Interesting Wikipedia articles?

Interesting Wikipedia articles?

Author
Discussion

freshkid

199 posts

191 months

Monday 20th April 2015
quotequote all
The digital dark age is a possible future situation where it will be difficult or impossible to read historical electronic documents and multimedia, because they have been in an obsolete and obscure file format.

A famous real example is with NASA, whose early space records have suffered from a Dark Age issue more than once. For over a decade, magnetic tapes from the 1976 Viking Mars landing were unprocessed. When later analyzed, the data was unreadable as it was in an unknown format and the original programmers had either died or left NASA. The images were eventually extracted following many months of puzzling through the data and examining how the recording machines functioned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_dark_age

hondafreek

225 posts

169 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
quotequote all
Picher, Oklahoma Ghost town in the US

Gilman, Colorado Another Ghost town in the US

Apologies if a repost, only half way through the thread.

ZOLLAR

19,908 posts

172 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
quotequote all
hondafreek said:
Picher, Oklahoma Ghost town in the US

Gilman, Colorado Another Ghost town in the US

Apologies if a repost, only half way through the thread.
Weird to view on google, seems so desolate (Picher)


https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Picher,+Oklahoma,...

smokeey

1,541 posts

171 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
quotequote all
ZOLLAR said:
Weird to view on google, seems so desolate (Picher)


https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Picher,+Oklahoma,...
If you rome around a bit, theres quite a few cars driving about and at the high school somebody is cutting the grass on a ride on mower.

Seems odd for an abandoned town confused

ZOLLAR

19,908 posts

172 months

Wednesday 22nd April 2015
quotequote all
smokeey said:
ZOLLAR said:
Weird to view on google, seems so desolate (Picher)


https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Picher,+Oklahoma,...
If you rome around a bit, theres quite a few cars driving about and at the high school somebody is cutting the grass on a ride on mower.

Seems odd for an abandoned town confused
Yeah I thought that, I jumped around the place a bit and the images change to 2008 so a few people were still there then.
The main building by the water tower is 2014 and appears to be a road maintenance building so perhaps people use the town for a base but don't live there?

200bhp

5,663 posts

218 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
On the topic of ghost towns: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodie,_California

Bodie is another in the US which I have been to. Due to it's age when compared to the others mentioned above, its a very interesting place to spend a few hours if you find yourself in the area.

The Don of Croy

5,976 posts

158 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
This one is of niche interest;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Saxa_Vord

- if only because of the references to 'record UK wind speed'. It's the site of a radar station under 1000ft above sea level, where equipment has been blown away in 1959 and 1992 (the latter apparently recording 197mph immediately prior to failure).

A wind speed of 197mph less than 1000ft up - and people still live on the island all year round.

Seek

1,169 posts

199 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
Speaking of ghost mining towns... here is a mining town in Sweden with 18.000 inhabitants that is very much alive and being relocated 3km.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiruna#Moving_the_tow...

Negative Creep

24,942 posts

226 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
freshkid said:
The digital dark age is a possible future situation where it will be difficult or impossible to read historical electronic documents and multimedia, because they have been in an obsolete and obscure file format.

A famous real example is with NASA, whose early space records have suffered from a Dark Age issue more than once. For over a decade, magnetic tapes from the 1976 Viking Mars landing were unprocessed. When later analyzed, the data was unreadable as it was in an unknown format and the original programmers had either died or left NASA. The images were eventually extracted following many months of puzzling through the data and examining how the recording machines functioned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_dark_age
So it's kindof like trying to use Windows Media Player to watch anything now?

SickAsAParrot

304 posts

111 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all
smokeey said:
If you rome around a bit, theres quite a few cars driving about and at the high school somebody is cutting the grass on a ride on mower.

Seems odd for an abandoned town confused
If you go to the top end of 'S Picher St' just above the big park, it jumps to an older streetview which has houses and other buildings, on the newer streetview they're all gone.

Thanks Goldman Sachs.

eldar

21,614 posts

195 months

Friday 24th April 2015
quotequote all

Wing Commander

2,179 posts

231 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer

Disgruntled chap with many grudges against various locals takes a bulldozer, makes an armour composite shield for it, and drives around bringing buildings down, impervious to law enforcement.

A proper "falling down" moment it would appear

Wing Commander

2,179 posts

231 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanis...

Believed to be the first computer in existence. Over 2000 years old, able to calculate the position of the sun and moon, calendar, moon phase and even the Olympics. Technology and knowledge was then lost for 1900 odd years.

When this was first discovered in early 20th century, it was actually left to one side as unimportant, such was the lack of understanding of what it was.

Wing Commander

2,179 posts

231 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

Only ever case of unsolved aviation piracy in the USA

MissChief

7,095 posts

167 months

Saturday 25th April 2015
quotequote all
Wing Commander said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

Only ever case of unsolved aviation piracy in the USA
Wow, I've never read that before.

The Don of Croy

5,976 posts

158 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
quotequote all
The Voynich Manuscript - only came across this reading around the Bletchley Park / Colossus stuff,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript

- never heard about it before, proper mystery stuff. There's probably an eight year old maths prodigy somewhere who's already cracked it but his parents have just ignored it and assumed he was being precocious again.

mrtwisty

3,057 posts

164 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
quotequote all
MissChief said:
Wing Commander said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper

Only ever case of unsolved aviation piracy in the USA
Wow, I've never read that before.
hehe

I think the CooperCount is up to 6 now on this thread.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
quotequote all
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons_%28rocke...

''John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons;[nb 1] October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952), better known as Jack Parsons, was an American rocket and chemical engineer, rocket propulsion researcher, inventor, businessman, writer, and Thelemite occultist.

Parsons adhered to the occult philosophy of Thelema,''

dan1758

119 posts

180 months

Sunday 10th May 2015
quotequote all
As we have the VE day celebrations going on just now;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Earnshaw

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8498113.stm

"Greater love has no man than to lay down his life"