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InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)BL
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2 yr. ago

  • Well, beyond the sheer social resistance to the idea. Turns out everyone needs to agree it's a great idea and almost no one did. Evidently humans are wired to the base12 time format far better.

    The attempt at switching to base10 time quickly fell apart when people started notice that the the "time markers" were starting to drift. And at some point they finally figured out that what we call "noon" was going drift rather quickly to not happening until evening and therefore Monday was going to move to a different spot also. This is a very bad thing. Because any kind of calendaring system needs to be as consistent as possible. Noon must happen at the same point in the day every day or as close to it as it it can mathematically get. If it drifts to fast and far, then it's a worthless marker for time. And decimal time has that problem in spades.

    Now, no calendar system is perfect because the orbits of the planets in our solar system isn't perfectly consistent. Sometimes the orbit of earth is a tiny bit faster or sometimes it's a tiny bit slower. So we strive to get a close as we can but we still need to make adjustments. Turns out, all that math is really bloody hard.

  • It's part of a joint for the handle of an electric snowblower I have. It's a cool looking part for sure, but it was easy to recreate as a model to print.

    But after breaking the original injection molded glass re-enforced nylon and 3 other home printed parts, I redesigned the joint to be a single piece solid part. So while I can't fold the handle down for storage, it no longer breaks.

  • I paid $35 delivered from Russia. And honestly, I do not remember if that was a sale price or not because it's been enough years ago now.Despite all the cheap quartz watches found in Walmart, $140 really isn't all that much for a properly made manual wind watch these days. Even a plastic Timex will set you back nearly $120 for a quartz LCD with 24 hour display and only one choice of looks. So I probably wouldn't consider the price out of line for the Komandirski with multiple choices available.

    A Bespoke 24 hour mechanical movement would be quite the piece of horology art. A conversation started indeed.

  • Even the French figured out that decimalized time was stupid after a couple of years.

    Which has added credence to the old saying that "The French follow no one. And no one follows the French."

  • They don't have to be expensive, though such watches are less popular for everyday use. In fact I'm wearing a Vostok Kommendurski with a 12/24 hour dial. When I was a medic, I needed to record all my times in 24hr format on my run reports. I think I paid $35US delivered from Russia 15 or so years ago.

    And no extra gear is needed to make an analog watch/clock indicate 24 hour time. Time doesn't change. You simple have one scale that reads from 12AM through 12PM and then at the next hour, (1PM) it simply gets renumbered to 13, 14, 15, 16 and so on until you reach 24 on the inside scale. Easy peasey.

    But it is possible to build a watch/clock that the movement does move in 24 hour time and you would be correct it would a couple of extra gears to accomplish. But, it would also be a real pain to create a legible watch face with all those numbers on a reasonable sized watch. Far simpler and easier to print the two scales on the face and call it good.

  • Yeah, there a few cars out there that do have safety glass rather than just tempered glass installed as side windows. But they are fairly uncommon due to the high cost and at least one engineer's thought that safety glass might not be the safest thing in that application. Because it does make it more difficult to quickly gain access to an injured person if needed.

    I think BMW has a couple models with safety glass for side windows. But it's been a hot minute since I have needed to concern myself with such minutia.

  • I did forget to add the warning to that. That because it's amazing what still works, you need to be very careful because of those things that still function. Things might look safe but a bump or just bad luck something decides it's going to move or spin due to a stray electrical impulse or release of stored energy. And now you are part of the problem.

    Scene Safety above all else!

  • Before cordless sawzall's became a thing, every fire depadtment/rescue squad would make up a handle that you could attach a used sawzall blade to for cutting safety glass windshields. And they still carry them to this day as a backup. They are amazingly effective. You just need a hole to get started.

    These days, every rescue/fire truck carries a cordless sawzall as the go to for such jobs. No special blade required.

  • You are thinking about Safety glass and not tempered glass. safety glass has plastic film laminated between some layers of glass.

    Tempered glass doesn't have that and when stressed at a small point, crumbles quite satisfyingly easy.

  • Tempered glass will break easily with either an impact style glass breaker or the automatic punch type. Most cars use tempered glass for side windows. As a retired medic who has done more than my share of nasty car accidents, I absolutely hate impact glass breakers like you find on "Rescue knives". They almost always send broken glass shards all over my patient and I'm forced to kneel in said glass while working. The auto punch style tends to drop the glass shards more straight down minimizing having glass everywhere.

    More Pro Tips from an old firefighter/rescue squad/medic: a $3.50US Harbor Freight auto center punch works as well for breaking glass as those fancy $50US glass breakers and is a worthy addition to your glove box. Toss a pencil and paper in there to take notes if needed also.

    Safety glass cannot be broken with a glass breaker because it's a laminated glass with a plastic film holding everything together. It can be sawed with something as simple as a dull reciprocating saw blade though. But you need to get a hole into it first. A fire ax is probably the go to tool for that, but a Halligan tool will also work. (Pro tip: A Halligan tool will solve most issues involving things that block your way.) Some cars do use safety glass for side windows.

    Super Important Pro Tip: Always, always try before you pry. No matter how bad an accident scene might look, it's amazing at what still works. Doors open, seat belts release, (in 20 years I never needed to cut a seat belt), and widows roll down, (even electric ones).

    Final Pro Tip: Always, always be cautious when approaching a wreak. Stay away from the low side of a wreak and be super extra fearful of a car on it's side. Look under the car before you get close. Look for leaking fluids. Stay up wind of an EV if you see any kind smoke. Those fumes can kill you. Be wary of undetonated air bags. Don't stick your head into the car. About 100 cops are killed every year in the US because they get stupid and stick their heads into that situation.

    All in all, the ultimate rule in rescue is "You are there to be a part of the solution to the problem. Don't be stupid and become part of the problem."

  • I had a 486DX running DOS for writing and editing CAM programs for CNC mills, lathes, pipe bender, and a laser cutter. And for funsies, an even older Macintosh that booted from a 5 1/4" floppy that ran a CMM, (co-ordinate measuring machine). And the software for the CMM ran from another 5 1/4" floppy.

    This was about 2017 before I retired as a toolmaker.