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I spent some time yesterday listening to WCBS-AM, to get some last listening in before its demised. The programming was basically a retrospective look on the history of the station, going back to the 1930s. Sad to see it go—when I was living in North Carolina, I'd sometimes even listen to it at night. The range was almost 700 km, but it was a 50 kilowatt clear channel station, so it (often) worked.
@SteveBellovin
I struggle to find a good analog in the digital present day for the magic of finding a distant radio signal, enticingly degraded, hovering at the edge of human perception.
That experience is apparently a fleeting one in human history, just a brief century. I wonder what other similar experiences of the more distant past are completely unknown to us now?
@inthehands @mattblaze and I have talked about some complex mechanical things that we no longer do: railroad interlockings, lever voting machines, the cell door locks at Alcatraz, and doubtless many more I don’t know about. (Railroad interlockings make sure that signals and switch tracks only change state in a safe order. For example, a signal must be turned to STOP before a switch is lined against oncoming traffic.)
@SteveBellovin @mattblaze
If you want me to talk and never shut up, ask me about how a piano works! (The problem: finger pressure powers a hammer so it strikes strings, but the hammer must be free-pivoting (not coupled to finger) at the moment of the strike, and must then stop on the recoil without bouncing and not strike again until the finger releases from the key, at which point the hammer must be ready to strike again ASAP. No electricity allowed.)
@inthehands @SteveBellovin @mattblaze
go for it! i find keyboard instrument mechanics fascinating. harpsicords are just crazy.
@paul_ipv6
The harpsichord and the clavichord are the historical starting point. Figuring out an alternative to the escapement was a multi-century journey.
I tried to find a good video about how a grand piano action works, and there are many, but none really nailed it in my view: they walk through the parts but don’t do a good job of showing the motivations and the design pressures that shaped them. Everything there solves a problem!
@inthehands @paul_ipv6 Did you try youtube or tiktok (or something else?) I've found that fix it videos are MUCH better on tt because they impose time limits rather than using minutes watched as a signal of quality.
I don't know if that applies to explainers like you're looking for, but I watched 5 minutes of a YT video on Alcatraz doors and learned exactly nothing.
@adamshostack @paul_ipv6
I used a general DDG video search. I’m sure something is out there somewhere. If you find it, lmk!