Gizmodo: morse code

Pittsburgh Skyscraper's Famous Morse Code Signal Actually Spells "Pitetsbkrrh"

Dan Nosowitz — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:30:00 EDT

Pittsburgh, PA's 33-story Grant Building famously spells out the name of the city in Morse Code so brightly it can be seen for over 100 miles. Except it doesn't actually spell Pittsburgh, but "Pitetsbkrrh." Eep.

A former HAM radio enthusiast and Pittsburgh local, Tom Stapleton, decoded the message and posted the gaffe on YouTube, and it clearly shows the tower's misspelling. He said he noticed the problem when he casually looked up and saw the signal broadcasting the letter K, which he remembered well as it's the first letter of his sister's name. Too bad "Pittsburgh" doesn't contain the letter K. Representatives of the tower's owners could not say how long the tower had been advertising Pitetsbkrrh. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Morse-It iPhone App Makes Samuel Morse Proud On His Birthday

John Mahoney — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:40:00 EDT

Even though Samuel Morse is floating around on some ethereal atmospheric zaps right now, he is not too blissed out to smile at Morse-It, which commemorates his 218th birthday today with amazing real-time Morse translation.

Yes, Morse-It can do just about everything possible with Morse code—type in some text, and it will be translated into Morse in beep form as well as full-screen flashes, should you find yourself trapped at sea signaling a nearby frigate to send more caviar.

Also, amazingly, it can listen to Morse beeps (fast ones, too—the demo here is 40 words per minute) and translate them into text in real time. Very cool stuff—Happy b-day Sammy M. It's a buck. [Morse-It, iTunes]

Sector Compass Torch Watch For Transmitting Messages in Morse Code

Sean Fallon — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:45:00 EST

With all of the communication technology we have at our disposal today, good old fashioned Morse code is all but forgotten. However, I can see it making a comeback in a big way if these "Sector Compass Torch" watches take off. A small flashlight is embedded into the side of the watch and can be used to deliver messages along with the complete chart of international Morse code that is printed on the face. Unfortunately, the watch is a Japan-only release (and it is expensive at $620 to boot), so I'm afraid we will have to continue to transmit our •—•• — — — •—••'s via text messages for now. [Eikowatch via Crunchgear]

Talking Popcorn Machine Translates Pops Into Words

Travis Hudson — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:00:29 EST

"Pop this, biznatch." is what I have always wanted my popcorn to say to me. This popcorn maker has a microphone inside the cabinet. The microphone will record the sounds from the popping corn and then translates the pops into words via morse code. Then a computer-program will read the words to you. The designer actually devised a way to determine whether a pop is a long or short morse code with a timing system. Pretty ingenious, really. Now, figure out a way to get the popcorn to pop obscenities and we will be all set. –Travis Hudson

Do you speak popcornese? [WMMNA]