Who Watches the Watchmen (Our Chit Chat Thread)

banie01

I have a straw diffuser attachment for my Dyson that does a fair job of sucking up the gunk.
Keyboards are a dirt trap tho, can only imagine how bad mechanicals get.

Cyclingtourist

Fitz II wrote: »

The Electric car owner, generates a smugness field of tremendous power, the Tesla cars have a AS/DS (alternating to direct smugness) converter that allows the owner to power external batteries and home appliances via a Type 3 cable inserted into the owner and car. and then directly to the fuse board of the house. Its only Model S owners can avail of this feature, as Leaf, Model3 and Kona owners are simply not smug enough although future over the air updates may change that.

When a cycle path takes me on a bridge over a motorway I experience an intense feeling of superiority, like being in heaven looking down on the poor bastards living in purgatory.

unkel

Cyrus wrote: »

off topic but how does that work ?

The same as it works in any car, diesel, petrol, or EV

I just connected a DC to AC inverter via a fused circuit to the 12V battery. The main difference here is that Teslas are always on. So the 12V will never be drained as the software monitors this battery and keeps it topped up from the high voltage (about 400V) battery via the DC-DC converter

Thirdfox

Wibbs wrote: »

I hit them with a can of air every so often. That's on my Macbooks. Though I deliberately use 2014-16 examples as the later ones have completely shíte keyboards. Loads of failures. Then again IMHO Apple have gone rapidly downhill on their laptops over the last few years(the latest A1 Air is nice enough) Some aspects of their engineering beggar belief. Like placing moisture vulnerable components close to openings or having the backlight power circuit(loads of volts) sitting right beside the processor power circuit. :rolleyes:

I've taken apart and cleaned a few desktop keyboards and the gunk in some... :eek:, though taking apart laptops... Luckily I'm not allergic to anything or I'd need an epi pen for such times.

Macbook keyboards - I feel for you - their butterfly switches are notorious for being "not in line with the rest of premium package" :pac: - my wife even dislikes her Lenovo Thinkpad keyboard (which I'd consider one of the best for laptops) after using a proper mechanical one.

banie01 wrote: »

I have a straw diffuser attachment for my Dyson that does a fair job of sucking up the gunk.
Keyboards are a dirt trap tho, can only imagine how bad mechanicals get.

If you're not funny like I am about maintaining original stickers etc. - the IBM model M and variants apparently can just be thrown in the dishwasher (after removing the circuit board of course ) - I have seen pretty horrible office keyboards in my time (no-one is going to take the time to clean out the communal keyboard so if you ever do pop off a keycap there is probably enough DNA to restart humanity again :eek: ).

Cyclingtourist wrote: »

When a cycle path takes me on a bridge over a motorway I experience an intense feeling of superiority, like being in heaven looking down on the poor bastards living in purgatory.

Back when cycling to work was still a thing I certainly enjoyed speeding past the gridlock while in the cycle lane - I would beat cars and perform as well as a bus going in to work (factoring in the shower) - 22km roundtrip - treated it "free gym membership"

Though equally on a wet windy day I look at the poor b*stards stuck on the side of a road with their bicycle fixing their flat tyre and thank myself that I'm being chauffeured by a nice comfy bus.

redlead

I started watching the long way down last night where they are driving from the southern tip of Patagonia all the way up to LA. The difference being they decided to do it using electric bikes and support vehicles. There is basically zero charging infrastructure on route so the first three episodes is just constant range anxiety and bikes failing to charge. It was a seriously dumb idea. The support vehicles are prototype pre production Rivians that basically don't work. Fast forward 10/20 years and it will probably be as easy doing it on petrol bikes now.

There seems to be a strong correlation between electric cars and luxury watches here. I came very close to pulling the trigger on ordering an ID4 before Christmas but didn't in the end. Was leaning more towards a model 3 but the trade in I was offered was taking the p1ss. 30 percent less than VW on a two year old car.

banie01

The GFX/processor stickers usually come of my gear within a couple of months.
Other stickers...
Well now that I'm a student I gotta be cool!

sparrowcar

redlead wrote: »

I started watching the long way down last night where they are driving from the southern tip of Patagonia all the way up to LA. The difference being they decided to do it using electric bikes and support vehicles. There is basically zero charging infrastructure on route so the first three episodes is just constant range anxiety and bikes failing to charge. It was a seriously dumb idea. The support vehicles are prototype pre production Rivians that basically don't work. Fast forward 10/20 years and it will probably be as easy doing it on petrol bikes now.

There seems to be a strong correlation between electric cars and luxury watches here. I came very close to pulling the trigger on ordering an ID4 before Christmas but didn't in the end. Was leaning more towards a model 3 but the trade in I was offered was taking the p1ss. 30 percent less than VW on a two year old car.

I've a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. What's the equivalent of a hybrid car in watches... hope its not a Hublot

Fitz II

banie01 wrote: »

The GFX/processor stickers usually come of my gear within a couple of months.
Other stickers...
Well now that I'm a student I gotta be cool!

Another Dune fan.....the sleeper has awakened. ! Cant wait for the new movie, looks great.

Cars and Watches go hand in hand I think, all middle aged middle class male interests for the mechanically minded. I dont know that EV's in particular go with watches, Ev's are kinda the quartz of cars....

sparrowcar wrote: »

I've a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. What's the equivalent of a hybrid car in watches... hope its not a Hublot

Spring Drive

redlead

sparrowcar wrote: »

I've a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. What's the equivalent of a hybrid car in watches... hope its not a Hublot

Clearly a Breitling Aerospace AniDigi

banie01

Fitz II wrote: »

Another Dune fan.....the sleeper has awakened. !

Cars and Watches go hand in hand I think, all middle aged middle class male interests for the mechanically minded. I dont know that EV's in particular go with watches, Ev's are kinda the quartz of cars....

I bloody love Dune, actually wrote a politics essay that got an A that was basically just a reframing of Dune'spolitics, to the current day :pac:

Agree with you on the cars, watches and middle aged men correlation.
I am toying with our next car being a full electric too.
The Mrs is our "main" driver these days and it's virtually all urban.
Electric fits her use perfectly but she is a bit conservative.

Fitz II

banie01 wrote: »

I bloody love Dune, actually wrote a politics essay that got an A that was basically just a reframing of Dune'spolitics, to the current day :pac:

Must have read the first one 10 times, the later books never go a re read from me, got too dense although I liked a couple of the prequels. Very prophetic books, like orwell in that way. The similarities to the American, Russian involvement in the middle east is uncanny and the guild being big oil, I am sure they will be relevant in 100 years time also.

unkel

redlead wrote: »

Was leaning more towards a model 3 but the trade in I was offered was taking the p1ss. 30 percent less than VW on a two year old car.

Sorry for off topic, but this is a common misconception / complaint. Tesla do not do trade ins like traditional garages. They don't want your car. If you have one to trade in, sell it privately or sell it to a dealer

All Tesla do is make 3 phone calls to traders with details of your car and they will give you the highest figure of the three. Which obviously will be brutally low.

Wibbs

Turns out I was a middle aged man at 15. :eek:

I'd agree that for urban driving an EV is pretty much a no brainer really. And on a small island like we live on pretty much fine for most journeys most people take too. I'd be on the road often enough and would regularly drive to various bits of Wicklow from Dublin and I don't think there's an EV on sale, or used that wouldn't accommodate me as far as range goes.

Wibbs

I've a Dune first edition, or close to it somewhere about the place. I think it's the library edition though. Still pricey enough IIRC? Picked it up must be twenty years ago from a charity place for a fiver. The new flic will be interesting. The 80's one was hit and miss to say the least. Tbh I don't mind the later TV series one. Clunky as feck in places and clearly on a budget but with a lot more heart in it.

unkel

Wibbs wrote: »

I'd agree that for urban driving an EV is pretty much a no brainer really. And on a small island like we live on pretty much fine for most journeys most people take too. I'd be on the road often enough and would regularly drive to various bits of Wicklow from Dublin and I don't think there's an EV on sale, or used that wouldn't accommodate me as far as range goes.

Many EVs on sale now can go from nearly anywhere in Ireland to anywhere else without charging (real life range of 400km). My own 7 year old car can nearly do that.

Newest Tesla will do 800km. Does anybody in Ireland do more than 800km over here in a day, ever?

Fitz II

Wibbs wrote: »

I've a Dune first edition, or close to it somewhere about the place. I think it's the library edition though. Still pricey enough IIRC? Picked it up must be twenty years ago from a charity place for a fiver. The new flic will be interesting. The 80's one was hit and miss to say the least. Tbh I don't mind the later TV series one. Clunky as feck in places and clearly on a budget but with a lot more heart in it.

I really liked the David Lynch movie, weird as **** and had a really good dune vibe. You must watch the Documentary about Jodorowsky's dune the greatest move never made. First edition is a winner although it was a big run so it will never go to the moon, but aa lovely thing to have. A classic classic book that very much formed my thinking as a teenager.

Wibbs

Sorted for ya. Ahhh the winged hourglass.

banie01

Wibbs wrote: »

I've a Dune first edition, or close to it somewhere about the place. I think it's the library edition though. Still pricey enough IIRC? Picked it up must be twenty years ago from a charity place for a fiver. The new flic will be interesting. The 80's one was hit and miss to say the least. Tbh I don't mind the later TV series one. Clunky as feck in places and clearly on a budget but with a lot more heart in it.

Library edition 1st edition is a lovely, lovely thing to own.

The casting in the 1st movie was near perfect IMO.
They just made a balls of adapting the story.
There's a fan cut of the movie that takes all the versions released, and adds some background via v.o and animation that gives a better story, but it is still a mess of a movie.

Enjoyed the Sci-fi channel adaptations but like you said, very limited by budget.
The visuals of Sardaukar in foppish Swiss guard costume just didn't work either.

I am really looking forward to the Villeneuve adaptation and I hope the second movie gets a green light.
A release in October, of a magnum opus space opera into vaccinated cinemas?
I really hope it works, because his casting is brilliant and the book really deserves a proper run at a movie.

It's LOTR like in its sheer scale and that makes it almost impossible to film.
But Jackson did a great job with LOTR and I do have huge hope that Villeneuve can do the same with Dune.

cnocbui

Wibbs wrote: »

I've a Dune first edition, or close to it somewhere about the place. I think it's the library edition though. Still pricey enough IIRC? Picked it up must be twenty years ago from a charity place for a fiver. The new flic will be interesting. The 80's one was hit and miss to say the least. Tbh I don't mind the later TV series one. Clunky as feck in places and clearly on a budget but with a lot more heart in it.

I have a Dune 1977 edition, which is when I bought and read it. My reading skills were not up to it in 1965. I am not sure a Dune movie would be any good unless Ridley Scott made it with double the budget of his most expensive to date. it really is a testament to the book and Herbert that a worthy film version is such a massive hill to climb. I think a movie can't be made long enough to do it justice so a Game of Thrones/Raised by Wolves approach would be better.

Fitz II

cnocbui wrote: »

I have a Dune 1977 edition, which is when I bought and read it. My reading skills were not up to it in 1965. I am not sure a Dune movie would be any good unless Ridley Scott made it with double the budget of his most expensive to date. it really is a testament to the book and Herbert that a worthy film version is such a massive hill to climb. I think a movie can't be made long enough to do it justice so a Game of Thrones/Raised by Wolves approach would be better.

Agree, a series would suit it well and something like raised by wolves. The new movie is only doing the first half of the first book and its about 3 hours, so I am hopeful. Denis Villeneuve is a good choice, Awas excellent and the world building of Bladerunner 2047 was excellent. But have to say something along the budget of the Expanse would be good and could go through the books. However the later books are frankly not that interesting and span thousands of years without a common cast of characters. The Lynch movie was all very mystical and magical which the books are not in any way.

The initial test screenings were very positive, but its hard adapt a book where the lore and language are so dense and explanations are so few, to those that have read the book it will be superficial and those that have not it will be impenetrable. I am just happy something so cerebral is getting a chance for a change. Tenet was the last thing I saw in the cinema and it was a load of crap really with the worst sound mixing ever. The cinema is one of my favourite outings.

partyguinness

Wibbs wrote: »

Sorted for ya. Ahhh the winged hourglass.

Sorry I actually posted in the wrong thread- should have been the pics thread..:o

Wibbs

Just sorted that for you too.

Wibbs

Fitz II wrote: »

But have to say something along the budget of the Expanse would be good and could go through the books.

Dune would likely need a lot more than an Expanse budget. It's a fairly "cheap" a series to shoot. One season had location stuff, which was all in one place so that cuts costs, but it's mostly small sets and internals, with some location shooting, but even there quite small. To build the world of Dune would be pricey even with current CGI(which can get pricey enough too). Desert locations alone can be a nightmare. For me about the best looking and feeling desert on screen was Lawrence of Arabia. Then again the size and quality of the cameras and film stock they were using...

The Lynch movie was all very mystical and magical which the books are not in any way.

+1. As far as I recall didn't he renounce the film afterwards? Lynch is a great director, but to give him a flic of that budget and size and of an "unflimable" book on the back of experience that was much much smaller in budget...I dunno what the studio were thinking. You need a blockbuster type director like Scott or Spielberg at the helm of something like that. Though I'd say they'd see the project as somewhat of a poison chalice.

There was that failed attempt to shoot it in the 70's by kinda crazy director Jodorowsky. The documentary of that is well worth a watch. It was going to feature music by Pink Floyd, a cast that included Salvador Dali as the Emperor. Orson Welles was in the mix too. It was doomed to failure, but the team of designers and FX guys he rounded up who came up with set, costume and ship designs certainly influenced a load of later flics. Many of his team ended up doing the designs for the Alien series of films and because Jodorowsky had hawked the project across Hollywood and wasn't secretive at all about his thoughts other films stole a look over his shoulder. Here's a design for the Harkonnen palace.



Spot the Alien. Well it was the same guy(Giger) who designed the Alien and the look of the alien craft in the flic of the same name.

Tenet was the last thing I saw in the cinema and it was a load of crap really with the worst sound mixing ever.

+1000 I did not get the hype over that at all.

Fitz II

These new Disney series use these virtual sets, its like a full room VR means no location shooting and much faster VFX, the actors are on a stage with the virtual world projected around them that compensated for the paralax of the camera. The mandalorian did it and it looks flawless, cuts budgets to nothing. I thought the Lynch aesthetic suited dune perfectly he just tried to cram too much into 2 hours. Jodorowsky was a mad man legend. I note that he was going to get Pink Floyd to do the soundtrack and the new Vielneuve movie is using Floyd tracks given the Zimmer treatment.

But the big question is what watch would a Freman wear?

The convo on here today is going into strange and wonderful areas, I like it.

banie01

Fitz II wrote: »

But the big question is what watch would a Freman wear?

The convo on here today is going into strange and wonderful areas, I like it.

I'll dig out Dr Willis E McNelly's Dune encyclopedia later and see what it says.

I know that navigation on arrakis relied upon the paracompass which had to be reset to take account of local magnetic fields.
That type of magnetic interference would likely good an unprotected mechanical?
Water clocks are obviously a no, so I'm going to go with sand clocks!
Giant egg timers and sun dials :pac:

Fitz II

Rolex Milangegauss so

Wibbs

redlead

Fitz II wrote: »

Tenet was the last thing I saw in the cinema and it was a load of crap really with the worst sound mixing ever. The cinema is one of my favourite outings.

Funnily enough, that was the last movie I saw in the cinema too. I went in on my own on a day off and I was super excited to see it because I love Nolan. My God, it was ****e! Easily his worst movie to date after some truly brilliant ones.

I would put Bladerunner as possibly my favourite ever film, well top three anyway. I have to say I was a bit disappointed with 2049. It really dragged in places. It was much too long. I should probably give it a second chance.

On the subject of Dune, I actually loved David Lynchs movie but I tend to like David Lynch stuff in general. I never read the book so this thread has inspired me to read that next. I haven't read a science fiction book in years.

NIMAN

Watched Tenet recently, and stopped it with 30min to go.

It was just so poor and not worth the effort to finish it. Disappointed with Nolan, his stuff is usually so good.

Sonic the Shaghog

Anyone know much about the reliability of a Seiko VH31 quartz movement?

Looking at some watches that use it