tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35196739632187734992024-03-20T08:12:05.184-07:00.Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-35557819348442850932022-08-23T18:53:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:18:24.440-07:00Green Phone (1972)<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6fv6S1MJDMLs9rxJB-DtyUU6spDtTvC2Vrv6ilDC_2UEfnMikHuwWv_LaIAb5RvSj-Oao44dvxZ6lv3zsrh-SSVSYiLW3Fi0YSEvd8k3GVFLOJrXjPqPm_Jba90E_88qk7HtCapwKC9UA0rQ8ZWv--Sks9klyZyfT3CDo2_ouWnKGw5UDPo25jJUt_Q" style="font-size: 11.5pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="975" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6fv6S1MJDMLs9rxJB-DtyUU6spDtTvC2Vrv6ilDC_2UEfnMikHuwWv_LaIAb5RvSj-Oao44dvxZ6lv3zsrh-SSVSYiLW3Fi0YSEvd8k3GVFLOJrXjPqPm_Jba90E_88qk7HtCapwKC9UA0rQ8ZWv--Sks9klyZyfT3CDo2_ouWnKGw5UDPo25jJUt_Q=w640-h426" width="640" /></a> </span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Once upon a time, you couldn’t own your own phone. You had to rent your phone every month from the phone company. That means it was illegal to take the phone apart and modify it. Which is exactly what I did when I was 10.<span><a name='more'></a></span></span><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.3333px;"><br /></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">It was a dial phone because we couldn’t afford a pushbutton
phone (that cost more every month).</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And
I added a lot of features to it:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The
switch on the earpiece cut off the microphone. </span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The lower-left button would test the
line load; if the green light (upper-left) glowed green, nobody else was on the
phone and I could safely pick up the phone to make a call. </span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The lower right switch enabled
a built-in speakerphone. </span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The upper right was a hold button. </span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">On the left side was a key
lock so my little brother couldn't use my phone in my absence. </span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">On the right side
toggle switch was a "ringer off". </span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">And a hidden switch (where you
would normally pick up the phone) put it into "monitor" mode (I could
listen in without people hearing me – yeah, I was sneaky).</span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Please don't tell the phone police. :-)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTOw_oFQ4BFBKu2EcqI_YJvqHXw5YWHnPSd1d50awyyTNLBZ1F4ff4gRraGUxDVBJZBM3Eg6DdW3hibdHgQsBcPS1ZOYxtY_PI62iP1peGuC5R6009N4TVP98Kt5drfDgP6je2qkNZSI-uHy3oFf2vZ5ouf7leY-sc3IXO47vUO4UWmj2XW0x6O4Of-Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1745" data-original-width="2617" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTOw_oFQ4BFBKu2EcqI_YJvqHXw5YWHnPSd1d50awyyTNLBZ1F4ff4gRraGUxDVBJZBM3Eg6DdW3hibdHgQsBcPS1ZOYxtY_PI62iP1peGuC5R6009N4TVP98Kt5drfDgP6je2qkNZSI-uHy3oFf2vZ5ouf7leY-sc3IXO47vUO4UWmj2XW0x6O4Of-Q=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJg0DTF3DcGNtEUDjakOvkcB70JVrgZxNgMBdxxtimcZlBIy7Zyvs_5GKgckUMNOJEIASIzBlngbdsOD2yVAmqKqj7yfpnkuSJGD_wuM--4ov_bqNj1tMBDVhP2bjZvEgwTvy4uCttI95bI5l4vUg_G0i8x0BsmCpZCpZMWIwUWofReHDW_V3im9Dz_Q" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="346" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJg0DTF3DcGNtEUDjakOvkcB70JVrgZxNgMBdxxtimcZlBIy7Zyvs_5GKgckUMNOJEIASIzBlngbdsOD2yVAmqKqj7yfpnkuSJGD_wuM--4ov_bqNj1tMBDVhP2bjZvEgwTvy4uCttI95bI5l4vUg_G0i8x0BsmCpZCpZMWIwUWofReHDW_V3im9Dz_Q=w278-h400" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me about that age.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-64284209168750796342022-08-22T19:07:00.005-07:002023-07-22T11:17:50.755-07:00Telephone Answering Machine (1975)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzWvz1ghIc6NbdlvtLpJkVTL96cWAX3OVhICSBpzu5HxVtKVURGoRG-ojKg3VfwdHe-yR9u53DjZdlIbSnsn74C7PlLXZcCdYaGXc3A8rlVut75h1yrkGe73zQY7mfZCMNlcIIyntyDJD2i3tUAhx4bzGB-f8Sxt9EOVUx5dZFtwFOVkB_Tl9W5yGIdA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="975" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzWvz1ghIc6NbdlvtLpJkVTL96cWAX3OVhICSBpzu5HxVtKVURGoRG-ojKg3VfwdHe-yR9u53DjZdlIbSnsn74C7PlLXZcCdYaGXc3A8rlVut75h1yrkGe73zQY7mfZCMNlcIIyntyDJD2i3tUAhx4bzGB-f8Sxt9EOVUx5dZFtwFOVkB_Tl9W5yGIdA=w640-h285" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today we have Facebook and Twitter and Youtube when you’re
bored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in 1975, all we had was a
telephone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTFg-3BMJtmZMin2HzQRyNHQUqf9K_4Jog3qgrZtcNxLilSTVuO-k2RkgILPiOQshRohpUTn45KGIOC_pktX7HHovVu8aOKpFoKxAKIKsX2wKxeB03E17hBB_46V2GbEVSuUtGY5o41R5F5p04g5-r1SxCo1j5Dv9Vr58EvgZMy7DHXDixTmSHPneq_g" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="975" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTFg-3BMJtmZMin2HzQRyNHQUqf9K_4Jog3qgrZtcNxLilSTVuO-k2RkgILPiOQshRohpUTn45KGIOC_pktX7HHovVu8aOKpFoKxAKIKsX2wKxeB03E17hBB_46V2GbEVSuUtGY5o41R5F5p04g5-r1SxCo1j5Dv9Vr58EvgZMy7DHXDixTmSHPneq_g=w640-h368" width="640" /></a></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I was 15 I built a telephone answering device. These were
quite illegal at the time - it was to support a “dial-a-joke” (you dial a
number and hear a prerecorded joke or a funny skit like the old radio days)
that me and my friends ran in 1975, getting up to 200 calls a day. It
controlled a tape recorder with a loop cassette; the machine was designed to
detect silence in the outgoing tape and then hang up once the 6- or 12-minute
skit was finished. Later it was expanded (the 2nd, smaller box) to control a
2nd tape recorder and take incoming messages as well.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The Joke Line was called "Runch II" (no meaning) and
the skits were written by and starred me and my friends.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">It was a LOT of fun!</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">One of my friends went on to become a writer
for many Disney Channel kids’ shows.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Here are some of those recordings:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/The%20New%20Treasure%20Hunt.mp3" target="_blank">The New Treasure Hunt (TV Show Parody)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/A%20Star%20is%20Born.mp3" target="_blank">A Star is Born</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/Don%20Adams%20Screen%20Test.mp3" target="_blank">Don Adams' Screen Test (TV Show Parady)</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/Albert%20Einstein%20-%20George%20Burns.mp3" target="_blank">Albert Einstein and George Burns</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Enjoy!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3_fVYQ1wLI5GSpQLcwoobXaQtpWZ2tjr8dxwa66Cvsj6HoB8LeXUVe6EBOKWGu3Vr_eiHrM0cEf4org9sLD51Aa5RZs1F_TKrt-ibXs4pmhoBzhFXnTCcdB_HR2iSbrivndfkW4K-QkfOzP41y-OVEL_xwsijZzBEEISQljtqNx49ayETGyP8gt0LTUCU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2490" data-original-width="3445" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3_fVYQ1wLI5GSpQLcwoobXaQtpWZ2tjr8dxwa66Cvsj6HoB8LeXUVe6EBOKWGu3Vr_eiHrM0cEf4org9sLD51Aa5RZs1F_TKrt-ibXs4pmhoBzhFXnTCcdB_HR2iSbrivndfkW4K-QkfOzP41y-OVEL_xwsijZzBEEISQljtqNx49ayETGyP8gt0LTUCU=w640-h462" width="640" /></a></div></div></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-11898019240319531142022-08-21T20:16:00.002-07:002022-08-24T20:12:07.456-07:00Touch Tone ® Pad (1976)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggMU6pBGR8OaOTUEAMGllKfoYPKLApBiAxi_8D186_vPXwbpRngnj2OH5IQx3MTaW72o3mBZpOh7Lcku8uxthxMySX6njptxAqxfcETmIw-VbqV-pO8abtSGQehkATiPM9Ermgf3XkDmY-ag1eujS3Xp-aQKJWLaKLj80RpHO2X8S80PNXMbBdQJl01A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="975" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggMU6pBGR8OaOTUEAMGllKfoYPKLApBiAxi_8D186_vPXwbpRngnj2OH5IQx3MTaW72o3mBZpOh7Lcku8uxthxMySX6njptxAqxfcETmIw-VbqV-pO8abtSGQehkATiPM9Ermgf3XkDmY-ag1eujS3Xp-aQKJWLaKLj80RpHO2X8S80PNXMbBdQJl01A=w640-h462" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p></p><p>Once upon a time, there were no cell phones. If you wanted to make a phone call outside your house, you had to find a Pay Phone, which the phone company had installed pretty much everywhere. To make a call, you’d put in a dime (later it was a quarter, unless it was a long distance call, in which case you put in several quarters and you could only talk for 3 minutes.) Then you’d dial your number and talk.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLdl5BEYENF0ys-96HxjlCEAZZBK6n5YdRt9h-g10FIqp8GVikXuz8-Q2r9TD455kmLYVL5rvf-FiDD3dUTqFMZfvPKpyyAEpg0HDAYjpNQ6Szs1eJ5--kvzpK38_2KWP3LWpqG_NOG9xqw-_I_d4Lzqbq6P6-mUE0btOnAC2mhmVGkIbpTaWE0lMEcA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="434" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLdl5BEYENF0ys-96HxjlCEAZZBK6n5YdRt9h-g10FIqp8GVikXuz8-Q2r9TD455kmLYVL5rvf-FiDD3dUTqFMZfvPKpyyAEpg0HDAYjpNQ6Szs1eJ5--kvzpK38_2KWP3LWpqG_NOG9xqw-_I_d4Lzqbq6P6-mUE0btOnAC2mhmVGkIbpTaWE0lMEcA=w381-h640" width="381" /></a></div><br />UNLESS you were me. When I was 15 I built a portable Touch-Tone Generator, which made the sounds you normally hear when dialing on a landline phone. (Not many people know this, but it’s the sounds that do the dialing on those old phones.) So if the payphone gave you a dial tone first, all I had to do is hold up the portable Touch Tone Generator’s speaker to the phone’s microphone, and dial the number I wanted. A free phone call! (Yes, it was illegal. Please don’t tell anyone!)<div><br /><div>The outside looked nice, but inside was another rat’s nest. There was so little room in there that I had to remove the case of the 9V battery just so I could close the cover.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggFulMa0ajEZ8RwuQsoCxWQ4YhUZzi1ht5_oNBRw5u0PtnyzXN0au-Wh2X5ONThSaZnU2X9qsGJjmeL5QIKYERfL7OWTR9akuG1wRrqtJXuDJrqRnqf2FP8mlcEGHOInxiyQ1S5PS4J6lcu7yDg4CBUZLt1ZsBM27n1Kni8SZ31B7wdGnTi6IJ9DiHdQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="975" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggFulMa0ajEZ8RwuQsoCxWQ4YhUZzi1ht5_oNBRw5u0PtnyzXN0au-Wh2X5ONThSaZnU2X9qsGJjmeL5QIKYERfL7OWTR9akuG1wRrqtJXuDJrqRnqf2FP8mlcEGHOInxiyQ1S5PS4J6lcu7yDg4CBUZLt1ZsBM27n1Kni8SZ31B7wdGnTi6IJ9DiHdQ=w640-h475" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1ZkmMv4MFswV47yPOsq_Bk9L-g31TQHsVKnnkInkG9GXS0ZDVsqYOyfpB2_3BjHhiUt0OgZ6Sj9rhoYiLkSGSYVuK0-4xcoMIXCsCgK_hoMmWFTWufnFDN4Day6MtFxbPnGNcbXeudnMyAzypIQLGQxQtOvg4uLNJocIaJafFMrmu-MB6_ayzyWwStQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1284" data-original-width="975" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1ZkmMv4MFswV47yPOsq_Bk9L-g31TQHsVKnnkInkG9GXS0ZDVsqYOyfpB2_3BjHhiUt0OgZ6Sj9rhoYiLkSGSYVuK0-4xcoMIXCsCgK_hoMmWFTWufnFDN4Day6MtFxbPnGNcbXeudnMyAzypIQLGQxQtOvg4uLNJocIaJafFMrmu-MB6_ayzyWwStQ=w485-h640" width="485" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side view. This was before God invented a computer chip that could do the same thing. :-) </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><br /><br /></div></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-31459449503389444882022-08-20T19:50:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:20:39.522-07:00Time Machine (1978)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHFfK85fVhwzufAx0YdAP6PXHlGjMuAZdgTOEVCXLC3AI-8VeTLHcvYO65OvpskregUCZJ2T3xGabiMsx5pxYyNfYC3iO7ybL5plC2ywXsheU5kvOqzu7YiDM9jsUueFPTCF9XdbzBu8F8G0jEPjpiMSfUnv_INXwAZe_MX3m6zzu4njnVeEDBJTd-4A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="975" height="461" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHFfK85fVhwzufAx0YdAP6PXHlGjMuAZdgTOEVCXLC3AI-8VeTLHcvYO65OvpskregUCZJ2T3xGabiMsx5pxYyNfYC3iO7ybL5plC2ywXsheU5kvOqzu7YiDM9jsUueFPTCF9XdbzBu8F8G0jEPjpiMSfUnv_INXwAZe_MX3m6zzu4njnVeEDBJTd-4A=w640-h461" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><p><span style="font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In high school, a
friend of mine was making a movie about time travel, and I volunteered to build
him a time machine (well, it was a prop).
This "Time Machine" used LEDs to count up and down - the
months would reset after 12, and the days would reset after 31. It was all
hardwired with flip flops and NAND gates. (See photos below.) <span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilP7NTCcZYjOuR9_huS-plUliM11-utaiInWuX4zsvQh6IT0cdO_NJUElU4qQPxIbaAHq1ARQJtEb_LgXKZMzvVfExuv2UX_CyCskpgOXTb5PA_vkdtENmzXVfhFEg6eWK3rMid8ByAPLc0YUIJxdVIb9mfi6kqGtF6a_V47yRqJ-HNIwrv8ONEsUmBg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="975" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEilP7NTCcZYjOuR9_huS-plUliM11-utaiInWuX4zsvQh6IT0cdO_NJUElU4qQPxIbaAHq1ARQJtEb_LgXKZMzvVfExuv2UX_CyCskpgOXTb5PA_vkdtENmzXVfhFEg6eWK3rMid8ByAPLc0YUIJxdVIb9mfi6kqGtF6a_V47yRqJ-HNIwrv8ONEsUmBg=w640-h429" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsn9rLcnRbKKVQNSPiyrp1Tz9lU3J636swH83E4_N8h1dC2hNFVGRJM-wWG5naE1PEv1RlKdaXJTZCvSgM-_Q_SzSHWreNkeijmYheu2Yjy9qQMuvaUS9Yl-nq7cu4_My-uOoHhpGL8vDKgAuTOO8j17CEtO32XUaZNQ1nukTh_TffoIj5Fba5oKKSUg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="961" height="624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjsn9rLcnRbKKVQNSPiyrp1Tz9lU3J636swH83E4_N8h1dC2hNFVGRJM-wWG5naE1PEv1RlKdaXJTZCvSgM-_Q_SzSHWreNkeijmYheu2Yjy9qQMuvaUS9Yl-nq7cu4_My-uOoHhpGL8vDKgAuTOO8j17CEtO32XUaZNQ1nukTh_TffoIj5Fba5oKKSUg=w640-h624" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjusK44nIYVwOQSWKkiX9BFrWET2R8GM0yhIBpnSgk6DceBEWaj9pKh4hpgIh3zr7VG9fF1_pS_cWjGuXk5Fw8yqUsWogQhJfPNkEUfidC9ke0EuaNlia1UUg8l8IsaaP67OgntoOeVSWOB6Z7vS__ZpYFGCKxjkTh65wcvuf9ORGuZM3qlYbknqE7e8A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="938" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjusK44nIYVwOQSWKkiX9BFrWET2R8GM0yhIBpnSgk6DceBEWaj9pKh4hpgIh3zr7VG9fF1_pS_cWjGuXk5Fw8yqUsWogQhJfPNkEUfidC9ke0EuaNlia1UUg8l8IsaaP67OgntoOeVSWOB6Z7vS__ZpYFGCKxjkTh65wcvuf9ORGuZM3qlYbknqE7e8A=w640-h430" width="640" /></a></div></div><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-8293821928353996822022-08-19T20:20:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:21:14.278-07:00Dedicated Autodialer (1979)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXNlJQ1RZ9P9e3hTp0tTaE7ytsNqwdSrbrRmy4TCuauwx9K-1hrezOXU88Dg-fNoSieU5z7xcVymUH_PknqvCltCy06xmGEWH9vESojNzAuajsm-v4s65-8dglFEv6aTRUqdL0CQvi8iemtbpVotXRVQRpYHFd4pRbym_NkOEOEYCJsSvMnWhW-ROH7A" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="975" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXNlJQ1RZ9P9e3hTp0tTaE7ytsNqwdSrbrRmy4TCuauwx9K-1hrezOXU88Dg-fNoSieU5z7xcVymUH_PknqvCltCy06xmGEWH9vESojNzAuajsm-v4s65-8dglFEv6aTRUqdL0CQvi8iemtbpVotXRVQRpYHFd4pRbym_NkOEOEYCJsSvMnWhW-ROH7A=w640-h466" width="640" /></a></div><p>When Sprint and MCI entered the alternate long distance market, accessing their services was a pain: You had to dial the local number, wait for their machine to answer, dial a 5-digit access code, then dial the area code and number you wanted.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><p>In 1979, a local law firm was fed up with that and so they hired me to build them these dedicated autodialers. They attached to their Exeutone (tm) office phones, and they had just one button and one light. To make a call, you just push the button - the dedicated autodialer would dial the local access number, pause for 7 seconds for the machine to answer, dial the 5-digit code, and then stop. The lawyers only had to dial the area code and number as normal - the same number of button presses as a regular long-distance call. It should be emphasized that this was the ONLY autodialer available at the time which have a provision to pause for several seconds while dialing out.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgD4Ywv_yS2_FKMNUCqTpsgxHVWSoD-G2RN-tzWiyuL49rjkRd0f2JUpF78aE339gVDf2_tdvEcDiIFYtbgVl-6nN-MkkjpUUGHJl8j8oUbJ1Ork-g73VbiT_NPeR1OlI7pqE2Y6c3IHqUYOpA47JFZj7m1B-BJ_lbeSv2rzvaHBL8lAnpT5j3MWOvYMQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="975" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgD4Ywv_yS2_FKMNUCqTpsgxHVWSoD-G2RN-tzWiyuL49rjkRd0f2JUpF78aE339gVDf2_tdvEcDiIFYtbgVl-6nN-MkkjpUUGHJl8j8oUbJ1Ork-g73VbiT_NPeR1OlI7pqE2Y6c3IHqUYOpA47JFZj7m1B-BJ_lbeSv2rzvaHBL8lAnpT5j3MWOvYMQ=w640-h446" width="640" /></a></div><br />I made about 15 of these, using hand-drawn, photo-etched, and drilled printed circuit boards. The circuit used a touch-tone generator chip coupled with a Programmable Read-only memory and a clock/counter circuit. An extra unit was entered into the IEEE Electronic Design Competition at UCLA, and it won first prize: A Hewlett Packard 41C calculator, the most advanced scientific calculator in the world. (Don't tell anyone I wasn't a UCLA student!)<p></p><p>More pictures below. <span></span></p><!--more--><p></p><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAksawxhtjMCbKTz-L7ZOx--O63ql7zdUhzrA8Tp3zB5doZAYPTWXPoBiOTC-ihVUTAQOd2IoUuUDBp3gkYVg768cP-CNiInCCC_ar16FCIZlLCH54948Qdj-16ajjoRYiPZdrgGL1z0fSAhzvLjVS7nqaFBP5s7iT9D2fBCcrv3671zs2zgiphSBNYw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="975" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAksawxhtjMCbKTz-L7ZOx--O63ql7zdUhzrA8Tp3zB5doZAYPTWXPoBiOTC-ihVUTAQOd2IoUuUDBp3gkYVg768cP-CNiInCCC_ar16FCIZlLCH54948Qdj-16ajjoRYiPZdrgGL1z0fSAhzvLjVS7nqaFBP5s7iT9D2fBCcrv3671zs2zgiphSBNYw=w640-h440" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrwuf0w6DGTIQvQHKAf_eJ7paO0eBKh9pCGkUJPOmq3LKUK-YEedcEGk5Q1OzSoY8b_kkvQ3w3VqplU0zfmlVQZS7fBf_X0Cs2LNSZeYR60Nx6PFIJaeg-1NO3kK-et7tgX6Ulc8HUDHSOEAEfe4Yo6gf4qN1Y9LfOARy4fFYRsruTt4PZepTBfUsIfg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="975" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjrwuf0w6DGTIQvQHKAf_eJ7paO0eBKh9pCGkUJPOmq3LKUK-YEedcEGk5Q1OzSoY8b_kkvQ3w3VqplU0zfmlVQZS7fBf_X0Cs2LNSZeYR60Nx6PFIJaeg-1NO3kK-et7tgX6Ulc8HUDHSOEAEfe4Yo6gf4qN1Y9LfOARy4fFYRsruTt4PZepTBfUsIfg=w640-h493" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5cPOhRqkJ4ftr8i2HEMu174KreIgalSe8n3fr4StVdcrL_kSEju78-SbTOL2NiNKFASDpHZPPIFHfdMRT8ciaqwM8R4WoT_DzG82Iwr3Mg1OYuYJuTwSGsd20DTWPaEPQdzjB6-e9u0Ozrfac9U-vi7e7rbPMpX0Tn0j2wzZEjtDpq0XzSt4oJzV3g/s3772/Me%20&%20Drill%20Press%208x12%20300%20dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2504" data-original-width="3772" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5cPOhRqkJ4ftr8i2HEMu174KreIgalSe8n3fr4StVdcrL_kSEju78-SbTOL2NiNKFASDpHZPPIFHfdMRT8ciaqwM8R4WoT_DzG82Iwr3Mg1OYuYJuTwSGsd20DTWPaEPQdzjB6-e9u0Ozrfac9U-vi7e7rbPMpX0Tn0j2wzZEjtDpq0XzSt4oJzV3g/w640-h424/Me%20&%20Drill%20Press%208x12%20300%20dpi.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me drilling the holes in the printed circuit boards.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNnY9A0uKZ5Pr55fErRYnlFD2iWHStLAoYdtQBRg-27UrwyNBxYjISxkMuXG1Z0ywDeY2ygZJrh1IW_E7R851GuvIA-tBKPQcXTW7LL2KYSohvn__rETOPgZaPfqnfi8RZBja2MhU6WX1fV113ZgJDtwrvGVs_uf1OsCtWHdKOTYITRxMNuLJw_QNDkw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="975" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNnY9A0uKZ5Pr55fErRYnlFD2iWHStLAoYdtQBRg-27UrwyNBxYjISxkMuXG1Z0ywDeY2ygZJrh1IW_E7R851GuvIA-tBKPQcXTW7LL2KYSohvn__rETOPgZaPfqnfi8RZBja2MhU6WX1fV113ZgJDtwrvGVs_uf1OsCtWHdKOTYITRxMNuLJw_QNDkw=w640-h496" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSFIhqHhrQWBBfL58wnazKACtlOCdcio_Jq9jy5ZJOg6ohyGB3fnPEhPJL6sulWqgi9qy0UkH7Hn4R_Xkqsl06YxanUaqYnHaKPnbxhJhh-8jw2-oVzJawadhm4WLuKW5gUBG7q3TgPM-RO2jNydunwtFzqjIhmKuioz9k4bxg4T8LjCRaN-L1Zx9xrw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="975" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSFIhqHhrQWBBfL58wnazKACtlOCdcio_Jq9jy5ZJOg6ohyGB3fnPEhPJL6sulWqgi9qy0UkH7Hn4R_Xkqsl06YxanUaqYnHaKPnbxhJhh-8jw2-oVzJawadhm4WLuKW5gUBG7q3TgPM-RO2jNydunwtFzqjIhmKuioz9k4bxg4T8LjCRaN-L1Zx9xrw=w640-h442" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1jWR5vFoknQJQw0I5vP0n2zpMw3Yf2LO6w9RQG-yjLDpCY6idnbWlAPbtEtVwlQzEU3llFYoKse5TJteQfYlemmYNnFI1jirtGaRMzgzanhz3C-mS5ahMIjqe8MrKtGDXOwOtNxJG4MCrCRRCUBs3-Yxd9iyxhQQdYlu4ylfR9_jDjInyIEwauvP0wQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="956" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1jWR5vFoknQJQw0I5vP0n2zpMw3Yf2LO6w9RQG-yjLDpCY6idnbWlAPbtEtVwlQzEU3llFYoKse5TJteQfYlemmYNnFI1jirtGaRMzgzanhz3C-mS5ahMIjqe8MrKtGDXOwOtNxJG4MCrCRRCUBs3-Yxd9iyxhQQdYlu4ylfR9_jDjInyIEwauvP0wQ=w453-h640" width="453" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgK4ilvW3iUuBYoPokL7JK7dsUg6IjSrOMZYVTUrXvO63yzkRyTKdfgqTrERfFP0VnTfjq1QwK7KZNmpLJAzGfWBw7JqD4ptC_TUZS5G_0iUreILnh5n-wE7BlJWN37Y_jnb6_JqKPhvQJ5xsw-7PyGhAQgPb7-5hCnxvIoE5bzBpfSdq9c_0rkMDqHOg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1132" data-original-width="975" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgK4ilvW3iUuBYoPokL7JK7dsUg6IjSrOMZYVTUrXvO63yzkRyTKdfgqTrERfFP0VnTfjq1QwK7KZNmpLJAzGfWBw7JqD4ptC_TUZS5G_0iUreILnh5n-wE7BlJWN37Y_jnb6_JqKPhvQJ5xsw-7PyGhAQgPb7-5hCnxvIoE5bzBpfSdq9c_0rkMDqHOg=w552-h640" width="552" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the announcement for the UCLA Electronics Design Competition. None of the judging professors realized that I wasn't a UCLA student. The first prize was an HP-41C calculator (worth $250 in 1980!) It was the first calculator with input/output ports on the back for peripherals, which I later leveraged for all subsequent inventions. </td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-85792253437202756922022-08-18T19:26:00.002-07:002023-01-07T07:06:35.591-08:00Shoe Phone (1980)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEityNkz6QKILyo_PlPA5KenpqRdLMYYdcRgwtEdJn91K5pr_-1uh3BYHarXwqtLjZrhmUEA5O6WUkbOYUTswqWp7U067DqtRCgHX5wk9idRm-OrrpPB4F63IeA5nFOLIW6hTCtBu07J3gocUDnPoeL3kxrciE_59_nFPuSCrHYoI23x_bWsVpWQoDsiDg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="975" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEityNkz6QKILyo_PlPA5KenpqRdLMYYdcRgwtEdJn91K5pr_-1uh3BYHarXwqtLjZrhmUEA5O6WUkbOYUTswqWp7U067DqtRCgHX5wk9idRm-OrrpPB4F63IeA5nFOLIW6hTCtBu07J3gocUDnPoeL3kxrciE_59_nFPuSCrHYoI23x_bWsVpWQoDsiDg=w640-h474" width="640" /></a></div><p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In my 20's I made the Guinness Book of World Records by building
the world's smallest telephone -- it was so small it would fit into the sole of
a Nike running shoe. This was in 1980, before cell phones, and before cordless
phones were around.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was designed out of necessity, since everywhere I'd go,
people would ask me, "Gary, my bedroom extension doesn't ring", or
"Gary, I can get a dial tone but I can't dial out. (And I don't know what
polarity is.)". So with these shoes I would always be able to
troubleshoot.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first shoe had the actual phone, doing what a lineman's
handset would do: It had a monitor mode and could generate all 16 Touch Tone
(r) digits. A neon bulb would flash on an incoming call. A polarity LED would
glow either red or green depending on the current. And the entire circuitry was
potted in resin so I could slap the sole back on via velcro and actually run on
them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The other shoe had tools in it - screwdriver, wirestrippers,
alligator clips and a modular plug. (And a swiss army knife.) Also with a
removable sole.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGB73n5n1xgnUuzkAcxdv84aFXg5567cgCbDsHJHsS3zBH3aWlD7adtOH0AycsDDsklsG0tYbWTgkkqvzn3OJWqY1GoBBxHVfxW6wJCiv-zClxF3WkxMw7hUwBe8Z6FY2sjw-s89XHpnXvi1Tpjls2He6ZN_RJeLsK0U48KDdopOT7Upbybq-YrskQlA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="975" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGB73n5n1xgnUuzkAcxdv84aFXg5567cgCbDsHJHsS3zBH3aWlD7adtOH0AycsDDsklsG0tYbWTgkkqvzn3OJWqY1GoBBxHVfxW6wJCiv-zClxF3WkxMw7hUwBe8Z6FY2sjw-s89XHpnXvi1Tpjls2He6ZN_RJeLsK0U48KDdopOT7Upbybq-YrskQlA=w640-h432" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was the first prototype. Notice the electronics area is significantly larger than the final version below. The speaker was different too.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQzZaGGSziq7iORUzWW1mk2qofdvoHbFVwMPTXqD4BDRYBhfld28ItbhqZYkysk5rLirkusfg3u9Ilw30SEFxx6mNXZPh3j7AfYDnK_7_1PZsI4FSjjn_Zl-7V4gvFG8hyRtoDYzrp_xbw11-KgV9b1h8j9sdDjTVx6dRqTwlTCG94v_eECLHREMC3sQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="975" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQzZaGGSziq7iORUzWW1mk2qofdvoHbFVwMPTXqD4BDRYBhfld28ItbhqZYkysk5rLirkusfg3u9Ilw30SEFxx6mNXZPh3j7AfYDnK_7_1PZsI4FSjjn_Zl-7V4gvFG8hyRtoDYzrp_xbw11-KgV9b1h8j9sdDjTVx6dRqTwlTCG94v_eECLHREMC3sQ=w640-h435" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The phone was listed in the 1985-1987 editions of the Guinness
Book of World Records. It also spent two years in a telecommunications museum
in Germany.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYYW6hZl85ezhztWwKZ5NLKbrB3HXfeBi4Oor4M-H-Fqa_66do-b9mJlCSo7neVcQZQpqqtqFPuXEAAUCic22MedXZN_5qhVgJ7qXthYZKF3YCW1asaAqmKfO14ySvh75JEo_BT2Im0ZA9PGYWpLa6tkj9eqTHXoo4AodCJy99yJRGbSXyvkBxqrLAFg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="898" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYYW6hZl85ezhztWwKZ5NLKbrB3HXfeBi4Oor4M-H-Fqa_66do-b9mJlCSo7neVcQZQpqqtqFPuXEAAUCic22MedXZN_5qhVgJ7qXthYZKF3YCW1asaAqmKfO14ySvh75JEo_BT2Im0ZA9PGYWpLa6tkj9eqTHXoo4AodCJy99yJRGbSXyvkBxqrLAFg=w427-h640" width="427" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdsVydp2xyhtT8RlaMnxQ7G0YSxo3fQX56kmt9DMQn7JfXyPE6Vnt4vIu9mXZOuhgbOT-8Q09h0l9X8tAjaxJVEDTFDr2s4MmEe8x4eG6EyjYOkWqhgJqZNH7xaVFQ8tq92IgOttHUlcSEaon1onik4FxzB1MelckVHi9-J3BYtz6cpM3AUp5F8QD-dA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="975" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdsVydp2xyhtT8RlaMnxQ7G0YSxo3fQX56kmt9DMQn7JfXyPE6Vnt4vIu9mXZOuhgbOT-8Q09h0l9X8tAjaxJVEDTFDr2s4MmEe8x4eG6EyjYOkWqhgJqZNH7xaVFQ8tq92IgOttHUlcSEaon1onik4FxzB1MelckVHi9-J3BYtz6cpM3AUp5F8QD-dA=w640-h414" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was bored in college, OK?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 15.3333px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15.3333px;">The phone still works, although column 2 has since shorted out, meaning you can't dial a number with a 2, 5, 8, or 0 in it.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">===</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Building the Shoe Phone</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4lN4b8RpNB3zjuC-mg49LwppSs9lHH2_UbYUsZGJvHV5ibLi1h-6Acn5KhX3I3riRwitZNcc-dnktziKwgxGYDDkVgNmLUpoMv8_I7xy0P_TCByqAvTCFbZIJeogK9BAEa7TzAi7gZZjNxkJuqDf2W53XdobmPNZAFRv72JBaLz4KWN5RoirtYbe5Q/s3611/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20Cutting%20Open_001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3611" data-original-width="2407" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4lN4b8RpNB3zjuC-mg49LwppSs9lHH2_UbYUsZGJvHV5ibLi1h-6Acn5KhX3I3riRwitZNcc-dnktziKwgxGYDDkVgNmLUpoMv8_I7xy0P_TCByqAvTCFbZIJeogK9BAEa7TzAi7gZZjNxkJuqDf2W53XdobmPNZAFRv72JBaLz4KWN5RoirtYbe5Q/w426-h640/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20Cutting%20Open_001.JPG" width="426" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8cVc7w36qFm9s7nls4dWy5LrT71JSVN0rBX_YQp-VPM5tdIKI81qz2MBMxFF0TjGDaKR84dM2Zse8MV95bNp6upGFLfHq9SP2il1fp6_xvSsEmBVaZnqr3Ghs4NC4cNbjGJptp7PCCU1MevlEPQM0YrtopS_EbQyoj9aD7VONmXC_e6QCr1FAj6krfg/s3604/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20Gary%20and%20Router_001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3604" data-original-width="2403" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8cVc7w36qFm9s7nls4dWy5LrT71JSVN0rBX_YQp-VPM5tdIKI81qz2MBMxFF0TjGDaKR84dM2Zse8MV95bNp6upGFLfHq9SP2il1fp6_xvSsEmBVaZnqr3Ghs4NC4cNbjGJptp7PCCU1MevlEPQM0YrtopS_EbQyoj9aD7VONmXC_e6QCr1FAj6krfg/w426-h640/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20Gary%20and%20Router_001.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSS7psjCWOU68lnXyAKFlf2mZFzz-WI25_a_Ia-3UN5EpYscIddLxs7TxoBl1-ZFrQBUuvaqOfyU3cs_-oHQTHUv7AvXYLG9AUH34PIeG4ZGWezRwEE0GHGXXIHWxuNQaGqXcl2ep7NdNR4ovPuHaYs-qrkZWY7kLOZdVTveRqu0u_EpNF6hEBu9KDw/s3359/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20hollowing%20out%20with%20router_001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3359" data-original-width="2239" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSS7psjCWOU68lnXyAKFlf2mZFzz-WI25_a_Ia-3UN5EpYscIddLxs7TxoBl1-ZFrQBUuvaqOfyU3cs_-oHQTHUv7AvXYLG9AUH34PIeG4ZGWezRwEE0GHGXXIHWxuNQaGqXcl2ep7NdNR4ovPuHaYs-qrkZWY7kLOZdVTveRqu0u_EpNF6hEBu9KDw/w426-h640/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20hollowing%20out%20with%20router_001.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYfKQAmi0Kd25dBkWAMvQWZSIQl4bH9p7UNiVEaQeuyBmPABRm1E73WermQGCyPAzqh_hJ50fDQTLq-RJYPNWrE7h9gLIquirM3fVKk-cbnRi6IsnO4x11gNXrDa06iFSEvpUMm6wv9--pzmbpcsxchoW3R6BYJX_N--Ai7F6pgnQ-2BBEqIdKan4iA/s3606/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20hollowing%20out_001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2404" data-original-width="3606" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYfKQAmi0Kd25dBkWAMvQWZSIQl4bH9p7UNiVEaQeuyBmPABRm1E73WermQGCyPAzqh_hJ50fDQTLq-RJYPNWrE7h9gLIquirM3fVKk-cbnRi6IsnO4x11gNXrDa06iFSEvpUMm6wv9--pzmbpcsxchoW3R6BYJX_N--Ai7F6pgnQ-2BBEqIdKan4iA/w640-h426/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20hollowing%20out_001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiBfoCMquVUGktyuRLKg44VsHa8dk9jmoV-2_VdTO862YxfDfAI6Z2QlmyCQZ__GvOYpkNgFCRYbM1BDevjxmR4uNWHB5zKcw_5FGAT3XW4XvY_UNH14-1PX5m9kk2io3jRobmJVJol7lMvPW8QIIh4AE6JshMBDTDHSdwHr-1EkZOjbLGwQ-xln34Q/s3317/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20Whoops_001.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3317" data-original-width="2211" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiBfoCMquVUGktyuRLKg44VsHa8dk9jmoV-2_VdTO862YxfDfAI6Z2QlmyCQZ__GvOYpkNgFCRYbM1BDevjxmR4uNWHB5zKcw_5FGAT3XW4XvY_UNH14-1PX5m9kk2io3jRobmJVJol7lMvPW8QIIh4AE6JshMBDTDHSdwHr-1EkZOjbLGwQ-xln34Q/w426-h640/Shoe%20Phone%20-%20Whoops_001.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damaged in manufacturing. There goes $60!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh882fJtab9vIKMHv8AOkKa-2u72hVkWaXWAa35kzbm98TyaPeR0EGWoIpYXJelQAOrPcYfc1RfIvLovFU1gBeaHNVZQPwcU5k5kteH2KjF52hp1P7_s6ZcqGUfIUp6Z1hwBGcLKtY7SgW9zvXcXhQNhYKWWfs_zaIlqpIWerGRZNLLi-QXSQhRRdIsrg/s3488/Building%20shoe%20phone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3488" data-original-width="2360" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh882fJtab9vIKMHv8AOkKa-2u72hVkWaXWAa35kzbm98TyaPeR0EGWoIpYXJelQAOrPcYfc1RfIvLovFU1gBeaHNVZQPwcU5k5kteH2KjF52hp1P7_s6ZcqGUfIUp6Z1hwBGcLKtY7SgW9zvXcXhQNhYKWWfs_zaIlqpIWerGRZNLLi-QXSQhRRdIsrg/w434-h640/Building%20shoe%20phone.jpg" width="434" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pouring the resin to protect the electronics</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjv4Q29A-a0EfD068k_RQIBXJweI_VVQXe6gr99Trcyc0FQzglIdSxuzAcc21RCiin0MMV21F6xEAv_rWejDaVxl8lbu7cC9YFqpL6P_B7hlqRzziMgWrG1KCK2g8_IsWBEaGhBDK6TCrhph9m4_Sk0fmzOdPjTuY-JjwL9eRL1TA9nvy4UbZ9oFyuTwA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="901" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjv4Q29A-a0EfD068k_RQIBXJweI_VVQXe6gr99Trcyc0FQzglIdSxuzAcc21RCiin0MMV21F6xEAv_rWejDaVxl8lbu7cC9YFqpL6P_B7hlqRzziMgWrG1KCK2g8_IsWBEaGhBDK6TCrhph9m4_Sk0fmzOdPjTuY-JjwL9eRL1TA9nvy4UbZ9oFyuTwA=w427-h640" width="427" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTXB6wf2nXe2dJU9qDVjfWMLYUKNBzXTwY2W0kxznQXdR_ZQBnzd0mmwa5GAkLOoRZPJqKneJeLgyjNMfvZJ6zOmcClfnPtYReBGIogrSVzaWjjmgoQdo7TiIqyASCCg6PCjoLtCAn26LAx-kGwtcfQ3B10NkUkhRLmbNeaWXtksq6V-AclFnJb0zy9w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="975" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTXB6wf2nXe2dJU9qDVjfWMLYUKNBzXTwY2W0kxznQXdR_ZQBnzd0mmwa5GAkLOoRZPJqKneJeLgyjNMfvZJ6zOmcClfnPtYReBGIogrSVzaWjjmgoQdo7TiIqyASCCg6PCjoLtCAn26LAx-kGwtcfQ3B10NkUkhRLmbNeaWXtksq6V-AclFnJb0zy9w=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It made the local paper.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUTERdFrl850zn5wgYdVkepLxotTi38VqW0uYaKvU9TqSGCCraQcYViddRkld1awX-JNAEeVK58IffDEjHr85xUfrEPeRsM_NswYJZGzmvfVSDxR7z-2cSLfSHxS6OoAjwlo5tLvufV9kV-40dhEzbyaAydulvholpDZhm9zNzF7XCmxONZ8lItlU7lQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="975" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUTERdFrl850zn5wgYdVkepLxotTi38VqW0uYaKvU9TqSGCCraQcYViddRkld1awX-JNAEeVK58IffDEjHr85xUfrEPeRsM_NswYJZGzmvfVSDxR7z-2cSLfSHxS6OoAjwlo5tLvufV9kV-40dhEzbyaAydulvholpDZhm9zNzF7XCmxONZ8lItlU7lQ=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div></div><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-87696123329500231492022-08-17T13:58:00.002-07:002022-11-11T14:00:58.978-08:00Fake Car Phone (1980)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhwFpqGOliczd4l3YTT6UQiu8or1_gdGsrcR3du8dCS-dWyNmfd8aRm6_Ci1KpZB91NcVXwu_qTz6EZga7QAgDYfqUHQ1Fobiz_jwEZWrfVAjO9gkJAD44EMorfCfAgFubKiFHhnpJqxBu3wwi3kpjguL1NeWdRr_yLFkf8NPOpXjWVbtuDwQ9c505g/s3646/Teletronics%20Car%20Phone%20700%20GL_001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3646" data-original-width="2454" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhwFpqGOliczd4l3YTT6UQiu8or1_gdGsrcR3du8dCS-dWyNmfd8aRm6_Ci1KpZB91NcVXwu_qTz6EZga7QAgDYfqUHQ1Fobiz_jwEZWrfVAjO9gkJAD44EMorfCfAgFubKiFHhnpJqxBu3wwi3kpjguL1NeWdRr_yLFkf8NPOpXjWVbtuDwQ9c505g/w430-h640/Teletronics%20Car%20Phone%20700%20GL_001.JPG" width="430" /></a></div><p></p><p>Before cell phones, there were radiotelephones. In your car. They were big. Only rich people could afford them. </p><p>And when I was in college, a friend wanted to impress his new girlfriend. So I built him this completely fake car phone with all the bells and whistles: The "Teletronics" box would have a row of LED's that scanned a row of red and then green (like a police scanner). When you picked up the phone the scanning stopped and you heard a dial tone. Five seconds later, no matter what number you dialed, you'd hear a busy signal. (Sound effects were provided by the two tape recorders under the driver's seat.)<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Everything was done by hardwired logic – no computer inside. And the case was woodgrain contact paper with white rub-off lettering. </p><p>I was bored in college, okay? </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOQASYrM3xhJpB0eD8F4jWenC5ABppKF-EkFq_EuDt5PVqTRuEb8Zmd7LYG8x07L54Z71p_c3flI7G9Ht5CDcKEjHlyU3PqPa4Go4ehrzrcQlfP1w41sFAKMlctIE-B5kQe0LoC5FMwWnf5vkYiz-LChbtkIZ8XMhUHkH8o91ApV1A3I49OU3_fuzmg/s7484/Teletronics%20A9900187%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4980" data-original-width="7484" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOQASYrM3xhJpB0eD8F4jWenC5ABppKF-EkFq_EuDt5PVqTRuEb8Zmd7LYG8x07L54Z71p_c3flI7G9Ht5CDcKEjHlyU3PqPa4Go4ehrzrcQlfP1w41sFAKMlctIE-B5kQe0LoC5FMwWnf5vkYiz-LChbtkIZ8XMhUHkH8o91ApV1A3I49OU3_fuzmg/w640-h426/Teletronics%20A9900187%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fake car phone in action.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-37871186293231528842022-08-16T20:25:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:22:19.487-07:00Camera Controller for Time Exposures (1982)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgIXGPx2wAscDJZh6L8_aff2lB61Yg926RfWgCpi6jpcZzChm1d8X2_LIA3quC3AX3TdcC8dUne1qc8GSQaIluEjsrls2AHzCaDz5lbWIDni5TQrphrBBwqW49c10byYVGORwLUgvehFmBxqRq7xzlWTkakeRYiN2FBDXyal5EHnRxQ9yPZ1b7Uun3Og" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="975" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhgIXGPx2wAscDJZh6L8_aff2lB61Yg926RfWgCpi6jpcZzChm1d8X2_LIA3quC3AX3TdcC8dUne1qc8GSQaIluEjsrls2AHzCaDz5lbWIDni5TQrphrBBwqW49c10byYVGORwLUgvehFmBxqRq7xzlWTkakeRYiN2FBDXyal5EHnRxQ9yPZ1b7Uun3Og=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div> <p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Once upon a time, back in the days of film, long exposures (like of the picture below, which was taken at 2:00 AM using a 20-minute exposure) were very much a trial-and-error process. First you had to put your camera on a tripod, and set your shutter speed to “a very long time”. It was difficult to know how long to keep the shutter open, as the light was too low for the camera's meter to measure accurately. So it was a trial and error process. Standing out in the cold monitoring your camera and the elapsed time was an exercise in tedium.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhi3yrc5bhkfy9IcEeZtgchuXzd6VgoUfxCphAv1tfn5iShxAzsRirx4cSbOGaysVesHBBCzavkSCEriuFrdw0Awn6YNA51AFLAUQ31fHaKkKoBIHoynQ8Q4qiZ8CqltfTUwDNpRyUz3_33DsNMQrqBY_kv3n29tynDs0RDWl1qzqVTOgw9XVeSfdhezA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="975" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhi3yrc5bhkfy9IcEeZtgchuXzd6VgoUfxCphAv1tfn5iShxAzsRirx4cSbOGaysVesHBBCzavkSCEriuFrdw0Awn6YNA51AFLAUQ31fHaKkKoBIHoynQ8Q4qiZ8CqltfTUwDNpRyUz3_33DsNMQrqBY_kv3n29tynDs0RDWl1qzqVTOgw9XVeSfdhezA=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUnGM37YbxaoQDbI1LrXL_Xoyb6u9WFWIVVKO7OUTEwRfqS_28Ukgm6SjkuURMYSYwPNYycL0EWhJ5dSANOKQphJs3K8-bGKFwyYJxUsoRJ57ItZv0SXfVmR4hHonL9B91y9qMs7IAXbrisMT8EI6Q1CmtZKNaPzOV1CaJ0CGWNmIQMzsqkOJ9d7k_TQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="975" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUnGM37YbxaoQDbI1LrXL_Xoyb6u9WFWIVVKO7OUTEwRfqS_28Ukgm6SjkuURMYSYwPNYycL0EWhJ5dSANOKQphJs3K8-bGKFwyYJxUsoRJ57ItZv0SXfVmR4hHonL9B91y9qMs7IAXbrisMT8EI6Q1CmtZKNaPzOV1CaJ0CGWNmIQMzsqkOJ9d7k_TQ=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">What to do? I solved the problem back in college by hooking up my camera to a Hewlett Packard 41C calculator (really, it was a computer – thankfully none of my professors knew that), building some custom hardware, and programming the calculator to try different exposure values based on an initial time. So if I put in a base time of "1 minute", it would take six sequential pictures, one each at 1 minute, 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 16 minutes, and 32 minutes (one stop apart). When I got home and looked at my slides, one of those exposures was sure to be the right one. Here's one example where computers could do all the work for me while I stayed warm inside, sipping hot chocolate.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgASwsmoBLcYlH7t_QUzP2fO33NN0CqTnXP0tZXhKBnsxPu4TtwM6h8V-GZL4LQBfRRCAqIE9EF6WMWL5DMp2Xe3A4ontNxoyZ7cQRvGUJzYnm2Jn9PbiXQamS5bWvf83ns9ZNII6vIX4Qjrji9fYq-qSscLLvF5dgeHaaVVBuCS4tHEZ4Z7QSzIVX0_w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="975" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgASwsmoBLcYlH7t_QUzP2fO33NN0CqTnXP0tZXhKBnsxPu4TtwM6h8V-GZL4LQBfRRCAqIE9EF6WMWL5DMp2Xe3A4ontNxoyZ7cQRvGUJzYnm2Jn9PbiXQamS5bWvf83ns9ZNII6vIX4Qjrji9fYq-qSscLLvF5dgeHaaVVBuCS4tHEZ4Z7QSzIVX0_w=w640-h448" width="640" /></a></div><br />My calculator was always in my camera bag. Not only could it control my camera, but I programmed it to tell me the sunrise and sunset times based on my geographic coordinates.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div></div><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-78409225543795958782022-08-15T15:10:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:22:36.492-07:00Speech Synthesizer (1984)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZ9FPW4-Q69X871EuQ_vRfuY_zMRHL0-nh6-OF44f3QxWd7kxnur8fA8_53CCp9azgF8Q00D5OmAYw6hguOX9nQrYNXrrnwdJIr5ytROUbDDMDY77bGN5yqLdP8n48oOYewM72XzwZRoYgH8gzD93Ea931123pGPRQfcyY1xejLB37eekCubR55Po9g/s3778/HP-41%20Speech%20Synthesizer%20Front.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2429" data-original-width="3778" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZ9FPW4-Q69X871EuQ_vRfuY_zMRHL0-nh6-OF44f3QxWd7kxnur8fA8_53CCp9azgF8Q00D5OmAYw6hguOX9nQrYNXrrnwdJIr5ytROUbDDMDY77bGN5yqLdP8n48oOYewM72XzwZRoYgH8gzD93Ea931123pGPRQfcyY1xejLB37eekCubR55Po9g/w640-h412/HP-41%20Speech%20Synthesizer%20Front.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Having machines talk has been a goal of inventors since the 17th century. But primitive speech synthesis systems didn't start to appear until the 1970's. In the 1980's a speech synthesis chip finally became available and I used it to make a portable "talking machine".<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My HP 41 calculator fed it the instructions for speaking - you had to break down the words into phonemes and inflections and then feed them to the chip sequentially. It sounded like someone with a heavy Swedish accents. (I have an old recording of it somewhere and as soon as I find it I'll update this post so you can hear it.) I gave it "futuristic" packaging by gluing two clear cassette tape cases back to back.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Many years later, more advanced systems became available where you just type in the word and it figured out how to pronounce it. I bought one and hooked it up to my laptop and it was really cool. A radio station even hired me to record their "Call letters" using my text-to-speech machine!</div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJJV0T40Xo1poaRF-aCso6wLJv6uwHsRZjusgk1Q4PmAAVv01YVA27PBj832vnnnDvWJA6AtvLE-i03FXQebdfii2FkkV8lD-iGCZyyhaMoXfH9exi--W7VnZNMzBNRg7uzDhcJP8ydcY0LBm9JQa9FISR0jMOK6BDxXQcvdP2CVmg6QNfsIpAsAVHw/s3405/HP-41%20Speech%20Synthesizer%20rear.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3405" data-original-width="2478" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJJV0T40Xo1poaRF-aCso6wLJv6uwHsRZjusgk1Q4PmAAVv01YVA27PBj832vnnnDvWJA6AtvLE-i03FXQebdfii2FkkV8lD-iGCZyyhaMoXfH9exi--W7VnZNMzBNRg7uzDhcJP8ydcY0LBm9JQa9FISR0jMOK6BDxXQcvdP2CVmg6QNfsIpAsAVHw/w466-h640/HP-41%20Speech%20Synthesizer%20rear.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-70684072090173530682022-08-14T13:54:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:22:51.233-07:00Remote Control for Seniors (1985)<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizahfEu7uB3oyZNI1jRE5ztbu1UFRi8p3h9LQb_nuAoD8nfukb_04N-VX-QSGAXHWIVTcWHQHT5lFX02swIXU-KK35U5PEJLqc1GppQYQhQBPzVcX3AR69NFY2mWBxzpiThloRwHt5VyvJRGGleEk7qMACp5uzeh_AmtlU_XxSeqcj_4SmAIXstQJffQ/s3215/Grammy's%20Remote%20Control%208x10%20300%20dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2474" data-original-width="3215" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizahfEu7uB3oyZNI1jRE5ztbu1UFRi8p3h9LQb_nuAoD8nfukb_04N-VX-QSGAXHWIVTcWHQHT5lFX02swIXU-KK35U5PEJLqc1GppQYQhQBPzVcX3AR69NFY2mWBxzpiThloRwHt5VyvJRGGleEk7qMACp5uzeh_AmtlU_XxSeqcj_4SmAIXstQJffQ/w640-h493/Grammy's%20Remote%20Control%208x10%20300%20dpi.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">My grandmother, in her later years, would spend her days sitting in her living room chair either reading or watching TV.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But she had a difficult time using the TV’s remote control. The buttons were tiny, were mushy (she didn’t really know if she was pressing it with sufficient force), the writing was tiny and often of low contrast (in other words, tiny grey letters on a black background is difficult to read). The worst part was that she didn’t understand the concept of line-of-sight when using the infrared remote control: She would hold the remote close to her face to read the legend, and then press the button. But in that position the remote was pointing toward the ceiling, where the TV couldn’t see it. So she’d struggle to find the right button and then not understand why pressing it didn’t work. Frustration ensued.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What did I do? I made her this remote control. It didn’t have a gazillion buttons; it had six: On/Off, Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down, and Mute. (No NETFLIX button. Netflix wasn’t around then.) The buttons were big, colorful, and would make a clicking sound so she knew when they were pressed. They were well-labeled, with large black letters on a white background. Best of all, I place an Infrared Expander on the end of it which would spread the IR signal in all directions – the TV would see it no matter what direction the remote was pointing! On the inside was the original remote control, taken out of its case and the wires from the buttons were soldered onto the printed circuit board.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Since then there have been a lot of remote controls marketed at seniors. But none were as perfect as this one! </div><div><br /></div></div><p><br /></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-61801191411270779442022-08-13T20:33:00.002-07:002023-07-17T22:46:15.064-07:00Answering Machine with Speech Synthesis and Touch Tone ® Decoding (1985)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHgIoZfCz4lF-iTToKF_MV5wmn5LMDOgZG8B3lHSjhvmADLzZKR_TfICPHzOZA17240B4WdoEN0waNje3bhZS618rLVD8APjuHSS_duJLIsfJ1njJsOKGm3ebszG2IwMrMs1Y6G85NG5RLcmEW_wu9c2SDh50jdqnriKFoKTM-ai3c8W6BASqtztJ4sQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="975" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjHgIoZfCz4lF-iTToKF_MV5wmn5LMDOgZG8B3lHSjhvmADLzZKR_TfICPHzOZA17240B4WdoEN0waNje3bhZS618rLVD8APjuHSS_duJLIsfJ1njJsOKGm3ebszG2IwMrMs1Y6G85NG5RLcmEW_wu9c2SDh50jdqnriKFoKTM-ai3c8W6BASqtztJ4sQ=w640-h502" width="640" /></a></div><p> When I was in college, I built the most advanced telephone answering machine in the world. The year was 1985, and it employed synthetic speech for the outgoing message, and used Touch Tone (r) decoding for the various functions listed below, some of which are still not commercially available. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Salient points of the design:</p><p>1. The speech synthesis (SC-01 chip, if you must know) also added a verbal date and time stamp at the end of each caller's message, so you'll know upon playback when the call came in. (Nobody ever leaves the time they called when you ask them to.)</p><p>2. Priority Message Taking Feature - Priority callers can Touch Tone in a pre-assigned 4-digit code in lieu of a verbal message; the caller then gets a personalized "Thank You", (i.e., "Thank you, Nancy"), and a phone message containing the first and last name, phone number, time and date is instantly printed out, resulting in a printed list of priority clients whose calls should be returned first. (Non-priority callers will just have to wait until you get around to listening to their taped messages.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxkpwU8GCWINnOa0PR5O9Rc-3B5SDTniSBITRou5f-P0aWtPANAkWho0LL-t2_ZajbaoS-AOVeudRW9irt-aL_3cWfQcYE7-c9paViJ5MR87mIJnU2StURZAKO7ylw3c-YDYfURiEkV1IdDLcWMMVEOqNRllygkFNVkH3CEFtuYIwO4vIixnXkFCk9Vg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="975" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxkpwU8GCWINnOa0PR5O9Rc-3B5SDTniSBITRou5f-P0aWtPANAkWho0LL-t2_ZajbaoS-AOVeudRW9irt-aL_3cWfQcYE7-c9paViJ5MR87mIJnU2StURZAKO7ylw3c-YDYfURiEkV1IdDLcWMMVEOqNRllygkFNVkH3CEFtuYIwO4vIixnXkFCk9Vg=w640-h442" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>3. Priority Message Transmission - The list generated in item #2 above can be read back to you over the phone in case you can't get to your equipment. After the user's 4-digit Touch Tone code is entered, the system will announce the number of messages, first and last names of each client, phone number, time and day they called.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGr8CpVFsaC2Cm_RAzxh9ZrEEE_fwRqjsz1YEm7VjI_EeloaNMF4KyhV85Ru6JQey74cACh0FcbyeL3yNU05xYDOPFHhhLAHyn4GK2RQQSIgmDM3k-nVC5zdhfbrYJtBQF9ZaJWVkcy1JjVMnN2r2R8n8w0X8BRiEeRHs9vY6eEiNdfXW1XGvKBe9VsQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="975" height="595" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGr8CpVFsaC2Cm_RAzxh9ZrEEE_fwRqjsz1YEm7VjI_EeloaNMF4KyhV85Ru6JQey74cACh0FcbyeL3yNU05xYDOPFHhhLAHyn4GK2RQQSIgmDM3k-nVC5zdhfbrYJtBQF9ZaJWVkcy1JjVMnN2r2R8n8w0X8BRiEeRHs9vY6eEiNdfXW1XGvKBe9VsQ=w640-h595" width="640" /></a></div><br />4. Extremely Remote Control--This system also allows you to turn up to five A.C. appliances on or off from anywhere in the world just by entering the proper 4-digit Touch Tone code. Verbal confirmation and the status of the device (i.e. "Device number 1 is off.") is announced.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3R1Oo3SZls5sgBIuCpz_89H4H7aJLkp39XB7wg73MaNL7wm7HtC5x-g4L-7rBSYg5ic4MHVhhpFY61OA0M5QehuMAqKes4mQtARuqGlmKq8ioW51Gt5gVGxBzczrEi5ucw1N5-9I2Q5qzR798V-T056-zKH81FT0fWtWu1KqeP3m83zSSTtfwHKeXYA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1047" data-original-width="975" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3R1Oo3SZls5sgBIuCpz_89H4H7aJLkp39XB7wg73MaNL7wm7HtC5x-g4L-7rBSYg5ic4MHVhhpFY61OA0M5QehuMAqKes4mQtARuqGlmKq8ioW51Gt5gVGxBzczrEi5ucw1N5-9I2Q5qzR798V-T056-zKH81FT0fWtWu1KqeP3m83zSSTtfwHKeXYA=w595-h640" width="595" /></a></div><br />5. Outgoing Call Monitor--When the user is at home, the system doubles as an outgoing call monitor, where the time, date, and number dialed from any Touch Tone extension phone is automatically logged, providing a hardcopy record of all outgoing calls so they can be checked against the Phone Co.'s bills.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo8xox2leHC_C9fqzxDyFAV1qgElp3heWZkuhhkiUXmQuedTUK5gnXyX_cg92gQ5oUM5Tqr7AU2GBYorh7EgMRfFGRu3ZatNBO2bq6yhqOylrAFNe6vaGEgkncSpDb9lL6_Gl8cJSXHXmCAPd-t8xVRV6Ub9HLpqnIIMj0Wbgyvymyw5VZVeitKhgyyQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="914" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjo8xox2leHC_C9fqzxDyFAV1qgElp3heWZkuhhkiUXmQuedTUK5gnXyX_cg92gQ5oUM5Tqr7AU2GBYorh7EgMRfFGRu3ZatNBO2bq6yhqOylrAFNe6vaGEgkncSpDb9lL6_Gl8cJSXHXmCAPd-t8xVRV6Ub9HLpqnIIMj0Wbgyvymyw5VZVeitKhgyyQ=w640-h430" width="640" /></a></div><br />The whole thing was controlled by a Hewlett Packard 41C calculator (not shown in the top photo). Also not shown is a thermal printer and a cassette recorder. The whole thing still works, but I'm having trouble with my HP data cassette drive.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMugwRgu4sbtw43pcmRMAFVhAuRlSEbSmAE_4g31j621TQhUhVQrnLp_1mmAwpimQzwRxBCtxdMW77ShGTiEfCgtzScZT5zOD1PbgVeSWS2v24RgYkY14lu-yjIK9p0VnDPVtSqDI_3u1GSUGsJ7gnn8QxGWZEQ2gEfAIHuByRJ1pDTYwvltfuY5j70Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="975" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMugwRgu4sbtw43pcmRMAFVhAuRlSEbSmAE_4g31j621TQhUhVQrnLp_1mmAwpimQzwRxBCtxdMW77ShGTiEfCgtzScZT5zOD1PbgVeSWS2v24RgYkY14lu-yjIK9p0VnDPVtSqDI_3u1GSUGsJ7gnn8QxGWZEQ2gEfAIHuByRJ1pDTYwvltfuY5j70Q=w640-h498" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVZD23wYc4Tbz1MNfxnJ9I1eTEb21ReWqvTGfAe3kPPPOs0fcjdmP-RfPskX6-xpBm4eD27czmfOY1XwUKH-tokJWNOf1VhPHfyAQhY6qN6nqnbzmSiGgp7LoAijJKxIVGMRoN0ZNyRYDXtlCknUbGDvFGO-2hNxJU-XXH0hyUZ36lipa3ySNzhsrjw/s3840/HP%2041%20Answering%20Machine%20rear%20DSC01583.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2969" data-original-width="3840" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtVZD23wYc4Tbz1MNfxnJ9I1eTEb21ReWqvTGfAe3kPPPOs0fcjdmP-RfPskX6-xpBm4eD27czmfOY1XwUKH-tokJWNOf1VhPHfyAQhY6qN6nqnbzmSiGgp7LoAijJKxIVGMRoN0ZNyRYDXtlCknUbGDvFGO-2hNxJU-XXH0hyUZ36lipa3ySNzhsrjw/w640-h494/HP%2041%20Answering%20Machine%20rear%20DSC01583.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You can listen to some of the messages left on my answering machine, as well as the robotic sounding synthetic speech that greeted the callers (and the time stamp it left on each incoming message)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/HP41c%20Answering%20Machine%20Messages.mp3">https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/HP41c%20Answering%20Machine%20Messages.mp3</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-2487099436261435912022-08-12T13:29:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:23:19.334-07:00Slide Projector Dissolve Unit (1985)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwzObSX787CWTLJW-swioZnv4rZPkPMBctbm4QFzPgS3TZ4qZRhIbkFlTMgAGpUn3ERT_uHgT8c24i5BjR7kJvhLVYKfUfXrhFCXj_Y8VBr7TZ7ID3Sv_spHN1mG74L9OgcQmYD5cUdjxf_IBZix4sVw6bNvCLZw7z28eiaIFJQMoac7npbgHJcJlyUQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1069" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjwzObSX787CWTLJW-swioZnv4rZPkPMBctbm4QFzPgS3TZ4qZRhIbkFlTMgAGpUn3ERT_uHgT8c24i5BjR7kJvhLVYKfUfXrhFCXj_Y8VBr7TZ7ID3Sv_spHN1mG74L9OgcQmYD5cUdjxf_IBZix4sVw6bNvCLZw7z28eiaIFJQMoac7npbgHJcJlyUQ=w427-h640" width="427" /></a></div><br />Back in the olden days, "multimedia" meant two slide projectors, a dissolve unit (so one image would "dissolve" into the next) and synchronized sound track. But back in 1984 there weren't any dissolve controllers that met my needs, so I did what any self-respecting engineer would do - I designed and built my own circuitry, and programmed my HP-71 calculator (MUCH more powerful than the HP-41 previously mentioned!) in assembly language just to put on a show that moved people emotionally (like this one: <a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/peace-child-in-lativia">https://friedmanarchives.com/peace-child-in-lativia</a>/ ). <span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHTkZ5iosRAT4qDLrfeZPDFWA1I7PfgCF44RoZnofO8Phn8J_JnXYdCglcaRxdxOlBUUaujbe9F5K_QgMQCqEVw3QpZGjxOHVWRe2_jurVQnUFTo1ZWYeRDZFgeM9AeAriAPp98yqbOogew7Wpy_ZZQEzSYvlo2PyUyiSo_2PT2pn8QT64k3dvWB0ZA/s1115/Slide%20Projector%20Dissolve%20Unit%20Schematic.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1115" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHTkZ5iosRAT4qDLrfeZPDFWA1I7PfgCF44RoZnofO8Phn8J_JnXYdCglcaRxdxOlBUUaujbe9F5K_QgMQCqEVw3QpZGjxOHVWRe2_jurVQnUFTo1ZWYeRDZFgeM9AeAriAPp98yqbOogew7Wpy_ZZQEzSYvlo2PyUyiSo_2PT2pn8QT64k3dvWB0ZA/w640-h435/Slide%20Projector%20Dissolve%20Unit%20Schematic.JPG" width="640" /></a></div></div></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-90836084461484613762022-08-11T20:45:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:23:32.194-07:00Intelligent Autodialer (1986)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhx7Hi3LvFu3Y6q4DFwm0ZhukbnhdHTQW9O5DKAwOlyNN_hnKPreHS_92PZAKgjjjFBRHMC-TQpmvLAtagdpH-RVJcP_IiBagwYXSvjwkUDoKQHVsH_BPOaf4DG17SjyBzcrTLHnpyFOz0XitScpacjFvv-LrAPrwinUGn22Mv_F2nxxltDLJeWynndUg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="975" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhx7Hi3LvFu3Y6q4DFwm0ZhukbnhdHTQW9O5DKAwOlyNN_hnKPreHS_92PZAKgjjjFBRHMC-TQpmvLAtagdpH-RVJcP_IiBagwYXSvjwkUDoKQHVsH_BPOaf4DG17SjyBzcrTLHnpyFOz0XitScpacjFvv-LrAPrwinUGn22Mv_F2nxxltDLJeWynndUg=w640-h429" width="640" /></a></div><p>This was an intelligent autodialer. It was designed for those radio station contests where "the 51st caller will win a billion dollars". This would dial a number repeatedly, listen to the signal, and hang up and redial if a busy signal (or an all-lines-busy signal) was detected. It would make noise if a ring was detected.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>The circuitry was controlled by an HP-71B calculator. It would monitor the Touch Tone frequencies on all outgoing calls and mimic the last group when dialing. A built-in amplifier could be turned on so you can monitor the device's progress.</p><p>(No, I never won any contests using this...)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrop662U5eZ71x7vOASU9zY9qdiQSry2ygyapZakebxqsn_8WbuLwg4KOJEYp75UXBh-VgkYpsPR4gPSXEnUjeIxdQHVHrm6tUUDoh6ty7x5Swl23eU8Kiu-w3HiopgTR2cRsKNOqBztovJQysc1deTJFPCrNcXVgk5Q84KRMMl1eHhevvMyrxZBymgA/s1018/Intelligent%20Autodialer%20Cartoon.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="1018" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrop662U5eZ71x7vOASU9zY9qdiQSry2ygyapZakebxqsn_8WbuLwg4KOJEYp75UXBh-VgkYpsPR4gPSXEnUjeIxdQHVHrm6tUUDoh6ty7x5Swl23eU8Kiu-w3HiopgTR2cRsKNOqBztovJQysc1deTJFPCrNcXVgk5Q84KRMMl1eHhevvMyrxZBymgA/w640-h435/Intelligent%20Autodialer%20Cartoon.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_E-tXMGDYSgq-zY04VrgjAuHR-vhEcRXEnsqqqg6ORexfw3uzlvJmEkKwMFC2HTfgf6Sp523fyadKjuOJk6K-Zlz1yHNrFaMMEFoV_8HMJO1sBit9XTOQA_pRjgB0kix-G7YU5NE17QNCwrnr_ZPvBvgrsoMjB176NtY0KlLBV3BYG8bA2DC1yMT5qQ/s836/Intelligent%20Autodialer%20Schematics.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="836" height="485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_E-tXMGDYSgq-zY04VrgjAuHR-vhEcRXEnsqqqg6ORexfw3uzlvJmEkKwMFC2HTfgf6Sp523fyadKjuOJk6K-Zlz1yHNrFaMMEFoV_8HMJO1sBit9XTOQA_pRjgB0kix-G7YU5NE17QNCwrnr_ZPvBvgrsoMjB176NtY0KlLBV3BYG8bA2DC1yMT5qQ/w640-h485/Intelligent%20Autodialer%20Schematics.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-45090373904731982202022-08-09T21:57:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:23:48.195-07:00Darkroom Controller (1986)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPc98Rvh2IWbpRDYrj0xSlKuOCZI2GvhEbIMVaLMSjynyQI4pTtobnPS6OCJ4OFHbQ1ZuphnHyOPG7tIxRcmT825tlHT0gi3V-MF5bFRFKx6wLf_G3v4a38M_Qs48mdhZlsTcVJhQXk17gVTz3H50At2bE6xynVi447WdTsD2C-RiAVShwipzc5Nx3Q/s3700/HP-41%20Darkroom%20Controller%20Establishing%20Shot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3700" data-original-width="2470" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPc98Rvh2IWbpRDYrj0xSlKuOCZI2GvhEbIMVaLMSjynyQI4pTtobnPS6OCJ4OFHbQ1ZuphnHyOPG7tIxRcmT825tlHT0gi3V-MF5bFRFKx6wLf_G3v4a38M_Qs48mdhZlsTcVJhQXk17gVTz3H50At2bE6xynVi447WdTsD2C-RiAVShwipzc5Nx3Q/w429-h640/HP-41%20Darkroom%20Controller%20Establishing%20Shot.jpg" width="429" /></a></div><p></p><p><span face="Calibri, "sans-serif"">I had a long history of using computers to alleviate the "dog work" of photography. Anyone who's ever spent long evenings in the darkroom not only has lungs full of Dektol fumes, but also can attest to the fact that there's a lot room for automation. And so the same calculator that got me through my Engineering degree also saved me time in the darkroom, free to concentrate on the creative aspects.</span> <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Using similar techniques to the camera controller above, I was able to have my calculator turn the enlarger on and off. But it didn't end there! </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglA-JfVxX5NjKBn6S5qu4BALBVylm6QNwiamCntJvPAK0-C_xXqqaGLlWxQ5FDBeawDMz2RdTg3SPyhBGZ8w8Xzg5lqlB0t5utApNK0dp07SVGUmo-34knnPL79Aax5vGJLGea4gWg50M/s1600/In+the+darkroom.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglA-JfVxX5NjKBn6S5qu4BALBVylm6QNwiamCntJvPAK0-C_xXqqaGLlWxQ5FDBeawDMz2RdTg3SPyhBGZ8w8Xzg5lqlB0t5utApNK0dp07SVGUmo-34knnPL79Aax5vGJLGea4gWg50M/w640-h429/In+the+darkroom.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First it turned on the enlarger so I could frame and focus accurately.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXh-EM8l6v-U1rqpHPfbMCwh3KQq7gZ78LQc7cR4CHC_pcRnjEhivJOvgVXmONComnpq1DKhnYUc4Yf557Z85UW59Hd9bobcEDOqZ5MzEe9H6Y4hvL8W0icR-IOne36Gh9ToY6U6nDaPpTQypKCAwIZW1nSD5pkLfxbWhfOQ2bGJ1U8FvMvRYAG48DJw/s3582/HP-41%20Darkroom%20controller%20-%20using%20the%20RAT.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2484" data-original-width="3582" height="445" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXh-EM8l6v-U1rqpHPfbMCwh3KQq7gZ78LQc7cR4CHC_pcRnjEhivJOvgVXmONComnpq1DKhnYUc4Yf557Z85UW59Hd9bobcEDOqZ5MzEe9H6Y4hvL8W0icR-IOne36Gh9ToY6U6nDaPpTQypKCAwIZW1nSD5pkLfxbWhfOQ2bGJ1U8FvMvRYAG48DJw/w640-h445/HP-41%20Darkroom%20controller%20-%20using%20the%20RAT.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then using a light-sensitive mouse (which I affectionately called a RAT), I took light readings from the brightest, the darkest, and the "18% Greyest" part of the negative.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7K6ajxzjoOd5jXsHrmyrMrzdF3gMYQsbqaXOt5DUZHyQtUC59UbpSkMBXBnJ9Dh-EkEFPqdX1LRZmQtqr8_qkQUpKUVUbZeigGUOV2uZ8l8bMFV0ysRIPexPjENqKQFQ0DdCbmopV00/s1600/HP-41+Darkroom+Controller+exposure+and+filter+recommendation.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="962" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7K6ajxzjoOd5jXsHrmyrMrzdF3gMYQsbqaXOt5DUZHyQtUC59UbpSkMBXBnJ9Dh-EkEFPqdX1LRZmQtqr8_qkQUpKUVUbZeigGUOV2uZ8l8bMFV0ysRIPexPjENqKQFQ0DdCbmopV00/w384-h640/HP-41+Darkroom+Controller+exposure+and+filter+recommendation.jpg" width="384" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The calculator would recommend an exposure time and a Polycontrast Filter # based on the three readings. I would pop in the recommended filter and then press a button, and the enlarger would turn on for exactly the right amount of time.</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLTflZJGLFoFdgWmtuCHhQwcnjgCUbrH6r0tPSt856t_DXN2Y4Kl2FR6ip240NZ3uPT6FtyynBoTesfiuYFeTat91Sfh_KEoFgAkO6Uv2V1FploLWxgbiQXrJ-27mRLPZwJU9ZmRrNdA/s1600/Prints+in+trays.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="1600" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirLTflZJGLFoFdgWmtuCHhQwcnjgCUbrH6r0tPSt856t_DXN2Y4Kl2FR6ip240NZ3uPT6FtyynBoTesfiuYFeTat91Sfh_KEoFgAkO6Uv2V1FploLWxgbiQXrJ-27mRLPZwJU9ZmRrNdA/w640-h430/Prints+in+trays.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Then the print went into the chemical baths, and the calculator would give distinct audible signals when it was time to move a print from one bath to another. No longer did I have to watch the clock to see when it was time to change!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3676" data-original-width="2358" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZjcu31EdAmNeUADMURlA-OZherkJp3ITwYiy7Gg-ZL06pmndOqRvahCu4Ms8cIvIz4ooohbLBP5Dn70Aol1K5dtjudhxFJ4aHeZu_QuzERQwg3scMHs-dpPzOs91Zj-ww1VMl9EzPSXe4MuMFMk0ZoZ8JT9n80iEJ3Hm3ieUvnOSlWDYLEpqheCj0Q/w410-h640/HP-41%20Darkroom%20Controller%20Fix%20Wash%20display.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="410" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It also gave a visual count of how many prints were in the fixer and how many were in the wash. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJcUjU3dzHi1pI3oyQGnWr7O9Ff_20z3bY6YeiS5IIsGSQjgQ1QAvkDUC32lDnAV0Xx4F0WPMiu5-7vYE3jDU4r1t5eukF5PEdu2gW_HR0caDs5mv4gVRsmVVRfO51Rr4-WKDTsUEWdM3mtjEfsII6hKE2McOiwnFEkbrmKmoMkqp1T5jtgMQXNitoA/s2123/From%20HP-IL%20Book%205x7%20300%20dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1395" data-original-width="2123" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKJcUjU3dzHi1pI3oyQGnWr7O9Ff_20z3bY6YeiS5IIsGSQjgQ1QAvkDUC32lDnAV0Xx4F0WPMiu5-7vYE3jDU4r1t5eukF5PEdu2gW_HR0caDs5mv4gVRsmVVRfO51Rr4-WKDTsUEWdM3mtjEfsII6hKE2McOiwnFEkbrmKmoMkqp1T5jtgMQXNitoA/w640-h420/From%20HP-IL%20Book%205x7%20300%20dpi.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be proud of your results, which was produced using a minimum number of steps!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jWA5MNa_bXM5TazGjf6Dhq-QmgONHboe83NdR4ZqbA-uK6EltsD_07rys5P6prK6oJVjnwTqxKffc5YaKh5qqMmbTLzw2JDN6_rxbsqo7E2d0hXOzCX_2sWF6ce6UpXV47dRtkHeLVGQHw1ukAteGdJbMk25LkuwyD-hk7jiGrV4JELHRfvb7FEJ5A/s3654/HP-41%20Darkroom%20Controller%20-%20close-up%20of%20the%20RAT.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3654" data-original-width="2442" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jWA5MNa_bXM5TazGjf6Dhq-QmgONHboe83NdR4ZqbA-uK6EltsD_07rys5P6prK6oJVjnwTqxKffc5YaKh5qqMmbTLzw2JDN6_rxbsqo7E2d0hXOzCX_2sWF6ce6UpXV47dRtkHeLVGQHw1ukAteGdJbMk25LkuwyD-hk7jiGrV4JELHRfvb7FEJ5A/w429-h640/HP-41%20Darkroom%20Controller%20-%20close-up%20of%20the%20RAT.jpg" width="429" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DyBRGunbOPg96y0ObdsOynKZV9p1_U2VouEvpDTmTjfA5B4bT_72fqiajQ8Vkya-Sd_8P7ySkEAZGq8O_iCG3efR7lNiFZ84uFLNKjcYWuwGR-kIjthmv--7sQspKYJ-nkW6YHSVlzoMG6SjV2z5bEfTTpM8gaqK1HM-Fl-9H1xISc_BCFogKryQFw/s2898/HP-41%20Darkroom%20analyzer%20circuitry.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2244" data-original-width="2898" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DyBRGunbOPg96y0ObdsOynKZV9p1_U2VouEvpDTmTjfA5B4bT_72fqiajQ8Vkya-Sd_8P7ySkEAZGq8O_iCG3efR7lNiFZ84uFLNKjcYWuwGR-kIjthmv--7sQspKYJ-nkW6YHSVlzoMG6SjV2z5bEfTTpM8gaqK1HM-Fl-9H1xISc_BCFogKryQFw/w640-h496/HP-41%20Darkroom%20analyzer%20circuitry.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guts! No too complex compared to other inventions.</td></tr></tbody></table>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-70504403842893194892022-08-09T15:22:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:24:00.853-07:00Electronic Tape Measure (1986)<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLE3_xwWckT0A5tBbH13DYSej_U-PlSO3d1l-OEKMDDGG4KJjozvzNF2-jydbs-Qoj-AI62dBwGl6WEMWrsALgpM9fvs3LTnNQ8vUT61ihq1bCBYmeX1uZ2d3Ykj23xMAe7wdXzenjwLpT5DUzfWPxTuKVPaIsnGzBJA661eZLNbug0jPf0rtazv04yw/s3761/HP-71%20Ultrasonic%20Tape%20Measure.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2513" data-original-width="3761" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLE3_xwWckT0A5tBbH13DYSej_U-PlSO3d1l-OEKMDDGG4KJjozvzNF2-jydbs-Qoj-AI62dBwGl6WEMWrsALgpM9fvs3LTnNQ8vUT61ihq1bCBYmeX1uZ2d3Ykj23xMAe7wdXzenjwLpT5DUzfWPxTuKVPaIsnGzBJA661eZLNbug0jPf0rtazv04yw/w640-h428/HP-71%20Ultrasonic%20Tape%20Measure.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Polaroid corporation was the first company to produce an autofocus camera. It was able to infer the distance of the subject by bouncing sound off of the subject and timing how long it took for the sound to bounce back from the subject. The longer it took, the further away the subject was. See the picture of their first autofocus product below:<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pPuBZEtRhcRXsJ6y6m0B5fwwtKDHNJsXUMji3gY8q610B4l1QOQJaZiombwWXI9zs7YQq0NfPtde_sAdpLzi1EhNUSojIYP2CqJnLGd7xQnNQnxEk1_MqsL2XS2P2Pw1fFCtEeMpnV1MUpsiPWXHKblxW7PVChfPNz7oWUfmEY5fDOGnu_e8Fzwmdg/s1140/Polaroid%20SX-70%20Sonar.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1140" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pPuBZEtRhcRXsJ6y6m0B5fwwtKDHNJsXUMji3gY8q610B4l1QOQJaZiombwWXI9zs7YQq0NfPtde_sAdpLzi1EhNUSojIYP2CqJnLGd7xQnNQnxEk1_MqsL2XS2P2Pw1fFCtEeMpnV1MUpsiPWXHKblxW7PVChfPNz7oWUfmEY5fDOGnu_e8Fzwmdg/w640-h486/Polaroid%20SX-70%20Sonar.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">See that gold disk above the lens? That was a giant speaker and microphone (formally called an "Ultrasonic Transducer") that could emit an ultrasonic "chirp" and could also detect when it bounced back. This is exactly the technique that mountain climbers use to determine how far away the next mountain is: they yell and time how long it takes for the echo to return.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjisKuPza8zp-cUVB0nRvOpqx_UjwoUuAWRTcDTjNFyGfTrtPlnq5Sb1apEvAln2zh26aSQczPM59kq7kNXNJ80yPB_tnM0m-Xvn1T4aAoVs26La8rXj36Sxy2x9Vbo3k6T0YT-wgs05M_rFEdBJLyIUhx_dYz2kmEwooyCdlLJg-DPr-qNvtbzxHF-XQ/s679/Electronic%20Tape%20Measure%20cartoon%20mountain.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="679" height="582" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjisKuPza8zp-cUVB0nRvOpqx_UjwoUuAWRTcDTjNFyGfTrtPlnq5Sb1apEvAln2zh26aSQczPM59kq7kNXNJ80yPB_tnM0m-Xvn1T4aAoVs26La8rXj36Sxy2x9Vbo3k6T0YT-wgs05M_rFEdBJLyIUhx_dYz2kmEwooyCdlLJg-DPr-qNvtbzxHF-XQ/w640-h582/Electronic%20Tape%20Measure%20cartoon%20mountain.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> Polaroid sold this transducer separately so experimenters like me could play with it and incorporate it into various products. The top picture of this post shows the first thing I did with it: I hooked it up to my HP 71 calculator and had it measure distances just by pressing a button. You can see the distance measurement in feet and inches in the calculator's display.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCsCXz-mO0QEU-2DGVhSNhxAk2X7gP_2UvW_b2fbrJplhaKBY5urWfrMqZPxe6gCwkccj_7SmqXl81GwHnlzAIwUOwAy3A9IeWi5-kC8z7KHt_UojleB5rxriMREF5spSii6Qx4oMZDegllPSBvTbeozpGrhVjLhNAfPJUyF31Bk97BJqIhDkN349pA/s933/How%20the%20Ultrasonic%20Ranging%20Module%20is%20attached.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="933" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCsCXz-mO0QEU-2DGVhSNhxAk2X7gP_2UvW_b2fbrJplhaKBY5urWfrMqZPxe6gCwkccj_7SmqXl81GwHnlzAIwUOwAy3A9IeWi5-kC8z7KHt_UojleB5rxriMREF5spSii6Qx4oMZDegllPSBvTbeozpGrhVjLhNAfPJUyF31Bk97BJqIhDkN349pA/w640-h398/How%20the%20Ultrasonic%20Ranging%20Module%20is%20attached.JPG" width="640" /></a></div></div></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoimzYysMrNMsn9w8X1eZnRzWumfJBDZlkZTHcqurYkXLhflNJHHslr-_KNjI9pnLVFJ4g2qQgzsOuaGBGTaW6K0yqmORliGjlMctfIYvzyBy0mf85IxqP2YdKcGojSsg9JkVUAzOL1sv31j-FakVPK0CoRhcEcRcu1zdN-NDfTnuoWaqRJ-URQJaiw/s1151/Measuring%20for%20carpet.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1151" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikoimzYysMrNMsn9w8X1eZnRzWumfJBDZlkZTHcqurYkXLhflNJHHslr-_KNjI9pnLVFJ4g2qQgzsOuaGBGTaW6K0yqmORliGjlMctfIYvzyBy0mf85IxqP2YdKcGojSsg9JkVUAzOL1sv31j-FakVPK0CoRhcEcRcu1zdN-NDfTnuoWaqRJ-URQJaiw/w640-h450/Measuring%20for%20carpet.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Measure for carpet by standing in the corner. Take two measurements and multiply them together.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><b>Personal Space Invasion Alarm for Valley Girls</b><p></p><p>Another great application of this technology combines both high-fashion and security, and would probably sell a million if it were on the market. The Personal Space Invasion Alarm audibly warns passers-by that the user's space is being invaded, and is a must for Valley girls who travel abroad.</p><p>In practice, the transducer is worn around the neck as a piece of fashionable jewelry, while the relatively ugly driver components are hidden in the purse along with the 71. The 71 has been programmed to periodically fire the transducer, and will beep continuously as soon as anything comes within 1 1/2 feet of the user.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9YELQUKaUWix_e4ldrkbynfO90pMib4Tczlf-G21KYQRrfDNCSQ5XOD5J8Pb3lIVKUXcnxKScCe3ovlbRCxPpe6iHYCkpnVqL62ltV0jVgZAqeDFg-igh19Du64B-Kmrk-Okp6LCnYmdDGL_xebOMK9AIEjEffgpmMsVok2-5ojHMeglNQeyYvTTzg/s607/Personal%20Space%20Invasion%20Alarm%20for%20Valley%20Girls.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="384" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9YELQUKaUWix_e4ldrkbynfO90pMib4Tczlf-G21KYQRrfDNCSQ5XOD5J8Pb3lIVKUXcnxKScCe3ovlbRCxPpe6iHYCkpnVqL62ltV0jVgZAqeDFg-igh19Du64B-Kmrk-Okp6LCnYmdDGL_xebOMK9AIEjEffgpmMsVok2-5ojHMeglNQeyYvTTzg/w404-h640/Personal%20Space%20Invasion%20Alarm%20for%20Valley%20Girls.png" width="404" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6190sjZfU3r5GiO55kFIVTM2GMmHq4BKuaUCIgm4xLI6M-5w5DxGnkRaOmMKwd3220MAqX_4Ir0CTqvmR2bz8PVu54pv4ZY4UE_4e4czSswKePHjcO6pyWaUQFILZu_WeKsC5wSRgnOJXtrqczxkcm7fw3HAHRChQPBHIWKNrFfI6qiyA1vKFdfrKw/s852/Personal%20Space%20Invasion%20Alarm%20for%20Valley%20Girls.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="852" height="576" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb6190sjZfU3r5GiO55kFIVTM2GMmHq4BKuaUCIgm4xLI6M-5w5DxGnkRaOmMKwd3220MAqX_4Ir0CTqvmR2bz8PVu54pv4ZY4UE_4e4czSswKePHjcO6pyWaUQFILZu_WeKsC5wSRgnOJXtrqczxkcm7fw3HAHRChQPBHIWKNrFfI6qiyA1vKFdfrKw/w640-h576/Personal%20Space%20Invasion%20Alarm%20for%20Valley%20Girls.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-78570437837408668922022-08-08T14:02:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:24:19.963-07:00Automatic Window Closer (1989)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjec1ms1b-0FugJ9JS1kkbsFs1wugDyrV7ozoS2Juu-FIHwoPRbJeetlyn4euADGpZzedj6aUra7PoXepVCSlGDgN2wmH2sg4-lVrEBOS_OvZwPKtPXc--wHfyLgjueyV-OmoWwpFQ_kIHWnMFQrN4VfmPOhpByleFpXNKWGZrMfudZCyOBU6Re9cPoAg/s3776/Automatic%20Window%20Closer_001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2521" data-original-width="3776" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjec1ms1b-0FugJ9JS1kkbsFs1wugDyrV7ozoS2Juu-FIHwoPRbJeetlyn4euADGpZzedj6aUra7PoXepVCSlGDgN2wmH2sg4-lVrEBOS_OvZwPKtPXc--wHfyLgjueyV-OmoWwpFQ_kIHWnMFQrN4VfmPOhpByleFpXNKWGZrMfudZCyOBU6Re9cPoAg/w640-h429/Automatic%20Window%20Closer_001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />The first condo I ever owned was arranged like a chimney – every room was on its own floor. (Well, they were staggered, so each room was ½ a flight of stairs away from the other.)<div><br /></div><div>My bedroom was on the very top floor, and in the summertime it got really hot up there because, you know, heat rises. So all the heat from the condo rose up and accumulated in my room. But it was cool outside. So I kept the window open to be cool enough to get to sleep, but by 4:00 AM it got so cold that it woke me up. I’d get up, close the window, and try to go back to sleep.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>This Automatic Window Closer solved that problem. I took a motor designed to slowly spin a mirror ball in a dance hall and a thermostat and hooked them together. What you can’t see is a fishing line attached between the motor and the horizontally-travelling window.</div><div><br /></div><div>When it got cold enough, the thermostat would turn on, which turned on the motor, which very slowly pulled the window closed by the fishing wire. When the window was 98% closed, a magnet on the window frame came close to a reed switch (also not shown), and the motor turned off.</div><div>This was the only invention of mine that ever worked on the first try.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I sold the condo, I kept this invention on the wall for the future owners. Don’t know if they appreciated it or not.</div><div><br /></div><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-68408641731907715822022-08-07T14:05:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:24:34.013-07:00Redundant Local Area Network (1989)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRq9AvaHaWGy8J2jvUjJmb6PYid0WrB7nnOG0DxXhoNTgTH2un3O4LnVlH2W_Ca9CBMgpBmYm_JHmAsEJ_vFLQ3LrO31jk790aqhKm0J-QI_wohENUKUTUl6Kp531rrm8g_Kjkrk7NhwX8L19YVGcIu3qG2Tx6SQyXyKDysF0t-LwOSaMyOum52tT7Kg/s2355/Local%20Area%20Network%20Patent%20PICT3658.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2355" data-original-width="1813" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRq9AvaHaWGy8J2jvUjJmb6PYid0WrB7nnOG0DxXhoNTgTH2un3O4LnVlH2W_Ca9CBMgpBmYm_JHmAsEJ_vFLQ3LrO31jk790aqhKm0J-QI_wohENUKUTUl6Kp531rrm8g_Kjkrk7NhwX8L19YVGcIu3qG2Tx6SQyXyKDysF0t-LwOSaMyOum52tT7Kg/w493-h640/Local%20Area%20Network%20Patent%20PICT3658.jpg" width="493" /></a></div><p>Once upon a time, before Wi-Fi, computers would all talk to each other via a network cable called Ethernet. It was a big yellow cable and you had to drill into it in order to install a "vampire tap" in order to attach a computer to it.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>That vampire tap was a huge vulnerability, for if even a single strand of stray copper wire or dirt got in there, it would short everything out and the entire network would go down. And it was nearly impossible to troubleshoot without highly specialized equipment. Since our network had to be reliable in order not to lose any spacecraft data, a solution to this vulnerability was needed.</p><p>Me and a NASA co-worker came up with a solution. Have TWO yellow Ethernet cables and two network connections per computer. If one network cable failed, the backup would automatically be selected. Even better, if there was too much activity for one cable to handle, the system would go into "Load Balancing" mode and route some traffic to one cable and some to the other. We received a NASA patent for this invention in 1989.<br /><br /></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-36040791330958977262022-08-05T21:39:00.007-07:002023-09-03T07:43:51.805-07:00The Data Egg (1990)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_L4pFjC_SOvV5A7Ef-MVIo9V147pZHqm4vjjyiuVhKLDxfdL81lWkM4sAPyDFdZeTq9YS2nCraf3qp6PCaM4ap41lLDXaPjFBGZnaGjd-xf39865ZARNmzsWxzDPPzNAWEYK6UX4yLpdPTiD-ZrlKddtDjMHsGruUPBn-QbP7sIjr2KOk3FfiSP5RKg/s576/Grenade%20cropped%20300%20dpi_001-gigapixel-low_res-scale-2_00x.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="576" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_L4pFjC_SOvV5A7Ef-MVIo9V147pZHqm4vjjyiuVhKLDxfdL81lWkM4sAPyDFdZeTq9YS2nCraf3qp6PCaM4ap41lLDXaPjFBGZnaGjd-xf39865ZARNmzsWxzDPPzNAWEYK6UX4yLpdPTiD-ZrlKddtDjMHsGruUPBn-QbP7sIjr2KOk3FfiSP5RKg/w640-h640/Grenade%20cropped%20300%20dpi_001-gigapixel-low_res-scale-2_00x.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Back in my NASA days, I identified an Astronaut problem:
when you’re floating in space, the minute you try to press buttons on a
keyboard, unless you were tied down you would start to float away. (You know, every action causes equal and opposite
reaction.) I thought this was a problem
that needed solving. So I devised a
device that you hold in your hand – 7 buttons total – which allowed you to type
every letter, number, punctuation, and every other button you could type on a
standard keyboard. (Even Ctrl-, Alt-, or
Function buttons!)<span><a name='more'></a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BtJ9RCQnsgTYSMI8D1KiFR_X7WwgHHpaAjawv0wuc61ZeMTVwIz4MKoXwuVXSkTequN6fIB7CkdNyYRTFW9GaGBaD56LNNfoZuXm2ZRZl-OZ4wCqLHijOZ0MwbM7__rQgCZS8BBoMrKrEQgoy_1JFx-JH9WFjN_iYj775YeV5MewAReSdtTPBPlu_Q/s1102/ASTRONAT.BMP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="838" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7BtJ9RCQnsgTYSMI8D1KiFR_X7WwgHHpaAjawv0wuc61ZeMTVwIz4MKoXwuVXSkTequN6fIB7CkdNyYRTFW9GaGBaD56LNNfoZuXm2ZRZl-OZ4wCqLHijOZ0MwbM7__rQgCZS8BBoMrKrEQgoy_1JFx-JH9WFjN_iYj775YeV5MewAReSdtTPBPlu_Q/w486-h640/ASTRONAT.BMP" width="486" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At one time someone told me that an egg was the most natural shape for the hand to hold. And so my first prototype unit was built into a plastic Easter egg. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIG2XaUmn-YMep-KUZiBy4fW8Swup-5Ajcav8LY4TB_10bm8XlotJ4tHEhCU0V7L8zJTl9R20F-5GR8VVbkaMeytSwbJIaLGgr2ZBb8UsvFetkgMfq9EYR6Dj23i_msgSOHsPzO8p1iK9oAnumYnvLN_7cACHBExl96gb2wTyHCox9y_6LPeSB-OKsQ/s655/EGG.BMP" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="655" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgIG2XaUmn-YMep-KUZiBy4fW8Swup-5Ajcav8LY4TB_10bm8XlotJ4tHEhCU0V7L8zJTl9R20F-5GR8VVbkaMeytSwbJIaLGgr2ZBb8UsvFetkgMfq9EYR6Dj23i_msgSOHsPzO8p1iK9oAnumYnvLN_7cACHBExl96gb2wTyHCox9y_6LPeSB-OKsQ/w640-h482/EGG.BMP" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This prototype, using a plastic Easter Egg which is a natural shape for the hand to hold, is what inspired the name "Data Egg".</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdIFTO8-nVGXq_zuz84w1QzrGwVeZ87PN5ndui6G9_VQE0u4e4nLdig4CX9cM1yyC7wCw6DOaLq8d_QyRyClNU5l8ABgTMibzkY0XNAoHzZ2_0Tq3mL2ceP7s71y3W0FIsawFT4Qamp4uzrRiosJk_IUWPjL71YhHeQYIb8tG8WOTD6hFAMnXDyO8OA/s371/Eggandguts75dpiscannedprint.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="371" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdIFTO8-nVGXq_zuz84w1QzrGwVeZ87PN5ndui6G9_VQE0u4e4nLdig4CX9cM1yyC7wCw6DOaLq8d_QyRyClNU5l8ABgTMibzkY0XNAoHzZ2_0Tq3mL2ceP7s71y3W0FIsawFT4Qamp4uzrRiosJk_IUWPjL71YhHeQYIb8tG8WOTD6hFAMnXDyO8OA/w640-h474/Eggandguts75dpiscannedprint.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This clumsy prototype allowed me to develop the software. Later on I shrunk down the hardware to fit inside a pager. </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You type on it by pressing different combinations of buttons – kind of like playing chords on a piano. The alphabet was designed to be easy to memorize. My device could be used plugged into a traditional computer (instead of the keyboard), or it could be used as a self-contained keyboard, which memorized everything you typed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaF8gDz-0GB_YDRJbxNCuS6xnXbubT3yBBOUDWEET4hxcojj6r7Ja8lszR60QmWVtTxyJI4CVY10MWgCSuAqz6iNiMwBCo0Qmmqi6k9Civ_7oGDPCHXtwiLrpB_bAvmGsIY20lzvSq6BNVJRGO4rGz3p38sDoe6q7z0-RJavQZLEEcPCWwz-pEAiMIQ/s3010/Image100.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3010" data-original-width="2195" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaF8gDz-0GB_YDRJbxNCuS6xnXbubT3yBBOUDWEET4hxcojj6r7Ja8lszR60QmWVtTxyJI4CVY10MWgCSuAqz6iNiMwBCo0Qmmqi6k9Civ_7oGDPCHXtwiLrpB_bAvmGsIY20lzvSq6BNVJRGO4rGz3p38sDoe6q7z0-RJavQZLEEcPCWwz-pEAiMIQ/w466-h640/Image100.gif" width="466" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Yes, the typing scheme might look intimidating at first, but
there was another extremely popular device at the time where you had to learn a
new way to write in order to use it. (It
was called the Palm Pilot. Google
it.) So this taught me an important lesson
in marketing: When the benefits are compelling, people will happily learn
it. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">It turns out that this device could be extremely useful even
if you weren’t an astronaut. What if you
wanted to write something down while you were walking or driving? Traditional laptops make you stop what you’re
doing, and sit down before you can capture your ideas. This device made our increasingly shrinking
computer accessible. Better yet, back
in those days I had a brain that had an idea every 6.5 seconds, and if I didn’t
write it down IMMEDIATELY, the idea would evaporate. So I built myself a working prototype which I
would wear on my belt like a pager (a popular device before cell phones were
practical).<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LfRvuYQ2gTJxO2jQSEzZ-sUGeSRjYMqiSjBWYC47KruRN6QqUjkeZAwA5ru08c09FQwNR1wdGIka1bF47BiYBZF-CGW4RDgVYFNdChcRQuVKWHzeEY2YTwfOJooMaiP7cKXv4eIopqBZ8b6gaCJ9fPMQUdQntJ3fPrIi63Nrt0DPiZtfHTKlyxpKjw/s521/BEEPER.BMP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="389" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LfRvuYQ2gTJxO2jQSEzZ-sUGeSRjYMqiSjBWYC47KruRN6QqUjkeZAwA5ru08c09FQwNR1wdGIka1bF47BiYBZF-CGW4RDgVYFNdChcRQuVKWHzeEY2YTwfOJooMaiP7cKXv4eIopqBZ8b6gaCJ9fPMQUdQntJ3fPrIi63Nrt0DPiZtfHTKlyxpKjw/w478-h640/BEEPER.BMP" width="478" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">I used it ALL THE TIME.
I would capture ideas all day, then when I got back to my main computer
at night I’d plug in the Data Egg (clever name, no?) and download all the ideas
captured. I kept it by my bedside whenever
I had a 3:00 AM thought, which I promptly forgot. One of those 3:00 AM thoughts became my 2<sup>nd</sup>
patent, and it would have been lost completely if not for this invention.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTzoARr_xGg02CWUp1V1SzRqi5Ij40sc_1Yk9FeSFlP5cAVkLuysujQsKcKFyOSpfgD9YX_RYV9WQO07n3LNjUyIiCQ1wh3VLc2MJrIrC7ojzOoDf3oQTRq9u3JHSmiZ5NWB29Vkb7lpisg_BoGYHm3cKnGxpIwpFuc09IKzfg_UPNCxFN-KobvfRDkC1s" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1441" data-original-width="2048" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTzoARr_xGg02CWUp1V1SzRqi5Ij40sc_1Yk9FeSFlP5cAVkLuysujQsKcKFyOSpfgD9YX_RYV9WQO07n3LNjUyIiCQ1wh3VLc2MJrIrC7ojzOoDf3oQTRq9u3JHSmiZ5NWB29Vkb7lpisg_BoGYHm3cKnGxpIwpFuc09IKzfg_UPNCxFN-KobvfRDkC1s=w640-h450" width="640" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: var(--primary-text); font-family: inherit; font-size: small; text-align: center;">After a hard day's work at NASA, I'd come home and do even more development of my own inventions. Pictured is the Data Egg development station, including stand-alone single-board computer, laptop for software development, RS-232 protocol analyzer (this was all in my home, BTW), and two one-handed keyboards from a different company. In the background is an ancient IBM DOS computer and an early inkjet printer.</span></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">I even published two small booklets containing all of the ideas that had been captured during a typical year. Some ideas were inventions, some were jokes, some were a phone number I needed to write down but couldn’t because I didn’t have pen and paper. </div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br style="text-align: left;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVPZ9fCxqj-__nQReYag659yjLLyopKLBYuKjQN_970w818WdgoJ6iPWgVmd0Ff_rfp3xnjXTOav5CPRgq3fUc1aexnOv_yAAouxIIiO_sGusCZI1b2luv3XSRYNn0eFIlobti8yNioJORqQ1FTOjEJKBpTCesEvQ7YUEdLjfNs1ZTBd0kNhjD8LwwQ/s3920/Egg%20and%20I%20and%20II%20DSC01278.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2984" data-original-width="3920" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVPZ9fCxqj-__nQReYag659yjLLyopKLBYuKjQN_970w818WdgoJ6iPWgVmd0Ff_rfp3xnjXTOav5CPRgq3fUc1aexnOv_yAAouxIIiO_sGusCZI1b2luv3XSRYNn0eFIlobti8yNioJORqQ1FTOjEJKBpTCesEvQ7YUEdLjfNs1ZTBd0kNhjD8LwwQ/w640-h488/Egg%20and%20I%20and%20II%20DSC01278.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">You can download and read both volumes here:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/EGG_and_I.pdf">https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/EGG_and_I.pdf</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/EGG_and_II.pdf">https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/EGG_and_II.pdf</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Another important application: When cell phones were new,
they were only good for making phone calls.
Texting didn’t become a thing until the early 1990’s, but cell phones
only had numeric keypads. If you wanted
to type the letter “C”, you had to hit the ‘2’ button three times. (Long story.)
<o:p></o:p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Motorola-Razr-1-768x512.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="768" height="427" src="https://friedmanarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Motorola-Razr-1-768x512.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">What if you integrated my 7-button Data Egg typing scheme
onto a cell phone?? You could text while you drive without taking your eyes off
the road? </span><span style="text-align: left;">You could send messages
quickly.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">It would be awesome!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNyxar3UwSKY_zhIezmnRzBcLtbnZHiHXRTF7Yt1z9j3rFscyyyPl7eUEhTmmQEnmnifMT1DQUGaMhYQckr5UjrP3yLKkefYGXJaHmPgCX-6aKBrjVvd4B7XkxFoRYnFX0cQAdPDXmATVPOWZyqb4_5m4SzHuevl0TIQqW5-bA_dXSEdfqr6EvNOOXg/s367/grenade75dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="367" height="421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNyxar3UwSKY_zhIezmnRzBcLtbnZHiHXRTF7Yt1z9j3rFscyyyPl7eUEhTmmQEnmnifMT1DQUGaMhYQckr5UjrP3yLKkefYGXJaHmPgCX-6aKBrjVvd4B7XkxFoRYnFX0cQAdPDXmATVPOWZyqb4_5m4SzHuevl0TIQqW5-bA_dXSEdfqr6EvNOOXg/w640-h421/grenade75dpi.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Other prototoypes</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtC66eK-7lYRE8KkLCY12_J3M0NKEHcvJFeMbuE-fMWl7XFM3aRu8zXUMZuL1jPkbeh6q5JrTGNWQswCKCWdfE74s7xD5b6xGon5IN-zYtQoIaYEF714qzSSFH1C8WMv_FChSs5G4Lht1JcYo8L--g0KG9_hyHyST-UCjj4BWdEVQ6z0_otTFynpS0cQ/s441/CLICKER.BMP" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="441" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtC66eK-7lYRE8KkLCY12_J3M0NKEHcvJFeMbuE-fMWl7XFM3aRu8zXUMZuL1jPkbeh6q5JrTGNWQswCKCWdfE74s7xD5b6xGon5IN-zYtQoIaYEF714qzSSFH1C8WMv_FChSs5G4Lht1JcYo8L--g0KG9_hyHyST-UCjj4BWdEVQ6z0_otTFynpS0cQ/w640-h435/CLICKER.BMP" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see different names were tried, too.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">So for the next 12 years I tried hard to make this a real
product. I didn’t know anything about
running a business, so that was my first step: I quit my job at NASA and
started a business, one that had a reasonable chance of succeeding. (It was an Information Technology Consulting
Firm. It lasted 5 years before it went
broke.) After that I went about looking
for investors so I could either make and sell a unit, or license the patent to
the companies that make cell phones.
(That’s the easier path.) I set
up a website that would answer investors’ questions. You can read an archive of it here: <a href="https://FriedmanArchives.com/dataegg" target="_blank">https://FriedmanArchives.com/dataegg </a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The idea had its fans – I got fan mail from all over the world from people who would love to have such a unit. But after 18 months of failing to find an investor, I ran out of money. Annoyed, I quit the technology business altogether and went to China to teach English.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b>THE END</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqlFeV-DU3YCsSXueKGxeq5F-41mQRrJwKhbnzsYW1u23Naki4TlUI6yFviYr_DGNTTxOLAtwzg3tz8hAjZyGvcTQD1ymloiejhxfamA1IWiFfEcJ0dQ_NTbdmre9PJO1oCUtJQWJ-wBGYN_VPRF1FXe8vaLBTmd4kJBCNM_9DEmvy0xTIC8PypScY16DT" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1405" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqlFeV-DU3YCsSXueKGxeq5F-41mQRrJwKhbnzsYW1u23Naki4TlUI6yFviYr_DGNTTxOLAtwzg3tz8hAjZyGvcTQD1ymloiejhxfamA1IWiFfEcJ0dQ_NTbdmre9PJO1oCUtJQWJ-wBGYN_VPRF1FXe8vaLBTmd4kJBCNM_9DEmvy0xTIC8PypScY16DT=w640-h478" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A bedridden workstation, which combined The Data Egg with a heads-up display, allowed a person with a bad back to actually use a computer. Here I was answering emails on my IBM XT (background) before I got up to go to work.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></b></p></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYuzSTwWsa7YWgYhW0DVQwD4oGo7NdV9ceG5W3B4B0_1xnfBUsvifB7natrV0TdYm3ioHPJMJ1wyynEj9pxBXFGS-xIy31Puz5Dvzm2WprJdgW9S1PPEB_xlLtiZbRLIFVqNDr9YxkGxkLilH8KN4zwpwmuNyOh6c2PGbaDHmXliNiwrXNFxaZk0byg/s738/Data%20Egg%20Ad%20-%20Runner%208x10%2072%20dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="576" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOYuzSTwWsa7YWgYhW0DVQwD4oGo7NdV9ceG5W3B4B0_1xnfBUsvifB7natrV0TdYm3ioHPJMJ1wyynEj9pxBXFGS-xIy31Puz5Dvzm2WprJdgW9S1PPEB_xlLtiZbRLIFVqNDr9YxkGxkLilH8KN4zwpwmuNyOh6c2PGbaDHmXliNiwrXNFxaZk0byg/w500-h640/Data%20Egg%20Ad%20-%20Runner%208x10%2072%20dpi.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A proposed magazine ad.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZTP-5Q1nSRWsB9hmlXkEd4FenXNPzIOvU5jo6WlnF2Bk9igmEjyonZiODRaA24ranlrY0o4u-j7SU8xcrFBkZAjQanORt2Kn-RhaLkX-QTEa0O7rZW4aMFYFKfS_iIwlbwyUwH-NpFxubvzSEOkhAcSYxs_px5A_qwhoWWhXlUfFDymYeYF5eoccdA/s738/Data%20Egg%20Ad%20-%20Driving%208x10%2072%20dpi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="576" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZTP-5Q1nSRWsB9hmlXkEd4FenXNPzIOvU5jo6WlnF2Bk9igmEjyonZiODRaA24ranlrY0o4u-j7SU8xcrFBkZAjQanORt2Kn-RhaLkX-QTEa0O7rZW4aMFYFKfS_iIwlbwyUwH-NpFxubvzSEOkhAcSYxs_px5A_qwhoWWhXlUfFDymYeYF5eoccdA/w500-h640/Data%20Egg%20Ad%20-%20Driving%208x10%2072%20dpi.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another proposed ad.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcS2L2ua6A3gyUCL4A166zkyGNdPpNbs3dIbRG505JLUBSZ7pvUWuSmFNDRUXR3y9nWf3LDJlUcId_wgrt1y4TVdVtfNEtZjnQhv5SiXeU8lIvFfN3GtdL92ocXyPQMgrrQ3p-RcnEcDcKdm3vEc61CltsY8PagwILY7MceznwYvvwE0-fjHkob9A0A/s932/SHAPES.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="932" height="525" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcS2L2ua6A3gyUCL4A166zkyGNdPpNbs3dIbRG505JLUBSZ7pvUWuSmFNDRUXR3y9nWf3LDJlUcId_wgrt1y4TVdVtfNEtZjnQhv5SiXeU8lIvFfN3GtdL92ocXyPQMgrrQ3p-RcnEcDcKdm3vEc61CltsY8PagwILY7MceznwYvvwE0-fjHkob9A0A/w640-h525/SHAPES.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prototypes of different shapes before I decided to go with the socially-acceptable-to-wear-in-public pager design.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrCAQBj6guj8vBVdTJbIbDMuSFPtLhV92oRUfC56AGVdny3dw7he0nrE2FWq5NF42MYl0Qn6SRkBzPbrOW1kYe0AXwqdtLLAdwj4sXBzfXBLJpsJdFItAQqftaDDjE2JtX-wKFT1mXohgcQAtRhBKvCSAdIVIO3jH2fI5t6OykVxD0mSQdGaIxpXF7Q/s3675/Infogrip%20BAT%20at%20JPL%20desk%20Building%20525_001.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3675" data-original-width="2450" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrCAQBj6guj8vBVdTJbIbDMuSFPtLhV92oRUfC56AGVdny3dw7he0nrE2FWq5NF42MYl0Qn6SRkBzPbrOW1kYe0AXwqdtLLAdwj4sXBzfXBLJpsJdFItAQqftaDDjE2JtX-wKFT1mXohgcQAtRhBKvCSAdIVIO3jH2fI5t6OykVxD0mSQdGaIxpXF7Q/w426-h640/Infogrip%20BAT%20at%20JPL%20desk%20Building%20525_001.JPG" width="426" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prototype of a computer workstation using a one-handed keyboard on the left. With this setup you can use a computer with two hands instead of three. :-)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZCfy66cL6YteTnIM0hp0Bn48Zr0pvQ7jsb0oBtkM72H8CZaVxrY2alEI8Z1LtENLEhAtC6o0B3OtRiODNaLZ1yVZ4nbl95N8g2BIfwS3W_QoSaMRAbgc4HkpgiGj7a8MRR7BYA_gDrpKSx6pcb7K5SXw3NgxVnQEwcOBELqMnZjeJ54jeKLGI7nFpLw/s3600/Data%20Egg%20Workstation%20components.tif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZCfy66cL6YteTnIM0hp0Bn48Zr0pvQ7jsb0oBtkM72H8CZaVxrY2alEI8Z1LtENLEhAtC6o0B3OtRiODNaLZ1yVZ4nbl95N8g2BIfwS3W_QoSaMRAbgc4HkpgiGj7a8MRR7BYA_gDrpKSx6pcb7K5SXw3NgxVnQEwcOBELqMnZjeJ54jeKLGI7nFpLw/w640-h426/Data%20Egg%20Workstation%20components.tif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the iPad was invented, I prototyped surfing the web using a stylus in one hand and a one-handed keyboard in the other.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HCFPk8bAIZ1k_VanldQDXDv809zNmO5gvzlFV4l1hfRuEfSsxxp9YknBr_RdOlrkfm6V3cTzs2UahYXAWGsa8hOLodjYQSfxbJ4aKz6C7sLZD2_6kc_2ddvGj7NUk2UyJ7sjA0eHrTa717uqtGaQLPNCKjoWdVC1r_UXc6Q-pePlBGxlX0ph2XL0SA/s3600/Data%20Egg%20Workstation_1.tif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1HCFPk8bAIZ1k_VanldQDXDv809zNmO5gvzlFV4l1hfRuEfSsxxp9YknBr_RdOlrkfm6V3cTzs2UahYXAWGsa8hOLodjYQSfxbJ4aKz6C7sLZD2_6kc_2ddvGj7NUk2UyJ7sjA0eHrTa717uqtGaQLPNCKjoWdVC1r_UXc6Q-pePlBGxlX0ph2XL0SA/w640-h426/Data%20Egg%20Workstation_1.tif" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prototype in use.</td></tr></tbody></table>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-91980749464713034442022-08-05T13:46:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:25:00.680-07:00Trustworthy Digital Camera (1993)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7b9ZCbs7aFX9_b0Zk-UL-cRjHkgnRxmBp6SWY4aq6RYlG3nbNlkq20FtdKQgu_AV94D78uRYWTgNjOoNkc7yp8aeMGeFgLNVEnNEISkPxCFwlPuqv2xBkrdhXiqGITKO2BTjtifjLI_hovSfHpRr5mlBlEmxZubyQwWitkEt7lRDHN3ep5KInk7ryw/s2441/A9909669%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2441" data-original-width="1717" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7b9ZCbs7aFX9_b0Zk-UL-cRjHkgnRxmBp6SWY4aq6RYlG3nbNlkq20FtdKQgu_AV94D78uRYWTgNjOoNkc7yp8aeMGeFgLNVEnNEISkPxCFwlPuqv2xBkrdhXiqGITKO2BTjtifjLI_hovSfHpRr5mlBlEmxZubyQwWitkEt7lRDHN3ep5KInk7ryw/w450-h640/A9909669%20LR.jpg" width="450" /></a></div><br /><p>Once upon a time there was a saying: “The photograph doesn’t lie”. While mostly true, you could still lie in the old days by attaching false captions or using a forced perspective. Lying by manipulation came much later -- it was used heavily by the Soviets during the time of Stalin, and then by the advertising industry (which is synonymous with lying, really) with the invention of the Scitex imaging workstation in the 1970’s. But the ability to really lie via manipulation didn’t reach the masses until Photoshop came along. <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Back in my NASA days I identified this as a problem that needed solving – in my view, society was relying too heavily on the image whose sanctity was eroding, and I made it my mission to restore it. And I documented my years-long journey with this project here: <a href="https://friedmanarchives.blogspot.com/2020/03/i-invented-camera-whose-output-could-be.html" target="_blank">https://friedmanarchives.blogspot.com/2020/03/i-invented-camera-whose-output-could-be.html</a></p><p><br /></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-33086769328967484242022-08-04T20:52:00.036-07:002023-07-03T08:54:51.465-07:00Pentium Re-compiler<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCPbonnWHxwi6rkeR0g1NQHKO4QUp6tpOt-8AZEgwvW7-WRv2Kmmd_2BJFG3e-C3r5NL-s1PkMvkktY3V5MY28oq3OOIzbeBCCfupRaRBOQD84-wCU2a0jeN06jnrsj17xdTLRLvolnlnD_wzAf_BR7ONCzmjn9xz67CmgDvwHMlpQfSbMhWYtFBhWYT5/s675/Pentium_recompiler%20FAX%20cover%20page.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="553" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHCPbonnWHxwi6rkeR0g1NQHKO4QUp6tpOt-8AZEgwvW7-WRv2Kmmd_2BJFG3e-C3r5NL-s1PkMvkktY3V5MY28oq3OOIzbeBCCfupRaRBOQD84-wCU2a0jeN06jnrsj17xdTLRLvolnlnD_wzAf_BR7ONCzmjn9xz67CmgDvwHMlpQfSbMhWYtFBhWYT5/s320/Pentium_recompiler%20FAX%20cover%20page.JPG" width="262" /></a></div> Feb. 13, 1995<p></p><p>Windows PCs were once run ONLY on CPUs made by Intel: computer chips with names like 8086, 80186, 80286, 80306, 80486, and Pentium. (I guess their legal department figured out they can't trademark a number.) Each new generation offered new capabilities that would only benefit new software that was specifically written for it.</p><p>Or can it? What if you wrote some clever software that would examine all the executables on your hard drive and optimize them to take advantage of the Pentium's new features? That's what this idea was.</p><p>Download the 3-page idea description at <a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/Pentium_recompiler.pdf">https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/Pentium_recompiler.pdf</a> for further details.</p><p>Notice the thought at the end that it might be possible to buy things online one day once certain technical challenges regarding secure payments are overcome. Once again, I get no credit for thinking of it first. :-(</p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-66543503445729165932022-08-04T14:42:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:25:14.285-07:00Electronic Sheet Music (1993)<p><i>Dear all,</i></p><p><i>Last week Nana and I attended an outdoor concert. Some of the musicians were using traditional sheet music; some were using iPads.</i></p><p><i>Instantly my brain zoomed back to the 1990's - long before iPads or Kindles existed - where I had thought of an idea of Electronic Sheet Music. It tried to solve the problem of turning pages of sheet music while performing, a problem made especially difficult outdoors, when musicians would often use clothespins to keep the music from blowing away! How do you turn pages during a concert with that?<span></span></i></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><i>The first step to creating a brand new product is to write out a Product Description, which identifies the problem, explains the solution, identifies the market, and then describes the user interface in extreme detail. The idea being 1) This is how you can "invent" something if you can't physically build it (the technology wasn't there yet), and 2) you want to present your vision so clearly that you can attract funding so you can go create a company and create the physical product.</i></p><p><i>I went back to my computer and, sure enough, found the product description I made for my invention, "Electronic Sheet Music". It's 8 pages long and pretty thorough. It's the kind of detail needed to identify how my invention would work and possibly attract venture capital to fund it.</i></p><p><i>Enjoy! Love, Grandpa</i></p><p>Download the complete .pdf file here: <a href="https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/Electronic_Sheet_Music.pdf">https://friedmanarchives.com/~download/blog/Electronic_Sheet_Music.pdf</a></p><p></p><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-53001702594421771502022-08-03T12:30:00.002-07:002022-09-18T12:37:11.994-07:00Life Alert for my Grandmother (1994)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNHQQnGLTvBrc3jfZeKrRadYhoAzTdfgdGECAkVhtcopdD0pFhm1qaiT_opSd1PUWz3TS25YU06oIKtjFsomwIvCE5PHi2Msx4kQdzOuL7N0hfV0wmOd9bA9BFhrtUVF5teI_AhakNaVF6XtI46-NoXcSVPz2iTEr-2do2iZoBbGJTflk7gK8esQMPpQ/s4898/A9909610%20LR5%20LR5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3266" data-original-width="4898" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNHQQnGLTvBrc3jfZeKrRadYhoAzTdfgdGECAkVhtcopdD0pFhm1qaiT_opSd1PUWz3TS25YU06oIKtjFsomwIvCE5PHi2Msx4kQdzOuL7N0hfV0wmOd9bA9BFhrtUVF5teI_AhakNaVF6XtI46-NoXcSVPz2iTEr-2do2iZoBbGJTflk7gK8esQMPpQ/w320-h213/A9909610%20LR5%20LR5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Once upon a time my 80-something-year-old grandmother was
living with us while waiting for her condo (which had been badly damaged during
the 1994 Northridge earthquake) to be rebuilt.
She was frail and fell a lot in our big house. My mom asked me to invent something that
would alert her whenever my grandmother needed help, whether at home or away.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I went to the hardware store and bought a garage door
opener and receiver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tiny transmitter
was worn around the neck at all times like a pendant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I connected the receiver to a small
microprocessor and added a buzzer and a telephone modem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When the transmitter was pressed, two things would happen:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The very loud buzzer would sound, which my mom
would be able to hear anywhere in the house.</li><li>It would dial my mom’s pager (the forerunner to
cell phones) and send the number “911 911” so when my mom was out of the house
she would know to come back right away.</li></ol><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No pictures, unfortunately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the system was used until my grandmother died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Her condo was finally restored years later, and my parents
let me live there rent-free for a few years until I got a dot.com job in Orange
County and had to abandon it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-43771845237078640302022-08-02T22:13:00.003-07:002022-08-24T19:34:34.172-07:00Hold On™ (1994)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8u_4O3budPr8g5BZIAeyiQ9b7FhugjJHF00BaGQPxp4EV_ON32bSTplic23LNLiFtzVFHbTH4mV4WnOVT_ik2Fa2BwRBF-8Ewnk5euu6X71jw7oe4qmN3J-PY4oFMrtNqud_OX-3aKrRQFuEMb1wRRjI83C4ISQDkByRJykUeHIhNLTalNiyPwJ-sQ/s3776/Hold%20On_001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3776" data-original-width="2521" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8u_4O3budPr8g5BZIAeyiQ9b7FhugjJHF00BaGQPxp4EV_ON32bSTplic23LNLiFtzVFHbTH4mV4WnOVT_ik2Fa2BwRBF-8Ewnk5euu6X71jw7oe4qmN3J-PY4oFMrtNqud_OX-3aKrRQFuEMb1wRRjI83C4ISQDkByRJykUeHIhNLTalNiyPwJ-sQ/w429-h640/Hold%20On_001.JPG" width="429" /></a></div><p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">My first foray into commercial products...</span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Once upon a time, before cell phones and before cordless phones,
telephones were plugged into the wall.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In
1989, I lived in a 5-story condo where each room was on its own floor. Every
time I wanted to continue a phone conversation in a different room I'd have to
put the phone down, run upstairs, pick up the extension, run downstairs, hang
up the original phone, run upstairs, then continue the conversation. That's a
lot of running.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerUUZHP9yopCS9sXJODs42_-yPTt31Rh9C3gPKhkzjB253sYc5u9WiunR92djKACtycD5Ea9temVioml53Csegsm8gEqsjuT1zXXosjmP6_DMNltsLIWtaTfFp3ZzpmKuX8cvD_pdyvBGo7fG7U2FseMKYYXWoAF00_guTNnh0FdrwsGTXv9eQEo0cA/s4700/DSC01267%20LR.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3664" data-original-width="4700" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerUUZHP9yopCS9sXJODs42_-yPTt31Rh9C3gPKhkzjB253sYc5u9WiunR92djKACtycD5Ea9temVioml53Csegsm8gEqsjuT1zXXosjmP6_DMNltsLIWtaTfFp3ZzpmKuX8cvD_pdyvBGo7fG7U2FseMKYYXWoAF00_guTNnh0FdrwsGTXv9eQEo0cA/w640-h498/DSC01267%20LR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I envisioned a solution where you just plug in this device into
any phone outlet in the house and walk away. If you ever wanted to put a call
on hold, just press the # button and hang up. The device hears the sound and
then grabs the line. Then go to the other room and pick up the extension; this
device will sense the drop in line voltage and disconnect. Easy, right? </span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQuWnDTPbtlFlRfGRsks1nJL54ERZgw67DiU9QNY61EbRcsaeX1Lri6F2JnHbE2ZH4CJp19uOD2wIFyxRkJZeVy4UnuKCq_HAI6n2a2bzevdjBGFM6HbQTFgXGT7RPHuJobnVH_94UKFQ19u37CVMBpj3pzNpRw7L8DZCwegQ1O0egNZ0Vns02M1ObA/s4391/DSC01277%20LR.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4391" data-original-width="2964" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQuWnDTPbtlFlRfGRsks1nJL54ERZgw67DiU9QNY61EbRcsaeX1Lri6F2JnHbE2ZH4CJp19uOD2wIFyxRkJZeVy4UnuKCq_HAI6n2a2bzevdjBGFM6HbQTFgXGT7RPHuJobnVH_94UKFQ19u37CVMBpj3pzNpRw7L8DZCwegQ1O0egNZ0Vns02M1ObA/w432-h640/DSC01277%20LR.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I built a working prototype and hung it on my wall just for
show. I used it successfully for years. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4JSOF1SS_hErs6bMfRj1HfJUYk2StzyZyHJjqG9Hr1k6jbCCtAEtxsuHHwle9vxgMqGcghlQTPKaxsSPA68cPw7y0rtTOIL_5mD66-XnnUk2wSLGz_zIUAdBq4tSRJ3Z0l-tcTz25k7tGCBwenx-yEkRIhc371Uy5T-oVXwa_aOHTFSbzW7CRMN13uA/s7952/A9909641.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="7952" data-original-width="5304" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4JSOF1SS_hErs6bMfRj1HfJUYk2StzyZyHJjqG9Hr1k6jbCCtAEtxsuHHwle9vxgMqGcghlQTPKaxsSPA68cPw7y0rtTOIL_5mD66-XnnUk2wSLGz_zIUAdBq4tSRJ3Z0l-tcTz25k7tGCBwenx-yEkRIhc371Uy5T-oVXwa_aOHTFSbzW7CRMN13uA/w426-h640/A9909641.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I thought maybe I could turn it into a commercial product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A patent search revealed that someone had
already thought of the idea (not unusual), and in fact their design was better than
mine as it didn't require an external power supply, and used coils to make a
resonate filter - the sound energy of the "#" button was enough to
engage the hold circuit. Talks of licensing the patent stopped after my
investor got cold feet.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdawgV5RVfK59bLum8NqRoilWXzU8HGTJ7YPYbzE8Ol1HTe_iShyTvN09w15nlkB_xyGUV_lfiJmnLgbqsfnvg0knmJtsuSebrqo0H-y7Kh24iBhOHXxOhJbAtMlFP18nIwQyJk_3kgiZwtIL12il-JGS9rO1ytLM000teNzSkKE0jfAFaCqTdKOThYA/s4571/DSC01280%20LR.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4571" data-original-width="3486" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdawgV5RVfK59bLum8NqRoilWXzU8HGTJ7YPYbzE8Ol1HTe_iShyTvN09w15nlkB_xyGUV_lfiJmnLgbqsfnvg0knmJtsuSebrqo0H-y7Kh24iBhOHXxOhJbAtMlFP18nIwQyJk_3kgiZwtIL12il-JGS9rO1ytLM000teNzSkKE0jfAFaCqTdKOThYA/w488-h640/DSC01280%20LR.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">A few months later another company came out with essentially the
same product, and they sold 100,000 units in six months. Was it because it was
a better mousetrap and the world recognized its brilliant simplicity and beat a
path to their door? No; the main appeal was the cheezy “music” the callers
would hear while on hold: a square-wave approximation of Beethoven's Fur Elise. (It sounded much worse than this: </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfQqW4ouNLg"><span style="font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfQqW4ouNLg</span></a><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> )</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "inherit", "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGyhhcJ9edx28XQV0ajH33_gYOHECIUeTCTu1veisXf2IKqefi1Aeh9RGfMuI2A8-8kQNtRr0Q06HkfeMDT9_cB_kNBp_EQT2DdFK85-gRHvbTorTxTX2Q7nCd4iJpIh4sVKB22lkxPewUs8-DuyWSZP3gi7mwhUM251mH2PHedPgArjOSBrktBe0Kw/s4845/DSC01259%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4845" data-original-width="3641" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGyhhcJ9edx28XQV0ajH33_gYOHECIUeTCTu1veisXf2IKqefi1Aeh9RGfMuI2A8-8kQNtRr0Q06HkfeMDT9_cB_kNBp_EQT2DdFK85-gRHvbTorTxTX2Q7nCd4iJpIh4sVKB22lkxPewUs8-DuyWSZP3gi7mwhUM251mH2PHedPgArjOSBrktBe0Kw/w480-h640/DSC01259%20LR.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Before I gave up on the idea and moved, on, I had an idea of
how a TV commercial would get the idea across.
I did a “storyboard” of the commercial which reads kind of like a
graphic novel. You can read it below: (And as with every other image in this blog, you can view a larger and sharper version by clicking on it.)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36ZnQ2XbkivxWGdgEABwX0ebN3mmLB3lk3piO3Kesh0S4waLBbkZN5W8AkFJMPLvbHlCRDgvlhYKib2f7_vlH_WvUXH7Z0_WaQOp9sQDm-liVs1KgiDzX20k9FKTZ2YMoQui7i-zE7TAW_ZQMlp0vBiP9AQSd0nPtzAJ6uUv9f2bKAcPfU4cEgt1fAA/s4904/DSC01253%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4904" data-original-width="3754" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36ZnQ2XbkivxWGdgEABwX0ebN3mmLB3lk3piO3Kesh0S4waLBbkZN5W8AkFJMPLvbHlCRDgvlhYKib2f7_vlH_WvUXH7Z0_WaQOp9sQDm-liVs1KgiDzX20k9FKTZ2YMoQui7i-zE7TAW_ZQMlp0vBiP9AQSd0nPtzAJ6uUv9f2bKAcPfU4cEgt1fAA/w490-h640/DSC01253%20LR.jpg" width="490" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7eiooYGvJ95fIrd-8EzcGoZl8UmfZkGSPFlv1nwm_mBvqAsOgZg60nKQmE84eDa81EF5OTJgVr4-rxTRrvAAYLMVJQfNCAtPiMxnBnrQQmVGv_soRcU0ZJsTPQ_BcO2Gnzvc7x1F-1jGA9KggZ-lOK74EBXKqZ3CUpU3IQ4dZE1cNpYi3XXnQXqJLvA/s4939/DSC01254%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4939" data-original-width="3769" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7eiooYGvJ95fIrd-8EzcGoZl8UmfZkGSPFlv1nwm_mBvqAsOgZg60nKQmE84eDa81EF5OTJgVr4-rxTRrvAAYLMVJQfNCAtPiMxnBnrQQmVGv_soRcU0ZJsTPQ_BcO2Gnzvc7x1F-1jGA9KggZ-lOK74EBXKqZ3CUpU3IQ4dZE1cNpYi3XXnQXqJLvA/w488-h640/DSC01254%20LR.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3C4RY2F1_dxpJM-gu_oUImIeCKcsXwoDLWjkhLo2dX5Sij1DRAz9py8y2-_J3HRQoqb9Y1Bdc1SoWVaaOaysgp6ombUEw80PYgBsdnhLWzyHjgDdw33atNd2Q2wluUYt8-0fLBWPtMe1zgOQC5hLGB9nX3xN1uunxSNifM-jA2PwM4qBt5HSO3sXzQ/s4939/DSC01256%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4939" data-original-width="3735" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3C4RY2F1_dxpJM-gu_oUImIeCKcsXwoDLWjkhLo2dX5Sij1DRAz9py8y2-_J3HRQoqb9Y1Bdc1SoWVaaOaysgp6ombUEw80PYgBsdnhLWzyHjgDdw33atNd2Q2wluUYt8-0fLBWPtMe1zgOQC5hLGB9nX3xN1uunxSNifM-jA2PwM4qBt5HSO3sXzQ/w485-h640/DSC01256%20LR.jpg" width="485" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuJLo3ukYaDK-oKsTsIMJ8dKDTgvZ2TfV81AY6goPWUwfkhSH-tw3alERy7kjzyFE78wvA01enqsMdurV2T--4HIMzuG2_qhTZJNUrhGlS7yveuZGPdyYlMulBrk_nNrexiY1xwc2bcXz_xtHhN8Bn3qMf2BvE7FUEBz5VSAEtxydl5ZX1v6m91EvQg/s4929/DSC01257%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4929" data-original-width="3734" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuJLo3ukYaDK-oKsTsIMJ8dKDTgvZ2TfV81AY6goPWUwfkhSH-tw3alERy7kjzyFE78wvA01enqsMdurV2T--4HIMzuG2_qhTZJNUrhGlS7yveuZGPdyYlMulBrk_nNrexiY1xwc2bcXz_xtHhN8Bn3qMf2BvE7FUEBz5VSAEtxydl5ZX1v6m91EvQg/w485-h640/DSC01257%20LR.jpg" width="485" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3715" data-original-width="4785" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zN1SyvM1U7v3ajCeM_kspd5Il9F0vlmIULzfyVfYCGUTssuyS6wpechS13cQPlgf5E5gWkdTVg3CL4UlFxmaEFZpCsl6J03WOkWVMbBPSs0dRREibTvXMbnIe4NUPDsIBLK7fMHLtpyey3fFfGDdBq19psbgG8kinNHiAbKWkoECIg4ZT9LCecDCYA/w640-h496/DSC01263%20LR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjn4z8OHu3aYXvj2T0FFce-Vkr9X_CGJlgQXMbpOGHMb_52h_WB524a-8m4pyYk81WJs9HbU9Bq3ACcL3FPGwryolhmxuEVkldOtO-Y_apgsXrpvT_Q6Xe43EgrOD5lvnPoNlId3hA_hfj6u82BBAd_bkwAUxCM7gXhaWiH-EWl8YDBd4HlfdZDcZBA/s4779/DSC01264%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3692" data-original-width="4779" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjn4z8OHu3aYXvj2T0FFce-Vkr9X_CGJlgQXMbpOGHMb_52h_WB524a-8m4pyYk81WJs9HbU9Bq3ACcL3FPGwryolhmxuEVkldOtO-Y_apgsXrpvT_Q6Xe43EgrOD5lvnPoNlId3hA_hfj6u82BBAd_bkwAUxCM7gXhaWiH-EWl8YDBd4HlfdZDcZBA/w640-h494/DSC01264%20LR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB3l9Hym0vgPbMFCyddGamgx64CnGiYZNy35JAvpzU80eIM0owsKxG9HvR2hCoMMtcMJm0HGGNZ6ARlNbzV_IOXe6-ZiOCM-qNs6WvMYR3CTcRS9rcZ5nnE840u6bLKaJbsgVYy9qAHt3_Cq6DhUjLByIQhT2ivoPs103FuHEkyGXtE0VAUngTgUpmfA/s3595/DSC01286%20LR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3595" data-original-width="3238" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB3l9Hym0vgPbMFCyddGamgx64CnGiYZNy35JAvpzU80eIM0owsKxG9HvR2hCoMMtcMJm0HGGNZ6ARlNbzV_IOXe6-ZiOCM-qNs6WvMYR3CTcRS9rcZ5nnE840u6bLKaJbsgVYy9qAHt3_Cq6DhUjLByIQhT2ivoPs103FuHEkyGXtE0VAUngTgUpmfA/w576-h640/DSC01286%20LR.jpg" width="576" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-54136689142724511162022-08-02T14:47:00.001-07:002022-08-24T18:25:41.597-07:00Electro-Magnet Bindings for Snowboards (2002)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBcFhbIE1sgI3A3GSQmmWf-hK2z5DLUWXJl2EOR6VlBGqX92LzYoQTtJrx_AMLwReEAeS5loGT3g1xhcQwSuHPhWeEKt7YaxOj65PI2S7Ie2Gp1QyfHTGhLpHTWQye5uohD12A0UM9ClJRt0bXaZ02Bri4y55KCAsrpavxdEHbat3wN-kDGmLMCY_Dw/s928/snowboard%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="721" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizBcFhbIE1sgI3A3GSQmmWf-hK2z5DLUWXJl2EOR6VlBGqX92LzYoQTtJrx_AMLwReEAeS5loGT3g1xhcQwSuHPhWeEKt7YaxOj65PI2S7Ie2Gp1QyfHTGhLpHTWQye5uohD12A0UM9ClJRt0bXaZ02Bri4y55KCAsrpavxdEHbat3wN-kDGmLMCY_Dw/w498-h640/snowboard%201.png" width="498" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once upon a time, I learned how to snowboard. Above is a picture of me and my friend Seth (<a href="https://friedmanarchives.blogspot.com/2018/05/giving-back.html" target="_blank">for whom I was a "big brother" for many years</a>).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I was never very limber (even in my youth), and I found the bindings too difficult to use. “This is dumb. Why not use an electromagnet instead, so I won’t have to touch my toes?” <span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">An electromagnet is an electronically-controlled magnet; you can turn it on and off with the press of a button. And they’re pretty affordable too – here’s one that runs off one “D” battery that can lift 200 pounds!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0keiKCF5EK08wCRvH2akctg7Hw_caOTQy4GfJvIgVPSdw9fK1uA2z0rzdfPHUMuOyYXiBJRwMKi99Tnu6z4EvrIXtJkQDyMgG_4Z9n7SbOWCgP9f-v2d18FdQri9-gHA0_4Rbtsox8oxxrLOSN4xKqADQ1aC8m3BLF62l7q7QNGPphZKnjEJdqfW0pA/s613/snowboard%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="613" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0keiKCF5EK08wCRvH2akctg7Hw_caOTQy4GfJvIgVPSdw9fK1uA2z0rzdfPHUMuOyYXiBJRwMKi99Tnu6z4EvrIXtJkQDyMgG_4Z9n7SbOWCgP9f-v2d18FdQri9-gHA0_4Rbtsox8oxxrLOSN4xKqADQ1aC8m3BLF62l7q7QNGPphZKnjEJdqfW0pA/w640-h490/snowboard%202.png" width="640" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>My idea was to put electromagnets into my boots, and put a metal plate on top of the snowboard. Just step on, flip a switch, and you’re locked on. Flip the switch again and the board instantly disengages.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3dtjyjmUdLtnwgPi2B9ai8sm2356KUOKGfRs8urTWhA4UPJpv85RnUGIabchwETBGLlVsxHfzLOzd8iIKU8AL_M6q0ps1ruNTXM2k4HYVK7yuEeHjJwEUAC04UqL6SbdX-i0ASKX29DcNTarnIslWsHKs-16APabZbBC4E2eOWsbvHTCs1gnUVVkAQ/s1600/snowboard%203.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU3dtjyjmUdLtnwgPi2B9ai8sm2356KUOKGfRs8urTWhA4UPJpv85RnUGIabchwETBGLlVsxHfzLOzd8iIKU8AL_M6q0ps1ruNTXM2k4HYVK7yuEeHjJwEUAC04UqL6SbdX-i0ASKX29DcNTarnIslWsHKs-16APabZbBC4E2eOWsbvHTCs1gnUVVkAQ/w640-h426/snowboard%203.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someone else came up with the same idea. This is their prototype.</td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGs2SCZdIjZirXA7dM7XTed2ZYNv2JwQXyL95jx1h1U2_4PiG0KZ9V3wCgCXasyBGIsQjjV7TPdEe3SZUB-JQKAhPnaYOpmpqsH0UkKtD7dEmwyqvFUCJ67u5K3kqs9bpTl2JTRQOLUlXGde0tqdqIJp51J4qOM67Fp6OZbuQZsVBqKw3mJc57F8HBA/s2159/snowboard%205.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2159" data-original-width="1952" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGs2SCZdIjZirXA7dM7XTed2ZYNv2JwQXyL95jx1h1U2_4PiG0KZ9V3wCgCXasyBGIsQjjV7TPdEe3SZUB-JQKAhPnaYOpmpqsH0UkKtD7dEmwyqvFUCJ67u5K3kqs9bpTl2JTRQOLUlXGde0tqdqIJp51J4qOM67Fp6OZbuQZsVBqKw3mJc57F8HBA/w578-h640/snowboard%205.png" width="578" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Although I bought everything I needed to build a prototype, I never actually had the time to do so. But apparently I wasn’t the only one to think of this – the photos and illustrations above came from a google search. So a working version is out there somewhere.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The idea might also work for conventional snow skis, but the forces on those are considerably larger than that of a snowboard, so it might not work as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">===</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">References:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.flinnsci.com/electromagnet/ap5637/#fo_c=4173&fo_k=c8f92ea475862943b1643de5ca950c18&fo_s=gsurus">https://www.flinnsci.com/electromagnet/ap5637/#fo_c=4173&fo_k=c8f92ea475862943b1643de5ca950c18&fo_s=gsurus</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US20070080518A1/en">https://patents.google.com/patent/US20070080518A1/en</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://youtu.be/uRKHCRR9-C4">https://youtu.be/uRKHCRR9-C4</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="http://jenfoxbot.blogspot.com/2016/08/prototyping-magnet-boots.html">http://jenfoxbot.blogspot.com/2016/08/prototyping-magnet-boots.html</a></div><div><br /></div></div>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3519673963218773499.post-39969501075446358352022-08-02T06:32:00.001-07:002022-08-24T22:33:22.759-07:00Digital Guitar (2010)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qhzcHpHMNWOwfZuRHncSbbS49J5ohsiuWJJMJu8_H6Uv8lLTD1q4YTaHojESqZshfUs8OsBAI0Qe0Ry-yHlAnnL0KLZVV0TJ6Ru-Gol0gKdhRNHlkDfoyvr8wYh_QiTrhbeKXAq1lEXy4GVca1ouLCzAJQNJlSmuOWMSoms6_XnPSl_XlXWbMX6AUA/s412/Guitar%20Close-Up%201%2072%20dpi%20DSC01037.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="216" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qhzcHpHMNWOwfZuRHncSbbS49J5ohsiuWJJMJu8_H6Uv8lLTD1q4YTaHojESqZshfUs8OsBAI0Qe0Ry-yHlAnnL0KLZVV0TJ6Ru-Gol0gKdhRNHlkDfoyvr8wYh_QiTrhbeKXAq1lEXy4GVca1ouLCzAJQNJlSmuOWMSoms6_XnPSl_XlXWbMX6AUA/w336-h640/Guitar%20Close-Up%201%2072%20dpi%20DSC01037.jpg" width="336" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once upon a time, Guitar Hero was ridiculously popular. Kids would spend thousands of hours practicing pressing the colored buttons on the guitar neck when the video game told them to. I looked at this and lamented, "All of those hours spent playing this game, but those skills can't translate to playing an actual guitar! What a waste!!"<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I decided to make a digital guitar that worked just like Guitar Hero. Instead of pressing a colored button when the video game told you to, you press a chord button on the neck of the guitar whenever the sheet music told you to. Want a "C" chord? Press the "C" button and strum. F#m? Press the "F#m" button and strum. Just play whatever chord shows up on your sheet music. How simple is that? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj99uLb9NMieCuEYshc7LFKoxOBZvxWDARoSuScuP9jSeACItTOJLsp1m_tlnWfXc_Twl6iEvR4IPoZLh7fKVWwRd5yfcPJY02s8qF5jHT68gRJSmndvhH4RFbVfOhq-xre8LCX-IyG7-H2ElR2F_ogG9zCjq8ZGFxyGwFQNY3EyzeSNqnLaEJtj4-zCw/s576/Guitar%20White%20Background%20rotated%2072%20dpi%20DSC01022.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="576" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj99uLb9NMieCuEYshc7LFKoxOBZvxWDARoSuScuP9jSeACItTOJLsp1m_tlnWfXc_Twl6iEvR4IPoZLh7fKVWwRd5yfcPJY02s8qF5jHT68gRJSmndvhH4RFbVfOhq-xre8LCX-IyG7-H2ElR2F_ogG9zCjq8ZGFxyGwFQNY3EyzeSNqnLaEJtj4-zCw/w640-h476/Guitar%20White%20Background%20rotated%2072%20dpi%20DSC01022.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A built-in synthesizer and speaker produce an authentic acoustic guitar sound as you strum each of the six pressure-sensitive "strings". Or, press a button and the pleasant acoustic sound gives way to chord-shreading distorted electric guitar!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nbDJpk-xT4IAcFviE3MddRz71vq0dpsfv70xrQxXSajRbVDUzPrN5ECpOJxZy_jVCNenm8LfI48-AtKh1XSpUAJlJ2zz3VYEJvCiTX1ZmNFPSH9zyiP-ewezN8sYRmIgaswQUX5-BVovmeJehPKiLwYhMORrx9zEf0m2q8tufXpESDDGSHdF6wjwWQ/s647/Guitar%20Side%2072%20dpi%20DSC01043.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="647" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nbDJpk-xT4IAcFviE3MddRz71vq0dpsfv70xrQxXSajRbVDUzPrN5ECpOJxZy_jVCNenm8LfI48-AtKh1XSpUAJlJ2zz3VYEJvCiTX1ZmNFPSH9zyiP-ewezN8sYRmIgaswQUX5-BVovmeJehPKiLwYhMORrx9zEf0m2q8tufXpESDDGSHdF6wjwWQ/w640-h532/Guitar%20Side%2072%20dpi%20DSC01043.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Oh, but you can do so much more than just strum:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Instantly do finger-picking just like a an experienced player. </li><li>Transpose at the press of a button.</li><li>Memorize key settings</li><li>There's even a built-in demo mode so you can really show off to your friends!</li><li>The Guitar is self-contained and campfire-ready. No game console or AC power needed.</li></ul></div></div><p></p><p>The neck of the Guitar allows you to choose any major or minor key you may find on your sheet music. You can also play 7th and Major 7th chords by also pressing the button below the chord you want. The unit is powered by 8 AA batteries or via the supplied AC adapter. There's also an Audio Out (for headphones) and Line out (for recording or for an amplifier) on the instrument's bottom.</p><p>The Instant Campfire Guitar makes playing real guitar as easy as playing Guitar Hero™.</p><p><b>Postscript: </b>This is also the ONLY invention of mine that ever made it to market. I got it listed in the (then) famous Hammacher Schlemmer gift catalog, and they sold a few hundred, but then the troubles started. Poor construction quality meant a lot of people returned the guitars as being defective, and the cost of a replacement plus two-way shipping for such a large and heavy instrument completely ate away at the small profits. Today I have just one working unit left and it should probably go into a museum somewhere. </p><p></p>Gary L. Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12816533617814819591noreply@blogger.com