Zobrazují se příspěvky se štítkemtechnika. Zobrazit všechny příspěvky
Zobrazují se příspěvky se štítkemtechnika. Zobrazit všechny příspěvky
sobota 12. prosince 2009
pátek 4. prosince 2009
a slow day... which makes me reflect about technology
So this day seems to be just bound to be slow.
I decided to backup my photos, right away in the morning on first attempt I've found the size is already too much for my 2 empty CDs. Besides, just to copy them to the computers harddrive takes more then an hour. Then, burning just two CDs would be almost an hour again (I don't burn on highspeeds unless I really trust both the burner and the media - and that's not the case of internet cafés and cheap CDs. Its quite upsetting to have to throw the disk away after 15 minutes of burning!).
And I don't want to carry the camera around without the pictures backed up.
So, after opulent breakfast - a great advantage of my hostel and a reason why I am staying more nights - I went downtown to shop for an USB. I've actually found quite a nice one in discount, but still just the copying will take more than an hour. I've bought SONY in the end... for in my experience, their products are very durable. The discman I've bought in 2003 in the US still runs strong, and although it has some clear engineering mistakes, it did never break down. And not to speak about its brother - one of the very first discmans ever - which I've bought in 2005 from a thriftstore in Bozeman, Montana, for 75 cents (!) - and it worked, and still works, and it even plays home-burned CDs even though that technology, as I suspect, wasn't diffused by the time of its release to the market.
So I put my trust into the brand, and I hope, that the pendrive will be here for a few years, and not break down like most others did (only the very first I had, 256MB one, still works, as the producers as I suspect make only the first editions properly to position them on the market, whereas later its all about cutting costs - and lifespan...). And each and every time it was a mechanical failure at the connector - a lot of strain occurs there, but engineeres could easily forsee that, couldn't they?
But thats not the priority for affordable products to avoid these setbacks these days.
My camera - the same story - as for the LCD display the problem that occured clearly stems from faulty engineering. And could be fixed easily. In the end, I've semi-fixed it with no proper technology! Because, what happened is that the two-line flat cable that provides power for the light emitting background of the LCD - which makes it readable - was bent over to make it make a right-angle turn - and offcourse, being it such a tiny cable, it eventually broke there!
And even though the problem would be fixed by fixing that cable, or changing it, where the cable can't cost more than a dollar, the "authorized service" generously offered change of the whole LCD for price surpassing the one of a whole new camera (probably here for input of the skilled work, which consists of taking the camera apart with a screwdriver and releasing the cables from their connectors - which I admit I would not know how to do, but it can't be too complicated).
And that is properly annoying, let me tell you! Especially here in South America, where so many people will probably never be able to have any camera at all, and here a good camera almost goes to waste, where it technically could be fixed for some 5 $ - properly! Where as, as I've said, I've semi-fixed it using a razorblade, a lighter and a scotch tape and some 1,5 hours of time. The difference between 5 and 150 $ isn't a decisive barrier for me perhaps, but it IS for millions of people in the world!
And that once again proves what Marx said, that "market value" and "utility value" are two entirely distinct things! (and that can be used to your advantage or disadvantage:)
If all the stuff that is in the back of your drawers, along perhaps with description of what happened, was collected and then sent to less developped countries, then fixed or sorted out for recycling... I think you could provide the community with some cheap stuff with good utility value, and guys fixing it - why not kids who are being trained for electricla engineering carreers? - could learn some valuable lessons like that! Not only about fixing stuff, but about building it as well, as these failures usually reveal some typical weak spots.
I decided to backup my photos, right away in the morning on first attempt I've found the size is already too much for my 2 empty CDs. Besides, just to copy them to the computers harddrive takes more then an hour. Then, burning just two CDs would be almost an hour again (I don't burn on highspeeds unless I really trust both the burner and the media - and that's not the case of internet cafés and cheap CDs. Its quite upsetting to have to throw the disk away after 15 minutes of burning!).
And I don't want to carry the camera around without the pictures backed up.
So, after opulent breakfast - a great advantage of my hostel and a reason why I am staying more nights - I went downtown to shop for an USB. I've actually found quite a nice one in discount, but still just the copying will take more than an hour. I've bought SONY in the end... for in my experience, their products are very durable. The discman I've bought in 2003 in the US still runs strong, and although it has some clear engineering mistakes, it did never break down. And not to speak about its brother - one of the very first discmans ever - which I've bought in 2005 from a thriftstore in Bozeman, Montana, for 75 cents (!) - and it worked, and still works, and it even plays home-burned CDs even though that technology, as I suspect, wasn't diffused by the time of its release to the market.
So I put my trust into the brand, and I hope, that the pendrive will be here for a few years, and not break down like most others did (only the very first I had, 256MB one, still works, as the producers as I suspect make only the first editions properly to position them on the market, whereas later its all about cutting costs - and lifespan...). And each and every time it was a mechanical failure at the connector - a lot of strain occurs there, but engineeres could easily forsee that, couldn't they?
But thats not the priority for affordable products to avoid these setbacks these days.
My camera - the same story - as for the LCD display the problem that occured clearly stems from faulty engineering. And could be fixed easily. In the end, I've semi-fixed it with no proper technology! Because, what happened is that the two-line flat cable that provides power for the light emitting background of the LCD - which makes it readable - was bent over to make it make a right-angle turn - and offcourse, being it such a tiny cable, it eventually broke there!
And even though the problem would be fixed by fixing that cable, or changing it, where the cable can't cost more than a dollar, the "authorized service" generously offered change of the whole LCD for price surpassing the one of a whole new camera (probably here for input of the skilled work, which consists of taking the camera apart with a screwdriver and releasing the cables from their connectors - which I admit I would not know how to do, but it can't be too complicated).
And that is properly annoying, let me tell you! Especially here in South America, where so many people will probably never be able to have any camera at all, and here a good camera almost goes to waste, where it technically could be fixed for some 5 $ - properly! Where as, as I've said, I've semi-fixed it using a razorblade, a lighter and a scotch tape and some 1,5 hours of time. The difference between 5 and 150 $ isn't a decisive barrier for me perhaps, but it IS for millions of people in the world!
And that once again proves what Marx said, that "market value" and "utility value" are two entirely distinct things! (and that can be used to your advantage or disadvantage:)
If all the stuff that is in the back of your drawers, along perhaps with description of what happened, was collected and then sent to less developped countries, then fixed or sorted out for recycling... I think you could provide the community with some cheap stuff with good utility value, and guys fixing it - why not kids who are being trained for electricla engineering carreers? - could learn some valuable lessons like that! Not only about fixing stuff, but about building it as well, as these failures usually reveal some typical weak spots.
čtvrtek 3. prosince 2009
Oh, and the camera
I forgot to write that, but I think there must be some kind of magic, because sometimes it quite sucks, and the display wouldn't work, but so far ALWAYS when
there really was something interesting for me the camera PUT ITSELF TOGETHER
and worked nonstop! That apply for the train museum in Tacna and now for the
first day in Valparaiso. As if things had soul...
And I mean there is a conection. Ive done surgery to my camera to resuscitate it!:)
there really was something interesting for me the camera PUT ITSELF TOGETHER
and worked nonstop! That apply for the train museum in Tacna and now for the
first day in Valparaiso. As if things had soul...
And I mean there is a conection. Ive done surgery to my camera to resuscitate it!:)
čtvrtek 26. listopadu 2009
CArs in Ecuador
Well well, its a good place here to observe some weird stuff.
Obviously, South America was a big export for Japanese producers since many years. So there are some archaic Toyotas, Mazdas, Nissans to observe. Including VERY old Toyota LUV pickups = must be from 60s, as well as some Corrolas and Mazda 1300s. Also, Volkswagen had quitely developped some products here... there is something evolved from the beatle architecture but with a lot more modern body, its called Brasilia I think. Then there is also "Santana" - basically 2nd gen passat slightly facelifted and produced long beyond ceisure from "developped" markets.
Oh, and East Europe products have representation too. Beyond omnipresent Zhiguli I sam some Samaras and even 5=door Niva, which seems quite rare to me. Then, some of them are badged as FIAT so it might be really FIAT products, and there are also "Polski FIATs" - perhaps as FIAT.
SKODA is present, since the FAVORIT/ FORMAN. Seen some Favo pickup. Then there is continual presence until latest models... Ive even seen a RUMSTR.
And buses... the Ecovia / Metrobus system, which is basically the same as Transmillenio in Bogota, uses also Volkswagen, Volvo and Mercedes chassis... bodies are built locally I think even though there are some Busscars which should be Colombian. Other buses are numerous, when it comes to bodies... One think is special - strong presence of HINO chassis. You can see some pretty old trucks here, too. Now HINO is that brand that was the first to break line of TATRA wins in Rallye Paris - Dakar in early nineties. Then for us it was an unknown asian brand... well they must have known it well enough in Ecuador...
Obviously, South America was a big export for Japanese producers since many years. So there are some archaic Toyotas, Mazdas, Nissans to observe. Including VERY old Toyota LUV pickups = must be from 60s, as well as some Corrolas and Mazda 1300s. Also, Volkswagen had quitely developped some products here... there is something evolved from the beatle architecture but with a lot more modern body, its called Brasilia I think. Then there is also "Santana" - basically 2nd gen passat slightly facelifted and produced long beyond ceisure from "developped" markets.
Oh, and East Europe products have representation too. Beyond omnipresent Zhiguli I sam some Samaras and even 5=door Niva, which seems quite rare to me. Then, some of them are badged as FIAT so it might be really FIAT products, and there are also "Polski FIATs" - perhaps as FIAT.
SKODA is present, since the FAVORIT/ FORMAN. Seen some Favo pickup. Then there is continual presence until latest models... Ive even seen a RUMSTR.
And buses... the Ecovia / Metrobus system, which is basically the same as Transmillenio in Bogota, uses also Volkswagen, Volvo and Mercedes chassis... bodies are built locally I think even though there are some Busscars which should be Colombian. Other buses are numerous, when it comes to bodies... One think is special - strong presence of HINO chassis. You can see some pretty old trucks here, too. Now HINO is that brand that was the first to break line of TATRA wins in Rallye Paris - Dakar in early nineties. Then for us it was an unknown asian brand... well they must have known it well enough in Ecuador...
sobota 14. listopadu 2009
Moje cesta - Carrera Panamericana
Behem planovani cesty, kterou hodlam uskutecnit posledni mesic pobytu v Jizni Americe jsem zjistil, ze itinerar prakticky kopiruje trasu Carrery Panamericany.
Tato dalnice spojuje Jizni a Severni Amerika a vede od Kanady az po Chile / Argentinu. Na pocest otevreni Mexickeho useku se zde pocala jezdit v padesatych letech slavna rallye, nedavno znovu otevrena. Mapu vidime zde:
Ja pojedu Cartagena / Medellin / Cali / Quito / Lima / Valparaiso (zhruba); tj. po teze trase. Coz mi jakozto automobilovemu nadsenci pochopitelne pusobi radost.
Vice k historii dalnice naleznete zde: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-American_Highway Ne celou trasu lze zdolat vozem, prave nedaleko Cartageny je dzungle mezi Kolumbii a Panamou nepropustna takze je nutne se premistit trajektem.
Vice k historii zavodu naleznete zde: http://theunlimitedclass.com/about/history-of-la-carrera-panamericana/ Neni bez zajimavosti, ze podle clanku prave z tohoto zavodu / dalnice jsou odvozena jmena Porsche Carrera a Panamera. Podivame-li se na mapu, tak vidime ze v Colombii Panamericana zacina od obce Turbo (tam se dostaneme lodi). Na pocest teto zastavky na Carrera Panamericana se volumetrickemu kompresoru rika Turbodmychadlo, ci primo Turbo.
Tato dalnice spojuje Jizni a Severni Amerika a vede od Kanady az po Chile / Argentinu. Na pocest otevreni Mexickeho useku se zde pocala jezdit v padesatych letech slavna rallye, nedavno znovu otevrena. Mapu vidime zde:
Ja pojedu Cartagena / Medellin / Cali / Quito / Lima / Valparaiso (zhruba); tj. po teze trase. Coz mi jakozto automobilovemu nadsenci pochopitelne pusobi radost.
Vice k historii dalnice naleznete zde: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-American_Highway Ne celou trasu lze zdolat vozem, prave nedaleko Cartageny je dzungle mezi Kolumbii a Panamou nepropustna takze je nutne se premistit trajektem.
Vice k historii zavodu naleznete zde: http://theunlimitedclass.com/about/history-of-la-carrera-panamericana/ Neni bez zajimavosti, ze podle clanku prave z tohoto zavodu / dalnice jsou odvozena jmena Porsche Carrera a Panamera. Podivame-li se na mapu, tak vidime ze v Colombii Panamericana zacina od obce Turbo (tam se dostaneme lodi). Na pocest teto zastavky na Carrera Panamericana se volumetrickemu kompresoru rika Turbodmychadlo, ci primo Turbo.
sobota 15. srpna 2009
Medellin - Metro
The Medellin Metro system is something both the city and its inhabitants are proud of. Even though it has no more than two lines, it is something not to be seen in South America too often. Here you can see the basic scheme of this infrastructure:
(map photographed at the station - click to enlarge)
Metro (i.e. metropolitan railway) does not suggest that its corridors are under the ground. On contrary, the lines are tracted either on the surface, or on elevated estacades (in the city centre).
(station near city center)
The line A follows historic route of "Ferrocaril de Antioquia" in between center area nad both end terminals. Thus, it is located on the edge of the Medellin river.
As you can see on the map, the B-line (orange) is terminated in the city center (San
The whole system was built relatively recently and is in a very good condition, it looks like new. There is one type of train serving the system.Antonio station). Furthermore, the tracks are on the elevated estacades above busy street - so it looks like a good location for some action movie (batman, you have got to stop the train!)
I have noted just one Depo, near Niquia, and technically it is possible to house all the trains there.
The infrastrucutre was built relatively recently abnd is in an excellent condition, almost like new. Ststions are modern, spatious, semi-open, built from steel and concrete. Nothing like the claustrophobic N.Y.C. underground (sorry, N.Y.C.).
...and their design is quite uniform including the acessories...
The whole infrastructure is served by one type of train.(below)
which is quite spationus and light inside (below)
But perhaps the most significant feature is how METRO is identified with host of other social and cultural services and with improved quality of life as a whole. Therefore, slogans "La Cultura Metro" and "Metro Calidad de Vida" are widely promoted in uniform style by multiple chanels, including airport-like announcements and brochures like these: (below)
And really - its not just about rhetorics. Besides providing safeguarded, organized and clean environment (a bit contrasting with the "barrios populares"), Metor succeeds in facilitating other then transport function, the most notable perhaps being project "Biblio Metro" where small libraries are placed at some terminal stations. There, passengers can order and later pickup books or use internet conveniently within their daily errands.
(Biblio Metro ad)
(small library at Niquia terminal)
(and its interior with computers)
If you want more information, visit: http://www.metrodemedellin.gov.co/
(map photographed at the station - click to enlarge)Metro (i.e. metropolitan railway) does not suggest that its corridors are under the ground. On contrary, the lines are tracted either on the surface, or on elevated estacades (in the city centre).
(station near city center)The line A follows historic route of "Ferrocaril de Antioquia" in between center area nad both end terminals. Thus, it is located on the edge of the Medellin river.
As you can see on the map, the B-line (orange) is terminated in the city center (San
The whole system was built relatively recently and is in a very good condition, it looks like new. There is one type of train serving the system.Antonio station). Furthermore, the tracks are on the elevated estacades above busy street - so it looks like a good location for some action movie (batman, you have got to stop the train!)
I have noted just one Depo, near Niquia, and technically it is possible to house all the trains there.
The infrastrucutre was built relatively recently abnd is in an excellent condition, almost like new. Ststions are modern, spatious, semi-open, built from steel and concrete. Nothing like the claustrophobic N.Y.C. underground (sorry, N.Y.C.).
...and their design is quite uniform including the acessories...
The whole infrastructure is served by one type of train.(below)
which is quite spationus and light inside (below)
But perhaps the most significant feature is how METRO is identified with host of other social and cultural services and with improved quality of life as a whole. Therefore, slogans "La Cultura Metro" and "Metro Calidad de Vida" are widely promoted in uniform style by multiple chanels, including airport-like announcements and brochures like these: (below)
And really - its not just about rhetorics. Besides providing safeguarded, organized and clean environment (a bit contrasting with the "barrios populares"), Metor succeeds in facilitating other then transport function, the most notable perhaps being project "Biblio Metro" where small libraries are placed at some terminal stations. There, passengers can order and later pickup books or use internet conveniently within their daily errands.
(Biblio Metro ad)
(small library at Niquia terminal)
(and its interior with computers)If you want more information, visit: http://www.metrodemedellin.gov.co/
středa 1. dubna 2009
1.4. dvojita zlutka
Milipratele,preji vam pekny aprilovy den. Odolal jsem pokuseni rozeslat aprilovou zpravu typu "uneslimne FARC,poslete mi vsechny vase penize". Ne, vazne,tomne napadlo az ted. Nicmene se musim s vami podelit o jiny pekny zazitek.
Vzal jsem si dnes s sebou na uni fotak, coz delam tak asi jednou tydne. Ani se mi moc fotit nechtelo, ale, po ctvrtletni pisemce jsem preci jen na parkoviste zabrousil (obcas tam zajdu a zdokumentuji vsechna pozoruhodna vozidla).
A mel jsem velke stesti. Nejen ze tam dnes stalo (zlute) vozidlo taxisluzby z produkce cinske firmy Hafei (tezka exotika, u nas temer neznama,navic s prekvapive napaditym designem-viz http://www.hafeiauto.com.cn/skin/hafei/en-index.htm). Ale take jsem se tu setkal s velmi peknym (zlutym) ptakem. A co vic - tento operenec mel podivuhodnou zabavu: klouzat se po prednim skle automobilu. A nejlepsi nakonec: nejen, ze se ptacek klouzal asi 10 minut - ale cca 3 minuty teto produkce se mi podarilo natocit! Brzy sem tedy umistim link na toto moje prvni "etologicke" video:) teste se!
A ptacek je zde:
sobota 28. března 2009
pikánnost ze supráku
Na obrázku vidíte udělátko, které pěkně dokumentuje místní vynalézavost a míru regulace. Jedná se o adaptérek, který se namontuje jednoduše do závitu pro běžnou domácí žárovku. 
Udělátko je fikané: na jeho konec pak žárovku zase vrátíme (jedná se o takový mezikus) ovšem zároveň získáme dvě zásuvkové zdířky (severoamerický typ bez uzemnění). Tím to ale nekončí. Zařízení totiž umožňuje mít zásuvku pod proudem, ale přitom vypnout světlo - to díky vestavěnému vypínači (vypínač na zdi musísamozřejmě zůstat zapnutý).
Čilive výsledku pěkné řešení pro místa, kde není zásuvka. Např. proto, že se nechce, aby se tam člověk k proudu připojil. Takto lze ovšem teoreticky sosat na kdejakém veřejném místě. Jedná se tedy o vynález vpravdě "pikánský" (pikán = poživač "pika", tedy pervitinu, nebo také "bílý cikán", je typickým nositelem právě tohoto typu a zaměření kreativity:). A ještě veselejší je, že se etabloval mezi běžné zboží.
Udělátko je fikané: na jeho konec pak žárovku zase vrátíme (jedná se o takový mezikus) ovšem zároveň získáme dvě zásuvkové zdířky (severoamerický typ bez uzemnění). Tím to ale nekončí. Zařízení totiž umožňuje mít zásuvku pod proudem, ale přitom vypnout světlo - to díky vestavěnému vypínači (vypínač na zdi musísamozřejmě zůstat zapnutý).
Čilive výsledku pěkné řešení pro místa, kde není zásuvka. Např. proto, že se nechce, aby se tam člověk k proudu připojil. Takto lze ovšem teoreticky sosat na kdejakém veřejném místě. Jedná se tedy o vynález vpravdě "pikánský" (pikán = poživač "pika", tedy pervitinu, nebo také "bílý cikán", je typickým nositelem právě tohoto typu a zaměření kreativity:). A ještě veselejší je, že se etabloval mezi běžné zboží.
čtvrtek 26. března 2009
technický úspěch:) (spíš štěstí)
Inu, nechtěl jsem to psát nevěda jak se věci vyvinou, nicméně můj fotoaparát prožil těžké časy - ztrátu obalu (kožený sakl od sluchátek Koss porta pro) promptně následovalo vytrousení foťáku z klína na šutr při výstupu z taxíku. Po tomto výsadku foťák (Panasonic Lumix DMC FS3) ztratil schopnost ostřit a tudíž i fotit. Místo focení se dožadoval vypnutí.
Nicméně kromě úderu na bok se mu nic nestalo, objektiv, displej atd. zdály se přežíti bez úhony. Chmurně jsem si představoval výdaje od nuly do tříset tisíc pesos na opravu či náhradu. Anžto však šlo zjevně o problém spíše mechanického rázu, usmyslel jsem si že vyzkouším foťák rozebrat, zda nepostačí narovnat cosi ohnutého.
Dnes jsem proto za 8000 pesos koupil sadu jemných šroubováků, a ejhle. Po provedení rozborky foťák začal fungovat (viz foto odkrytovaného přístroje)nahoře. Nevím co přesně s tím bylo, nic jsem neohýbal, byla uražená jakási plastová pacička krytu, jestli ta se někam připletla do mechaniky objektivu a při rozborce vypadla - nevím. Každopádně to vypadá nadějně a náklady se rovnají ceně těch šroubováčků a půl hodině práce.
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