What first world problem did you have today?

[CZroe]

Bullshit...toasters weren't invented back then. Everyone knows this.



(damn, I miss the brilliance of TFP)

Yeah. It seems that the 1950s were the pinnacle of toaster development and it's been downhill ever since, much like the 1960s were the pinnacle of aviation development... we STILL haven't made anything faster than the SR-71 Blackbird that started development in the '50s as the A-12. We've literally had more time since its introduction as the fastest plane than there was between that plane and the Wright bros. at Kitty Hawk.

So, anyway: I have an antique Sunbeam "Radiant Control" toaster with a crazy "automatic beyond belief" mechanism that has existed since the '50s though they don't make them anymore. You put the bread inside and it lowers itself. It doesn't matter if the toaster is already warm or if the bread is frozen: It will come up when it is done the same amount every time. That's because it monitors how toasted the bread is and not time or temperature. It turns out that the color of toasted bread changes how much heat is reflected which can be monitored to interrupt the cycle at the same point regardless of other conditions.

It was Ichinisan's flea market find but here are some videos about it:

 

[pete6032]

Have a computer with only Thunderbolt ports and a monitor that only accepts display port. I have tons of USB type C to HDMI cables but no USB type C to display port. Just checked the prices and the cheapest one I can find is $18. What bullshit. When did it become standard practice to remove HDMI ports from monitors?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sounds like an Apple problem. Get a real computer.

 

[Svnla]

When you watch too much "To Catch A Smuggler" that you know what color would turn out to be from the testing of the suspect substance...ie..blue = cocaine.

 

[CZroe]

Have a computer with only Thunderbolt ports and a monitor that only accepts display port. I have tons of USB type C to HDMI cables but no USB type C to display port. Just checked the prices and the cheapest one I can find is $18. What bullshit. When did it become standard practice to remove HDMI ports from monitors?

Can't you just adapt HDMI to DisplayPort?

 

[pete6032]

Can't you just adapt HDMI to DisplayPort?

I would have to buy an HDMI to DisplayPort adapter. Also F Dell. We have all Dell stuff in our office and there is no consistency with their docking systems when it comes to compatibility with monitors.

 

[CZroe]

I would have to buy an HDMI to DisplayPort adapter. Also F Dell. We have all Dell stuff in our office and there is no consistency with their docking systems when it comes to compatibility with monitors.

Yeah, but it wouldn't be $18, would it?

 

[pete6032]

Yeah, but it wouldn't be $18, would it?

Looks like a Displayport male to HDMI Female is $10 on Amazon. I suppose I could have gone with those. But, I was a little worried that there was already one transition happening (USB type C to HDMI), and that adding another transition could somehow mess things up.

I don't understand the widspread adoption of Displayport for office computers. There is no advantage over DVI or HDMI and almost all of our computers have DVI or HDMI out.

 

[clamum]

I've always had this problem when buying a tv since I like to put mine on a rolling, wire frame shelving unit. That means that the whole screen has to fit between the support posts. The shelves themselves are 48" long, but the support tubes at each corner are about 1.5" wide. So IOW, instead of having the full 48" I have to work with, I have to make sure that the screen of the new tv will be no more than 45" wide.

"Why should I give a shit" I hear you say.

Because it's the same problem with slightly different parameters. Let me turn things over to my good buddy Phil Swift of Flex Seal fame now since he can do a much better job of helping you understand just how revolutionary the following idea is.

What if I told you that there is a really simple way to figure out how wide a tv is just by knowing 2 things - diagonal screen measurement and aspect ratio?

Aspect ratio? WTF does that have anything to do with my problem?

I understand your skepticism sir but bear with me and I'm going to make your life infinitely better. Not just a little better. Not even a lot better. What I'm talking about here is nothing short of a miracle - a deep religious experience nonpareille.

Think about it for a moment. What does the aspect ratio tell you? It's the relationship between the width and height of the screen. And what does a diagonal measurement tell you? Well, since the diagonal splits the screen into 2 big triangles, or more precisely, right triangles, then the diagonal is the hypotenuse of both.

You probably see where I'm going with this. But then again, maybe not. After all, having just the hypotenuse doesn't help you figure out the other sides/dimensions. Besides that, aspect ratio has no units of measurement. It's just a number.

That's a valid point, at least up to a point.

But if I know the ratio of one triangle leg to the other, can't I parley that dimensionless measurement into a measurement that tells me the length of each leg in warm, friendly feet and inches.

Now I'm going to stop here since I've yapping for a while and I'm tired. But more than that, I want you all to take a crack at this before I give everything away. So take a minute think about it then come back and impress the shit out of me.

Well I tried, assuming 75" diagonal, 16:9 ratio (I dunno what it is but just went on that anyway), and using Pythagorean Theorem and got 80" for the longer side and 45" for the shorter.

My equation was: (1.778b)^2 + b^2 = 5625

I dunno how the "a" side came out longer than the diagonal/hypotenuse. Lol I guess my math skills are rusty.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would have to buy an HDMI to DisplayPort adapter. Also F Dell. We have all Dell stuff in our office and there is no consistency with their docking systems when it comes to compatibility with monitors.

I hate the fact that there is no standard for laptop docking. It defeats the entire purpose. There should be a standard where you can take any laptop and dock it to any docking station, and everything works.

 

[pete6032]

I hate the fact that there is no standard for laptop docking. It defeats the entire purpose. There should be a standard where you can take any laptop and dock it to any docking station, and everything works.

I thought we were getting there with Thunderbolt but we still have some ways to go. Right now in our office we have a bunch of Dells from 2017 and earlier than use the old proprietary Dell docking technology, but we are also now buying new Dell laptops that use the Thunderbolt docks. The new Thunderbolt docks only have Displayport on them but our monitors are mostly DVI/HDMI because we didn't need to replace the monitors.

 

[BoomerD]

So far, so good...Of course, I still might have to do it all again and replace all the defrost parts...around $150.

Welp...that didn't work. parts on order...now I gotta do it again. I hope the fan isn't fucked...that 120v fan....looks a whole lot like a case fan...runs about $75. I have found a much cheaper version...but don't know about the quality.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Check Digikey, they have all sorts of fans, should be decent quality stuff on there I would think and way cheaper.

AC Fans | Electronic Components Distributor DigiKey

AC Fans are in stock at DigiKey. Order Now! Fans, Thermal Management ship same day

www.digikey.ca

I would try to lookup the CFM rating of the existing fan to make sure you get close to or higher though.

 

[BoomerD]

Check Digikey, they have all sorts of fans, should be decent quality stuff on there I would think and way cheaper.

AC Fans | Electronic Components Distributor DigiKey

AC Fans are in stock at DigiKey. Order Now! Fans, Thermal Management ship same day

www.digikey.ca

I would try to lookup the CFM rating of the existing fan to make sure you get close to or higher though.

yeah...I ain't ordering from overseas...

without knowing the actual fan specs, (samsung doesn't seen to provide those) it will be difficult to pre-order...and I really don't want to try to keep frozen food frozen in a cooler any longer than necessary.

 

[CZroe]

yeah...I ain't ordering from overseas...

without knowing the actual fan specs, (samsung doesn't seen to provide those) it will be difficult to pre-order...and I really don't want to try to keep frozen food frozen in a cooler any longer than necessary.

Where are you? DigiKey is in North America.

 

[sdifox]

Where are you? DigiKey is in North America.

Must be in the newly created Seatle Autonomous Zone :awe:

 

[IronWing]

I got a fresh order of onion rings. Then I got two phone calls in a row. People say that the concentration camps, the gulags, the killing fields, and Rick Springfield concerts are bad but those folks didn't have to sit and watch their onion rings get cold.

 

[BoomerD]

Where are you? DigiKey is in North America.

Nah, I'm in the USA...Squirrel linked to the canuckistan site.

 

[Ajay]

Nah, I'm in the USA...Squirrel linked to the canuckistan site.

What's wrong with Canadian companies??

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think Digikey is actually American, but they have Canadian presence.

 

[CZroe]

Nah, I'm in the USA...Squirrel linked to the canuckistan site.

That's only because he's Canadian. Digi-Key has a dot com too. They are a Minnesota, USA components distributor well known to electronics hobbyists and enthusiasts. I used to get their print catalog of electronics components in the '90s.

 

[BoomerD]

What's wrong with Canadian companies??

That's only because he's Canadian. Digi-Key has a dot com too. They are a Minnesota, USA components distributor well known to electronics hobbyists and enthusiasts. I used to get their print catalog of electronics components in the '90s.

pfft...don't throw factual crap at me...he linked to a canuckistan site.

 

[snoopy7548]

pfft...don't throw factual crap at me...he linked to a canuckistan site.

Here's the non-Canadian site:

DigiKey得捷 中国官网

搜寻来自 1900 多家供应商的电子元器件。180 万种元器件现货供应，立即发货。满 300 人民币免运费。

www.digikey.cn

 

[BoomerD]

Here's the non-Canadian site:

DigiKey得捷 中国官网

搜寻来自 1900 多家供应商的电子元器件。180 万种元器件现货供应，立即发货。满 300 人民币免运费。

www.digikey.cn

Oh yeah...that's much better...

 

[snoopy7548]

Oh yeah...that's much better...

Sorry, pasted the wrong link. Here you go:

DigiKey

DigiKey מציעה מיליוני מוצרים מאלפי יצרנים עם כמויות גדולות במלאי הזמינות למשלוח באותו היום. ™Apple Pay, Google Pay ו-Paypal מתקבלים, הזמינו במקוון עוד היום!

www.digikey.co.il