27 Products In The Museum Of Failure To Remind You That Not Every Idea Is A Good OneBy Austin Harvey | Edited By Cara Johnson “Giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your other three tires because you got a flat,” reads the anonymous quote that hangs on a brick wall in the Museum of Failure. It’s a poignant quote, and one that represents the whole point of the museum — to celebrate failure. |
In a similar vein - my cousin is one of the founders of this, umm, institution -
Museum Of Bad Art ? art too bad to be ignored |
Early On-Demand Music Streaming Required Lots of NickelsIn the Pacific Northwest 70-plus years ago, a telephone-based jukebox connected callers to their favorite tunes.BY MICHELLE HARRIS NOVEMBER 10, 2021https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...7a2c9bed69.png An undated image of women DJs staffing a Shyvers Multiphone studio in the Seattle-Tacoma area. LORETTA SHEPARD WAS STILL A teenager when she started using an alias and talking to strangers in the middle of the night. It was 1953 and Shepard, who called herself Joyce, worked past midnight in an undisclosed studio, operating what was, for its time, state-of-the-art technology. “We were told to give no information of ourselves, so we had to work under a different name,” recalls Shepard, who chose to go by her middle name. “I remember they were real strict about having someone know where you were at all times. It was for our own protection.”“Joyce” was no Cold War spy, however. She was one of a small army of women in Washington State who worked as DJs for Multiphones, telephone-based jukeboxes. The devices were the Spotify of their day, providing what some might consider to be the earliest form of commercial streaming. Shepard, who worked in Tacoma, says she also on occasion played the role of therapist—especially with lonely servicemen who’d call in as much to hear another human voice as their favorite song. “If we weren’t too busy, we talked with them,” says Shepard, who still lives in the Tacoma area. “They just needed someone to talk to. We would just listen, you know, [and] be kind to whoever was on the other end.” The brainchild of Seattle inventor Ken Shyvers, Multiphones came onto the scene in 1939. At the time, jukeboxes were only spinning 20 or so records, at most. Shyvers wanted to expand the playlist, so he created the Shyvers Multiphone: a mini-jukebox, with an Art Deco aesthetic. It stood about 20 inches tall and, during its mid-century heyday, could be found anywhere from diner counters and bars to drive-in theaters. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fc854212e3.png A trio of Shyvers Multiphones from John Bennett’s collection. The machine had over 170 songs to choose from, each one assigned a different number. Customers would use its built-in telephone to connect with the local Multiphone station, filled with records and turntables. A DJ with a friendly voice would be waiting on the other end to answer the call and play the requested record. The stations, located in Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton, and Spokane, were staffed entirely by women. “You’d put your nickel [into the Multiphone] and you would hear a hostess from the central station ask through the speaker, ‘what number, please?’ And you’d say, I want number 202, ‘Fools Such As I.’ And then they’d grab the record from the rack, put it on the turntable associated with the location you were at, play it, and that was it,” says Seattle historian John Bennett, author of the upcoming book The Shyvers Multiphone Story. Bennett, who runs Jukebox City, a vintage jukebox business in the Georgetown neighborhood, is a Multiphone collector himself. A self-proclaimed antique hoarder, Bennett bought around 500 Multiphones in the 1980s, which he sold at an antique shop he owned at the time. Back then Multiphones only sold for $100 a pop—today, they’re much rarer, and can go for over $2,000. While Shyvers certainly enhanced the technique, listening to live music over the telephone was nothing new. The first live streaming system, the theatrophone, was invented in France in 1881. The coin-operated wall phone was set up in hotels, cafes, and clubs, among other locations across Paris, and broadcasted live opera, theater, and news programs at five-minute intervals. Sounds were transmitted via cable wires running through the sewer system. The so-called wired music fizzled in the early 20th century as record-playing jukeboxes and radio became more widespread. However, it had a resurgence in the late 1930s. “Sound quality on phone lines was better at that point and in 1940 the big jukebox manufacturers were pretty much thinking well, phonograph jukeboxes are obsolete, and if I don’t get on board with this wired music, then I am going to be left behind. So basically, everyone jumped on board and made their version of it,” says Bennett. “The difference with Shyvers was that he invented the Multiphones, and he produced and ran them himself, so he was the total proprietor of everything. But since he was kind of a small-time guy, he just operated in the Northwest.” Shyvers Multiphones not only brought a wider music selection to Washington’s business establishments; it also brought employment for the scores of women who took phone requests at the stations. Like Shepard, many of them were young. “It was actually my first job. I was a senior in high school and worked there for a year,” says Shepard. She adds nonchalantly, “It was a job. It kept money in my pocket.” Since most of the music requests came from bars and restaurants, hours ran late. On Fridays and Saturdays, Shepard’s shift would typically finish at 1 a.m. “My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, would come pick me up,” she says. Though the women were instructed not to engage in phone conversations with patrons, it happened more often than not. To keep their identity protected, Shyvers had them choose a microphone name and made sure to keep the station locations a secret. Still, this didn’t stop some male admirers, mostly sailors on shore leave, from leaving roses and boxes of candy outside the studio door. Sometimes they’d even propose marriage to the women over the Multiphone. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...af63ff9932.png Loretta Shepard worked as a Shyvers Multiphone DJ in the early 1950s. At the height of their popularity, Multiphones could be found at 120 locations throughout Washington. Then, says Bennett, other companies “came out with these really great stereo jukeboxes and Shyvers just couldn’t compete with them.” By 1959, Multiphones were obsolete and Shyvers pulled them off the market. Most surviving machines are in private collections, though there is a Multiphone on display at Seattle’s Connections Museum, which showcases antique telephones and related equipment. “The Multiphone really was an early version of streaming music,” says Peter Amstein, president of the nonprofit Telecommunication History Group, which runs the museum. Amstein plans to eventually make the Multiphone light up and play music again, like it did in its heyday. “It’s a really nice artifact to be able to display at the museum,” he says. “It was a pretty crazy invention for its time.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/article...ers-multiphone |
Swedish engineer creates playable accordion from 2 Commodore 64 computersLinus Åkesson's instrument sports custom software and a bellows made of floppy disks.BENJ EDWARDS - 11/4/2022, 1:26 PMhttps://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...977e5b1e30.png Linus Åkesson playing his homemade "Commodordion" In late October, a Swedish software engineer named Linus Åkesson unveiled a playable accordion—called "The Commodordion"—he crafted out of two vintage Commodore 64 computers connected with a bellows made of floppy disks taped together. A demo of the hack debuted in an 11-minute YouTube video where Åkesson plays a Scott Joplin ragtime song and details the instrument's creation. Åkesson—a versatile musician himself—can actually play the Commodordion in real time like a real accordion. He plays a melody with his right hand on one C64 keyboard and controls the chord of a rhythm and bass line loop (that he can pre-record using the flip of a switch) using his left hand on the other keyboard. A fair amount of custom software engineering and hardware hackery went into making the Commodordion possible, as Åkesson lays out in a post on his website. It builds off of earlier projects (that he says were intentionally leading up to this one), such as the Sixtyforgan (a C64 with spring reverb and a chromatic accordion key layout) and Qwertuoso, a program that allows live playing of the C64's famous SID sound chip. So how does the Commodordion work? Åkesson wired up a custom power supply, and when he flips the unit on, both Commodore 64 machines boot (no display necessary). Next, he loads custom music software he wrote from a Commodore Datasette emulator board into each machine. A custom mixer circuit board brings together the audio signals from the two units and measures input from the bellows to control the volume level of the sound output. The bellows, composed of many 5.25-inch floppy disks cut and taped into shape, emit air through a hole when squeezed. A microphone mounted just outside that hole translates the noise it hears into an audio envelope that manipulates the sound output to match. The Commodordion itself does not have speakers but instead outputs its electronic audio through a jack. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d0d832098b.png The back side of the Commodordion. The Commodordion does have one huge flaw, writes Åkesson: ergonomics. When playing, the unit puts strain on his left wrist, arm, and shoulder due to the position of the keys on the left-hand side of the instrument—and the fact that his left arm also needs to bear the weight of the unit. "This rather undermines the potential for the Commodordion as a viable musical instrument," he writes. Still, for a one-of-a-kind homemade hack, the resulting music—especially when played adeptly by Åkesson—sounds like the perfect soundtrack to a 1980s computer game. It's an 8-bit love letter to a bygone era. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022...tune-goodness/ |
Mama's got a squeeze box
Daddy never sleeps at night Epic construction! |
Originally Posted by Joe Perez
(Post 1635678)
From the DeLorean to New Coke, these retail products resulted in some of the biggest flops in history — and now they're on display in the traveling Museum of Failure.At the time, the price of sugar was skyrocketing and the Coca-Cola Company was looking to cut costs. Right about that same time, the FDA had implemented ingredient labels on food and drink products. Coke executives wanted to start using high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but were afraid that even if they perfectly imitated the original recipe's taste using HFCS, Coke afficianados would never accept it as being the same. They could lose lots of customers, and revenue. They enacted a brilliant plan. They created New Coke, which tasted like Pepsi. It also had a similar mouth feel. I remember all the grocery stores having blind taste tests, but never New Coke vs Original Coke. Coke's Pepsi-tasting Coke was purported to taste better than Pepsi's Pepsi-tasting Pepsi. They sold New Coke for as long as they thought it would take to deplete all the existing stocks of the original. Then, they did a worldwide mea culpa, begged for forgiveness, and brought back the Coke we all knew and loved. But they really didn't. Original Coke used sugar in the recipe. The Coke they brought back--Coke Classic--used HFCS. , The company did not change the original recipe. They created a new recipe that tasted like the old recipe. Everyone embraced the return of the taste we loved--screw that Pepsi-tasting nonsense. Other folks (besides me) must have noticed, but I don't remember anyone making a stink about the use of HFCS in Coke Classic, and the company certainly did not point it out. They made a big deal about firing some exec for causing so much pain around the globe, but I'd bet the guy that came up with the plan was handsomely rewarded. |
During the second world war, B. F. Skinner, an American professor of psychology, developed and tested a rather unique new innovation in guided missile technology.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1b10bea4fe.png Wait... a psychologist developing a bomb? Well, yes. The US Navy was in need of a weapon capable of countering the formidable German Bismarck class battleships. Missile technology did already exist at the time; the problem was that the guidance systems were too large and too primitive for the missiles to be considered effective. While the military desperately worked on rudimentary electronic guidance systems, Skinner, keen to be of service, sought government funding for a top secret project to overcome the problem. Skinner devised a guidance package for the Navy's ASM-N-2 glide bomb, which consisted of a nose cone fitted with three lenses, which projected an image onto three screens which were fitted with sensors to measure force applied to them. Facing each screen on the opposite side was a pigeon. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a7ebded9b2.png Specifically, a pigeon which had been trained by operant conditioning to recognize a specific target, and peck at its image on the screen. As the image of the target shifted away from the center of the screen, the force of the pigeon pecking at it would be registered by the sensors and translated into control-surface commands, thus adjusting the course of the bomb and bringing the target back into the center of the screen. Although skeptical of the idea, the National Defense Research Committee nevertheless contributed $25,000 to the research. Test runs were successful; the pigeons pecked reliably, holding the missiles on course even when falling at a rapid pace, undaunted by the terrifying noise of war. In fact, the pigeons achieved a 55% hit rate, greater than the accuracy of other missile-guidance systems of the time. Despite this, Skinner struggled to be taken seriously. And so, on 8 October 1944, the program was discontinued. The military were of the opinion that ‘further prosecution of this project would seriously delay others which in the minds of the Division have more immediate promise of combat application’. Namely, (although unbeknownst to Skinner), Radar. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9ab8ffd497.png Skinner published his research in 1960, which you can read here: https://web.archive.org/web/20130927...%20Pelican.pdf |
The following letter is a prime example of bureaucracy at its best. It was written and sent in 1942 by the CO of the USS Skipjack in an effort to get re-supply of a most important commodity. It did, however, ultimately result in the desired delivery.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dbf5774bfe.png USS Skipjack (SS-184) near Mare Island in 1942USS SKIPJACK June 11, 1942 From: Commanding Officer To: Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, California Via: Commander Submarines, Southwest Pacific Subject: Toilet Paper Reference: (a) USS HOLLAND (5148) USS SKIPJACK req. 70-42 of 30 July 1941. (b) SO NYMI Canceled invoice No. 272836 Enclosure: (1) Copy of cancelled Invoice (2) Sample of material requested. 1. This vessel submitted a requisition for 150 rolls of toilet paper on July 30, 1941, to USS HOLLAND. The material was ordered by HOLLAND from the Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, for delivery to USS SKIPJACK. 2. The Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, on November 26, 1941, cancelled Mare Island Invoice No. 272836 with the stamped notation "Cancelled---cannot identify." This cancelled invoice was received by SKIPJACK on June 10, 1942. 3. During the 11 ¾ months elapsing from the time of ordering the toilet paper and the present date, the SKIPJACK personnel, despite their best efforts to await delivery of subject material, have been unable to wait on numerous occasions, and the situation is now quite acute, especially during depth charge attack by the "back-stabbers." 4. Enclosure (2) is a sample of the desired material provided for the information of the Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island. The Commanding Officer, USS SKIPJACK cannot help but wonder what is being used in Mare Island in place of this unidentifiable material, once well known to this command. 5. SKIPJACK personnel during this period have become accustomed to use of "ersatz," i.e., the vast amount of incoming non-essential paper work, and in so doing feel that the wish of the Bureau of Ships for the reduction of paper work is being complied with, thus effectively killing two birds with one stone. 6. It is believed by this command that the stamped notation "cannot identify" was possible error, and that this is simply a case of shortage of strategic war material, the SKIPJACK probably being low on the priority list. 7. In order to cooperate in our war effort at a small local sacrifice, the SKIPJACK desires no further action be taken until the end of the current war, which has created a situation aptly described as "war is hell." J.W. Coe Here is the rest of the story:The letter was given to the Yeoman, telling him to type it up. Once typed and upon reflection, the Yeoman went looking for help in the form of the XO. The XO shared it with the OD and they proceeded to the CO's cabin and asked if he really wanted it sent. His reply, "I wrote it, didn't I?" As a side note, twelve days later, on June 22, 1942 J.W. Coe was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on the S-39. The "toilet paper" letter reached Mare Island Supply Depot. A member of that office remembers that all officers in the Supply Department "had to stand at attention for three days because of that letter." By then, the letter had been copied and was spreading throughout the fleet and even to the President's son who was aboard the USS Wasp. As the boat came in from her next patrol, Jim and crew saw toilet-paper streamers blowing from the lights along the pier and pyramids of toilet paper stacked seven feet high on the dock. Two men were carrying a long dowel with toilet paper rolls on it with yards of paper streaming behind them as a band played coming up after the roll holders. Band members wore toilet paper neckties in place of their Navy neckerchiefs. The wind-section had toilet paper pushed up inside their instruments and when they blew, white streamers unfurled from trumpets and horns. As was the custom for returning boats to be greeted at the pier with cases of fresh fruit/veggies and ice cream, the Skipjack was first greeted thereafter with her own distinctive tribute-cartons and cartons of toilet paper. This letter became famous in submarine history books and found its way to the movie ("Operation Petticoat"), and eventually coming to rest (copy) at the Navy Supply School at Pensacola, Florida. There, it still hangs on the wall under a banner that reads, "Don't let this happen to you!" Even John Roosevelt insured his father got a copy of the letter. The original is at Bowfin Museum in Hawaii: https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d71cf0f47c.png https://eugeneleeslover.com/Humor/In...er_Letter.html |
As an ex-Federal bureaucrat - I approve.
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I debated posting this over on the politics thread, because that's where the lesson it has to teach is most desperately needed. But I think it will live a better life here, in a thread which is about knowledge and learning, not a race to out-meme the next guy. Because, despite the subject matter, it's not actually about Ron DeSantis, or the indoctrination of kindergarteners into deviant lifestyles, or any of the other things which it appears to be.
It's about the difference between Reality and The Law. That's a distinction which I feel is often overlooked in the race to pass judgement on controversial topics about how "that's not fair" or "this is clearly biased." And I grant you, it often isn't fair, and it often is biased. But when discussing matters which are actually before the court, fairness and bias are typically¹ not relevant to the outcome. Interpretation of The Law is. I love watching this guy. Some of his videos delve into really obscure or bizzare cases which, as a former law student and amateur law nerd, I find both educational and entertaining. This specific video is an especially informative one. The short version is that the Walt Disney company, which for some reason has decided to become a political activist organization, took on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and, despite receiving an apparently fatal gut-punch, actually turned around and won by using some incredibly novel and creative legal tactics, one of which involves King Charles III of England. And not in some obscure, roundabout way. They literally call him out by name. Yes, the King of England is relevant to a legal battle in Florida. That specific punch-line is delivered starting at 19:17, but believe me when I say that unless you are comfortably familiar with the Rule Against Perpetuities, then simply jumping to that point will not make sense. I mean, you gotta assume that a company which has managed to keep a cartoon drawing of a mouse out of the public domain for almost a hundred years employs some pretty clever attorneys. It really is worth giving this 23 minutes of your full attention, if this sort of thing interests you: [1] = unless it's a discrimination suit. |
He is hard to follow, but a fascinating story to tell! I had to laugh, it was the funniest legal comedy since 'the vibe' in The Castle, but this one is (it seems) real. That story line involved a suburban solicitor of dubious talent taking a compulsory acquisition case of a family home to the High Court (equivalent to US Supreme Court), and winning - when asked the basis of his case, he said 'it's the vibe, Your Honour'. At one level that line is just good comedy scripting (and that is how it was played IIRC), but at another it goes deeper - it is the question of what is just.
Clearly the Floridian (this is a real word, or did you get that from The Princess Bride?) authorities required more than 'a vibe' for Disney to hold them off, but maybe this is a case of the means justifying the end, which is just another way of saying 'it's the vibe Your Honour'. |
Potatoes are better than human blood for making space concrete bricks, scientists sayBy Josh Dinner published March 23, 2023Charlton Heston was right — blood makes poor mortar (compared to potatoes, anyway).https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1080758d63.png Artist's illustration of a crewed Mars base. (Image credit: Pat Rawlings/NASA)Engineers have created an intriguing concrete alternative using simulated Martian or lunar soil, potato starch and salt. The "space concrete" is twice as strong as conventional concrete, the researchers say. They hope the new material will eventually facilitate construction efforts on the moon and Mars. In a new study published in the journal Open Engineering, two researchers from the University of Manchester in England demonstrate the effectiveness of potato starch as a binder to create the novel "StarCrete." https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f0116a5138.png StarCrete, a material made of potato starch, salt and simulated Mars or moon dirt, is twice as strong as conventional concrete, its creators say. (Image credit: Aled Roberts/University of Manchester) In their study, concrete mixtures using simulated Martian and lunar soils featured strengths more than double that of ordinary concrete, which has a comprehensive strength measuring around 32 Megapascals (MPa). The StarCrete mixed with faux-Martian soil clocked in at 72 MPa, while the mixture using simulated lunar regolith came in even stronger, at 91 MPa. Stronger concretes typically last longer, but that isn't StarCrete's major advantage as a potential building material on the moon or Mars. The scientists estimate that just 55 pounds (25 kilograms) of dehydrated potatoes could be used to produce nearly half a ton of StarCrete, which is enough to sculpt over 200 bricks. For context, you need about 7,500 bricks to construct a three-bedroom house here on Earth. Typical materials needed to mix concrete come with considerable weight. For future lunar and Martian constructions, as with any space mission, weight reduction is a big priority. Whether it be a satellite, cargo to the International Space Station or materials to build a house on the moon, the heavier a payload, the more cost-prohibitive it is to launch into space. So, the less weight, the better. Capitalizing on the resources available at an astronaut's destination to supplement supplies that are difficult or expensive to send from Earth, known as in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), has long been the strategy when researching how humans might create sustainable outposts on other planetary bodies. So, the strength and durability made possible by a lightweight potato starch-based concrete mix holds high potential over conventional materials when it comes to otherworldly construction, the study team says. Potato starch wasn't the first medium that University of Manchester scientists tested in their search for ISRU building supplies. In a previous study, the same team explored the possibility of using human blood and urine as binding agents for their extraterrestrial concrete. The blood and urine of astronauts, after all, are renewable resources, and they're available wherever an astronaut's mission might take them. Concrete from the researchers' trials using blood and urine also produced strengths above traditional mixtures, measuring around 40 MPa. These bricks' construction, however, would require that astronauts repeatedly drain their own bodily fluids, which was viewed as a drawback. Aled Roberts, the lead researcher for the StarCrete project and research fellow for the Future Biomanufacturing Research Hub at the University of Manchester, concedes that using potato flakes is preferable to blood and pee. "Astronauts probably don't want to be living in houses made from scabs and urine," he said in a statement. If that disappoints any current or future space travelers, fret not. The opportunity to contribute literal parts of yourself into the construction of your Martian home isn't completely lost. The specific salt compound used in the potato-based StarCrete mixture is magnesium chloride, which can be abstracted from Martian soils, or, luckily for you, human tears. https://www.space.com/space-bricks-p...mars-moon-dirt |
I found this interesting, but troublesome.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...054556ec7d.jpg My granddaughter was visiting and I had my wife pick up one of these. I had the same planes as a kid six decades ago, BUT... I swear I remember the slot for the wing being curved to actually make the shape of an airplane wing, SO THE FRICKIN' THING COULD FLY. This one didn't fly worth crap. It's not a mistake. That's how they're made now. |
Holy fucking shit...
My granddaughter and I were watching her favorite animated show, Paw Patrol (not my fav, I prefer Bluey), and I suggested we watch some stuff I watched as a kid. She was not receptive at first, but ultimatums even work with four-and-a-half year olds. I put on the first episode of Ultraman. It was in Japanese with English subtitles, which really wasn't what I was going for, so I put Paw Patrol back on the TV while I searched You Tube on my computer. Astroboy came to mind. In the first episode of Astroboy, young ten-year-old "Aster" is racing a self driving car "which should have been perfectly safe", until it wasn't, and a construction vehicle pulled in front of him and the consequent wreck killed him. His father (never any mention of a mother), a genius roboticist, vows to recreate his son as a robot in one year, with a 100,000 horsepower engine. A minute or so is spent on that year of development. They're successful. Then "Astroboy" learns everything over the next several years, but he doesn't grow like a normal boy. No time is spent on why he doesn't grow, but the "father" creator douchebag confronts him about it, and decides to sell him to a circus since he's not growing. It's more a Roman circus where he battles other robots to the death. A fucking gynormous fire starts as a result of one of Astroboy's battles, a fire so big it seems to consume cities. Astroboy actually rescues the guy that bought him. There's a good guy that tries to save Astroboy from life in the circus, and a political resolution that frees 100,000 robots essentially sets Astroboy free. That's Episode One. And I'm sitting on the couch next to my granddaughter remembering I really loved Astroboy when I was a kid. Still do. WTFuck. |
Actually WTFuck your granddaughter prefering paw patrol over bluey.
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Originally Posted by TurboTim
(Post 1642082)
Actually WTFuck your granddaughter prefering paw patrol over bluey.
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How old pinball machines operated before the age of ICs, using technology available since the 1930s:
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The electrifying rise and fall of Ultimate Tazer BallFor a brief moment in 2012, it looked like Ultimate Tazer Ball was the next big thing. Maybe it was the pure outlandishness of the concept, or maybe the internet just loved “shocking” headlines packaged with sharable, bite-sized videos. Either way, Tazer Ball — a freakish amalgamation of soccer and rugby in which players could shock each other with stun guns — dominated the press cycle for several months. But the attention didn’t last. America had had its fill of ultimatized versions of everyday sports, like the XFL and Slamball. Nevertheless, three friends — Leif Kellenberger, Erik Wunsch and Eric Prumm — had a dream. The wider American public had moved on from its brief infatuation with alternative sports, and the three realized the sport they’d bet on — professional paintball — wasn’t going to expand beyond its niche market anytime soon.They needed to branch out, to swing for the fences with a new sport that could, at the very least, land them a lucrative TV deal. And during a paintball conference in Chicago in 2011, Ultimate Tazer Ball was born. From a Google search, you might think Ultimate Tazer Ball dominated the early ’10s. There is no shortage of Ultimate Tazer Ball clips and headlines and interviews. But for the most part, all the clips and headlines and interviews feature the same highlights, the same grabby puns and the same quotes from Kellenberger, Wunsch and Prumm. It’s like the sport lived and died in the lifetime of its initial PR push. It made headlines, circulated highlights, grabbed a ton of attention and even made it to Stephen Colbert. And then, just like that, it vanished. The sport’s website has long-expired, its creators have moved on to other ventures, and mentions of Tazer Ball have mostly fallen to the wayside of social media’s endless churn of recyclable content. But what about the guys who actually played the game? The professional paintballers who ran around tazing and tackling each other in the hope that the sport — and thus the players — would hit it big? About a year after that fateful night in Chicago, Kellenberger, Wunsch and Prumm had recruited around 20 paintballers for an all-expenses-paid trip to California and the opportunity to “try out a new sport.” Exactly what that new sport was, they didn’t say, and that’s where we’ll let Derrick Weltz — former star of the Toronto Terror team — take over. It was around 2012, so I would’ve been 25, somewhere around there. I think it was Eric [Prumm] who called me in December. He was like, “Hey, I wanna fly you down to California, give you $500 for the weekend, come try this sport we’re developing.” And I was like, “Okay, what is it?” “It’s just a mixture of American Gladiators and dodgeball, something like that.” He wouldn’t say more than that. He was just really vague about it. But I went anyway. I’d known those guys for a couple years and considered them friends. Basically everybody knows everybody in paintball — you fly around and go to different tournaments and you end up seeing the same people and becoming friends. So since pretty much everybody involved was from the paintball industry, I went. Plus I was young. It was something new and a paid trip to California. I didn’t really even hesitate.
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Walter Chandoha's Cat Photography: A 70-Year Love StoryIt was a cat named Loco that got him started. Walter Chandoha, a World War II battle photographer who had transitioned into advertising, picked up a gray kitten on the streets of New York City one cold night in 1949. Inspired by the cat's late-night antics, Chandoha and his wife Maria named him Loco—and it was by photographing Loco that Chandoha began a 70-year career as one of the world's most famous cat photographers. This month Taschen released Walter Chandoha Cats: 1948-2018, "a career-spanning retrospective of the greatest cat photographer." (Chandoha died earlier this year at the age of 98) In the photographs his daughters grow old, cities evolve, and the individual cats change—but the unknowable, endlessly fascinating character of cats remains, captured better by Chandoha than anyone before or since. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4c4695d446.png “Eye level is the best level.” To put his subjects, like this stray, at ease, Chandoha met them at their level. Strays were prevalent in the Fulton Street Fish Market area, which provided plenty of willing subjects for the photographer. New York City, 1959. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...70cbf8a19f.png Chandoha’s very last feline companion, Maddie, a rescue American shorthair, photographed in New Jersey in 2018. The Chandoha family had dozens of cats over the years, as Chandoha wrote in the introduction to his book. "Sometimes they were the sole spoiled potentate, but more commonly there were as many as four in the house and a number in the barn. Every one of these cats had their own distinct manner and set of characteristics —whether it be engaging or enigmatic, active or lethargic — but they were always part of the family." https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c5d827e87b.png https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c38c7d8dc7.png Chandoha writes in the book's introduction, "I relished the challenge of making photographs of cats and quickly saw the potential of attempting to capture their naturally expressive personalities. The photographic possibilities and challenges seemed endless" https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b4125b6d4a.png Over the course of Chandoha's career his work was featured on over 300 magazine covers, in thousands of pet food packages and advertisements, and in 33 books about his work. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...17cccbba09.png https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...13edb5b4e2.png Chandoha's children Chiara, Paula, Maria, Fernanda, Enrico, and Sam were frequent subjects in his photographs alongside their feline companions. This photograph features Chiara and a Persian cat, in New Jersey in 1961. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...15c4fdd2f4.png In addition to the studio shots that made him the most successful commercial cat photographer in the country, Chandoha frequently captured everyday life, including this shot on the streets of New York City in 1982. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1ecd9b7475.png Daughter Maria and son Sam with a family cat, American shorthair, New Jersey, 1960. "In all these years I’ve spent making thousands of images of every kind of cat, I’m still surprised to find yet another who is completely different from their peers," Chandoha writes in the book's introduction. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0a5aff81b1.png American shorthair, New Jersey, 1976. "You’d never get the same expressions with dogs,," Chandoha said in a 2015 interview. "Cats are just naturally expressive. They get in such a variety of situations.” https://www.vanityfair.com/style/201...at-photography |
Originally Posted by DeerHunter
(Post 1642553)
How old pinball machines operated before the age of ICs, using technology available since the 1930s:
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