A Douglas Engelbart-designed computer mouse was auctioned for $178,900

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Famously known as the "Mother of All Demos", this was where Engelbart spoke about a host of things that are common in computing today ranging from hypertext to dynamic file linking, shared-screed collaboration, and of course, the public debut of the mouse.

 

These are kind of old but I just found them. They are really much better and amazing if you watch on a big screen TV. There are more of them but these two stood out to me.

 

Old PCB schematic for a digital I/O control board.

Spoiler

Looks like a name typo.
https://www.connectpositronic.com/en/

 

 

 

Octacopter manned flight.

 

Octacopter manned flight.

Cool but it looks like death on a popsicle stick.

 

 

You would float in a pool of mercury too.

Elemental mercury quite harmless for casual handling but mercury salts or compounds can be extremely hazardous when absorbed or inhaled so, don't do this at home.

 

Handling elemental mercury to make the mercury silver amalgam to fill teeth was purported to be why Dentist had the highest rate of suicide of all doctors. At least it was 50 years ago...

 

Handling elemental mercury to make the mercury silver amalgam to fill teeth was purported to be why Dentist had the highest rate of suicide of all doctors. At least it was 50 years ago...

Industrial use is dangerous if you inhaled metallic mercury processing vapors.

https://www.epa.gov/mercury/health-effects-exposures-mercury#metallic

Elemental (Metallic) Mercury
Exposures to metallic mercury most often occur when metallic mercury is spilled, or when products that contain metallic mercury break, so that mercury is exposed to the air. If you are concerned about your exposure to metallic mercury, you should consult your physician.

Metallic mercury mainly causes health effects when inhaled as a vapor where it can be absorbed through the lungs. Symptoms of prolonged and/or acute exposures include:

• Tremors;
• Emotional changes (such as mood swings, irritability, nervousness, excessive shyness);
• Insomnia;
• Neuromuscular changes (such as weakness, muscle atrophy, twitching);
• Headaches;
• Disturbances in sensations;
• Changes in nerve responses; and/or
• Poor performance on tests of mental function.

Higher exposures may also cause kidney effects, respiratory failure and death.

Note that metallic mercury vapor is not the same as methylmercury.

Most of us older people would be long dead (or brian damajed) if casual (rolling in the hands) exposure was dangerous.

https://www.thoughtco.com/when-you-touch-liquid-mercury-609286

Have You Touched Liquid Mercury?

I get routine heavy metal blood testing because of the job. I've popped positive a few times because of eating too much fish.

 

As a kid my dad had a jar of mercury. I used that in a rather dangerous manor - and no - I won't discuss how I used it or what I used it for. Just rest assured I did not use it to harm any living mammal or other animal. I also messed around with melting lead and making fishing sinkers and weights. Also did some carving of lead into an automobile. Keep in mind, I didn't chew or swallow any lead. Mercury? Well, I may have inhaled a very slight amount on one occasion. Probably not - but my hands don't shake and my brain is as good as it's ever been. Or will be. Unless I get a brain transplant. But then who would I be? Abbie Normal?

 

As was pretty common back in the 70's (and before), at one point my science teach (8th grade) had a bowl of mercury (about a pint, give or take) that he floated nails, nuts, and bolts in and that we all had the opportunity to poke our fingers into and roll balls of it around in the palms of our hands.

Fast forward to the mid-90's and there was this huge breaking story about a hazmat incident in town and they showed more than half a dozen fire trucks on scene and city works crews all around. They kept breaking into scheduled programming to report on the status of this "ongoing incident" all night, but never said what the heck happened, just what was being done to deal with it. They cordoned off the entire residential block, brought in the hazmat teams (all suited up, of course), spent hours deciding on a plan of action, finally deciding to bring in an asphalt truck to pour asphalt over a 4' x 4' square, centered on the spill, and then brought in a crew to saw that square out, as well as an additional four feet on one side so that they could dig a hole deep enough next to it so that they could be sure that the excavator could scoop under it and lift it out without breaking it. Then they wrapped and sealed the whole thing in multiple layers of plastic and hauled it away to a hazmat processing center. But they never said what it was that happened, but you knew it just had to be ultra serious to warrant this level of extreme caution and measures, right?

Finally, the next day, we learn that a kid crossing the street dropped a baby thermometer and it broke, spilling a small amount of mercury, estimated at 10% of it's total contents, onto the street. These kinds of thermometers contain about 600 mg of mercury, so all of this was over about 60 mg of mercury (call it 100 mg).

 

Oh we used to put it on silver dimes to make them shiny for a while at least. Worst thing I ever heard of was apparently a common trick that the instrument techs would play on each other. Putting a drop of mercury in someone's coffee cup. Apparently, it would go right through them very quickly requiring a very fast run for the nearest toilet or suffering the consequences of not making it in time. Not sure just how long very quickly was but definitely before their next break was. It was one of those "things from the past" which would have been over 50 years ago and before we all learned that mercury is very hazardous to your health. Back in the day mercurous chloride was used medically as an antiseptic as was mercurochrome. Blue tablets of it were dissolved in water forming a blue solution used to paint surgical patients and to sanitize surgery theaters. One story was that sailors after reaching port and visiting the local brothels would return to the ships medical office to have their privates painted with the solution to prevent VD before going back out to the local bars and tattoo parlors. Thus the phrase, "Screwed, Blued, and Tattooed".

 

Apparently, it would go right through them very quickly requiring a very fast run for the nearest toilet or suffering the consequences of not making it in time.

Ahhh...they rediscovered "Rush's Bilious Pills" or the "Thunderclappers" used on Lewis and Clark's journeys.

 

Yep, one of the effects of Mercury Poisoning is excess salivation and not just of the mouth but the entire GI tract hence the loose bowels as well. It was also one of the major ingredients in the first medical attempts to treat syphilis and gonorrhea which lends validity to "not sure which was worse, the disease or the cure" as you died from one or the other. Phillips Milk of Magnesia was the "Safe" treatment to make the bowels move (as opposed to Calomel as mercurous chloride was called) in the days of legal Opium derivatives sold across the counter. Also Dr. Lister invented Listerine (mostly Wintergreen Oil and Ethyl Alcohol as the active ingredients) as the safe antiseptic solution to mercurous chloride poisoning when the concept of antiseptic uses in surgery first started. Then it became Betadine (Iodine) which is also fading from use.

 

"I've got a mouthful of amalgam fillings, so I have a mercurial excuse for my actions."

 

We also messed around with Flour of Sulpher and Saltpeter along with a bit of ground charcoal that our dad's kept around for grilling as kids. Both of which were cheaply available on the shelf in 16oz boxes at the local drugstore. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night from my eyes burning due to the Sulpher Oxide from it burning combining with the tears lubricating my eyeballs forming into Sulphuric Acid.

 

 

Grandma weaved magnetic core memory for the Apollo Guidance Computer.
Isn't that cool!






https://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/02/that-time-when-computer-memory-was.html