#wireless wizard

[handeaux]

A ‘Wireless Wizard’ Showed Cincinnati Driverless Cars; He Really Wanted A Death Ray

It was Monday, 23 January 1928 on Court Street in Cincinnati. Three Willis automobiles rumbled around the Courthouse Square, flashing their lights, honking their horns, starting and stopping, shutting off and restarting their engines, turning this way and that. Not one of the three cars had a human in the driver’s seat. All were controlled by a wooden crate mounted on the running board, receiving radio signals from a “Wireless Wizard” manipulating a small radio transmitter. According to the Cincinnati Post:

“The wizard would fling a radio spark from his toylike transmitter. There would be a responsive click in the wireless apparatus on the auto. The wheels would move in any direction.”

The Wireless Wizard was a young man named Maurice J. Francill from Toledo, Ohio. Francill arrived in Cincinnati under the auspices of the Post to demonstrate the power of radio to transform modern life. Francill spent a week in town, not only driving automobiles in circles, but sending a conductorless streetcar eight blocks up Sycamore Street. Each evening, he amazed crowds at the local Wurlitzer shop on Fourth Street:

“In addition to playing all manner of automatic music instruments by remote control, he will make a radio broadcast phonograph record and play it back to his audience in the flash of a moment. He also will offer light and sound wave experiments on the music store program.”

While wowing the crowds by demonstrating his radio-control box, Francill opined about the future of American life, once radio had saturated the nation’s infrastructure.

“The wizard, Francill, says that someday every woman will carry a wireless dual-phone in her handbag – that she not only can talk over it with the maid at home, but that she can see through it exactly what is taking place there.”

Francill predicted that every household appliance will one day be operated by radio, with vacuum sweepers operated at the touch of a button and basement laundry machines controlled from the lady’s boudoir. (Francill was less than forthcoming about how the dirty clothes would find their way to the laundry and how the clean clothes would return to the closet, but who is quibbling?)

In Cincinnati, Francill was a decided sensation, Over the course of his six-day visit to the Queen City, he presented 18 driverless automobile exhibitions, a sold-out demonstration of radio-controlled appliances at Keith’s Theater and inspirational visits to local high schools.

On top of whatever the Post paid him for this week-long residency, Francill earned some financial icing by endorsing local products. The Veazey-Miller Willis dealership on Gilbert Avenue provided the Willis automobiles for his experiments, with full tanks of Caldwell & Taylor’s “Original Benzol Gas,” lubricated with Pennzoil products and relying on Prest-O-Lite batteries. The Electric Shop contributed appliances for use on stage, and Wurlitzer touted Francill’s approval of the company’s home entertainment consoles.

Who was this “Wireless Wizard” and where did he come from? Although identified as an engineer, none of the newspapers suggested he had actually studied engineering anywhere. Records for anyone named Maurice J. Francill are sparse and sometimes contradictory.

That’s because Maurice J. Francill was the stage name of a man named Francis Cowgill, born in Marion, Ohio around 1896. Cowgill worked for a time in the factories around his hometown. The 1920 census records him as a foreman and inspector at an automobile factory. In 1918 the Marion Star announced that Francis Cowgill was “putting Marion on the map” by designing weaponry for the United States Navy. In particular, the newspaper reported that Cowgill had developed contact mines for the Navy that were “in actual use,” and was now pitching two types of aerial bombs to the U.S. War Department.

After the war, Cowgill launched a career in show business as a one-man vaudeville act juggling and wire-walking. He began adding magic tricks to his repertoire and started tinkering with remote control devices to enliven his show. That’s when he created the “Francill” name by chopping off the end of his first name and the beginning of his surname and splicing them together. Pretty soon the radio component of his act became the centerpiece and he was off on a decade of remote-control exhibitions – milking cows, baking bread, operating a laundry and running entire factories in addition to running driverless autos through their paces.

As World War II loomed, Maurice/Francis went back to his earlier career in creating armaments and created his electronic triumph – a Death Ray. According to the Cincinnati Post [2 March 1940], Francill offered his homicidal device to Ohio Governor John W. Bricker as a quicker, more humane, method of execution than the electric chair, but state law mandated the chair in Ohio. Francill claimed that his Death Ray had killed rats in preliminary tests.

Twenty-two years later, Cowgill was still trying to sell his Death Ray and told the Columbus Dispatch [29 April 1962] that, if he didn’t build one, somebody else would, Cowgill claimed “four or five others in this country” were working on one.

“It’s quite possible that the ray could operate off of a couple of flash-light batteries.”

Cowgill told Dispatch reporter Dan Clancy that the Death Ray he envisioned could do much more than simply kill people. It could cut down the Golden Gate Bridge, for example.

“You could just slice it off at each end and take another cut up the middle for good measure.”

Cowgill told Clancy that his Death Ray worked by disrupting the ability of hemoglobin to carry oxygen. Rats struck by the Death Ray fell paralyzed and then died. Cowgill claimed he never killed any people with his Death Ray, but confessed he’d thought of doing so.

The man born Francis Cowgill died in 1974 and is buried as Maurice J. Francill in Marion Cemetery. He appeared in court to fight a Marion traffic ticket as Francill in 1953, suggesting he had legally changed his name. However, the Ohio Bar Association sued Francis Cowgill in 1970 under his birth name for practicing law – advising inventors about patent regulations – without a license, so maybe he hadn’t.

Adding to the mystery is the outcome of his research on a Death Ray? Do plans exist? Was a prototype constructed? Were any more rats sacrificed? The answers are out there somewhere.

[mars-doodles]

silly

[wizardingwirelessnetwork]

Hello everyone! Are you also tired of muggle pop culture constantly being portrayed in HP fanfics? Do you want to explore the possibilities of the WW Pop Culture?

Well welcome to the WWN Wizarding Pop Culture Fest!

This is a Creative Work fest which means you have free will on what to do! It just has to be centered around different aspects of the Wizarding Pop Culture!

Want to write fanfiction of characters buying merch/music records or going to a concert? You can!

Want to write a Prophet article about one of the bands? Sure thing!

Want to write a Wizarding song? What an idea!

Fanart? Of course!

Creating band posters? Yeah!

Or even composing an actual musical piece!

As of the current moment this fest is only staring, I’m the only mod here and this is my first time doing something like this.

We will begin the fest by posting different facts known about the WW Pop Culture for you to get a hold of how it works, to later expand on it! Creative World building is all we’re about here!

The fest will be hosted both on Tumblr and AO3 so you can choose where would you prefer to post. Follow this blog for updates

This post will be edited later on when I figure out more things about modding a fest.

[majorarcana-rpg]

🎶 The Howler's Havoc ~

The twisted tales of the bloody misfits club...

The Howler's Havoc es el grupo musical mágico más exitoso del momento, nacidos con el objetivo de llevar su música a cientos de magos y brujas y esparcir su mensaje pro-semis a cada rincón de UK y el mundo. Durante los últimos dos y medio de su creación han hecho alzar la voz de aquellos que no son escuchados. La banda fue creada por Emrys y sus primeros dos integrantes fueron Zachary y Tyler. Zuri se unió a ellos recientemente como segunda vocalista y Jackson, su manager, fue el encargado de organizar todo su tour mundial y su presencia en el próximo Mundial de Quidditch. Actualmente la banda acaba de volver del tour y se dedica a dar shows constantemente en diferentes partes del Reino Unido además de generar eventos de activismo pacífico a favor de las semicriaturas, el más reciente siendo en el Atrio del Ministerio de Magia donde han protestado junto a docenas de fanáticos. Utilizan su influencia y fama para alzar las voces de quienes el Ministerio no esta dispuesto a escuchar involucrándose estrechamente con la sociedad y sus problemas.

▸ Voz principal y bajo -> Emrys ▸ Guitarra -> Zach ▸ Batería -> Tyler ▸ Piano y segunda voz -> Zuri ▸ Manager -> Jackson

@homenumrevelio-rpg

[greaseonmymouth]

do new mobile phones simply not come with chargers anymore or what

[aesthetics-for-harry-potter]

Moodboard of Slytherin lovers working at the Wizarding Wireless Network.

Face-claims: Justice Smith and Miles Robbins.

Requested by: anon.

[ryanmoody]

NYXI Wizard Wireless Joy-pad - https://nyxigame.com/product/nyxi-wizard-wireless-joy-pad/

I really don't need another controller......BUT

[loveusogxxd]

tag dump : //

[netgearextendersetup0]

Netgear wireless extender login

The Netgear wireless extender login is a crucial step in enhancing and optimizing your home or office network. Designed to boost the existing Wi-Fi signal range, Netgear extenders require a seamless setup process, and the login interface serves as the gateway to configuration. To initiate this process, connect your extender to a power source and access its default network using a device like a computer or smartphone. Once connected, open a web browser and enter the default login web address or the extender's IP address. This prompts the Netgear extender login page, where users input their credentials, typically a username and password. After successful authentication, users gain access to the extender's settings, enabling them to customize network parameters, update firmware, and optimize performance. A user-friendly interface ensures a smooth Netgear wireless extender login experience, empowering individuals to tailor their network extension according to specific needs and preferences.

[cow-shampoo]

The Beast ate one of the Wizard's wands (again) and I quietly made a joke to Spark about how I know what I'm getting the Wizard for Christmas because the Wizard has anger issues and wouldn't like that joke. But the Spark repeated the joke out loud. So now we have an angrier Wizard.

[setuprepeaternet]

Do you need help setting up a Dlink 1860 extender? You may find setup instructions for the D-Link DAP-1860 on this blog. Consider installing a d-link DAP-1860 extender to enhance the range of your Wi-Fi signals. Since a router can’t reach every corner of the room, you may install a D-Link Dap 1860 extender to broaden the wireless coverage. For the most demanding tasks, such as 4K streaming, gaming, and browsing, it provides the best performance. Setting up a D’link extension is a quick and easy operation.

[wizardingwirelessnetwork]

• This is a gen, minor friendly fest, all prompts and works must be SFW

• This fest is meant to focus and expand on the Wizarding World pop culture, meaning we are trying to be canon compliant. Largely canon-divergent works and AU’s are not allowed

• Minimum word count for fanfiction is 1000 words, no maximum. Minimum word count for newspaper article is 600 words with maximum 3000

• Minimum status of an art submission: must have a finished lineart and at least simple colouring. Anything below, like a sketch, will be counted as unfinished and not included in the fest.

• There will be no prompt claiming, meaning that one prompt can have multiple works done.

• You can pick one prompt at a time. If your submission is finished and the fest is still open you can pick another one

• The fest is not anonymous. You are free to discuss it, post about your work and talk about your submissions with others. However when doing so please use the tag #wizarding wireless network fest

• Each creative work submitted must be exclusive to this fest.

• No AI submission allowed.

• Self-prompting is allowed! However it must abide by the festival rules.

• Written works must be beta-read. We want for everyone to enjoy this fest, so make sure your work is polished and ready for a read.

• You must sign up to participate. A sign up form will be posted November 1st.

• If you will need to drop out of the fest for any reason, please inform us before the posing deadline ends

Let’s get magical!

[locations-hq]

Wizarding Wireless Network is a popular generalist wizarding wireless station whose HQ is located in Carkitt Market in the wizarding quarter of London. Located in a 1920s art deco theatre, the building has recording booths which allow the talent to record and broadcast all over the UK. There is also a stage located in the building that people can buy tickets for at the box office to see recordings go out live of big performences from the likes of Celestia Warbecks or talk shows with Tilden Toots or Glenda Chittock.

EXPLORE THE LOCATION FURTHER...

[cyberianlife]

Nyxi releases drift-less GameCube controller for Switch

[drarryspecificrecsdaily]

2024.07.13

Complete fics posted on AO3 this day

1. Echoes of the Past by atsaturnday [M, 100k]

►In a post-war wizarding world, Harry Potter, now a struggling Auror, is thrust into a new assignment investigating peculiar incidents linked to the enigmatic Whispering Vault. Reluctantly joining forces with Draco Malfoy, a respected potions master with knowledge of dark magic and arcane artifacts, Harry delves into a world of hidden truths and perilous mysteries. As they unravel the mysteries, their connection grows stronger, filled with stolen glances, lingering touches, and unspoken emotions. It becomes evident to those around them, and even to themselves, that what started as a reluctant partnership has transformed into a love that defies old prejudices and expectations.

2. In The End by sadbibarnes [T, 1k]

►A silly truth-or-dare pact that leads to the inevitable

3. Memories Left Behind by Adora_Slytherin [T, 10k]

►Draco Malfoy dies at the Battle of Hogwarts. Then Harry recieves a letter and two vials of memories left behind by Draco. What follows changes Harry's life forever.

---

Fest/Exchange

1. Us, infinite (unfortunately) by Anonymous [E, 77k]

►It’s very fitting for how Harry’s life has gone thus far that he gets trapped in a time loop without rhyme, reason, or warning. To make matters infinitely worse, the one other person stuck on the same hellish chronological ride is Draco Malfoy, git extraordinaire. ★ HD Wireless 2024 | @hd-wireless