that boy! :blush:
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  • aprazer402
    aprazer402 Posts: 3,466
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    0g6ow4f0yqni.png
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
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    abselzav4oc2.png
    (seen at ASR, of all places ;))
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  • skipshot12
    skipshot12 Posts: 2,164
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    When cars actually had style.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 35,562
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    I guess, depending on one's sensibilities, I could also put this in the You're Doing it Wrong thread... but I think it's kinda cool... so I am putting it here. :blush:
    55025310266_b3b1410210_b.jpgBLACK PICKUP TRUCK by J.Paul, on Flickr
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  • motorstereo
    motorstereo Posts: 2,428
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    8yfacmp4bcfy.png
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  • Viking64
    Viking64 Posts: 7,824
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    Get to the Chopin!

    Hasta la vista, Beethoven.

    It is not a Wagner!

    You can't Handel the truth! (Okay, I cheated.)
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 8,337
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    9ebwgcrxkpq7.jpg
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