The violin-playing robot continued

One time on Usenet said:

Sorry Wayne lost the thread when the browser had a brain-freeze.

The 'Guardian' site needs an RSS feed to work properly.

Try these sites:

<snip>

I forwarded some of these links to Buddy -- he wants to be a robot
scientist when he grows up. He's on the right track, he loves
computers...

--
Jani in WA

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 07:06:28p, Arri London meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Sorry Wayne lost the thread when the browser had a brain-freeze.

The 'Guardian' site needs an RSS feed to work properly.

Try these sites:

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-15216-Toyota+presents+the+robots+of+
the+future!+Video+and+Photos+Hi-Res.html

http://robot.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/2007/07/23/570.html (site is
in Japanese but pics are OK)

www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/04/0311.html

Yes computers cannot cook, but maybe they can. The chips in those robots
and the sushi machine could easily be considered computers I suppose.

Anyway who said I could cook LOL!

Thanks, Ari, that's fascinating! FWIW, there were mechanically operated
instruments that used punched rolls or cards that were capable of amazing
musical feats in the 19th and early 20th centuries. No electronic logic
involved of course, but still amazing it it's day.

BTW, *I* think you can cook. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Thu, 12(XII)/6(VI)/07(MMVII)

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 2dys 4hrs 15mins
*******************************************
Don't start with me -- you know how I get.
*******************************************

One time on Usenet said:

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 07:06:28p, Arri London meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Sorry Wayne lost the thread when the browser had a brain-freeze.

The 'Guardian' site needs an RSS feed to work properly.

Try these sites:

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-15216-Toyota+presents+the+robots+of+
the+future!+Video+and+Photos+Hi-Res.html

http://robot.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/2007/07/23/570.html (site is
in Japanese but pics are OK)

www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/04/0311.html

Yes computers cannot cook, but maybe they can. The chips in those robots
and the sushi machine could easily be considered computers I suppose.

Anyway who said I could cook LOL!

Thanks, Ari, that's fascinating! FWIW, there were mechanically operated
instruments that used punched rolls or cards that were capable of amazing
musical feats in the 19th and early 20th centuries. No electronic logic
involved of course, but still amazing it it's day.

As a kid (late 60's) I knew an elderly lady in the neighborhood who
had a player piano that used punched rolls. I always found it utterly
fascinating.

Quoted message said:

BTW, *I* think you can cook. :-)

I hope so, I've been taking his advice for years... ;-)

--
Jani in WA

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 08:07:17p, Little Malice meant to say...

Quoted message said:

One time on Usenet said:

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 07:06:28p, Arri London meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Sorry Wayne lost the thread when the browser had a brain-freeze.

The 'Guardian' site needs an RSS feed to work properly.

Try these sites:

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-15216-Toyota+presents+the+robots+
of+ the+future!+Video+and+Photos+Hi-Res.html

http://robot.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/news/2007/07/23/570.html (site
is in Japanese but pics are OK)

www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/04/0311.html

Yes computers cannot cook, but maybe they can. The chips in those
robots and the sushi machine could easily be considered computers I
suppose.

Anyway who said I could cook LOL!

Thanks, Ari, that's fascinating! FWIW, there were mechanically
operated instruments that used punched rolls or cards that were capable
of amazing musical feats in the 19th and early 20th centuries. No
electronic logic involved of course, but still amazing it it's day.

As a kid (late 60's) I knew an elderly lady in the neighborhood who
had a player piano that used punched rolls. I always found it utterly
fascinating.

Quoted message said:

BTW, *I* think you can cook. :-)

I hope so, I've been taking his advice for years... ;-)

When I was in 9th grade, a church near us was replacing all of its old
pianos and they were free to anyone who could haul them away. I went with
a friend to look a them and discovered that one of them was a player piano
that had not been gutted. My dad had a friend who hauled it to our house
in his truck. It needed extensive restoration inside, so I took it on as a
summer project.

It turned out to be not only a player piano, but a "reproducing piano",
which was more complicated and filled with more features. I won't go into
detail here, but if you're interested, you can read about them at this
site: http://www.pianola.com/rpiano.htm.

Anyway, I spent all summer restoring the tubing, recanvassing the pneumatic
valves, etc., and had one hell of a good time working on it and playing
with it and on it. Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as
reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular player pianos. Now
I wish I had kept it. :-(

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Thursday, December 6th,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 2dys 2hrs 15mins
*******************************************
Know thyself? If I knew myself, I
would run away. (Goethe)
*******************************************

Wayne Boatwright said:

Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as
reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular player pianos. Now
I wish I had kept it. :-(

I'm sure most of us have things we wished we kept. Sorry about the
piano.

Lou

Oh pshaw, on Thu 06 Dec 2007 10:15:27p, Lou Decruss meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as
reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular player pianos.

Now

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I wish I had kept it. :-(

I'm sure most of us have things we wished we kept. Sorry about the
piano.

Lou

Thanks, Lou. I had a bad habit of doing things like that when I was
younger. It's too bad that wisdom comes so much later. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Thursday, December 6th,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 2dys 1hrs 45mins
*******************************************
Happiness comes in packages marked
'Batteries Not Included'.
*******************************************

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

Anyway, I spent all summer restoring the tubing, recanvassing the
pneumatic
valves, etc., and had one hell of a good time working on it and playing
with it and on it. Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as
reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular player pianos. Now
I wish I had kept it. :-(

--
Wayne Boatwright

There was a player piano in our household until at least the 60's until the
folks moved. My paternal great-grandfather & family were musical; the
Victorola and player-piano were probably from my great-grandfather in the
decade of 1900 up until 1910.

It worked well in the early 50's as I recall. Someone got a bargain at an
auction. I can hardly believe that the roller paper was still in decent
shape enough to play. They certainly weren't kept in any special way.

Yes, they are a delight to see. I use to see them in old tourist
restaurant-type saloons.

Dee Dee

Quoted message said:

When I was in 9th grade, a church near us was replacing all of its old
pianos and they were free to anyone who could haul them away. I went with
a friend to look a them and discovered that one of them was a player piano
that had not been gutted. My dad had a friend who hauled it to our house
in his truck. It needed extensive restoration inside, so I took it on as
a
summer project.

It turned out to be not only a player piano, but a "reproducing piano",
which was more complicated and filled with more features. I won't go into
detail here, but if you're interested, you can read about them at this
site: http://www.pianola.com/rpiano.htm.

Anyway, I spent all summer restoring the tubing, recanvassing the
pneumatic
valves, etc., and had one hell of a good time working on it and playing
with it and on it. Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as
reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular player pianos. Now
I wish I had kept it. :-(
--
Wayne Boatwright

Very cool, Wayne. Wasn't aware that such a thing existed.

Years ago I dated a woman who owned an instrument she had inherited from her
grandmother that looked like a old Victrolla, but played punched brass
platters that were ~15" in diameter. They sounded pretty nice though a bit
monochromatic.

Jon

One time on Usenet said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as
reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular player pianos.

Thanks for the info on pianos, Wayne. :-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Now I wish I had kept it. :-(

Quoted message said:

I'm sure most of us have things we wished we kept. Sorry about the
piano.

Oh yeah! When I first discovered eBay back in the 90's, I sold several
things that I wish I hadn't...

--
Jani in WA

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 07:36:25a, Dee.Dee meant to say...

Quoted message said:

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

Quoted message said:

Anyway, I spent all summer restoring the tubing, recanvassing the
pneumatic valves, etc., and had one hell of a good time working on it
and playing with it and on it. Later sold it for several thousand
dollars, as reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular
player pianos. Now I wish I had kept it. :-(

--
Wayne Boatwright

There was a player piano in our household until at least the 60's until
the folks moved. My paternal great-grandfather & family were musical;
the Victorola and player-piano were probably from my great-grandfather
in the decade of 1900 up until 1910.

It worked well in the early 50's as I recall. Someone got a bargain at
an auction. I can hardly believe that the roller paper was still in
decent shape enough to play. They certainly weren't kept in any special
way.

Yes, they are a delight to see. I use to see them in old tourist
restaurant-type saloons.

Dee Dee

Indeed, they are a delight!

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Friday, December 7th,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 1dys 4hrs 30mins
*******************************************
'Are you pondering what I'm pondering,
Pinky?' -- The Brain
*******************************************

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 11:53:02a, Zeppo meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

When I was in 9th grade, a church near us was replacing all of its old
pianos and they were free to anyone who could haul them away. I went
with a friend to look a them and discovered that one of them was a
player piano that had not been gutted. My dad had a friend who hauled
it to our house in his truck. It needed extensive restoration inside,
so I took it on as a summer project.

It turned out to be not only a player piano, but a "reproducing piano",
which was more complicated and filled with more features. I won't go
into detail here, but if you're interested, you can read about them at
this site: http://www.pianola.com/rpiano.htm.

Anyway, I spent all summer restoring the tubing, recanvassing the
pneumatic valves, etc., and had one hell of a good time working on it
and playing with it and on it. Later sold it for several thousand
dollars, as reproducing pianos were far more valuable than regular
player pianos. Now I wish I had kept it. :-( --
Wayne Boatwright

Very cool, Wayne. Wasn't aware that such a thing existed.

Years ago I dated a woman who owned an instrument she had inherited from
her grandmother that looked like a old Victrolla, but played punched
brass platters that were ~15" in diameter. They sounded pretty nice
though a bit monochromatic.

Jon

They were very popular at turn of the century and somewhat beyond. I can't
remember the exact name for it, but essentially they were music boxes. The
holes in the disk tripped little levers that virbrated a metal reed. At
least most of them worked that way. My babysitter and her sisters, who
were all in their 80s in 1949-1950 had one in their parlor.

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Friday, December 7th,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 1dys 4hrs 30mins
*******************************************
'Are you pondering what I'm pondering,
Pinky?' -- The Brain
*******************************************

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 12:56:19p, Little Malice meant to say...

Quoted message said:

One time on Usenet said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as reproducing pianos
were far more valuable than regular player pianos.

Thanks for the info on pianos, Wayne. :-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Now I wish I had kept it. :-(

Quoted message said:

I'm sure most of us have things we wished we kept. Sorry about the
piano.

Oh yeah! When I first discovered eBay back in the 90's, I sold several
things that I wish I hadn't...

Been there and done that, too. Most recently, 12 place settings of
Wedgewood Queensware and many accessory and serving pieces, about 250 in
all. I have regrets, but I got a great price. I didn't sell it through
eBay, however. I found a china buyer who would pay top dollar. for mint
condition pieces.

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Friday, December 7th,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 1dys 4hrs 30mins
*******************************************
'Are you pondering what I'm pondering,
Pinky?' -- The Brain
*******************************************

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

They were very popular at turn of the century and somewhat beyond.

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright

Hmmm -- Wayne, what upcoming year should we get out of the habit of saying
'at the turn of the century.' ;-)))

Dee Dee

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 07:38:16p, Dee.Dee meant to say...

Quoted message said:

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

They were very popular at turn of the century and somewhat beyond.

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright

Hmmm -- Wayne, what upcoming year should we get out of the habit of

saying

Quoted message said:

'at the turn of the century.' ;-)))

Dee Dee

That'a a very good questions. I suppose we should be specifying which one.
:-)

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Fri, 12(XII)/7(VII)/07(MMVII)

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 1dys 4hrs 15mins
*******************************************
'Integrity has no need for rules' -
Albert Camus
*******************************************

One time on Usenet said:

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 12:56:19p, Little Malice meant to say...

Quoted message said:

One time on Usenet said:

On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:58:33 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
<[email hidden]> wrote:

> Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as reproducing pianos
> were far more valuable than regular player pianos.

Thanks for the info on pianos, Wayne. :-)

Quoted message said:

>Now I wish I had kept it. :-(

Quoted message said:

I'm sure most of us have things we wished we kept. Sorry about the
piano.

Oh yeah! When I first discovered eBay back in the 90's, I sold several
things that I wish I hadn't...

Been there and done that, too. Most recently, 12 place settings of
Wedgewood Queensware and many accessory and serving pieces, about 250 in
all. I have regrets, but I got a great price. I didn't sell it through
eBay, however. I found a china buyer who would pay top dollar. for mint
condition pieces.

Yeah, I wouldn't sell something like that on eBay, myself. I have 16
settings of a lovely china my dad picked up in Japan during the 50's.
I'm NOT getting rid of that any time soon... :-)

--
Jani in WA

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 07:53:06p, Little Malice meant to say...

Quoted message said:

One time on Usenet said:

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 12:56:19p, Little Malice meant to say...

Quoted message said:

One time on Usenet, Lou Decruss <[email hidden]> said:
> On Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:58:33 GMT, Wayne Boatwright
> <[email hidden]> wrote:
>
> > Later sold it for several thousand dollars, as reproducing pianos
> > were far more valuable than regular player pianos.

Thanks for the info on pianos, Wayne. :-)

> >Now I wish I had kept it. :-(

> I'm sure most of us have things we wished we kept. Sorry about the
> piano.

Oh yeah! When I first discovered eBay back in the 90's, I sold several
things that I wish I hadn't...

Been there and done that, too. Most recently, 12 place settings of
Wedgewood Queensware and many accessory and serving pieces, about 250 in
all. I have regrets, but I got a great price. I didn't sell it through
eBay, however. I found a china buyer who would pay top dollar. for mint
condition pieces.

Yeah, I wouldn't sell something like that on eBay, myself. I have 16
settings of a lovely china my dad picked up in Japan during the 50's.
I'm NOT getting rid of that any time soon... :-)

That's to cherish. I have one more set that I plan to sell, 8 place
settings and serving pieces of Chinese export ware.

The one set I'm keeping is a 12 place settings and many serving pieces that
was my mothers English bone china.

No one needs as much china as I had! :-) (Especially since we rarely
entertain.)

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Friday, December 7th,2007

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 1dys 3hrs 45mins
*******************************************
Late last night and the night before
Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking
on my door.

Wayne Boatwright said:

No one needs as much china as I had! :-) (Especially since we rarely
entertain.)

ah... there's another level where we connect. I absolutely love china
and crystal. I'd have a separate set for every time of day, every
season, every mood.... if I had the room to store them. LOL

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smiley face first

Wayne Boatwright said:

No one needs as much china as I had! :-) (Especially since we rarely
entertain.)

ah... there's another level where we connect. I absolutely love china
and crystal. I'd have a separate set for every time of day, every
season, every mood.... if I had the room to store them. LOL

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smiley face first

Oh pshaw, on Fri 07 Dec 2007 11:19:50p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

No one needs as much china as I had! :-) (Especially since we rarely
entertain.)

ah... there's another level where we connect. I absolutely love china
and crystal. I'd have a separate set for every time of day, every
season, every mood.... if I had the room to store them. LOL

Oh, I understand, and space (or the lack thereof) is my main problem. I
have also sold two full sets of crystal within the last year, retaining
only that which I inherited from my grandmother.

Like you, if I had the room, I could go on collecting it endlessly.

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Fri, 12(XII)/7(VII)/2007(MMVII)

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
2wks 1dys 15mins
*******************************************
Life is the stuff that happens to you
while you're making other plans.
*******************************************