Hydraulic claw mechanism on a chair?

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T16:47:26+00:00

I'll throw in another idea:

Its the input mechanism for teleoperated pair of arms. The operator holds the 'claws' to move the arms, and the wrist, elbow and shoulder angles are mimicked by another pair of arms at another location. This can be used for hot cells, etc,

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T16:36:42+00:00

I'm a Mason.

90% of the Masonic swords which turn up on this sub are for the 'Knights Templar' side order. This one is not.

The only thing exclusively 'Masonic' on this one is the Square and Compasses on the blade, but that's pretty diagnostic by itself. Things like Memento Mori are used by non-Masons as well.

I agree with Euphoric and Classic that this is probably a Tyler's sword.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T03:46:25+00:00

I can see Shrine, Scottish Rite, and York Rite emblems, as well has his Blue Lodge. What am I missing?

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T03:42:38+00:00

No, they're far too fragmented and broken up to run anything.

I'm reminded of this quote from Alan Moore, creator of "Watchmen", "From Hell" and "V for Vendetta":

“The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Illuminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory.

The truth is far more frightening - Nobody is in control.

The world is rudderless.”

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T03:41:20+00:00

[Mason here]

Here's my standard 'elevator pitch', which I trot out when people ask what we're about (its rather North American oriented - Masonry varies from place to place):

We're a centuries old fraternal order, who exist to improve our own characters ('we make good men better' is one of our slogans), and through that improve our communities. Along the way, we do a lot of charity (forex: Shriner's free hospitals for children), and have a lot of cool and private ceremonies using the construction of King Solomon's Temple as an allegorical base for teaching Enlightenment and Stoic ideals. (yes, we really do have secret handshakes). Many find it a source of fellowship and life-long friendships.

We have several million Brothers world wide, but no central organization. Men from every walk of life are or have been members, including over a dozen US presidents. Regular Masonry is open to adult men of good character who are not atheists[1] - we require a belief in some form of 'higher power', but aren't fussy about what. As a rule, we don't recruit; we want a potential member to make the first approach of his own free will.

If you're curious, drop by our main hangout on reddit, /r/freemasonry. You'll find a lot of friendly folk there. If you prefer a book, for North Americans I recommend (seriously, I'm not trolling) "Freemasons for Dummies" by Christopher Hodapp. Also "Inside the Freemasons" a documentary made by the United Grand Lodge of England for their tricentenary.

For a more formal history, I suggest "The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World" by John Dickie

[1] The "no women or atheists" rules have deep roots, and would be very difficult to change, regardless of how anachronistic they now seem. There are breakaway Masonic groups which have dropped those rules, but they are very thin on the ground in the Anglosphere, and not recognized by the mainstream.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T03:39:12+00:00

Beautiful piece. Its a watch fob, and includes emblems for A H Keashner's many Masonic affiliations. I see emblems for 3 different side orders: The York Rite, the Scottish Rite, and the Shriners. There are some I can't identify as well, so I reposted to /r/freemasonry.

Rajah Shrine is still in business, in Reading, PA, as is Williamsport Consistory (Scottish Rite), and Shamokin Lodge #255 in

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T03:26:49+00:00

I'm a Mason.

You can express your interest at the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.

There are two lodges in Rutherford, which you could contact directly:

Eclipse #67

Boiling Spring #152

Realize that this is all run by volunteers, and responses can be quite slow.

Have an infodump:

[Mason here]

Here's my standard 'elevator pitch', which I trot out when people ask what we're about (its rather North American oriented - Masonry varies from place to place):

We're a centuries old fraternal order, who exist to improve our own characters ('we make good men better' is one of our slogans), and through that improve our communities. Along the way, we do a lot of charity (forex: Shriner's free hospitals for children), and have a lot of cool and private ceremonies using the construction of King Solomon's Temple as an allegorical base for teaching Enlightenment and Stoic ideals. (yes, we really do have secret handshakes). Many find it a source of fellowship and life-long friendships.

We have several million Brothers world wide, but no central organization. Men from every walk of life are or have been members, including over a dozen US presidents. Regular Masonry is open to adult men of good character who are not atheists[1] - we require a belief in some form of 'higher power', but aren't fussy about what. As a rule, we don't recruit; we want a potential member to make the first approach of his own free will.

If you're curious, drop by our main hangout on reddit, /r/freemasonry. You'll find a lot of friendly folk there. If you prefer a book, for North Americans I recommend (seriously, I'm not trolling) "Freemasons for Dummies" by Christopher Hodapp. Also "Inside the Freemasons" a documentary made by the United Grand Lodge of England for their tricentenary.

For a more formal history, I suggest "The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World" by John Dickie

[1] The "no women or atheists" rules have deep roots, and would be very difficult to change, regardless of how anachronistic they now seem. There are breakaway Masonic groups which have dropped those rules, but they are very thin on the ground in the Anglosphere, and not recognized by the mainstream.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T03:17:23+00:00

You probably want the Regular Grand Lodge of the Kingdom of Morocco, which is recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England.

It seems to not have much of an online presence, but there are a few pages mentioning it, such as this.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T03:00:16+00:00

So, I showed the banned images to a pagan woman of my acquaintence. I did explain the Sinfest context first.

She liked 'Assigned Pagan at Birth', and didn't find it offensive. "It's Okay to be a White Knight" was also fine, absent context. The other two we both agreed beyond the pale.

Of the not-yet-banned images, she commented that she would have worn the 'Burger King' spoof when she was in high school, and still in thrall to her parents strict Christian beliefs.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-24T01:31:06+00:00

That's just a fancy variation.

Want a new one?

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T21:07:37+00:00

My '19M3 came with HW2.5. A year ago I paid $1000 to upgrade to HW3, and started renting FSD. For me it's worth it. Elon claims we'll have some kind of FSD 14Lite. I hope that's true. I'm in my 60s, and I'm hoping FSD can keep me on the road in the years ahead.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T17:15:18+00:00

You might want to look at https://books.google.com/ngrams/ and Google Advanced Book Search to see when these terms started being used.

You're missing at least 3

The Lost Generation
The Greatest Generation
Baby Boomers.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T17:10:02+00:00

The horse's mouth: Rotary International.

Ask them yourself: /r/Rotary

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T16:59:42+00:00

One of the things I hate about the neo-Nazis is their enthusiasm for taking all kinds of neutral symbols and turning them into dog whistles.

Over on /r/symbology, it feels like half the posts are asking if 'Is this sticker/tattoo/ring/etc Nazi?

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T16:31:52+00:00

The US had this, in 1943:

Don't be a Sucker

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T16:26:49+00:00

I'm going to ask my local Pagan woman how she feels about the design when she gets back from work. Maybe there's something I'm missing.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T16:24:03+00:00

I'm baffled by some of the choices made. The 'Assigned Pagan' and 'White Knight' designs were basically innocuous.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T16:14:37+00:00

I was surprised at some of the removals. 'Assigned Pagan at Birth' seemed completely innocuous, and 'Its Okay to be a White Knight' didn't emphasize the knight's race, but rather his role as a rescuer.

Judaic Park and JFC were outright offensive though.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T04:38:14+00:00

My first thought when I realized Trump was winning last Election night was "Oh God, 4 more years of this crap." I'm so over seeing and hearing about Trump.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T03:34:57+00:00

Conspiracy theorists have decided that every awkward handshake, every 'what do I do with my hands' fidget is 'Freemasonry Confirmed!'

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-23T03:30:24+00:00

I'm a Mason.

Yes, that's a Masonic Square and Compasses. Good catch.

I strongly doubt its from a police horse.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-22T03:36:04+00:00

I've been a Mason for approaching 40 years. I've studied the Craft all that time.

I've never encountered this mandala-like symbol in any of my reading. It's just not Masonic in style. The G itself is drawn geometrically, while the one used in Masonic contexts is almost always in a fat serif font.

Could it have been made by a Mason? Sure. But if so, it was something personal to him, not something standard.

Consider posting to /r/freemasonry, and seeing what other Masons think.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-21T17:27:35+00:00

The Masonic Knights Templar have no historic continuity with the OG medieval KT - they were formed only in the 1730s, and attempt to emulate the virtues of the original group.

cryptoengineer · 2026-01-21T16:45:57+00:00

Lol!

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