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  3. What old technology are you surprised is still in use today?

What old technology are you surprised is still in use today?

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  • spankmonkey@lemmy.worldS [email protected]

    Legally defined as secure, not actually secure.

    They are fairly insecure in practice, since they are throwing the data at misdialed numbers and they are frequently placed in shared and insecure locations in the building where lots of people can access whatever comes through.

    L This user is from outside of this forum
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    wrote last edited by
    #18

    Sure. But as someone who used to work IT with a focus on cybersecurity, physical access to anything trumps everything else, and people who put fax machines in insecure locations will also put email servers or whatever in them. Also throwing data at misdialed numbers is a tiny threat because the odds of transposing a number or whatever and also getting a fax machine are pretty tiny.

    Although the guy above you was just talking about how he works in the industry and they mostly do efax now, which.. Iono how that's supposed to be more secure than just email or whatever. I guess if you're sending to physical machines it's more secure on that end, but if the senders are using efax some of the receivers prolly are too, at which point we've lost the whole point of using fax machines.

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    9
    • S [email protected]

      You better take a long look in the mirror before you make a controversial statement like that.

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      wrote last edited by
      #19

      Also:

      OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

      1 Reply Last reply
      1
      • D [email protected]

        Mirrors on cars.

        I mean, logically I know why, but it just feels so weird and out of place in the 21st century.

        Like you got this high tech vehicle with a bunch of computers inside and a lot of screens/displays, radios, GPS, “assisted driving”, then you see this mirror that’s thousands of years old and not some advanced 360 radar system.

        I know that a mirror isn’t gonna fail like electronics do, so its better reliability, but still feel odd seeing old tech and new tech merged.

        N This user is from outside of this forum
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        wrote last edited by
        #20

        They should get rid of the windows too.

        D real_squids@sopuli.xyzR 2 Replies Last reply
        1
        • N [email protected]

          They should get rid of the windows too.

          D This user is from outside of this forum
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          wrote last edited by
          #21

          No, they should make those transparent hologram displays from sci-fi shows to make them more "futuristic"

          I mean we all know the golden rule of: Hologram = Future 😅 /jk

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          • theimpressivex@lemmy.todayT [email protected]
            This post did not contain any content.
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            wrote last edited by
            #22

            It surprises me how little stick-built houses have changed in the last 50 years or so, at least in the USA.

            1 Reply Last reply
            5
            • zak@lemmy.worldZ [email protected]

              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.

              B This user is from outside of this forum
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              wrote last edited by
              #23

              Phone numbers are the new ICQ number

              1 Reply Last reply
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              • theimpressivex@lemmy.todayT [email protected]
                This post did not contain any content.
                frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.worldF This user is from outside of this forum
                frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.worldF This user is from outside of this forum
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                wrote last edited by
                #24

                there's still new passenger airliners which use old fashioned control cables over fly by wire

                S 1 Reply Last reply
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                • theimpressivex@lemmy.todayT [email protected]
                  This post did not contain any content.
                  ikidd@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
                  ikidd@lemmy.worldI This user is from outside of this forum
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                  wrote last edited by
                  #25

                  Steam turbines.

                  C 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • D [email protected]

                    Mirrors on cars.

                    I mean, logically I know why, but it just feels so weird and out of place in the 21st century.

                    Like you got this high tech vehicle with a bunch of computers inside and a lot of screens/displays, radios, GPS, “assisted driving”, then you see this mirror that’s thousands of years old and not some advanced 360 radar system.

                    I know that a mirror isn’t gonna fail like electronics do, so its better reliability, but still feel odd seeing old tech and new tech merged.

                    C This user is from outside of this forum
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                    wrote last edited by
                    #26

                    Kia/Hyundai uses cameras and screens instead of mirrors in South Korea but that technology is illegal here in the US so we get mirrors. Its not too different than adaptive headlights which can adjust themselves to not blind other drivers. Legal in Europe but illegal in the US.

                    real_squids@sopuli.xyzR 1 Reply Last reply
                    2
                    • H [email protected]

                      An Ikarus 256 was used as a train replacement bus in normal traffic in Hungary yesterday

                      B This user is from outside of this forum
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                      wrote last edited by
                      #27

                      For the uninitiated, Ikarus was a Hungarian bus factory that produced buses to the Eastern block, some of those are probably still running somewhere in Mongolia. The Ikarus 256 was produced between 1974-2002, so in the best case that thing was at least 23 years old.

                      But even better, someone got to travel on an Ikarus 55 on the same day (1954-1974), which used to be great in their time, but definitely weren't made for 36C summers, the lack of air conditioning combined with the sunshine roof that used to increase the feel of comfort in 1958 created a living hell for the passengers packed into that rolling museum with barely openable windows.

                      M 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • theimpressivex@lemmy.todayT [email protected]
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                        wrote last edited by
                        #28

                        I'm surprised nobody mentioned jack plugs yet. Basically unchanged since 1877 when it was invented for phone switchboards, roughly as old as safety pins or modern hairpins (give or take a few decades)

                        S L 2 Replies Last reply
                        16
                        • H [email protected]

                          An Ikarus 256 was used as a train replacement bus in normal traffic in Hungary yesterday

                          venus_ziegenfalle@feddit.orgV This user is from outside of this forum
                          venus_ziegenfalle@feddit.orgV This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by
                          #29

                          In Germany they'd charge extra for riding historic vehicles

                          1 Reply Last reply
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                          • frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.worldF [email protected]

                            there's still new passenger airliners which use old fashioned control cables over fly by wire

                            S This user is from outside of this forum
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                            wrote last edited by
                            #30

                            How did it go again?

                            If it is Boeing, I ain't going!

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            4
                            • kolanaki@pawb.socialK [email protected]

                              Air traffic control still uses floppy disks, windows 95, and a plastic board of paper tag numbers to keep track of shit instead of a computer.

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                              wrote last edited by [email protected]
                              #31

                              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.

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                              • L [email protected]

                                Interesting, how is eFax any more secure than email? The advantage of fax is it's one machine to one machine, no possibility of interception without physically tapping the POTS line.

                                H This user is from outside of this forum
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                                wrote last edited by
                                #32

                                It's not. Information is secure at rest and encrypted during transfer, but once it reaches the part where it is sent over voip using a telecom provider, it has the same issues as it always did. We use it because its the best way to send this many faxes, as well as automate things using our internal applications to send faxes through it as well as other applications that we leverage its API to use the service. One advantage that makes it semi more secure is if we send a fax to another client that also uses the same service as we are then then it's actually a secure stream for the entire path.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                3
                                • B [email protected]

                                  Microsoft Windows

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                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #33

                                  If some of the stories are to be believed, some of the code dates back to 3.1/dos too

                                  meekah@lemmy.worldM 1 Reply Last reply
                                  1
                                  • E [email protected]

                                    The Wheel. We should've graduated to antigravity by now, don't you think?

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                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #34

                                    we dont posess the knowlegde of how to do that, that isnt done by magnetism. maybe if aliens come to earth than maybe.

                                    S 1 Reply Last reply
                                    1
                                    • J [email protected]

                                      Toilet paper

                                      T This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #35

                                      70% of humans dont use toilet paper, so it might be a new tech instead of an old one.

                                      R 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • T [email protected]

                                        If some of the stories are to be believed, some of the code dates back to 3.1/dos too

                                        meekah@lemmy.worldM This user is from outside of this forum
                                        meekah@lemmy.worldM This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #36

                                        Oh you can clearly see that this is true when you launch certain programs:

                                        https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/o1x183/the_famous_windows_31_dialogue_is_again_in/

                                        T 1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • D [email protected]

                                          Mirrors on cars.

                                          I mean, logically I know why, but it just feels so weird and out of place in the 21st century.

                                          Like you got this high tech vehicle with a bunch of computers inside and a lot of screens/displays, radios, GPS, “assisted driving”, then you see this mirror that’s thousands of years old and not some advanced 360 radar system.

                                          I know that a mirror isn’t gonna fail like electronics do, so its better reliability, but still feel odd seeing old tech and new tech merged.

                                          T This user is from outside of this forum
                                          T This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #37

                                          I spend a fair bit of time on construction sites, and cameras have one huge issue compared to mirrors: They're one-way.

                                          With a mirror, I can see the driver in the mirror. I can make eyecontact and confirm that they've seen me. With a camera, I have no idea if they've seen me. Maybe they can see more, but if they happen not to be looking, I have no way to tell.

                                          And our stupid road regulations don't allow for both.

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