I got a bulky tablet computer from ewaste and it turns out the operators of this tablet created an add-on which involved INJECTION MOLDING a piece to hold a USB serial adapter and USB HUB to the back of the tablet.
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@manawyrm @whitequark y'all are right!
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okay apparently it's not just a serial port, it's a serial port operating this... whatever this is.
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it's an RF module that sends X10 module commands. so this could turn lights on and off? huh
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Foone🏳️⚧️replied to Foone🏳️⚧️ last edited by [email protected]
This is the tablet itself. It steals a lot of iBook design language.
It's a TabletKiosk Sahara Slate PC i400. It's a Core 2 Duo, with a 12" screen.
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I gave it some juice and it boots!
to XP, which is weird. it has a windows 7 serial on it.
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okay I got it working and figured out what it was used for:
it was designed to control various devices with IR/X10.
I think this was used in some kind of nursing home/hospital, and was designed to be an all-in-one patient control suite. -
The story of Foone B. Turing, in two images.
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@foone what's the flash drive press-fit into nothing for? decoration?
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@danne backups of IR/X10 configs
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Got it open. Surprisingly clean inside! The outside was filthy, I heavily cleaned it prior to taking pics.
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It had three network cards inside it.
Wifi, Bluetooth, and 56k modem.
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the hard drive was TAPED in? taped AND screwed?
fun thing about the hard drive:
it is mechanical and has NO PADDING! on a tablet! designed to be used by hospital patients who might DROP IT! -
BTW that USB drive embedded in the milled-plastic? it's just a backup of all the REACH configs.
possibly because they kept DROPPING THE THING AND FRYING THE DRIVE
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@foone Wow, a FireCracker; I haven't heard of those in a long time. I looked into X10 for home automation way back, but but decided it was too unreliable (sending signals over power lines) and couldn't do much more than turn lights on and off. Nowadays, home automation is much better and mostly just works but I realized I don't have a use for it.
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@foone X10. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time
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@foone that's how I want to spend my final days, high on strong opiates, shitting my pants, making the blinds go up and down with a tablet.
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@johnefrancis why wait?
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@foone My guess is it was prolly wall mounted or on a pedestal as a kiosk of sorts.
Those thread inserts look like it’s about the right size for a VESA pattern.
We have a similar mount for standalone iPad kiosks at work.
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@forgifuzzbutt that'd make sense!
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so @forgifuzzbutt pointed out the holes in the milled plastic look like they might be VESA, so this was probably mounted on a wall or on an arm