Kuboid

Hobby artist, sometimes cold-war/technical lore poster.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

Very fast MiG traveling at incredibl high speed

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

reverse side:

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

Part of a low-level hard drive controller assembly from 1973.
(used with PDP-8 series computers, though this drive was already dated at the time).
These boards handle head selection (its a 64 track fixed head disk, so it has 64 individually selectable R/W heads), R/W functionality, timing, physical remapping of damaged tracks/sectors (this is what the jumper table in the top part of the bottom left board is for).
The whole hard drive unit (without external controller) is roughly the size of a microwave oven, with a capacity of roughly 880kB, though likely formatted as 512k 12-bit words at the time. This capacity was far from impressive by that time, but fixed heads meant it had comparatively very low latency, so it could serve as intermediate memory tier between RAM and proper HDDs.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

Measuring stuff with the apparatus
(more specifically, LD optical assembly tracking error balance)

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

...and the time-lapse.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

GitS background art inspired painting
(fairly recent, and relatively™ fast to make)

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

@downlink14 Ja też załapałem się na naprawianie, choć z własnej inicjatywy już po epoce taśmowej. Musiałem objeść się bez stosownej książki (oprócz instrukcji serwisowych), ale za to "Telewizory" Leopolda Witkowskiego bardzo się przydały.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

Another (older) mechanical doohicky animation by me, a VCR-like mechanism.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

@PAWFETISH I am a huge tape nerd, I have half a dozen similar machines on shelves behind me, of course I wouldn't get something like that wrong or else I wouldn't be able to stand it either 😁

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

Another doohicky animation from my folder of art projects (this time not inspired by RSF).

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

...and the time-lapse.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

...and traditionally a time-lapse whenever I don't forget to save it

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

@mgmidget The big nixie tube calculator uses magnetic reed switches for its keyboards, terribly overcomplicated for what it needs to do but the keypress quality is also unique.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

(0/6) A short thread about calculator history and incredible technical progress that happened to them in mere 20 years during late 20th century, using some examples I have access to.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

I often actually look for ways to intentionally blur or "noise up" what i draw, or intentionally dont exceed HD resolution - when things look too sharp the imperfections in hand drawing start being noticeable and (at least to the author) annoying, while if they are somewhat blurry it feels just like a part of the aesthetic.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

There were no art posts in a while so here's a looped thingamajig animation I made recently
(resolution reduced due to upload size limit).
Timelapse for the artistic process enjoyers in the 2nd post below.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

(6/6) Overall, circa 1955-1970 the first electronic calculators appeared, but were incredibly complex and fantastically expensive. As the integrated circuit revolution started accelerating circa 1970, the calculator market suddenly became the first major commercial battleground for miniaturization, and, in only 15 years or so, calculators turned from bulky desktop devices with the cost of a car to lightweight pocket devices with prices counted in single dollars while also being more capable - from a rare enterprise machine to effectively a disposable consumer good.

[Kuboid @Kubojd]

(5/6) Final example in this comparison, HP 32S (manufactured in 1987). It is a pocket calculator with a similar form factor to the prior one, and while it was more expensive (70$ at introduction) it represents a *huge* leap in capabilities. It's a fully capable, programmable scientific calculator with a variety of calculus, statistical and trigonometric features - effectively a whole compact computer with a 640kHz CPU and a small user program RAM, for custom programs written in a BASIC dialect.