r/interestingasfuck
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u/theRealNihilist911
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13d ago
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How they calibrate shuttlecocks in the factory.
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u/Scoobydoomed 13d ago
Thing is spinning so fast how can she even tell which feathers to swap?
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u/BazilBroketail 13d ago
The offending feathers will have a tip on the inside ring or outside ring, you move them according to that.
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u/killbills 13d ago
Where does this ring come from? Doesn't look like the cock is hitting the walls or anything to mark them.
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u/Sbaker777 12d ago •
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The ring the feathers themselves make. Centrifugal force will move the offending feathers to the wrong position in which the shuttlecock no longer makes a perfect ring.
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u/the_honeyman 12d ago
Fucking finally got an actual answer.
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u/Rs90 12d ago
What, you don't like your answers to be 90% shitty jokes, 6% lingo gibberish, and 4% "wtf are you talkin about?"?
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u/bookconnoisseur 13d ago •
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Doesn't look like the cock is hitting the walls
Everything reminds me of her.
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u/pm_me_ur_demotape 13d ago •
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This is why I keep coming to reddit
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u/April1987 13d ago
We all keep cumming to reddit on this blessed day
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u/jaxonya 13d ago •
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This song got me hyped the fuck up to play some badminton. Bouta rail out a line of some cololumbian bambam then head down to the senior center and destroy some geriatrics
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u/YiddishMcSquidish 12d ago
You joke but my mom played competitive badminton in college. She has stories about her coach which reminded me a cocaine fueled stock salesman, not entirely unlike the wolf of wall street.
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u/jaxonya 12d ago
Who said I was joking? I make a fortune selling black market viagra and I'm singlehandedly responsible for the spike in STIs among senior citizens in my area.
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u/Nerrickk 13d ago
Centrifugal force
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u/PratikPingale 13d ago
Nope, this is an art passed down from generation to generation.
The Cock Calibrator
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u/pronouncedayayron 13d ago
A cock master. After work on Friday she'll be a shit faced cock master.
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u/kcg5 13d ago
I feel like this is one of those things you do when your boss is looking whereas a lot of the time…..she just lets them go and on to that next without spending all that time on one
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u/lorenzomofo 13d ago
Unless if she’s paid on the number of errors she can find.
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u/Karcinogene 13d ago
Then she's incentivized to over-report errors and claim she fixed them.
Instead, have the workers inspect each other's work, without knowing who made it, and pay them extra if they find defects, reducing the defect-maker's pay. You get good inspection, without having to pay extra.
Make sure to stoke distrust amongst your workforce to avoid collusion!
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u/Afraid-Course-3207 12d ago
Oh oh let me write down before I forget “ 50272 errors corrected today””
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u/royrese 12d ago
I've played badminton with real feather birdies before in college. They fly through the air as smooth as the last spin in that video. I have never seen a "calibration" happening but now that I have seen it, it makes sense how well they're made and how expensive they were. $2 each and they would last 5-20 minutes max.
If you clip one of the feathers with a racquet, it starts wobbling slightly in the air and it's immediately noticeable for an experienced player. So the quality control is probably super important if you want repeat customers.
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u/lasssilver 12d ago
These appear to be higher end cocks. Maybe tournament level. No one’s doing this for your standard backyard set you by at the store.
So, given the situation she might do them all like this. Don’t know.
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u/rafaelloaa 13d ago
I believe that they will move further out of alignment due to the centrifugal force.
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u/IPThereforeIAm 13d ago
I think it is more of a trial-and-error process of guessing.
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u/evr- 13d ago
Probably starts out like that, but do a few hundred thousand and it'll become a skill.
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u/lemonjelllo 13d ago
My guess is, once she has the cock in her hand, she can use her intuition about what to do next.
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u/Karcinogene 13d ago
If the shuttle is unbalanced, on average swapping any two feathers will improve balance. Repeat until it's good enough.
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u/Pharya 13d ago
there's no fucken way these are made in the thousands in this manner
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u/ElectromechSuper 13d ago
These must be really high quality birdies. All the ones I've seen have crappy plastic mesh instead of individual fins like that, and they all spin like shit.
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u/ENaC2 13d ago
Those are cut feathers. I’ve not played with plastic ones since school. Feathered shuttlecocks aren’t that expensive to be honest.
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u/tfeilding 13d ago
Half decent ones are about $2 each. Given they last around 30 minutes, the cost adds up.
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u/bugxbuster 13d ago
This is why I always warn kids: Badminton is a rich man’s game. Stick to something cheaper like auto racing or big game hunting.
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u/pmandryk 13d ago
Sailboat racing is pretty cheap and easy to get into. The cost of graphite and carbon nanotubes have dropped drastically. /s
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u/Refrus 13d ago
I know you're joking but if you're happy to crew, you can get into racing sailboats for free.
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u/Johns-schlong 13d ago
One of my coworkers in his 60s used to crew sailboats up and down the west coast. He told me after he got out of the coast guard he drifted around from Mexico to BC just crewing boats for some cash and a free ride for a few years in the early 80s. Honestly sounds like a good time for a single dude in his 20s.
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u/Refrus 13d ago
I'm guessing with a coast guard background, he'd be offered a position pretty easily.
A few of the guys I used to sail with continued and have made some money out of it.
Even things like boat delivery is easy money.
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u/Johns-schlong 13d ago
From what I remember he said it was basically all pickup work. He'd see a posting at a marina or get word from a friend someone was hiring for a delivery or a trip. It didn't sound like the money was great, but life was cheaper then so he could sail to Mexico, live in some beach side town for a bit, find another job going north etc. IIRC he stopped when he met his future wife and settled down.
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u/bugxbuster 13d ago
As a single dude in his mid 30s that does sound awesome. It’s amazing the kinds of lives some people lead, really.
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u/hiramthemason 13d ago
I had the chance in my single 20s to make a ton of money being a crew member at the south pole for 6 months. I passed and regret it. Live my dream.
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u/CaptainBenza 13d ago
Maybe get into magic the gathering, 40k or crack cocaine instead
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u/Pizzahdawg 13d ago
I mean playing with plastic shuttles is perfectly fine too. Sure feathered shuttles are used in the higher competitions, doesn't mean you can't get enjoyable badminton games out of plastic ones.
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u/NooAccountWhoDis 13d ago
Is that phrase really used in the badminton community?
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u/bugxbuster 13d ago
all the time
There’s a reason why they say wait until your yacht is paid off before dipping your toes into the badminton community. It adds up fast!
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u/FrenchBangerer 13d ago
Just buy a boat.
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u/bugxbuster 13d ago
BOAT is actually an acronym. It stands for Break Out Another Thousand. This is because boating costs exactly 1000 dollars per voyage no matter how long or short. The reason for this is because of tides. Tides go in, tides go out, can’t explain that!
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u/whats_his_face 13d ago
That doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know enough about boats to dispute it.
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u/matrixislife 13d ago
Often they won't even last that long, especially when moving up the competition ladder.
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u/subject_deleted 13d ago
You're supposed to hit the other side. Not the feather side. 😋
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u/Pitiful_Ask3827 13d ago
Yeah see this is one of those sports where I could never get into it because you have to change your equipment every 20 minutes and stop playing the game
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u/steveinluton 13d ago
Wait til you hear about drag racing
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u/ColdComfortFam 13d ago
Not in Florida buddy
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u/gard3nwitch 12d ago
I don't know how common this is, but DC has an annual "drag race" that's, yeah, a fun run in drag.
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u/oeCake 13d ago
Having a hard time understanding how crossdressing while racing would be expensive
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u/RubertVonRubens 13d ago
The burned out heels
The wind worn chiffon
Lashes ripped off and littering the roadside, boas tangled and torn.
This is not an endeavor to be taken lightly.
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u/Shokoyo 12d ago
Feathered shuttlecocks aren’t that expensive to be honest.
Which emphasizes how little they earn at those factories
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u/Puzzleheaded-Grab736 13d ago
I have NEVER seen one made with actual duck feathers or whatever feathers they are. And each is made and painted by hand, so yeah I would definitely say this is some high end quality shit. I'm guessing for a competition of some sort...
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u/RJFerret 13d ago
All the clubs I've played in (USA) have used feathered (goose FYI).
A cardboard tube comes with a dozen, and with three nets setup with constant play, players go through a tube an hour roughly. They come in different "weights" for different elevation/atmosphere conditions, but this has to be for an Olympic tournament situation or the like, not regular commercial feathered shuttles.
(Note they should be steamed for greater durability.)
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u/george-cartwright 13d ago
They come in different "weights" for different elevation/atmosphere conditions
that's really cool, ngl. I never would have guessed that was a thing!
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u/obi21 13d ago
Are they also used for training or is there a more durable version used there and the feather ones only in competition?
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u/RJFerret 12d ago
Just used across the board, for recreational casual play as well as those training and tournaments.
(As those who have played outdoor badminton with nylon, those readily break and get torn up too.)
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u/RedAlderCouchBench 12d ago
You use them all the time, usually when you’re training though you would use some more fucked up ones unless you could afford to only use new ones
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u/gard3nwitch 12d ago
Huh. When I was in school (also USA) we only used plastic ones. But then, this was public school and they probably just happy we were moving around and not causing trouble.
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u/RJFerret 12d ago
Also school different than clubs.
Adults want proper kit.
Schools can't afford it.(Only had a single brief week of badminton in my years of school.)
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u/DaanOnlineGaming 13d ago
At my school we have cheap feathered ones but they're not nearly as stable as these.
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u/thrussie 13d ago edited 13d ago
Wait till you hear how shuttlecocks are made from only geese’s left wing’s feathers, so their aerodynamic is smooth
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13d ago edited 1d ago
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u/Mental-Mushroom 13d ago
In Rand Mcnally, shuttlecocks are made from people
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u/landocommando18 13d ago
It was an emergency call from the International Shuttlecock Commission in Springfield!
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u/dieinafirenazi 13d ago
According to Randy McNally those are lovely cocks and he encourages you to keep showing it.
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u/oeCake 13d ago
Amazingly if you hit a birdie over the equator, it starts rotating the other direction
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u/IDoThingsOnWhims 13d ago
If you flush a shuttlecock down the toilet in Australia it will generate a counterclockwise hurricane
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u/RJFerret 13d ago
I was told that too but apparently it's a myth, both wing's feathers may be used, alternated, but the angle they are put in the shuttle provides consistent spin in flight.
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u/SSTuberosum 13d ago
When a shuttlecock or “birdie” is finished, they will test it by shooting it from a machine indoor. Then depend on how far it flies and how much it spins, a shuttlecock will be graded into speed and weight categories, and get boxed according to that grade.
The ones that don't meet the standard will be rejected into a bin and get recalibrated like you see in the video.
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13d ago edited 10d ago
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u/SSTuberosum 13d ago
That depends. Manufacturors are willing to hire people to fix the defected ones because they probably did the math and it's worth it to fix them. As you saw in the video. Beside if a shuttlecock is defected it'll spin or wobble too much and is pretty much broken.
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u/rafter613 12d ago
watches video where person fixes defective shuttlecock
"No, I don't think they do that"
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u/JePPeLit 12d ago
I would assume that this market is different though, since could just get plastic ones instead if you want it cheap
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u/Kupoo_ 13d ago
Unlike trueing wheel where you can slow and stop at the loose spokes, how can you see which blade to adjust in that speed?
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u/walter-wallcarpeting 13d ago
Is this a particular type of shuttlecock used in competitions? Have used feathers in games before and we'd go through 2 or 3 shuttlecocks in a couple of games, so I can't see how this process would keep up with demand. Crazy
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u/woolcoat 13d ago
It looks like it's made in China. She did this in about 30 seconds. Let's say she does 1 every 45 seconds and is paid $4 an hour (min wage in Beijing, highest in the country), that's like an extra 5 cents to the cost of the shuttle cock. These things sell for about $1.25 each on Amazon, so it's doable.
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u/Nincomsoup 13d ago
This looks like such a slow and painstaking process, for something fairly inexpensive
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u/Fragrant-Use-240 13d ago
I doubt these are fairly inexpensive.
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u/ShadowCaster0476 13d ago
These look like official competition grade cocks, not your typical gym class ones.
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u/ChefArtorias 13d ago
Hey, I've got one of those!
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u/snidemarque 13d ago
It’s the gym class grade one isn’t it?
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u/hypertensive_hotdog 13d ago
It's all about how you use the cock, not necessarily its quality
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u/bukkake_brigade 13d ago
So quantity is better than quality when it comes to cock, got it.
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u/fozzyboy 13d ago
Yeah, but a high-quality cock has a higher floor and ceiling of production.
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u/SensualEnema 13d ago
The cocks you get in gym class are def much lower quality than this
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u/TDETLES 13d ago
It's a long hard process to learn how to calibrate a competition grade cock.
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u/og_sandiego 13d ago
This is true. We'd use these in CIF tournaments and competitions between schools
Source - Played for my HS
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u/pochitoman 13d ago
So you saying you are a competitive level cock smasher.
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u/og_sandiego 13d ago
have received much grief over the years for that sport (i've surfed since middle school too, lol) - but that's some next level ribbing, no doubt!
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u/annotipoxx 13d ago
We only used vinyl cocks. IE area CIF player. Only time we used feather was when going to badminton clubs outside of school, like the one in Pomona. It was too expensive since they only last a game or so before breaking/losing feathers.
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u/og_sandiego 13d ago
San Diego too?
I'm likely a bit older, maybe they changed to vinyl
But always took time to straighten/smooth out the feathers when about to serve. Was almost therapeutic
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u/princessvaginaalpha 13d ago •
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i play badminton and the shuttlecocks are the most expensive part of each game session, not the court fees. We go through dozens of the cocks each night just between the 4 of us guys
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u/Rottendog 13d ago
We go through dozens of the cocks each night just between the 4 of us guys
I can't tell whether you're talking about the game anymore.
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u/forensicpjm 13d ago
I think it depends on what proportion of the shuttles produced wobble when tested. My guess is that most are tested and pass straight away, with just the odd one showing some wobble that needs to be corrected. For the higher quality shuttles used in top tournaments and higher leagues, they must fly true, they can’t afford to have even one per tube of 12 wobbling. The cost of the tournament grade shuttles is £24-£30 for a dozen (at least in the UK), so not inexpensive.
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u/ashmansol 13d ago
That is inexpensive relative to other sports gear.
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u/forensicpjm 13d ago
Yes, except in top line tournaments a shuttle may only last one rally (less than a minute). At club level you might use 4 an hour. I agree not crazy money, but enough that you’re entitled to expect the shuttles to fly true.
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u/Groezy 13d ago
yeah but cocks wear out much faster than balls
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u/Stunning_Spare 13d ago
The cheap one will make a curve trajectory in mid air, nothing is balanced.
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u/stewardass 13d ago
You never bought shuttle cocks, did you?
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u/wingsofpegasus02 13d ago
Yeah they should have "reset to factory settings" button
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u/algierythm 13d ago
Reticulating splines...
Calibrating shuttlecocks...
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u/Bullyoncube 13d ago
Simcity!
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u/iztrollkanger 13d ago
I still hear Sims gibberish in my head sometimes...
Wanis wannime nee insheer!
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u/Madson117 13d ago
Why with the music though...
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13d ago
Video: woman playing with feathers
Audio: escape from an exploding planet video game sequence
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u/maybesingleguy 13d ago •
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I honestly don't understand why anybody would browse reddit with the volume on. This works just fine as a gif, as do most things that I see.
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u/email_NOT_emails 13d ago
I listen to every post at full volume. I can't wait until phones emit smells like Dr. Farnsworth's Smell-O-Scope.
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u/ButtMilkyCereal 13d ago
Pedantic complaint - the smell-o-scope doesn't emit smells, it detects them at a distance. Luckily we have smell-o-vision, which out an end to the careers of many hilarious but stinky actors like Harold Zoid.
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u/Nicole-CB 13d ago edited 13d ago
Because sometimes the sound adds to it, like they could've been explaining how they discern which feathers to swap but I wouldn't know that if it was muted.
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u/maybesingleguy 13d ago
I get that. I do unmute every now and again. I just can't imagine having it be my default choice.
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u/Nicole-CB 13d ago edited 13d ago
Understandable, but then I'd be unmuting a lot of posts to check if the sound adds anything. Rather just keep it on and mute if it's bad enough.
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u/WangHotmanFire 13d ago
Because it’s only in the last 2 years or so that reddit has been plagued with irrelevant background noises and AI text-to-speech commentaries. Those that remember the before-times know exactly where it came from, those that don’t are a symptom of the same disease
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u/Flakz933 13d ago
Yeah I just wanted to watch this video, not hear some Big Ben dubstep
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u/pinninghilo 13d ago
You really had to make me unmute and listen to that garbage, didn't you?
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u/easterbunni 13d ago
I thought this was one of those neverending videos where you are just watching 10 seconds repeated forever...
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u/JazzyFingerGuns 13d ago
All this work only for the players to swap them out after one or two exchanges where the feathers bend or broke off.
I mean... playing with well made shuttlecocks is satisfying as fuck but players tend to burn through one box like it's nothing.
They are not that cheap if you have to keep buying them over and over again.
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u/RJFerret 13d ago
Is your club/facility not steaming them? A bird should last a game or two. They are more durable with humidity treatment, too brittle when dry.
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u/LotofRamen 13d ago
The music is hilarious.
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u/AmethystRealm2049 13d ago
I’m not saying it’s good, but also I REALLY wanna know what that drop sounds like. 😂
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u/Aircooled6 13d ago
I used to work for Prince Tennis 20 years ago. It was amazing to go to the factory in Tiawan and see how they made the Birdies. We used real Duck feathers and everyone was hand cut to have the identical weight and curve before it was assembled.
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u/banditwandit 13d ago
Here's me thinking I'm watching it loop again and again, and then suddenly boom, something new happens
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u/Vraver04 13d ago
I have a new found respect for the making of shuttlecocks. For something the retails for about a buck a piece, way more attention to detail than I would have guessed.
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u/Ontheroadtw 13d ago
This is some r/BlackMagicFuckery how do they know which ones to switch around? It has to be just hours upon hours of doing the job.
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u/Memory_Less 13d ago
The amount of manual work is unbelievable. Gives me a lot more understanding and respect for the workers and lowly birdie.
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u/AntiworkIsFakeSms 13d ago edited 12d ago
DO THEY ALSO PLAY DEFENING MUSIC IN THE FACTORY?
Edit: Sorry for caps, i lost my hearing for a few hours but... OH NO IT AUTOPLAYED
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u/BigAsian69420 13d ago
I’m gonna fuck with the calibration on all my friends shuttlecocks now.
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u/ImmovableOso 13d ago
This dinning sound is terrible.
If we can't hear the damn machine or guy talking about his process, trust that no one wants to hear "TikTok music" in it's place.
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u/littlejob 13d ago
Fun fact, the workers must calibrate each one before the music ends. Luckily this worker made it just in time.
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u/ForgotToDieYoung 13d ago
LOL. I'd be moving feathers around all day and only end up with two shuttlecocks.
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u/MyDadsAPreacher 12d ago
The song didn’t have to go that hard but I’m glad it did.
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