4 ms·

X-ray table? That can't be good for your balls or ovaries.

by comrade1234 1y ago

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
jackric 1y ago
Next podcast sponsor fad: lead-lined underwear. PbUndies
- breckenedge 1y ago
  Gotta call them “Weighted Undies”
- brianbreslin 1y ago
  wasn't tim ferris promoting one of these products years ago? was like a faraday cage for your nether region.
  - Arrath 1y ago
    My cousin (submarine nuke plant operator) has stories of his compatriots using lead foil to line their pants.
- The_President 1y ago
  Bundies! Mascot should be Al Bundy.
consp 1y ago
Looks like near-IR of some sort but media calls everything x-ray since it's what people know. X-Rays would go through cards anyway. But you'd get nice pictures of peoples hands though, and cataracts after a night of play. edit: now I think of it: if the cloth is thin enough you don't even need near-IR. Old fashioned IR camera's (those without any fancy filter) from the '00 showed though some relatively thin opaque synthetic material with a tiny IR source so ...
- CGMthrowaway 1y ago
  Could also be mm wave maybe? Cheap mm wave security gates and similar tech are ubiquitous now
  - swores 1y ago
    I'm pretty sure it was just marks on the back of the cards that glasses/contacts then converted into an xray-like view, not any actual technology for seeing through the cards.
- runjake 1y ago
  From the photos it looks like regular IR photos to me. Also note you don’t see the bones in the hands at the top of the photo.
  - consp 1y ago
    Yes, my conclusion as well. Especially with a bright enough IR source. The bones reference was as a bit sarcastic reference if they'd used x-rays but since nobody got seriously ill that did not happen..
nimbius 1y ago
i wonder if we're not conflating xray with terahertz radiation perhaps? the former being used by a company called corrections one that produces a horrifying whole-body X-Ray of a prisoner to detect contraband (certainly not healthy.) Terahertz radiation is used in airports with (arguable) safety and efficacy. the resolution is sufficient to read protest statements written under a passengers shirt in metallic ink. I wonder if it could read cards should they be specially crafted similarly.
Aurornis 1y ago
The table didn’t actually use X-rays. They’re using X-ray to mean it could be seen through with special cameras, perhaps IR sensitive.
- rs186 1y ago
  I looked up the term "X-ray table" but couldn't find anything relevant except very recent results about this specific news. Sounds like FBI invented this very stupid/confusing name for the story when they could have used much something much better and clearer. X-ray really has nothing to do with this.
  - exasperaited 1y ago
    [flagged]
  - dboreham 1y ago
    I remember as a kid seeing comics imported from the US that had ads for "x-ray specs". My first clue that the US advertising standards were not quite the same as other countries. Perhaps it's a similar idea to that?
mrandish 1y ago
I don't think it's literally "X-Rays". A couple years ago I saw an infrared transparent table being demonstrated as a product prototype by a distributor of magic props at a conference for professional magicians. I played with it a while because I thought it was quite remarkable and had never seen anything like it. The top surface was a half-inch thick hard black plastic which appeared completely opaque. It was perfectly convincing as it even had faux wood grain texturing on the surface. It looked for all the world like a table you'd see at IKEA or Target. I put my phone's flashlight on full brightness under it pointing up and couldn't see any light coming through, even shading the spot with my hand. The table had a bunch of IR emitters pointed up built into the supports holding the table surface but they were at least two feet away and well-obscured into the table leg design by more normal-seeming smooth plastic I associate with being IR-transparent. Of course, if you suspect the use of IR, it's quite easy to detect with your camera phone. There was a camera hidden into the middle of the table supports looking up which transmitted the image wirelessly to a monitor nearby. My own face-down playing cards were visible on the camera plain as day, so it doesn't require special cards. Interestingly, the magic distributor showing it wasn't giving out any info on who made it, what it cost or when it might be available. They just said they were "showing it to gauge interest" and might carry it at some point in the future. They're a large, long-time, reputable distributor of other people's products so I don't think they were involved in creating it. It hasn't made an appearance at subsequent conventions, so they must have decided it wouldn't be popular with magicians - which makes perfect sense. It would have been expensive and pretty technically involved for a limited-use magic prop. Good magicians have a many easier and cheaper ways to learn the identity of hidden cards :-). But the fact such a thick, textured, optically opaque surface could be IR transparent was pretty nifty. As a former magician I was surprised to read the gang was using 'reader' cards (backs marked with ink visible to special glasses). No one uses those anymore as there are so many better ways to do the same thing. Seems like this gang was just into various tech toys and kind of lazy. In reality, once you control the environment, cards and have confederates in the game - cheating to win is trivial without any tech if you know what you're doing.
jajuuka 1y ago
Nothing like a night of high profile illegal poker while getting blasted with radiation. /s

X-ray table? That can't be good for your balls or ovaries.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

jackric 1y ago

Next podcast sponsor fad: lead-lined underwear. PbUndies

breckenedge 1y ago
Gotta call them “Weighted Undies”
brianbreslin 1y ago
wasn't tim ferris promoting one of these products years ago? was like a faraday cage for your nether region.
- Arrath 1y ago
  My cousin (submarine nuke plant operator) has stories of his compatriots using lead foil to line their pants.
The_President 1y ago
Bundies! Mascot should be Al Bundy.

consp 1y ago

Looks like near-IR of some sort but media calls everything x-ray since it's what people know. X-Rays would go through cards anyway. But you'd get nice pictures of peoples hands though, and cataracts after a night of play. edit: now I think of it: if the cloth is thin enough you don't even need near-IR. Old fashioned IR camera's (those without any fancy filter) from the '00 showed though some relatively thin opaque synthetic material with a tiny IR source so ...

CGMthrowaway 1y ago
Could also be mm wave maybe? Cheap mm wave security gates and similar tech are ubiquitous now
- swores 1y ago
  I'm pretty sure it was just marks on the back of the cards that glasses/contacts then converted into an xray-like view, not any actual technology for seeing through the cards.
runjake 1y ago
From the photos it looks like regular IR photos to me. Also note you don’t see the bones in the hands at the top of the photo.
- consp 1y ago
  Yes, my conclusion as well. Especially with a bright enough IR source. The bones reference was as a bit sarcastic reference if they'd used x-rays but since nobody got seriously ill that did not happen..

nimbius 1y ago

i wonder if we're not conflating xray with terahertz radiation perhaps? the former being used by a company called corrections one that produces a horrifying whole-body X-Ray of a prisoner to detect contraband (certainly not healthy.) Terahertz radiation is used in airports with (arguable) safety and efficacy. the resolution is sufficient to read protest statements written under a passengers shirt in metallic ink. I wonder if it could read cards should they be specially crafted similarly.

Aurornis 1y ago

The table didn’t actually use X-rays. They’re using X-ray to mean it could be seen through with special cameras, perhaps IR sensitive.

rs186 1y ago
I looked up the term "X-ray table" but couldn't find anything relevant except very recent results about this specific news. Sounds like FBI invented this very stupid/confusing name for the story when they could have used much something much better and clearer. X-ray really has nothing to do with this.
- exasperaited 1y ago
  [flagged]
- dboreham 1y ago
  I remember as a kid seeing comics imported from the US that had ads for "x-ray specs". My first clue that the US advertising standards were not quite the same as other countries. Perhaps it's a similar idea to that?

mrandish 1y ago

I don't think it's literally "X-Rays". A couple years ago I saw an infrared transparent table being demonstrated as a product prototype by a distributor of magic props at a conference for professional magicians. I played with it a while because I thought it was quite remarkable and had never seen anything like it. The top surface was a half-inch thick hard black plastic which appeared completely opaque. It was perfectly convincing as it even had faux wood grain texturing on the surface. It looked for all the world like a table you'd see at IKEA or Target. I put my phone's flashlight on full brightness under it pointing up and couldn't see any light coming through, even shading the spot with my hand. The table had a bunch of IR emitters pointed up built into the supports holding the table surface but they were at least two feet away and well-obscured into the table leg design by more normal-seeming smooth plastic I associate with being IR-transparent. Of course, if you suspect the use of IR, it's quite easy to detect with your camera phone. There was a camera hidden into the middle of the table supports looking up which transmitted the image wirelessly to a monitor nearby. My own face-down playing cards were visible on the camera plain as day, so it doesn't require special cards. Interestingly, the magic distributor showing it wasn't giving out any info on who made it, what it cost or when it might be available. They just said they were "showing it to gauge interest" and might carry it at some point in the future. They're a large, long-time, reputable distributor of other people's products so I don't think they were involved in creating it. It hasn't made an appearance at subsequent conventions, so they must have decided it wouldn't be popular with magicians - which makes perfect sense. It would have been expensive and pretty technically involved for a limited-use magic prop. Good magicians have a many easier and cheaper ways to learn the identity of hidden cards :-). But the fact such a thick, textured, optically opaque surface could be IR transparent was pretty nifty. As a former magician I was surprised to read the gang was using 'reader' cards (backs marked with ink visible to special glasses). No one uses those anymore as there are so many better ways to do the same thing. Seems like this gang was just into various tech toys and kind of lazy. In reality, once you control the environment, cards and have confederates in the game - cheating to win is trivial without any tech if you know what you're doing.

jajuuka 1y ago

Nothing like a night of high profile illegal poker while getting blasted with radiation. /s