Need a beam spring for cheap

[Muirium]

PayPal won't die for lack of competitors. Besides, don't you guys have Google Wallet? I know you have Square and Apple Pay. Even if, as a non trader, I don't know what receiving those entails. Yet.

[wlhlm]

Without PayPal as a wire transfer substitute, most likely, people will have to resort to sending paper checks through the mail, which is what you did when you won an eBay auction before PayPal was a thing.

Are checks really still a thing? wtf!

[jbondeson]

Are checks really still a thing? wtf!

Offtopicthority GO!

So let me preface the following with the fact that for a decade I wrote software in this space...

North American small and mid size businesses would cease to exist without checks. In the aftermath of the Sept 11th, 2001 attacks when planes were grounded a large portion of US companies saw their ability to receive payments ground to a halt as millions of paper checks were sitting on grounded airplane waiting to be flow to the national clearing houses. So what did our best minds do? Follow Europe's lead and facilitate better back transfers? Nope, we drafted the Check 21 Act (standing for the oxymoron of "Check Clearing for the 21st Century") to allow for digital images of paper checks to be used for clearing of most checks. This effectively sealed the fate of the continent for the next 30 years to living with stupid, idiotic paper checks.

All this because NACHA (which regulates electronic payment processing in the US) is a complete and total shit-show...

[Muirium]

Glances at the OFFTOPIC siren.

It gives me chills just to imagine how terminally screwed the rest of the world would be if America didn't handicap itself with so many things like this. I mean, just for a start, try to picture how terrifying they could be if it weren't for all those Republicans working for us outsiders and forever poking wasps nests and tearing things apart? Planet striding hyperpower averted. Yet they could, if only they got their shit together.

But as time goes on, the U.S. looks ever more like IBM. And I don't mean the era that made the Beamspring!

[bhtooefr]

https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/6052084?hl=en

Google doesn't seem to want Google Wallet to be used quite like PayPal is.

[dorkvader]

Glances at the OFFTOPIC siren.

It gives me chills just to imagine how terminally screwed the rest of the world would be if America didn't handicap itself with so many things like this. I mean, just for a start, try to picture how terrifying they could be if it weren't for all those Republicans working for us outsiders and forever poking wasps nests and tearing things apart? Planet striding hyperpower averted. Yet they could, if only they got their shit together.

But as time goes on, the U.S. looks ever more like IBM. And I don't mean the era that made the Beamspring!

this is why i almost never go on DT. It seems that every legitimate (and interesting) discussion devolves to EU Vs US by the end of the first page, some political nonsense, grandstanding, soapboxing, etc. gets posted and then the topic dies.

In an ideal forum people would all talk about keyboards.

and yet I still come back every month or three for my dose of DT Disappointment.

[dzhoou]

I feel like you can't blame DT for that, nor this thread in particular.

There's only so much you can talk about OP needing a beamspring for cheap.

[Madhias]

There's only so much you can talk about OP needing a beamspring for cheap.

Everything was answered, that's true. OP can be now on a glorious odyssey to hunt down a beamspring keyboard. But discussions about PayPal, Greece and politics in general are sometimes really offtopic. Not that I am bothered... But that depends on the offtopic topic then. I could be bothered because of the offtopic topic, and then I am bothered. I came to make a break from all the things, work and daily business, but got upset. Meh.

Ha thats your video ? Just commented on it What happened to your case ?

The case is almost fully intact, I just added the solenoid driver before making this short video and put it off! I have to find a solution for the case door thought, one of the brackets is broken, and I think it has to be welded.

[fohat]

try to picture how terrifying they could be if it weren't for all those Republicans working for us outsiders and forever poking wasps nests and tearing things apart?

It seems that every legitimate (and interesting) discussion devolves to EU Vs US by the end of the first page, some political nonsense, grandstanding, soapboxing, etc. gets posted and then the topic dies.

I partially agree, but GH is equally guilty of spiraling off-topic at every opportunity.

Unfortunately Muirium is correct in his assessment (although he is leaving out the equally great damage that the Republicans are doing here within our borders), but the transcendentally arrogant and crushingly expensive Bush wars have likely pushed international US prestige onto the downslope, probably forever.

[seebart]

I don't think it's a matter of prestige. I lived in the US pre 9/11 for around about ten years in total. The country and the people have changed. Sure. But for me the country is the people and their culture and ways of life. Not the goverment. Most of the change is for the worse. That's my opinion also. But look at the rest of the world. Look at the EU right now. It's a disaster.

[fohat]

The country and the people have changed.

But for me the country is the people and their culture and ways of life. Not the government.

The US has been hurtling downhill since the Reagan era, when moneyed interests were allowed to gain control of "the government". With the September 11 terrorist attack, a significant tragedy but rather small in the grand global scheme of things, the hate-mongers took the opportunity to create a nationwide surge of panic and fear that was mostly artificial.

And you are correct, the "American way of life" changed dramatically almost overnight, and may never recover.

The majority of the ultra-wealthy are obsessed solely with avoiding their fair share of taxes (since their wealth insulates them from everything else), and have bought the votes of "the people's" representatives to do as they are instructed.

They have accomplished this by conglomerating the media and forcing public political discussions to revolve around ridiculous secondary "social" issues such as gay rights, guns, religion, abortion, etc, to inflame the passions of the ignorant and camouflage the real agenda, which has nothing to do with anything "social" or "moral" and everything to do with money.

[seebart]

Yes I agree with you all the way. Of course there were gigantic unrealistic expectations placed upon Obama and used by him and his staff in his election. Seems like no we can't change. A least not very much.

[Muirium]

Aye, astutely observed. I don't know how it happened, but the death cult that now dominates US foreign policy is easily as damaging as the Islamic State etc. response that's tearing through the world because of it. Whatever happened to link conservative Americans and conservative Israelis into a tight feedback loop of violence, well, I loathe conspiracies so I won't blame it on one, but let's just say both partners have really run with it. Whenever Israel launches an attack on Arab civilians, every politician in America not only applauds the fact but must now compete on how loudly they're rooting for it.

This partnership has had an even worse effect on politics and culture within Israel, by the way. I've no Jewish ties myself, yet I used to respect Israel in the Yitzhak Rabin days, trying a peaceful resolution to an impossible problem. But this age belongs to Netanyahu, and the popular votes he can win so easily now, lubricated by human suffering. Imagine what it must feel like to be a liberal there now.

Believe it or not, I respect America a great deal, and consider Franklin Roosevelt one of the greatest leaders in human history. The world wasn't just in the shit when he was elected, it was burning itself down! America's actions in World War 2 and its aftermath are the gold standard for getting things done. No one's perfect, but that turnaround was as close as anyone ever comes! America still has that potential, that great a people and resolve, and that much sheer power. But for the leaders who squander it.

Don't even get me started on Europe! The way we're handling the Greek situation disgusts me. I'm not sure sure I'll even vote to stay in now.

We're all shafted for a while yet, I think! But nothing lasts forever. Just look at last century.

[seebart]

Yes but that Iran nuclear deal I saw in the news just now... Israel is not too happy with that.

[Muirium]

That's Obama's leeway as an outgoing president. I'm sure his enemies will slap his arse hard with the door, on his way out!

Webwit always flaps his wings in anger when I say anything nice about Obama! I do like the man. He's a compromised figure for a compromised age. He does what he can. But so do his enemies, not least Netanyahu…

[fohat]

trying a peaceful resolution to an impossible problem.

I don't believe that the "problem" is impossible.

If Israel would remove its troops from Palestinian territory, and stop provoking the entire Arab world, I believe that some sort of detente would eventually gel.

[Muirium]

Perhaps. But look at that "if". Who would make them withdraw? Not today's America.

Also, the ultimate sticking point is the "right of return" that displaced Palestinians seek, within Israel's original borders. There's no way they can have it, but there's no way their leaders can be seen to abandon it. Certainly not in the current bloody climate!

Things were heading the right way back in the early 90s. But Rabin's assassination put a sudden end to all of that. (Mudered by a conservative Israeli, not an Arab terrorist I must point out.) We're so far off track now, it's a long while till we can get back there. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians are in the mood for giving an inch.

The Israelis need pushed into negotiating, and held there. That takes a lot of guts for an American president with such a strong Israel lobby. It only gets harder as opportunists strike, including suicide bombers who did a lethally effective job on the peace process the last time. There's a reason this nightmare's been going on so long. I'm not holding my breath.

[fohat]

But Rabin's assassination put a sudden end to all of that. (Murdered by a conservative Israeli, not an Arab terrorist.)

The hell of it was that they let the bad guys win.

You say that countries refuse to negotiate with terrorists, but Amir was a total terrorist through and through, and the country immediately did an about-face and gave him and his cronies exactly what they wanted.

[Muirium]

Everyone negotiates with terrorists. Otherwise we'd never be at peace. Leadership is precisely the art of hypocrisy: appeasing your own crowd with meaningless nonsense while you cut deals with those who oppose you, to get anything done.

Of course, the precise definition of what you want done is where all the real trouble arises. Netanyahu wants the current situation to remain in perpetuity. So, frankly, does Hamas. Between those lunatics is where the potential for resolution exists. But everyone in the middle is so weak now.

[MECHGAMER]

I'll probably have to check eBay every day and go to every e waste recycler In my area.

[Muirium]

And check the great finds etc. thread on the forums. That's how I found mine. It's a fair old bit of work until you're lucky.

[orihalcon]

You can try asking in the Marketplace. I've tried in the past without any hits, but who knows, you could get lucky! Snoopy has one if you have 499 Euros burning a hole in your pocket: http://deskthority.net/f-o-r-s-a-l-e-f5 ... t9053.html Definitely beats the original 1999 Euro starting asking price!

I think the thing about beamsprings is that people tend to have such a hard time finding them that once they do find one, they don't want to sell or trade them since there's no telling if they will ever be able to find another one again. They do have quite a unique feel, so even if it isn't your daily driver, it's still a treat to type away on one even if not converted to USB.

I actually have the same one that Snoopy has there available for trade for a different beam spring. Reason I'm willing to do that trade is because I have another that has the same layout and I'm trying to collect one of each layout. That particular one is unique in that only the data entry beam springs have triple shot caps. It didn't come cheap, but I figure the most likely way that a keyboard collector will let go of a beam spring is to trade it for another beam spring variant that they want more. Someone once said the only way to get unobtanium is to trade other unobtainium for it.

If you are wanting a cheap one, your best bet is to look for a displaywriter. Those pop up in the $150 range on ebay and they usually don't sell immediately, possibly because of the all white color scheme? They also lack a solenoid, but you could always add one later from a 3178 or something later if you really want one.

I think the displaywriters show up more often is because they clearly say "Displaywriter System" in large print on the front, so it's easy to google to see if they are worth anything from an electronic scrapper's point of view. The rest are rather non-descript when you don't know what it is.

[MECHGAMER]

The problem isn't so much finding one, but convincing the seller to break the whole system into the individual pieces. The is an entire displaywriter and 3278 system on eBay, but no one wants to break the system apart so I can have the keyboard.

[MECHGAMER]

$2200 for an entire system is a lot...http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/2519999113 ... 7614435604

[Muirium]

More than I paid for every keyboard in my possession!

And the DisplayWriters aren't even the "good" model of beamsprings. That's the 3276 and 3278.

The DisplayWriters are much chunkier, and whenever Xwhatsit runs a batch of his beamspring controllers, the DisplayWriter specific version always struggles in number of orders compared to the regular beamspring model.

[MECHGAMER]

I did find a 3278 full system for $2400, but the seller doesn't want to break the system apart.

[vivalarevolución]

I thought this thread was about beam springs.

[Muirium]

No. Whatever gave you that idea? The title says it all. This thread is about zen and the art of fantasy maintenance.

[seebart]

Its offtopicthority thats all.

[Muirium]

Kinda hard not to be offtopic when the whole point of the thread is NO, YOU CAN'T HAVE A CHEAP BEAMSPRING. OR A FERRARI F-40. OR A VAN GOGH. ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS?