Some people sit in a boat, drink beer, and call it fishing.
Some people sit in the woods, drink beer, and call it hunting.
Me, I do both, and there's no impact on the environment, as long as I take the empty cans with me when I leave.

I built one in high school as a science project. But for simplicity, I used photocells instead of capacitance to work it. Hands raised and lowered over the photocells varied the amount of light that reached them to change the pitch and volume. Built it in a shoebox. Not very loud though, as it had only a small audio amplifier and speaker, powered by a 9V battery.
And at the end of the science fair, somebody stole the damn thing. I was POd big time.

Looks like she survived an explosion at the hardware store.

And the Social Security cost of living increase is based on an index that does NOT include fuel and food, the two things that increase the MOST with inflation.

Home, sweet home. Just needs a little bit of work and a fresh coat of paint.

I have a Speed Graphic (flashbulb sync only) and a Crown Graphic (that also has X sync). I use both occasionally.
Load and unload your film backs in absolute darkness, but I've had no issues using a changing bag. Daylight tank for developing, gently agitate 10-15 seconds every minute for no streaks.
I scan the negatives at 3600 DPI on an Epson scanner, and Digital ICE removes ALL the dust spots.
Transparencies get mailed to a commercial lab for processing only. I scan them myself when they are returned.

Sure looks like an unhappy bunch.

[quote=Timmers] Even the idiots at Ford Motor Company realized that a fusible linkage was no longer necessary with the modern battery systems of vehicles.

What? No Fusible link in my Expedition? I hadn't noticed. Sure was a pain in the rear to replace the one in my Explorer previously.

And when you do get down there, you say: now what else can I do while I'm down here?

[quote=Longshadow]Interesting. In 40 years I've never had a backup battery go bad.

I just replaced the backup battery for the first time in a desktop computer from 2009. The old 3v battery tested at 1.32v, but it was still holding the time on the machine.

I'm waiting for someone to be charged with a love crime.

I'm waiting for someone to be charged with a love crime.

Light Emmitting Diodes are direct current devices - hence the word diode. They allow electricity to flow only one way. In order to use them in an AC circuit, the 110 volt AC has to be converted to 5-12 volt DC.

And there's the rub. In your house EACH LED "bulb" has circuitry to first reduce the voltage, then convert it with a half wave or full wave rectifier or equivalent. And those parts, small as they are, consume current, but not often too conservatively (translate: heat).

That's why LEDs, which are expected to last 10-20 years, sometimes fail much sooner. The diode still works, but the conversion circuitry breaks down. Worst offenders are bulbs which hang down (ceiling lights, porch lights) because the base of the bulb doesn't cool sufficiently. Upright bulbs in table lamps and such can dissipate the heat better. Yeah, I know it's not much heat, but those are small parts, and can't take much heat.

Now outdoor low voltage lighting is a little different. The power supply at the wall reduces the voltage to 12 volts before it goes into the wire. A DC circuit would lose voltage the longer the wire, but AC stays the same the entire length. Therefore those bulbs only need the AC to DC converter, and since they are outdoors, they rarely fail due to heat.

I had a Kowa 35mm in the 60s. Piece of junk. Gears jammed, locked up the winding mechanism. I threw it away and got a real camera.

Looks like a toilet cleaner.