SillyDog701

[Mandrake]

Interesting. When I was in high school a while back we used Casio scientific calculators in the lower grades, and Casio graphing calculators in the higher grade levels. I honestly have no idea what the precise model numbers were.

BTW Antony, that's a nice new drive. You are so rich with all that hard disk capacity! My main system has 1.91TB of space, and if I add up all the other drives I have I'm still under 2.5TB.

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[iJohnE]

New gadget: Texas Instruments TI-84 Plus.



And here it is next to my TI-89 (which I can not use in the Math Department here because it is banned).

Haha, what are the chances that I would have the same calculator. I have both the TI-83 Plus and the TI-84 Plus. Love them both.

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[Don_HH2K]

Since Antony just bought a second cordless laser mouse and is calling himself poor and me rich, my mice:



Please note that none are cordless, and all are mechanical (not optical/laser).

From left to right: 2x Mitsumi PS/2 scroll mouse, Microsoft Serial-MousePort Mouse 2.0, Gateway (Microsoft) Trekker 2.0A Wheel Mouse, Microsoft Serial Mouse 2.0A, Logitech Serial-MouseMan, and Logitech MouseMan. I can't find the controller card for the InPort mouse, so I can't tell if it works or not. The two MouseMan mice are vintage 1991.

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[Antony]

Since Don posted all his mice, I think I shall do the same.

There are all my mice:

(click for larger version)

Sorry for my ugly handwriting.

I am afraid to report that all of those are optical (either just optical or Laser). Whereas the top left mouse (Logitech Cordless MouseMan Optical) is the first optical and cordless mouse in the world. I bought it in 2001. Perhaps it was due to the (then) early technology, it uses about two alkalines (AA) in a month.

Before you ask, I only have 3 keyboards now (all Apple). Not counting the built-in keyboard in notebooks.

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[Mandrake]

So after selling the free PS3 I got with my TV back in January I went out and got another one.



I got another controller, the BD remote, Motorstorm, Resistance: Fall of Man and a few Blu-Ray movies: Casino Royale, SAW IV, and Vertical Limit.

The image quality Blu-Ray offers on a 1080P HDTV is stunning. I'll never buy another DVD again!

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[Antony]

Welcome back to PlayStation 3 world!

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[Antony]

I finally got myself my first digital SLR camera - Sony DSLR α350 (twin lens kit).





(blog entry for more detail)

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[Don_HH2K]

Today I finished an audio recorder that I've been building.





Specs are: 266MHz Cyrix CPU, 8MB memory, 2GB CompactFlash-based hard drive, Crystal CS4236 sound card, and runs MS-DOS 7. It records to WAV by default but can also be configured to do MP3 as well. The white box in the back is a light timer that lets me schedule when it turns on and off.

Right now it's hooked up to a Technics ST-Z400 AM/FM radio that I bought off eBay, which is the black box held on with the duct tape. It's set to record for four hours to WAV at 16-bit/36KHz.

Also, my friend asked me to build her a pair of headset glasses:

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[Antony]

Also, my friend asked me to build her a pair of headset glasses:

I am pretty sure you can get a ready made communication piece like this.

Don, is your monitor that bright? That you have to wear sunglasses while communicating? (I assume such device is intended for chatting with PC or while gaming.)

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[Don_HH2K]

I am pretty sure you can get a ready made communication piece like this.

Don, is your monitor that bright? That you have to wear sunglasses while communicating? (I assume such device is intended for chatting with PC or while gaming.)

You probably can get them premade, but I'd bet they're expensive. As I mentioned, these aren't for me, and I doubt the person that asked for them is actually going to use them. They work, but were made more for show than for actual usage.

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[Don_HH2K]

Smartphones I do not like: the gPhone, the iPhone, virtually all BlackBerrys, and the vast majority of Windows Mobile-based handsets.

Smartphones I do like: the Handspring Treo 600 and 650, and their eight-year-old predecessor, the Visorphone:



The main reason I bought the Visorphone instead of the more functional Treo is that the Visorphone can be detached from the Visor handheld. That means I can still use the PDA / organizer functions where the phone isn't acceptable.

It didn't come with a battery, so I had to get creative with some tape, solder, and spare wire.



Underneath is the battery pack to my old Motorola v60i.

The phone runs on GSM 1900/900. The handheld that's running it is a Visor Deluxe with 8MB of memory and a 20MHz Dragonball m68k CPU. And since the Visor Deluxe uses RS232 instead of USB, it's one of few Palm-powered handhelds that will actually sync with the x64 editions of Windows.

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[Antony]

Smartphones I do not like: the gPhone, the iPhone, virtually all BlackBerrys, and the vast majority of Windows Mobile-based handsets.

Smartphones I do like: the Handspring Treo 600 and 650, and their eight-year-old predecessor, the Visorphone:

Congratulations on getting your smart phone.

What's wrong with the latest or the currently most talk-about items? And you prefer the outdated devices to the cutting edge or current offerings?????

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[James]

Don, you crack me up. You are one very inventive, creative fellow.

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[Don_HH2K]

What's wrong with the latest or the currently most talk-about items? And you prefer the outdated devices to the cutting edge or current offerings?????

Newer is not necessarily better. Sure, I would've liked to have Bluetooth DUN on the Treo 650, so that I could get online where there's no Wi-Fi available (sorry, unlike you, I don't have mobile broadband). But as I said, the real selling point was that the phone is detachable from the PDA.

Don, you crack me up. You are one very inventive, creative fellow.

Hey, thanks. It's not every day that I get positive feedback on the things I end up building.

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[iJohnE]

Well, Christmas came a little early for me:

Here is the new Wii:



It's looking to be a lot of fun.
Right now I only have one game, but Christmas is still coming!

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