h a l f b a k e r yIdea vs. Ego
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There is something mathematically tactile
about slide rules - the way that you can
just slide one wooden scale against
another and mutliply, divide, find roots...it
makes mathematics physically real in a
way that a calculator does not. I doubt if
anyone cherishes their calculator the way
that engineers used to cherish their slide
rule.
Slide rules also encourage you to actually
think about what you're doing: you have
to figure out where the decimal point
belongs in your answer.
Unfortunately, they lack the irrelevant
precision of the pocket calculator, and can
become inaccurate with wear and tear.
Enter the MaxCo Digital Slide Rule. It
combines the precision of a digital
micrometer with the mathematical
capabilities of a slide rule. As you slide
the centre strip and cursor, their positions
are displayed digitally (on the cursor
itself). Should its batteries run out, it will
function quite satisfactorially as a regular
slide rule until you replace them.
Slide rule.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule
[MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 07 2007]
...digital micometer...
http://www.shan-precision.com/sxkc_1.htm
[MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 07 2007]
..and a combination of the two.
Digital_20slide_20rule
[MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 07 2007]
(?) USB calipers
http://www.everythi..._usb_interface.html
Avoid typing in the numbers like 0.4999999 .... [csea, Dec 08 2007]
(?) CS Student Wins Yahoo! Hack Day with Digital Slide Rule
http://www.cs.uiuc....php?id=2007Apr9-251
"It's pretty clear that he's one of the top students in terms of being able to think things through," Kumar said. "His clarity of thinking is actually very, very special." I assume you thought up this idea all by yourself, so that praise befits you as well [MaxwellBuchanan]. [pyggy potamus, Dec 08 2007]
As bloody usual, there's an app for that
http://www.testtube....com/sliderule.html
[bs0u0155, Apr 12 2016]
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Bravo! + Also for the phrase "mathematically tactile." |
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A version of this could include USB connection to a computer, like this one [link]. |
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I would love to have one of these. I think you could probably sell quite a few of them. I also don't think it would be too difficult to make a relatively simple one. |
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Bake it! There are quite a few hardware hack project sites on the web - I suspect if you get visible on one of those you might have some luck. Great idea. |
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Good point, [csea]. I just hope there's an
OSX-
compatible loglog version available. And
thanks, [husband]. |
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I noticed that Hackaday has a place where you can suggest a project - |
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I've no idea if this is a good place to go, I've seen some sites that had fairly detailed how-to for some cute home electronics projects, and I suspect that some of those have features that enable you to pair up with someone who knows what they're doing. Seriously, I'd love to have one of these things. |
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That is a nice site - thanks :-) |
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A not so accurate version would use a calibrated resistor and wiper, with an analogue circuit and a moving needle display: 0.48 isn't so bad. |
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"Trixie Tang: You're 0.01% more of a person in my eyes." - quote from the Fairly Odd Parents cartoon. |
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now i know what measuring tool she used. [+] |
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This gets my vote ... anything that isn't dependant on batteries. And for good measure you could add a little photovoltaic panel to keep the battery topped up. [+] |
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[Pyggy] Aha! Well, all praise to young
Schecter. With respect, though, I feel that
his on-screen slide-rule lacks a little of
the tactile feel and portability of the
MaxCo Digital Slide Rule. |
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//With respect, though, I feel that his on-screen slide-rule lacks a little of the tactile feel and portability of the MaxCo Digital Slide Rule.// |
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Maybe there could be a slide rule display on TI-89's so that people can see the process what it's doing every time it does something. [+] |
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Rather than replacing batteries,
you could generate power from the motion of the slide rule center part through its frame. |
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I don't think this is easy. There are a number of unsolved user-interface details. On a real slide rule you know what things mean, or you look in the right place - the digital slide rule may have to know this implicit information in order to correctly e.g. store an intermediate result. |
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//There are a number of unsolved user-
interface questions// Indeed so - I
have found this to be the case with life
in general. |
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Typically, the things you need to know
are (a) which number on the central
slider [I can't believe there's not a
special name for that, but there you go]
is aligned with the "1" on the static
scales (which normally have a common
origin) and (b) which numbers on each
scale are underneath the cursor
hairline. I think all this data could be
displayed on the cursor itself - which is
typically postage-stamp to matchbox
sized. For example, there is room to
display the value which the cursor
crosses on each of the scales - the
values would appear superimposed on
top of the corresponding scales. |
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There are more complex cases, but I
think the foregoing would serve as a
good starting point. |
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I could post a more detailed and
elegantly-drawn picture of the MaxCo
Digital Slide Rule if only I had a site to
host it. And if only I had such a picture. |
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Regarding energy production by sliding
- I rather like that idea. Embedded
magnets and coils would be the obvious
way to do it, but I think it would be
more in the spirit of things if we could
use amber, short-piled mole-fur and
some sort of high-voltage rectifier. |
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Incidentally, it goes without saying that a
small amount of additional electronics
would allow this to function as a
polyphonic swannee whistle. |
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Eeek! Did I just delete someone's
annotation - apologies if so. I was
resonding to: |
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//Is not a swannee whistle by definition
polyphonic ?// No, it is not. You can
only get one note at a time out of a
swannee whistle (variable though that
note may be). With a slide rule, you
have both a cursor and a slidey bit to
move - biphony, at least. |
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And for tonight's recital, we have [MaxwellBuchanan] on the slide rule <applause>
<sings> Six times seven is <fweep peep> forty two
and two to-the-power-of five is <peeep fwip> thirty two
and...</sings> |
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Ugh ... this would be the Music of the Slides rather than the Music of the Spheres .... music crushed and tortured into two miserable dimensions ..... |
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//music crushed and tortured into two
miserable dimensions// Yes, this is why I
said it went without saying. |
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//some sort of high-voltage rectifier// |
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(Commonly known as a cat's whisker, or rather uncommonly now, I suppose). |
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//(Commonly known as a cat's whisker, or rather uncommonly now, I suppose).// |
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[Ling], [Ling], [Ling], I have heretofore relied upon you for sensible advice; shirley you recall that cat's whiskers and galena crystals are suitable only for rectification of extremely low voltages! |
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[MB]'s //amber, short-piled mole-fur // stroked by rapid slipsticking would seem to produce a rather high voltage. Besides which, I'm fairly sure that the voltage generated by rubbing mole fur on amber is already dc, in need of no rectification. But perhaps I am off-topic! |
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//the voltage generated by rubbing mole
fur on amber is already dc, in need of no
rectification.// After extensive
experimentation, I can confirm that this is
correct. The mole always winds up with
the negative charge. I currently have three
moles stuck to the ceiling - any advice
greatly appreciated. |
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//I have heretofore relied upon you for sensible advice// |
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Now I see you have come to your senses. |
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[MB] Three moles (1.806x10^24) of what? |
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(I did that with my mental digital slide rule, and had to remember where the decimal point goes!) |
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[Ling] Not to worry. If I had _really_ come to my senses, would I still be at the halfbakery? |
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//Three moles (1.806x10^24) of what//
Good point. Actually, it's five yoctomoles
of moles. |
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<snort>
<chortle>
<guffaw>
What would you
<snort>
Oh hells!
(+) |
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Ideally, it would also project an image on the user's face of a
pair of glasses held together by tape. |
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//There are a number of unsolved user-interface
details.// |
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At its simplest, all the gubbins would be in the
cursor (the slidey transparent bit with the hairline
on it). If there are (say) four scales (two on the
moving central part, and one either side on the
fixed part), the cursor would have four numerical
displays showing exactly where it was on each
scale. For instance, you might see that the cursor
was lined up at 3.45-something on the topmost
scale and 10.16-something on the second scale,
but the digital readouts would show it to be at
exactly 3.45433 and 10.16231 respectively. |
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I'm thumbing this on a not-so-smartphone. It's
relation, in the guise of a Samsung Note, has an
under-used pen which pulls out from the case. This
might be a place for an extending sliderule, with
digits displayed on the phone. |
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However, I am afraid it would be a poor use of the
scientific calculator program, and the sliderule
would be quite small. So I suggest that the program
be deleted and the battery shrunk to a smaller size. |
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