h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is it just me, or do all these 'new', 'better', 'solutions' to 'supermarket checkouts', just sound far too overcomlicated, over technical, over expensive solutions, to a problem that doesn't really exist? person on check-out, put your items through, really doesn't take that long from what I remember,- having to stop the trolley constantly, spin items round, find the barcode, scan them, put them in teh trolley, repeat etc., etc., sounds a lot more complicated... and the trolleys that 'know what you've put in', soudn incredibably expensive and complicated bits of techology compaired to tried and tested checkouts as is... If, the problem is, not enough checkouts, for the amount of customers, then the solution isn't inventing some wizzzy new tech-troleeys, its 'put more staff on'... Its getting too difficult to physically go to supermarkets anymore anyhow, as they move them further and further away from where people live...

electric cars with self charging pedal assemblys rigged for all the passengers........."pedle faster you idle bbleep d!!"

Taff, I know about your army days. Most of HM´s vehicles were like that.

we didn't have pedles!!!!!! where do you think they got the idea for the flintstones cars from????

>>...whilst we're about it, a universal, universal, charger... <<

I think there is something like that now 2legs.

It's a pad, about twice the size of a mouse-pad or
about the size of a placemat. You just plunk down
whatever needs charging - iPods, Walkmans, cellphones
with batteries of any size, any voltage - and they bathe
in a (supposedly) harmless aura of current.

(Probably not suitable for homes with small birds.)

I've only seen them on Telly and have no first or second
hand reports on how effective or expensive they are, but
I thought you might like to pursue them. Let me know if
you find them and what the drawbacks are. There has to be
a drawback or they would be more popular and more readily
available.
Maybe they are brand-specific.
Or voltage specific for 110AC or 240AC outlets.


~jwf~

Probably from the Chieftain. Moves nicely if you have a downhill slope in the toolbox.

jwf, these things, if you find a good one, are a marvel. You can even recharge normal batteries (not accumulators, the cheap thingies I mean) two or three times.

RFID chips could be used to remotely read what is in your trolley, so you don´t need to stand in line anywhere. They could also be used to put in clothes, so your washing machine knows what settings to use or other such things. I think the main problem is just in making them cheap enough.

>> jwf, these things, if you find a good one, are a marvel. <<

Aha! Then I didn't just imagine it.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the Mods for
commercial promotion may I ask if there is a brand
name or product name for them that 2legs could use
to search them out. I don't have many gadgets myself
but if they work as advertised I too would have use
for something like that.


~jwf~

I might have to hunt one of those down... I'd need to find some reassuring and independant looking reviews/analysis of them, make sure they were safe for all I wanted to charge, and also didn't do anything nasty like adversly affect the lifespan of rechargable batterys, esp in thigns like netbookks or phones I'm sure If I rearranged the cabeling in my studeo it'd generate a sufficient electrical radiation signal to charge up any batterys in teh vacinity... actually that might help expalin why cups of tea left in a certain position on top of the pre-amps, under the powered sets of monitor speakers seem to stay warm for hours... or days
One day I will build a sculpture from old Nokia phone chargers, and put it up on the ceiling in the Tate modern supported by old electric toothbrush recharge units, and a pile of old wildly incompatible laptop, netbook, notebook batterys ... actually I've probably got sufficient matterial to build that sculpture already lurking in the back of the loft

Umm.. yes, I think some black, flat, basically two dimensional
charging pads (complete with coffee cup and beer bottle ring-stains)
would provide a nice contrast to the multicolored 3D sculpture of
assorted techy bits. Their power cords would require some thought.
Gopher it!


~jwf~

"The description Mina gave sounded to me more like the one where you scan all the stuff at the end yourself, which involves taking it all out of the trolley and then placing it all back in.2

Nope.

It's fast track. You give the scanner to the teller, who uploads it, tells you how much you owe, you pay up and leave. Only when they moved to a rescan every 3rd time, then ever other time with NO explanation., sometimes they'd tell you they've moved you to the highest level of security so that won't happen, then the next person says that's nonsense it's impossible to do that so it was pointless using it. It takes longer to scan as you go, then to have to upack and repack and still have it all scanned at the end.

One day I blew my top, refused to have the rescan, and when they wouldn't take my money I just walked out to the car with the trolley without paying. Ha.

I just shop online now. And NOT at sainsburys.

A tiny receiver in your glasses so that you can phone them up and they ring or buzz so you know where they are. Perhaps a transmitter in your glasses, too, so you can phone your mobile in order to find that first.

Y'know 2legs - it's obviously just me but I thought this was thread to indulge your fantasies and have some fun.

Still never mind he

>"The description Mina gave sounded to me more like the one where you scan all the stuff at the end yourself, which involves taking it all out of the trolley and then placing it all back in.2

Nope.<

Blimey, I did know what you were talking about. The problems you said, I thought sounded rather identical to those that occurred when we used to have the hand scanners so I used your post as an example of why we seem to have rid ourselves of them.

No contest.

Robot butlers.

FB

Nah, too expensive, why not employ a real butler and boost the economy.

Could I insist that they dress and move like a robot, and only speak in a robot voice?

FB

I'll take freebie real or robotic house *cleaners*, and they can mince around in pairs, talking like Dave and Nick for all I care.

A clean car. A REAL clean car, not all those things that are told to be ecologic but aren't.