Still wet, but sunny

[altivo]

Poor Tess didn't get to go out today. Her pasture is flooded again. Hopefully this mess will drain now that the rain has stopped.

Storm had worse results than I even expected. At least one person was killed when a freight train derailed just west of here. Apparently a section of track was undercut by the running waters and the end result was a dozen tank cars full of ethanol that derailed, caught fire, and exploded. Evacuations were necessary.

Catalpa trees are blooming, in spite of the wind and rain yesterday.

Digging through some old stuff out of my desk from when I was at Columbia, found this quote:

"In 50 years, the computer you are using to view this will be landfill, but your slide rule will just be nicely broken in." --Sphere Research Corporation (http://www.sphere.bc.ca/)

It's true, too. No batteries, nothing to burn out, the student model I used in high school physics still works perfectly. I have Gary's Post Versalog sitting here too, and a Pickett N-515-T Electronics model, made in the 1960s especially for the Cleveland Institute of Electronics' students to use. That one has special scales on the back for reactance and resonance, as well as a quick reference to electronics formulae printed along the edges. Much faster than a calculator for working out practical math, and the batteries never go dead. (No, you can't balance your checkbook with it, for that you should have an abacus.)

Comments

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

Yes, but how do you blog with a slide rule or abacus?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You don't. Don't ask me how to open cans with a rolling pin either. ;p

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

That I can do......if you don't mind the contents on the ceiling or walls.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And all over yourself. ;p

Main advantage of the slide rule is that it is highly portable, requires no electricity, and is "good enough" for most practical calculations. Carrying a laptop computer around is a lot more effort, and less reliable at that level.

Some things, like square or cube roots for instance, are instantaneous, faster than you can key them into a calculator.

Unfortunately gee-whiz always wins out over practicality. Or at least, almost always.

[cetasdolphin.livejournal.com]

Being part of the X Generation or such we were never really introduced to that of a slide rule here. Oh sure my teachers showed me what they were only then to point out "This is how we did it in the old days, from now on we will be using calculators for all functions", granted we were then only allowed to use such in the daily class setting. We weren't allowed such for anything like the SAT or standardized testing that I had to do every year till my senior year. College was just the same, some of the older professors might have still used a slide rule but as a rule we were all taught that computers and calculators were the future so get used to such.

It seems like a pity though given the first EMP to go off and we have folks over the nation in important positions who suddenly might not know how to figure out simple math. Oh and to the above poster about Blogging you can either find a group of folks and start a conversation with them or just keep a personal journal in a notebook made out of paper writing with a pencil or pen.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Slide rules are nifty. I suspect they still make them in China. But in any case, in spite of having become collector's items, you can find them on Ebay or in second hand places for $10 or so if you look. The somewhat more difficult part is finding a book that will teach you how to use them.

When I was an undergraduate, the engineering students still carried slide rules around, often dangling from their belts in leather scabbards as if they were swords. And they had slide rule competitions too. It was a dying art by the time I got into graduate school though. The pocket calculator took over just about that quickly. My father used a slide rule in his engineering career, never a calculator. I wish I knew what happened to his good one that we were never allowed to touch. Probably ended up trashed at some point.

[cetasdolphin.livejournal.com]

I find it funny that the icon used to reply to this post is the one that I actually like out of yours.

In any case my father being an electrical engineer himself actually showed me and my brother his old slide rule from college. He keeps it still in the box he purchased it in and in a rather safe place in the house. He wouldn't even allow me or my brother to touch it but he showed us how he used it to figure out the calculus equations that my brother had to do for homework (he somehow got into advanced placement math in high school, me I got into AP Biology). I have no idea where he keeps it but I know my father still has it and occasionally actually uses it at his work site (that of a local nuclear power plant).

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Heh. I usually only use that one when I think I'm being a windbag. It's a detail from a larger drawing that Kaijima Frostfang (toydragon) did for me.

[keeganfox.livejournal.com]

I love slide rules. I have 4 of them now and always get them if I see them in thrift stores and such. The funny thing is, despite being the calculator generation, I'm faster and more comfortable with a slide rule. I think it's because I can see the relationships of the numbers, rather than just getting the answer.
- Pickett N500ES
- Pickett 120 Microline
- Pickett Metric to Imperial
- ASA E6B flight computer

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Somewhere I should still have a "pocket sized" K&E that my dad gave me years ago. He got it as a gift from some vendor or other. I learned to use the basic functions of the slide rule, but never actually did work where it could be applied. That's what happens when you go into literature instead of science.

Check out the web site I referenced with the quote. Sphere still refurbishes slide rules and sells them as mostly collector's items. You may not want to spend so much, but it's fun to look at what they have.

If I had to navigate any kind of craft, air or sea, I'd certainly be carrying a slide rule as a backup in case the computer or calculator went down. You're exactly right about being able to see what's going on and you're more likely to catch a mistake when using the slide rule.

[keeganfox.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm quite familiar with Sphere, and I purchased the N500 from them.

[felder.livejournal.com]

Poor Tess! *snuggles*

and what is this thing you call "slide rule' ? ;)

(I may be old but since my poor edumacation in ole Blighty, I never had need fer wun ;)

*nuzzles*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Well, slide rule or no you're still nice. XD

Unless you were studying engineering or physics, you probably didn't get much exposure. I used mine in college astronomy, chemistry, and physics classes and that was the end of it.

I've never quite gotten it together to take the exam for the top level amateur radio license, but the rules still say that you are allowed to use a slide rule or calculator and I've always said I would take the slide rule rather than an electronic gadget. They used to ask people to remove the batteries from their calculator to prove that there were no stored formulae in it before the exam started... I'd expect a few raised eyebrows at least.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

My father used to have a very nice slide rule - I should probably ask him if he still does. I used to play with it when I was little, and although I didn't understand its more advanced functions (I was just in elementary school then), it was fun.

Low-tech solutions like that are nice in general, too. I sometimes wonder whether it'd be worthwhile getting things like that in case modern society's going to go down the drain some day (I'm not too worried about global wars per se, but the current population growth obviously can't continue, and unless something unforeseen happens, I imagine I should be expected to live for another 50 years or so at least), too.