October 3, 2011

Mechanical Flying GOOSE Decorates Radiator Cap (Sep, 1931)

Mechanical Flying GOOSE Decorates Radiator Cap

For novelty in radiator ornaments, you’ll have to go a long way to beat this mechanical flying goose. As you speed along in your car, an ingenious arrangement of mechanism in the bird causes it to straighten out and flap its wings to simulate a real live goose in flight.

WHILE your car is standing still this wild goose isn’t so wild. He perches sedately upon the radiator cap surveying the world with a glassy eye. But as soon as you start up and shift into high he flattens out his tail, stretches his neck forward and begins to flap his wings as if he were going somewhere, and going there in a hurry. Read the rest of this entry »

September 30, 2011

Unique Portable Bed Rolls Back Into Automobile Trunk (Jan, 1930)

Unique Portable Bed Rolls Back Into Automobile Trunk

THE latest in compact camping equipment for the touring motorist is a steel trunk which can be carried on the side or back of any automobile and opened at camp to divulge a rolled up bed, spring and braces. It weighs 100 pounds and carries a mattress, four blankets, two pillows and spring. The bed can be made up for use in three minutes according to G. A. Mayer, the California inventor. All of the frame parts are of the knock down variety and stow in the bottom of the trunk while the spring, mattress and bedding are rolled back into the trunk. The roller is operated with a detachable crank.

STREET SCENE, TOKYO STYLE (Jul, 1962)

STREET SCENE, TOKYO STYLE

By Elliot H. McCleary

TRAFFIC IN TOKYO, the world’s largest city (population: 10 million), is, to put it mildly, dense, wild, fast, and furious.

The very diversity of vehicles, as well as their number, is startling. There are automobiles of varying shapes and sizes— Japanese, French, German, an occasional, looming Chevy or Plymouth.

Coveys of goggled motorcyclists thunder their motors at intersections, roar away in blue smoke when the light changes. There are three-wheeled trucks guided inside by handle bars. Read the rest of this entry »

NOW SEE THIS! (Jul, 1960)

NOW SEE THIS!

STENOPEIC Glare Guard sun glasses have rows of scientifically placed pinholes. The plastic glasses cut down glare, are said to be fine for relaxing the eyes. They can be used for reading, watching TV or a movie, for sewing and knitting, fishing, etc. From Sunset Glare Guard, Palm Springs, Calif.

CARIBOU HOOF sun and snow goggles come with an elkskin headband. Caribou hoof is genuine and polished. These goggles were made by the Eskimos and are designed for skiers and outdoor sportsmen. They protect the eyes from the excessive glare. $7.95. Ottauquechee Products, Quechee, Vt. Read the rest of this entry »

It is not only quiet now .. but will remain quiet always (Mar, 1930)

It is not only quiet now .. but will remain quiet always

because all the machinery is sealed up tight, hermetically sealed . . . and permanently oiled

What a lot of claims you hear these days about quiet refrigerators ! Almost any good refrigerator is quiet—when it is new. But how are you going to pick the one that will remain quiet? Read the rest of this entry »

Simple Small TRAPS will Catch Winter Game (Feb, 1930)

Simple Small TRAPS will Catch Winter Game

By HI SIBLEY

These old time favorites among trappers are simple and humane. They will trap pets for your menagerie.

Simple materials, a little time, a little patience, and you can have a good string of traps of your own!

There is a lot of good sport in trapping small animals, especially when you make your own traps. Besides, one never knows just what sort of varmint he’s going to catch and that adds a thrill or two. Read the rest of this entry »

September 29, 2011

VIC-20 – Commodore’s Entry in the Small Computer Arena (May, 1982)

Filed under: Computers — @ 8:43 am
Source: Interface Age ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1982
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VIC-20 – Commodore’s Entry in the Small Computer Arena

by David D. Busch

If first impressions stick, the Vic-20 microcomputer by Commodore (King of Prussia, PA) will lodge itself in the mind of any potential purchaser. The 6502 microprocessor-based computer just doesn’t look like a $299 machine.

In fact, when I demonstrate the unit to those unfamiliar with it, I always save the price for last. This ploy is especially effective if the potential user already has some familiarity with other microcomputers and their prices.

First, I demonstrate the full-stroke, typewriter-style keyboard, which features four special function keys and a control key. The Pet Basic is identical to that used in higher-priced Commodore machines and comparable to Applesoft or Radio Shack’s model III Basic. Read the rest of this entry »

Stay in his mind – be a Mindsticker (Mar, 1969)

This is one of the worst tag-lines I’ve ever heard. What was the second choice, “Tab, be a baby raper.”?

Stay in his mind – be a Mindsticker

When you can’t be with him, be in his mind. Have a shape he can’t forget. Tab can help. It’s sugar-free and it tastes better than any diet cola because The Coca-Cola Company wouldn’t have it any other way. Enjoy Tab, and be a Mindsticker.

No-finger dialing (Apr, 1971)

No-finger dialing

It’s here at last—relief for your throbbing dialing finger. Just slip this plastic card into Bell Labs’ experimental dialer phone and the number is dialed automatically. The card could also be used to transmit information over telephone lines to computers, or even to check bank balances.

CHILD SAVER (Jul, 1962)

CHILD SAVER
SEAT BELTS, if used in every car, could save at least 5,000 lives a year … reduce injuries by one-third, according to the National Safety Council. Many of those saved from injury or death would be youngsters—for drivers kill and cripple more children than any disease. Protect your children . . . drive with loving care. Give them the security of seat belts.
Published as a public service in cooperation with The Advertising Council

MIGHTY MIDGETS OF FILMDOM (Dec, 1942)

MIGHTY MIDGETS OF FILMDOM

MODERN total war has the bewildering effect of changing our values, eliminating many of the things which seemed essential in peacetime and giving a terrific boost to the importance of others.

Microfilm is in the latter class.

Strangely, these little films have now attained gigantic value because of their small size. They are suddenly mighty for the very reason that they are midgets. Even the larger type is only as wide as a man’s thumb from tip to first joint. The smaller microfilm might be compared roughly to the size of the nail on that section of the thumb. Yet, they are doing a Herculean task. Read the rest of this entry »

September 28, 2011

Fast and Smart – Designers race to build the supercomputers of the future (Mar, 1988)

Filed under: Computers — @ 9:04 am
Source: Time ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1988
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When reading this, keep in mind that a single AMD 6990 Graphics Card which is available for $700 is capable of over 5 teraFlOPS.

Also, Philip Elmer-De Witt still writes about technology.

And apparently Seymour Cray was so bad-ass he played Minecraft for real.

Fast and Smart – Designers race to build the supercomputers of the future

The computer at the University of Illinois is simulating something that no one saw: the evolution of the universe in the aftermath of the Big Bang. Re-creating conditions that may have prevailed billions of years ago, the computer reveals on a remote screen how massive clouds of subatomic particles, tugged by their own gravity, might have coalesced into filaments and flattened disks. The vivid reds, greens and blues of the shapes are not merely decorative but represent the various densities of the first large structures as they emerged from primordial chaos in the near vacuum of space.
Read the rest of this entry »

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