h a l f b a k e r yThis ain't rocket surgery.
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With a string can phone, the flat bottom of the can vibrates with the string, producing a sound which can be heard.
Modern buildings have windows which cannot be opened. So if you see something going on in an adjacent building, you have to mouth words or hold up a written sign. Also, the building
of interest may be a block or two away.
A flat window is just as rigid if not more so, and bigger. I propose that windows of adjacent buildings be connected with strings. Persons in one building can then communicate with persons in another by shouting at their closed windows. A small hole can be drilled in the windows to accomodate the string.
This system might also produce sounds related wind, or birds landing on the string, or helicopters colliding with it.
This also might
[link]
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I think you would be thwarted, at least somewhat, by double
glazing. |
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If, as the idea states // A small hole can be drilled in the
windows to accommodate the string. // then the string
could be attached to the inner pane of double or triple
glazing. The hole through the outer pane(s) could be
slightly larger to avoid rubbing the string. When not in use,
the string could be tied off to something else in the room
(perhaps a small bell for getting your neighbor's attention or
alerting you that a bird has landed on the string), so sound
isn't transmitted unless people in both rooms secure the
string to the window pane using the supplied tensioning clip. |
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Airtight grommets will solve the double glazing
issue and allow the string to pass through and
transmit the messages. |
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I am beginning to wonder if [bungston] was bludgeoned to
death whilst in the middle of writing this idea, and then fell in
such a way as to click the "OK" button. We may therefore
never know what this also might |
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It's unlikely, but perhaps there's some effect of reading this idea that causes |
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There could be a spring loaded sucker gun mounted on the outside of the building beside each window. That way you could use the controls inside to aim and shoot the gun, allowing a new string line to be run from your window to any other within range. There is also a recovery winch to retrieve the string after you have |
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That would work for a modest number of people, but in a
densely-populated area (for instance, between a group of
three tall buildings), I think you'd |
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//This also might....No, becaus |
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I felt a great disturbance in the Halbakery, as if millions of
wooden rulers were suddenly twanged on desks.. |
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Ergo, Sturton has pinched the keys to the Cube, again. |
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No, they're here. Besides, he can never work out what the pedals do. |
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// Airtight grommets will solve the double glazing issue // |
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No, they won't - not if you have Argon-filled units. |
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It will be necessary to provide a small "tunnel" through the gap, in the same way that apertures are pre-installed for extractor fans and catflaps. However, like catflaps, this will only need to be a few millimetres in diameter(Yes, a cat can be passed through a 10mm aperture, if sufficient pressure is applied), so that the string doesn't touch the glazing in any way, |
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And you lot need to stop messing about - there's nothing in this idea that can possibly cause the abrupt and pointless truncation of annotations. Stop being childish. It's not big, and it's not |
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//he can never work out what the pedals do |
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That's because they are on ceiling...I tole 'im about them Ferengi mechanics, but did he liste |
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//what the pedals do// Oh the cube is just a tricycle in a big cardboard box? That explains a |
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Poe's raven taps at a sealed window, and |
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//I think you would be thwarted, at least somewhat, by
double glazing// |
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The clever solution is to move the gap to the other side of
one of the panes. That way, the vibrations will transmit
easily. Since the overall glass/gap amounts are the same,
there's no downside, apart from the lack of thermal/sound
isolation. Those can be solved by moving the whole window
to a more agreeable location. |
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If that location were immediately adjacent to the window behind which the person you wish to converse with is positioned, the saving in string would be astounding. |
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I think the main issue with this is having enough windows
in
your office or apartment to be able to connect to one
window of every other office or apartment in line of
sight.
Of course, the main issue with solving that is that there
would be a lot of strings going every which way and quite
densely between buildings, and some of them might rub
on
each other, producing crosstalk. |
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I think it would be more practical (surprisingly) to equip
every office
and apartment with a standardized laser audio
communicator device.
You affix the receiver, which looks like a target, to your
window, and
position the turret nearby. Now, when you see something
in another
office or apartment that you want to say something
about, you just
aim your turret at their target (guided by the laser dot)
and talk into
the microphone. They can do the same if they want to
reply. Much
simpler than figuring out which window of yours is
connected by string
to a window of the place you want to talk to, and
shouting loudly
enough at it for your voice to be audible on the other
end, but quietly
enough that it won't also go to the places that your
adjacent windows
connect to (though the tensioning clips solve that part of
the problem). |
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Though, on the other hand, it could be a beneficial-in-
some-ways
thing to have every office and apartment that's in eyeshot
be (constantly) in
earshot too. Might increase the sense of community or
something. |
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Why not provide every office with a box containing a pair of binoculars, an Aldis lamp, and a set of semaphore flags ? |
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On sunny* days, a heliograph could be used. |
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*Not applicable in the UK. |
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