Trivia and other useless but interesting items

I remember doing a library tour during my orientation week at uni. We got to the microfiche/film machines and before the guide could say anything, someone quipped, this is old tech and absolutely useless. The guide smiled and asked that person whether they had the gear to read a floppy disk - no, did they have the gear to read magnetic tape - no, did they have the gear to read wire recordings - no. He then went to a far cabinet and pulled out some 100+ year old microfilm and put it in the microfilm machine. That shut him up! Having varying ways to store information can be an advantage...

Drones are changing farming in several ways fast. Rulz some time lag of course[biggrin]

Of interest is Drones themselves are changing almost as fast.

Mustering by drone is cheap and safe but regulatory red tape stands in the way for many - ABC News

ND is going on holidays next week [thumbsupbig] I know its sick but I have planned at least 250km of runs so far[bigrolf] "Notes: This is a challenging run — 1,1100 feet of elevation gain in 2.8 miles, average 8% grade. No shoulder or sidewalk on the road, but the traffic is manageable. " this is to a A "Big Budda on a hill [biggrin][biggrin] Humid- Check. 30ish- Check, A beach to cool of post run-0 Check a bar and pool to really chill out- Assured[bigrolf]

I promise to lay down for a bit as well[smilebigeye]

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Originally Posted by NavyDiver

ND is going on holidays next week [thumbsupbig] I know its sick but I have planned at least 250km of runs so far[bigrolf] "Notes: This is a challenging run — 1,1100 feet of elevation gain in 2.8 miles, average 8% grade. No shoulder or sidewalk on the road, but the traffic is manageable. " this is to a A "Big Budda on a hill [biggrin][biggrin] Humid- Check. 30ish- Check, A beach to cool of post run-0 Check a bar and pool to really chill out- Assured[bigrolf]

I promise to lay down for a bit as well[smilebigeye]

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You might be amused to know that the Buddha I suspect you are running to is situated on top of the Nakkerd hills.... True.[biggrin]

Enjoy

Parks Victoria feral horse control programs attract 11 suitable rehoming applicants


The Plan- " plans for controlling feral horse numbers in the Victorian Alpine region and Barmah National Park were released in 2020 and 2021."

spend a packet to catch them then let most go does not seem the smartest "Parks Victoria has trapped 163 horses since the start of the operations, of which 116 had been rehomed.
Most others were released."[bigwhistle] As they are also shooting them!![bigwhistle][bigwhistle][bigwhistle]

Link

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Originally Posted by cripesamighty

The guide smiled and asked that person whether they had the gear to read a floppy disk - no, did they have the gear to read magnetic tape - no, did they have the gear to read wire recordings - no.

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More to the point, at that time the oxide would have fallen off the binder for the floppy disk & mag tape, and the wire recording would have degraded beyond the ability to accurately read. Silver nitrate optical will last orders of magnitude longer. Paper and ink moreso. Monks with quills were greatly under-valued as archivists.

One of my greatest memories is being allowed in the archive room in the WA State library. I wasn't allowed to touch (well, I was, but I wouldn't), but the material contained far exceeded the value of the redundant systems in place to keep it safe.

[QUOTE=BradC;3195363]More to the point, at that time the oxide would have fallen off the binder for the floppy disk & mag tape, and the wire recording would have degraded beyond the ability to accurately read. Silver nitrate optical will last orders of magnitude longer. Paper and ink moreso. Monks with quills were greatly under-valued as archivists.
......
Sometimes.

Life of magnetic tape/discs is very dependent on who made it/when. While some has a life of years, some has a life of decades, and some (probably) centuries.

Silver halide on nitrate film stock has a life measured in decades, not centuries, and is, to boot dangerously flammable and prone to self-ignition, Acetate film, introduced in the 1950s is reasonably safe, but also degrades in decades. Polyester film, replacing it in the nineties, is safe, and probably has a life measured in centuries.

The life of paper and ink documents depends very much on the composition of the paper and ink. Most paper made before about 1860 is long lived, but the inks used varied enormously in composition and life. Most paper 1860s - ?1980s has a useful life of not much more than a century. Most surviving documents written by monks with quills were written on parchment, not paper. If the ink chosen is right, these can last millennia in the right storage conditions. On the other hand, papyrus documents, written with quills, can last millennia - but only if they are kept in low humidity.

For real longevity it is hard to beat documents written with a stylus on clay which is then fired.

However, a real advantage of many analog/optical data storage methods is that they do not depend on specialised equipment. For example more important limit on the usability of magnetic discs and tapes than the life of the media is the existence of the hardware to read the data. In many cases, once manufacture of a device ceases, in less than a decade, that data will become inaccessible.

[QUOTE=JDNSW;3195367]

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Originally Posted by BradC

However, a real advantage of many analog/optical data storage methods is that they do not depend on specialised equipment. For example more important limit on the usability of magnetic discs and tapes than the life of the media is the existence of the hardware to read the data. In many cases, once manufacture of a device ceases, in less than a decade, that data will become inaccessible.

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Yes, that was one of the points the guide was trying to make. That librarian coincidentally was in the middle of conducting a review at the time of how to best access of some early recordings (sound/film) in it's collection and how best to digitise it for posperity (which medium, what format, equipment needed, etc). I think they worked with the State Library on that one.

Had a few showers in The Hills, 4Bee and Epic?
Hope all's well down there.

Lots of rain, got more water in the disco than the creek though [emoji2962] well fixed A pillar blocked drain again but suddenly top of front window leaking [emoji28][emoji28][emoji174][emoji174] I think creek here will be deep in a few days

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Originally Posted by V8Ian

Had a few showers in The Hills, 4Bee and Epic?
Hope all's well down there.

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