Facebook and Photo Archives
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Facebook and Photo Archives

Byrichard

Recently I have spent more time on Facebook and I have joined a few photo groups. One of them is for the Canton De Vaud, where people are sharing photos they have taken of the region. These photographs are well framed, well lit, and pleasant to look at. It feels like a community of photographers.


Part of my reason for wanting to return to Facebook is this group. If there is a group of local people sharing photographs then there is a good chance that there are other local groups for sharing other images, events and more.


Over the last two days I have followed groups that share archive photos, paintings, post cards and more. These images show Geneva, Nyon, Vevey, Gland, Crassier and other places as they looked several decades ago. This is a fun and pleasant journey back in time. We get to see Perdtemps when it was a park for people to walk in, and then as a park where people would play football, before finally seeing it as we know it, an ugly parking.


These groups have value, because old photos have value. They show us the ordinary world as it was at specific moments in time. It shows us place de Neuve with a tram and an old car. it shows us the castle of Nyon after an important fire in a local mill, and more.


It shows us the train that ran from Divonne to Nyon and back. I learned about this line by playing Geocache, but learned more by trying to find photos of the trains and stations. If you go to Divonne, by the pub, you can see the old train station. The former line is now a cycling and walking path. Recent history is just as interesting as ancient history.


There is an image of the Gare Cornavin before surrounding buildings were built. In another photo you can see Geneva as it looked in the 1950s or earlier. You can see Geneva airport in the middle of the countryside, before the motorway and other buildings were built.


And Finally


With old photographs, paintings and other types of images you get a feel for how places looked before they were built upon. You see places before the popularisation of cars and more. You also see how buildings used to look when each one was unique. It is worth taking time to explore these old galleries of images.

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Version Control, Engineering and Rocket Engines

Byrichard

Every Rocketdyne engine was fine tuned and perfected by hand, from plans, that were modified but not updated. This means that each engine was unique. It would take trial and error to build them again.


With GIT and other forms of version control the entire process could theoretically have been logged and preserved, not so, in this context. Interesting video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovD0aLdRUs0

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Perm 36 YouTube Video Visit

Byrichard

Last night I watched a video about a visit to Perm36 but it covered just the trip. The video below is far more complete and informative. I am currently reading Gulag by Anne Applebaum, rather than The Gulag Archipelago, like she mentions. I started reading it decades ago but never finished it. I read A day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch in a single day.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgtjgPtGmx0


Reading Gulag, The Gulag Archipelago and other books helps give some context to what Soviet Russia was like. As I read Gulag by Applebaum I get the feeling that Soviet Russia was about enslaving people to make profit for some whilst everyone else suffers. From this perspective what the Soviet Union would morph into, at the end of the Soviet age would make more sense.


I recommend watching this video. It is informative.

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The Pont Flavien near Toulouse

Byrichard

Not too far from Aix en Provence you can find a Roman bridge with two arches under which to pass as you cross. I expect that the stones from others were quarried and so this is the last surviving example. If we check the sources we might find mentions of more.


https://twitter.com/DrJEBall/status/1501998794036109319


I located it on Google Maps for you




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The Marble Quarries of Carrara

Byrichard

There is a rock quarry where we can climb not too far away. The rock is different so easier to climb. I don’t think climbing on marble would be a good climbing experience. What is interesting about this image is the scale of the quarry. This is Luna Marble.


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Apollo Comms – A Series on YouTube

Byrichard

I have not studied electronics but I have studied the Google IT support course among others so I have some basics of how computers and tech work. This type of documentary series is interesting because it brings history to life, and explains how things work. It is not sensationalist, does not use too much music and more. It just guides you through how technology works.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v49ucdZcx9s


I was surprised to hear that transmission was as low as 2 watts and as high as just 11 watts. I also learned that for some communications they used just two watts of power for Apollo 13, 57 hours into the mission, to reduce power consumption. Of course on Earth they had a 270ft antenna to receive the signal. Compare this to a radio station that may use 50,000 watts. I don’t remember how many watts were used in satellite broadcasting but from a quick skim it’s about 20 watts but this goes to smaller and smaller dishes on earth. Starlink uses about 2 watts of power.


I frequently heard about travelling wave tubes over the years, but I didn’t understand how they work, until this video. I still don’t understand how they work. If my understanding is correct the cathode emits electrons at 20 percent of the speed of light. An RF signal is sent into the tube but has to travel a far greater distance. This slows it down enough for the electrons and the RF signal to synchronise, and the result to be used to transmit. I still don’t understand how it works but I have a starting point. More info can be found here.


There are at least twelve episodes, so if you watch all of them you will get a better understanding of how the comms systems worked during the Apollo space missions. This content is for geeks, who have a basic understanding of at least some of the key topics.


Although this content doesn’t count as archeology in the conventional sense I have put it in that category because it is the study of modern history. People are looking at, and trying to understand objects from a different time. It is within living memory. Living memory doesn’t exclude it from being archeology.

A 2000 Year old Greek Mosaic in Turkey

A 2000 Year old Greek Mosaic in Turkey

Byrichard

I like archeological twitter because it shows us curiousities every day of the week, several times a day. I like the image of the mosaic below because you see that it was quite deep, and hidden. Imagine digging down and coming across such a sight and site.


https://twitter.com/Artifacthub_/status/1495459408184487936


More info


https://twitter.com/Artifacthub_/status/1494925862394687488