Daft Gadgets

[Griffin NoName]

Google Desktop Weather gadget - which tells you what the weather is like where you are now

                                                                                                                           

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Ideal for those folks without a working window.

[ivor]

Or blind people...

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Truth be told, I can see how a gadget like that can be useful specially in winter, -5C might not look too different from -40C but you may want to reconsider your clothing (or even if you really want to go outside).

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Truth be told, I can see how a gadget like that can be useful specially in winter, -5C might not look too different from -40C but you may want to reconsider your clothing (or even if you really want to go outside).

Heaven forbid that prior to final clothing selection, you step out onto your front or back porch to see what it's like outside....

[ivor]

Typically I walk outside completely naked before I pick me clothes.

[Aggie]

Truth be told, I can see how a gadget like that can be useful specially in winter, -5C might not look too different from -40C but you may want to reconsider your clothing (or even if you really want to go outside).

Heaven forbid that prior to final clothing selection, you step out onto your front or back porch to see what it's like outside....

Heaven forbid that some folks live in apartments and can't take the elevator down to the ground floor stark naked to check the wind chill factor.


<sub>I haz balcony and am not addressing daftness of said gadget, just sayin'....

Agree with Zono that most folks are interested in the current temperature moreso than sunny/cloudy/snowing etc.</sub>

[Swatopluk]

May be useful to find out what the weather is where you go. I can't look 80 miles (too much geography in the way) and the weather can be significantly different there.

[Bluenose]

Actually I use one of these gadgets on my work notebook as I work all over the place sometimes quite a distance from home.  Even working in the city which is about 45 km from home it can be very different from what it is at home.  I must say that it's not a big thing but I do like to know how the ole homestead's going. 

[Darlica]

Weather sites and Apps are handy...
-If they give you some forecast or tell you what the weathers like X kilometres away but when the main appliance is to tell you the weather right now exactly where you are at the moment, well then I'm with Griffin, that's just daft.



I particularly like yr.no a Norwegian weather site.

[Griffin NoName]

The particular gadget cannot be used to tell the weather elsewhere. It is automatically set to current location wiith no way of changing it.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

My fancy smancy alarm clock came with a thing to tell me the temp and humidity outside (I need to get it working, because it isn't) which will be very useful as we move into our fitful fall. Or I could just stick my head out the window, but where's the fun in that?

[pieces o nine]

Back in Girl Scouts, we made a low-tech "app" for this; tie a feather to a string and hang outside your window, no matter what floor you're on:


If feather is visible, it's sunny.
If feather is not visible, it's night.
If feather is dry, it's nice out.
If feather is wet, it's raining.
If feather is under water, it's a flood.
If feather is white, it's snowing.
If feather is swinging, it's windy.
If feather is horizontal, it's very windy.
If feather is gone, it's a tornado.

[pieces o nine]

Posting question for U.S. Siblings  [aka Bob -?-  ]  because attempting to hook up the 3 gadgets below makes me feel daft...

1. TV: Sony Trinitron, looks like this.

2: DVD player: Panasonic DVD RV27

3. Knology Cable/DVR box: Motorola DCT 6412 III


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
So the cable guy hooked up the TV to DVR. It works fine, but I would like to watch dvds as well. Cannot figure out where/how to attach DVD player to this configuration. Cannot get the specific on-screen menu which allows switching between devices, no matter which remote buttons I try. Doesn't work using TV's panel buttons, either.

There is no manual. Checking online Q&As has not been helpful. Calling our local Knology office is not even on the Top 1000 Options list. Requesting help from V's son (who hooked up the surround sound to the Knology DVR in their living room) elicited a willing 'sure' but no actual follow-through.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

The TV should have more than one input, usually:

- VHF/UHF/cable antenna/coaxial

- Composite video (do not confuse with component which is for progressive output or analog HD)
- S Video

(top to bottom: audio left, right, composite video, S Video).

Newer TVs have HDMI but it's quite rare for CRTs.

Normally, your cable box/DVR goes to the coaxial, and your DVD goes composite and L+R audio. If your DVR doesn't have coaxial output then you have a problem (no recent DVD players have coaxial output), in which case you would have to unplug the cable to watch DVDs or get a multiple input device for composite perhaps like this.