Apparently unconnected
Monday, 3 September 2007 12:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daOh, you, Timex. Radium watches were manufactured and sold by Timex up until the '50s, and they still will sometimes light up a Geiger counter even if they don't glow at night.
Timex Indiglo watches, on the other hand, excites a phosphor (zinc sulphide atoms) using a high-voltage field through a thin conductive indium tin oxide layer. Unfortunately, wikipedia and howstuffworks lack enough detail on how the physical process works, which is what I was aiming for when I did this googling. Time to call in the experts. (hey, lightjen!)
But the neat thing about Indiglo, that I will perhaps remember for my next McGuyver moment, is this: it uses a 100:1 transformer to generate enough voltage over the watch face, 150 volts AC. I didn't know that, and it's even probably less dangerous for my wrist than radioactive paint.
A brief diversion down memory lane: the song Puff the Magic Dragon holds up so much better than the cartoon version, which I remember being deeply affecting when I saw it on TV. At age 4. I'll stick with my memories, thanks. I was confused about the colours being all wrong in the cartoon, until I realized that I had seen it in black and white.
I wish that my camara-phone would take photos like this:
Instead of like this:
The former is what the free astronomy program Stellarium says the moon looked like at 10:30 last night, and y'know, it was more or less accurate, save the remarkable colours. The latter, well, it got the colours. And, being phone-sized, doesn't quite have room for any optical zoom. Oh well.
Finally, my sweetie makes an awesome fishcake with apple ginger chutney.
Timex Indiglo watches, on the other hand, excites a phosphor (zinc sulphide atoms) using a high-voltage field through a thin conductive indium tin oxide layer. Unfortunately, wikipedia and howstuffworks lack enough detail on how the physical process works, which is what I was aiming for when I did this googling. Time to call in the experts. (hey, lightjen!)
But the neat thing about Indiglo, that I will perhaps remember for my next McGuyver moment, is this: it uses a 100:1 transformer to generate enough voltage over the watch face, 150 volts AC. I didn't know that, and it's even probably less dangerous for my wrist than radioactive paint.
A brief diversion down memory lane: the song Puff the Magic Dragon holds up so much better than the cartoon version, which I remember being deeply affecting when I saw it on TV. At age 4. I'll stick with my memories, thanks. I was confused about the colours being all wrong in the cartoon, until I realized that I had seen it in black and white.
I wish that my camara-phone would take photos like this:
Instead of like this:
The former is what the free astronomy program Stellarium says the moon looked like at 10:30 last night, and y'know, it was more or less accurate, save the remarkable colours. The latter, well, it got the colours. And, being phone-sized, doesn't quite have room for any optical zoom. Oh well.
Finally, my sweetie makes an awesome fishcake with apple ginger chutney.
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no subject
Date: Monday, 3 September 2007 11:22 pm (UTC)However, a quibble: the main cancer reported was osteosarcoma, as the paint is tropic to bone, and is a short-range alpha emitter, concentrating the radiation there. (This is one of the minutiae they like to ask on my board exams.)
no subject
Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 06:59 pm (UTC)...I just googled again, and it looks like an upcoming model of my phone (I have the Sony Ericsson k790a, they just came out with the k850, so at least the successor to that) might have optical zoom - 3x optical, 5mp is good enough for me. Whenever they get around to finishing it, and whenever I get around to replacing my phone, which I've only had since June.
no subject
Date: Saturday, 3 November 2007 09:30 pm (UTC)is soon going to be released, with 5.1mp, 3x optical zoom, autofocus, and xenon flash. But only for the Japanese market, though I'm hopeful for a year or so from now...
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Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 04:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2007 07:00 pm (UTC)