Ask Lemmy

They're common in the US too in doctors offices and hospitals because of the security requirements of transmitting patient records and such.

And it's WAY older than people think. The first patent for a fax like machine was granted in 1843.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax

Fucking NAT. Never should have been allowed to escape from the lab.

I ❤️ IPv4

We made steampunk a reality by developing the technology to transfer steam power efficiently over long distances through metal wires.

Back to the Future lied to me again!

That can't be the actual name of those, is it?

I've always kinda wondered, and generally call them TRS or something (I'm audio engineering background, American, millennial), so looked it up:

From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio) under the "other terms" section:

The 1902 International Library of Technology simply uses jack for the female and plug for the male connector.[3] The 1989 Sound Reinforcement Handbook uses phone jack for the female and phone plug for the male connector.[4] Robert McLeish, who worked at the BBC, uses jack or jack socket for the female and jack plug for the male connector in his 2005 book Radio Production.[5] The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, as of 2007, says the more fixed electrical connector is the jack, while the less fixed connector is the plug, without regard to the gender of the connector contacts.[6] The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1975 also made a standard that was withdrawn in 1997.[7]

The intended application for a phone connector has also resulted in names such as audio jack, headphone jack, stereo plug, microphone jack, aux input, etc. Among audio engineers, the connector may often simply be called a quarter-inch to distinguish it from XLR, another frequently used audio connector. These naming variations are also used for the 3.5 mm connectors, which have been called mini-phone, mini-stereo, mini jack, etc.

RCA connectors are differently shaped, but confusingly are similarly named as phono plugs and phono jacks (or in the UK, phono sockets). 3.5 mm connectors are sometimes—counter to the connector manufacturers' nomenclature[8]—referred to as mini phonos.[9]

Confusion also arises because phone jack and phone plug may sometimes refer to the RJ11 and various older telephone sockets and plugs that connect wired telephones to wall outlets.

To be fair I have infinity more confidence in the system you just described than whatever tech bro disruptor was going to pitch

Not all of them, most of ATC in EASA airspace is Linux based and use electronic strips instead of the plastic paper strips.

But the foundation of the ground/ground communication is still AFTN based on x400 network (Europe used to have an X.25 network for its CIDIN communications).

The latest and newest tech for international data exchange is AMHS based on X400, often it is x400 over IP ok, but still a 50 years or so tech.

The main idea behind ATC and aviation tech is reliability and compatibility with countries with less money to upgrade tech.

That's not even a government thing. It's a finance/banking thing, as most major banks are still using mainframes and legacy COBOL code for most of their business logic.

So does pretty much the whole banking and credit industry. When you get money out of an ATM there's usually some COBOL code involved.

Hospitals use pagers because the frequency band they run on is better at penetrating walls. Shorter waves carry more data, but are easily blocked by walls. Pagers don’t need a lot of data, so they use really long waves.

And hospitals are built like bunkers, to avoid the potential need to evacuate patients during an emergency. Things like fire breaks between individual rooms, earthquake protections, being strong enough to stand up during a hurricane, etc… The goal is to be able to shelter in place instead of evacuating, because a mass evacuation of bedridden patients who all need monitoring equipment would be a logistical nightmare.

But this also means hospitals are really good at blocking wireless signals, because the walls are all super thick and sturdy. So they use pagers, which use long waves and can reliably penetrate the bunker-like walls. You don’t want a doctor to miss an emergency call because they were sitting in the basement; Hospitals need a wireless connection that reliably works every time. And pagers just happen to fit that specific niche.

A decade ago, I thought phone numbers would soon die out. Instead, the most popular messaging apps use them as identifiers and adoption of those in North America is poor.

Bidet gang ~~rise up~~ sit down!