User: For some reason the network connection to my computer keeps dropping, and my phone keeps resetting

Network Engineer: I'm seeing all sorts of corrupted data on that port, can you switch them to another port or take them a new cable?

Me: Sure, let me drive over and take a look...







Me: So what exactly were you trying to do?
User: Oh, we just wanted to clean up the cables.
Me: ಠ_ಠ

 

For realsies?

And I'm assuming that since a phone was involved, that it's carrying POE.

Well, on the plus side, you made me feel less bad about the baboons I have to deal with, using 15A extension cords to plug a satellite truck into a 50A supply...

 

I'm kind of amazed there was any connectivity at all.

 

Some gifted workers you have there...

 

Its obviously Monday.

For realsies. I WISH I could make this **** up. I may cut this section out of the cable and mount it to the wall above my desk as a trophy.

Old switch so no POE. There is an injector further down the line though.

You and me both. I'm surprised they didn't fry the port on the switch with above shenanigans. Its part of our hardware refresh before the end of the year so I'm just going to leave it there until I get to it. If it fails then it fails.

As you may have noticed from the background, they work in a warehouse. Take a guess why they work in a warehouse...

 

The miata appears to have some ability to float. This needs to be explored further. Proof of concept with 50% success:


http://www.wsj.com/video/woman-rescu...C8B095214.html

 

Ethernet is remarkably resilient. People have run gigabit ethernet over barbed wire before.

--Ian

 

Because rocket scientists need someplace to keep their spare parts?

Wife is home from breast reduction surgery. Drugged and resting, with an ice pack on her chest. She gave up nearly 5 pounds of boobies!

 

Pics or it didn't...

Never mind.

 

Apparently, laser headlights are an actual thing that is happening.



1. Laser diodes create three separate beams of blue laser light.

2. The beams are directed through a prism, merging into a single beam.

3. The concentrated beam passes through a phosphorous lens that yields a diffuse white light, which is safer for human eyes.

4. The white beam bounces off a reflector and past a clear lens onto the road.

 

I've played with big blue laser arrays before, some projectors use them for blue and green light.



Something like 24,000 watts of optical output focused on one teeny tiny point wrecks most non-metallic stuff.

 

So wait... They intentionally put the nail through the cable? I thought they did that by accident...

What's the point of this?

 

Why not?

 

I mean, i'm guessing it's really just a matter of "because we can" which might as well be explained by the fact that it says BMW on it.

Typically advancements in headlight technology achieve one of three purposes: Less weight/smaller size, brighter, or simpler/lower cost. This appears to achieve.... none of these.

 

Yeah, that was intentional.

"I looked on the internet and it said that all the little wires inside where insulated, so it should be fine."

 

Instant on, less heat than LEDs since lasers are more efficient, better more natural light output, and probably a hell of a lot smaller too. Besides cost I think they've got all your bases covered.

 

I think Deezums nailed it.

Since the transition from carbide lamps to electric filaments, advancements in headlight technology have *never* been about reduced cost, complexity, or parts count. New electric headlight technologies have always increased cost, and usually complexity as well. Sealed beam to halogen bulb, reflector to projector, halogen to HID, HID to LED, this is the next logical step.

Cost will come down slightly when they trickle from the high-end German cars to Infiniti / Lexus, and then it'll drop again when it's picked up by Honda / Kia and the American automakers.

Right now, this is all about a major increase in sales-brochure-factor, and will probably yield an incremental improvement in performance.

 

Oh, nice! I guess it just looks big and super complex in the image posted above.

Sales brochure factor also seems to make sense. I LOVE the LED lights on the new Mazdas.

 

Complex? Definitely.

In terms of size, they're actually quite tiny. One of the larger issues (pun intended) with LEDs is heat dissipation, and in that regard, lasers tend to be significantly more efficient.

 

I remember when I started fooling around with LEDs as a hobby around 15 years ago. Among the two major benefits were that they used far less energy and they ran significantly cooler than incandescent bulbs. I was befuddled the first time that I ever heard that LEDs were running into heat problems, probably 2-3 years later.