Category:
Technology

Cinejukebox

The Wikipedia page.

A very good article here, with great pictures.

A list of films in this format.







Posted By: Paul - Thu May 25, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Music, Technology, 1950s, 1960s

The Dog Factory

Posted By: Paul - Sat May 13, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Movies, Technology, Dogs, 1900s

Opti-onics, the Technology of the Future

I suppose this came true, if you can say your phone and tablet use something vaguely similar to Opti-onics!

Go to source to enlarge the text for reading.



Posted By: Paul - Sun May 07, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Technology, Computers, 1940s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

The AI doctor is always in

Consider this question: "Can an artificial intelligence chatbot assistant provide responses to patient questions that are of comparable quality and empathy to those written by physicians?"

According to a study recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the answer is that not only can AI give answers that are as good as those of physicians, in the majority of cases the answers are better. Judge for yourself with the sample below.

Click to enlarge


Looks like it might not be too long before your primary care doctor will be a robot. Actually, I already rely heavily on "Doctor Google" to diagnose any medical issues I might have.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 29, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Medicine, Technology, AI, Robots and Other Automatons

Mystery Gadget 105

What special materials went into the composition of this blade and handle?

The answer is here.

Or after the jump.





More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 21, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Technology, Tools

Electrical Frauds of 1916

Rather than try to reproduce the text that accompanies these illos as an illegible thumbnail here, I direct you to the source, where you can enlarge the image for readability.



Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 07, 2023 - Comments (6)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Technology, 1910s

Brief Intro to PRESTEL

This kind of tech will never catch on!

Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 04, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: PSA’s, Technology, 1990s, United Kingdom

The Senster

Explanatory text from Are Computers Alive? Evolution and New Life Forms, by Geoff Simons (1983).

A cybernetic sculpture, 'The Senster', was constructed by Edward Ihnatowicz in 1970 for the Philips Evoluon in Eindhoven. The device is a large electrohydraulic structure in the form of a lobster's claw: six hinged joints allow great freedom of movement. It is interesting that the device's unpredictable behaviour makes the observer feel that the sculpture is alive. Reichardt (1978) commented: 'It is as if behaviour were more important than appearance in making us feel that something is alive.' 'The Senster' has senses—sound channels (effective ears) and radar—to allow it to monitor its environment: it will, for example, react to the movement of people in the immediate vicinity. Electrical signals are fed from a control unit to activate mechanisms which cause movement in the device. The brain (a computer) has learning abilities and can modify the machine's behaviour in the light of past experience. Confronted by this artificial device, it is clear that people have no difficulty in organizing their psychological responses as if 'The Senster' were alive—an animal or another human being.

Watch it in action below. The people desperately trying to get its attention clearly hadn't watched enough horror movies to know what usually happens next in situations with sentient machines.





More info: senster.com

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 25, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Technology, AI, Robots and Other Automatons, 1970s

Mystery Gadget 104

What's so special about this glass brick? What was its origin and use?

The answer is here.

Or after the jump.





More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 23, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Technology

Mutalk Voice Suppression Microphone

A new product coming soon from Shiftall:

"mutalk" is a soundproof Bluetooth microphone that makes it difficult for others to hear your voice and at the same time, makes it difficult for ambient noise to enter the microphone.

You'd look ridiculous wearing one of these things. And unfortunately the people who need to wear them (those who carry on loud conversations on their phone in crowded, public places) would never do it.





It reminds me of the "Scream Muffler" (patented in 1989).

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 14, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Technology, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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