Links - share the pain

In my travels around the web to avoid doing any real work at the office, I often come across links I want to share with someone.  Generally I send them to my wife, who finds the political ones depressing.  So who wants to be depressed?  Come and get it!

Those of you who read BoingBoing have probably already seen many of these.  Hopefully your browser will show the already-seen links in a different color.

Yeah, I know: this is long and has no connecting theme.

anti-Bush:

• Here is McChimpy skating around the issues.
• Joke: Brazillion.

( click here for more links to click on )

My vacuum-tube collection

Here are my vacuum tubes.  I've been collecting them for over 30 years.
As you can see, I haven't treated them very well.  They've been moved from one home to the next several times.  Some of them may no longer be functioning.  Standing up in the background is a Tung-Sol bridge rectifier, for which I don't have a part number (but the 10D1 looks similar).  Next to it is one of my five examples of the 6336A dual triode.  shockwave77598: As can be seen from the linked close-ups, these "vacuum" tubes are full of metal, so it cannot be said that I am collecting tubules of "nothing".  The base of the 6336A has a magic-marker annotation "10/12", indicating that I once tested it (back when corner drugstores had tube-testing machines) and it was in good shape at that time.

In 1998 I found a website that sold tubes.  I checked their prices and determined that my 98 tubes had a replacement value of about $358.  The 6336A is one of the more expensive items, with a "used" price-tag of $25 back then.  I contacted the website operator to ask if he wanted mine, but got no reply.  I am pleased to be able to recall these tidbits for you, but in order to find this price list I had to search through a CD I made, named "Our Family 1999", that contained all home-made files from the family computer at that time.

Today I checked eBay.  Here is a used 6336A, perfect 115/115 test score, $28․00.  This one is never-used for $15․00.  This sad sack is the sort of auction my son will have to run if I don't get rid of these tubes before I die: set of six 6336A's plus a single 6336, unknown quality, current bid $10․50.  Well, at least he's getting bids!

Unlike tubes, it seems tube testers are now collectable items, costing hundreds of dollars and often out of stock.