So the other day a friend and I ducked into the physics building to get out of the freezing cold wind... neither of has had been there before, because only the actual physics majors take courses there; non-major physics courses are taken in the general sciences building. We decided to go exploring and ended up in the basement. It was lit and appeared clean, but had an air of disuse about it... no nameplates on the doors, lots of boxes and things strewn about, and a load of old - OLD - equipment. (There was a box of pristine unopened copies of ClarisWorks for the old PowerPCs by Apple.)
Anyway, I took some pictures because there's this...this thing, and I don't know what it is...I got a picture of the whole thing plus a closeup of the SN plate, in case anyone recognizes the brand. Does anyone know what this is?
Full shot Closeup Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on March 24, 2006 03:30 AM:
I don't know what that is but I'll give you a piece of advice; when you wake up tomorrow and discover that you never actually left this "basement" (by now the machine is blinking and beeping and flashing), adjust the rank pips on your friend's neck to send a message to yourself later on if you want to break the chain.
Also, there's a bug exploit you can do here. Right before you go to bed, take all the spare change you have on your bedside table. The next time you go to bed, it will be there again! It'll take time to build up a hoard but believe me, you'll need all that gold in the fourth chapter later on, when you're putting your kids through college.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on March 24, 2006 04:04 AM:
Well, It looks like there's an electric motor sitting on top of the casing. And what looks like computer ribbon cable as well. As for the thing? I unno, maybe it's someones attempt at making a coffee machine.
I googled the companies name and came up with a bunch of info for vintage video camera's. So it may have something to do with Photography. A serial number might've come up with something more substantial. Isn't Google Awesome?
If I were to make a guess, I'd say it was an overhead lamp for taking pictures or movies.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on March 24, 2006 09:53 AM:
Interocitor?
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on March 24, 2006 12:33 PM:
Well it does mention using a particular type of lamp - so I too was going to say it was some type of imager.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on March 24, 2006 12:39 PM:
Interesting I too googled Dejur Amsco with some other lamps and came upon a page that listed: Electrical, Electronic and Cybernetic Brand Name Index it also has a link to go back to "the Wolfbane Cybernetic Home Page".
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on March 24, 2006 12:45 PM:
Is it possible it's a spotlight sitting on it's end?
Posted by dbutler1986 (Member # 1689) on March 24, 2006 12:48 PM:
It has a folding-accordion thing, that black hoodlike device, and it gave me the general impression of being an imaging device...I thought perhaps some sort of a microscope, but I just wasn't sure...those switches on the front are labeled Pulse 1 and Pulse 2 IIRC
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 24, 2006 03:40 PM:
Laser interferometry? X-Ray spectroscope?
--Jonah
P.S. Da_bang? I will kill you. When you said "really old equipment", I was expecting you to say at least oscilloscopes and slide rules. PowerPC is obsolete, not old, thank you so much.
P.P.S. Git.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on March 24, 2006 04:39 PM:
When did I say "really old equipment"? I said "Vintage video cameras" I don't think I've ever commented on PowerPC's...
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 24, 2006 05:10 PM:
Ack. Most profuse apologies, Mr. Bang. That's what I get for trying to catch up with everything before bed. Mr. Butler, I redirect those comments to you.
--Jonah
P.S. Git.
Posted by dbutler1986 (Member # 1689) on March 24, 2006 05:59 PM:
Well, I was actually referring to that machine and something else - I'll have the pic up as soon as I figure out what I did with it. The ClarisWorks weren't for "really old equipment" so much as pointing out the storage aspects of the place. Oh, I should post a pic of the old-style Dr. Pepper machine that was there too...
Posted by Zefram (Member # 1568) on March 25, 2006 02:46 AM:
I believe that the machine may be a photographic enlarger. The upper right hand portion of the information plate says that an opal lamp should be used. An opal lamp is a lamp with a tungsten filament that uses an opal glass bulb for light diffusion. Although opal lamps can be used for decorative uses, the closest thing to a "scientific" use that I can find for an opal lamp is as part of high resolution photo enlarging equipment.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on March 25, 2006 03:00 AM:
That's preposterous, the physics majors wouldn't leave esoteric gemstone equipment out in plain sight unless...unless they knew we were coming.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on March 25, 2006 04:29 AM:
(The calls are coming from inside the storage basement!)
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on March 25, 2006 05:33 AM:
quote:Originally posted by Nim: ...unless they knew we were coming.
It's a TRAP!!!
Posted by Vice-Admiral Michael T. Colorge (Member # 144) on March 25, 2006 05:50 AM:
Why does it look like something that will not only destroy the Enterprise but Earth itself...
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 25, 2006 06:44 AM:
quote:Originally posted by dbutler1986: Oh, I should post a pic of the old-style Dr. Pepper machine that was there too...
oooOOOOoooo! Find out if I can have it?
--Jonah
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on March 25, 2006 09:51 AM:
Its origin and purpose remain a mystery.
Posted by dbutler1986 (Member # 1689) on March 25, 2006 02:46 PM:
lol well, here's the other odd piece of equipment (looks like an old presentation project): Satellite communications...
Annnd the old Dr. Pepper machine: Sweet sweet nectar *Corny facial expression warning*
Actually, my university (Baylor) is in Waco, TX where Dr. Pepper was invented. They have a contract for exclusivity...no soft drinks but Dr Pepper/7UP products on campus or university-sponsored events. Mmmm. We even have Dr. Pepper floats....
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 25, 2006 09:26 PM:
Oh, piffle. That's not old. Late '80s at the earliest. It's even got a dollar-eater. When you find one that has the little, locking door and a bottle-opener, then we'll talk. *heh*
For what it's worth, real Dr. Pepper is both my girlfriend's and my favourite fizzy. I order it by the case from the bottling plant in Dublin, TX -- the only one that refused to stop making it with sugar. They also make it with HFCS (bleck!) for the local markets, but do a brisk global business catering to people like me who hate what happened to fizzy in the late '80s/early '90s.
I now return you to your regularly-scheduled exploration of the X Files' prop warehouse. *heh*
--Jonah
Posted by dbutler1986 (Member # 1689) on March 25, 2006 10:18 PM:
Ahh, Dublin Dr. Pepper. You can actually get that in the Wal*Mart here in Waco. Burn. Also, when I first mentioned 'Dublin Dr. Pepper' to my mother, she said, "...you mean Guiness?"
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on March 26, 2006 05:35 AM:
Say has anyone tried that new Dr.Pepper with cherry and vanilla? I would try it myself but my mom says that type of soda is just diabetes in a can.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 26, 2006 06:07 AM:
All I can find is Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. And even if I could find regular, it'd still have HFCS, which is evil -- much like Wal*Mart is evil and must be destroyed.
No, I prefer to add my own syrup to the good Dr. Pepper.
Now, if I could just get 7�up, Pepsi, Ctystal Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Jolt in their old, sugared versions, I'd be a truly happy camper.
--Jonah
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on March 26, 2006 04:50 PM:
I'm suspiciously pondering on whether to try the new Cappucino Pepsi they've just brought out here. I suspect it'll be horrible. Not a big fan of Pepsi anyway, although I did like the Max Twist they brought out here last year.
And we still don't get Mountain Dew in any other flavour than bog-standard original. I want Code Red! My headaches have really decreased in regularity since I stopped drinking as much Coke as I used to. I drink a lot more water now. Our new fridge has a water-dispenser in it. And I sit right next to the water-cooler at work.
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on March 26, 2006 07:12 PM:
Ooh, so you get to hear all the exciting water cooler talk?
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on March 26, 2006 11:07 PM:
quote:Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
Or in other words, the penicillin I got at age 5. So in further other words, the number one foolproof vomit-inducer flavor of mine.
quote:I want Code Red! My headaches have really decreased in regularity since I stopped drinking as much Coke as I used to.
Yes! We can't stand this non-headache-inducing beverage routine we currently live in, can we? This...zoo. It's the smell, if there is such a thing.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 27, 2006 06:38 AM:
I'm curious, Lee... Is your "bog-standard" Dew made with sugar and nothing but? My memory of British fizzy drinks is that you don't use HFCS (not having an aggressive corn lobby to fuck things up). I think we may be able to work out a trade. Exchange care packages, if you will...
Oo, back to physics junk. How 'bout that EM spectrum, huh?
--Jonah
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on March 27, 2006 11:27 AM:
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: For what it's worth, real Dr. Pepper is both my girlfriend's and my favourite fizzy. I order it by the case from the bottling plant in Dublin, TX -- the only one that refused to stop making it with sugar. They also make it with HFCS (bleck!) for the local markets, but do a brisk global business catering to people like me who hate what happened to fizzy in the late '80s/early '90s. --Jonah
Dr. Pepper = rancid children's cough medicine. I tried it once when they first brough it to Australia. It was NOT nice.
HFCS? Hi-quality Foetal Calf Serum?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on March 27, 2006 11:30 AM:
High Fructose Corn Syrup seems more likely.
Posted by dbutler1986 (Member # 1689) on March 27, 2006 02:59 PM:
LMFAO Feotal Calf Serum... that's new.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on March 27, 2006 03:57 PM:
Jonah: I'm really not sure. I don't think corn syrup is a common ingredient here. Sounds horrible, anyway. Last time I actually bothered to look at a soft drink's ingredients it just seemes to be glucose or fructose.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 27, 2006 04:42 PM:
Promising. One downside that just occurred to me -- anything you get from the States will have high fructose corn syrup in it. Nasty stuff, wretched aftertaste... Don't know if they have it in Canada.
--Jonah
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on March 27, 2006 04:56 PM:
I'm not a big pop drinker. But Pepsi and Coke tastes the same as it always does.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on March 27, 2006 06:26 PM:
You want strange taste, buy a Coke in Greece. Seriously. It's Coke. . . but different. I really wish I could find a way to characterise it. Not as sweet, very mineral aftertaste.
Posted by dbutler1986 (Member # 1689) on March 27, 2006 07:46 PM:
When I was in high school, a Brazilian foreign exchange student told me that Coke (as in Coca-Cola) had always been sold in South America with lemon in it.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on March 27, 2006 07:56 PM:
"Always?" Bit of a sweeping statement there. And untrue as well - I used to live in Brasil and never saw any such thing. Unless "always" means "for a long time but not before 1988" in Portuguese, which it doesn't.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on March 28, 2006 04:44 AM:
Ditto to Da_bang. Most soft drink companies in the United States began switching to high fructose corn syrup in the mid-'80s. By the mid-'90s, all the biggies had switched over. Coke, Pepsi, R.C., Mountain Dew, 7�up, Jolt, Barq's Root Beer... they all taste different from what they used to be. And I know it's not my local bottling plant, because this is across companies, in the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast, the Southwest... I miss all the wonderful beverages I could get in Japan. *sigh* At least I've got Ramun� in the stores over here.
--Jonah
Posted by dbutler1986 (Member # 1689) on March 28, 2006 05:14 AM:
quote:"Always?" Bit of a sweeping statement there. And untrue as well - I used to live in Brasil and never saw any such thing. Unless "always" means "for a long time but not before 1988" in Portuguese, which it doesn't.
It might to a guy born in 1985 Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on March 28, 2006 06:46 AM:
So, just ignorant then.
Posted by Irishman (Member # 1188) on March 28, 2006 07:04 AM:
I'm old and i miss the way things used to be! Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on March 28, 2006 08:20 AM:
His car gets forty rods to the hogshead, and that's the way he likes it.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)