Weird symbols hidden under my TV : SciencePunk

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Frank Swain is a science writer and blogger. He is based in the UK.

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Weird symbols hidden under my TV

Posted on: February 1, 2010 9:38 PM, by SciencePunk

I discovered these symbols hidden underneath my TV. Does anyone know what they mean?

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Comments

produced by machine number 2 on August 5, 2008? just guessing, like.

Posted by: Joe D | February 1, 2010 10:08 PM

Usually it indicates both the machine and the area of the machine (mold, press, etc.) where that part was made. Those make it easier to track things back to their source for quality control. If the part is made at multiple plants then it probably indicates that too.

Posted by: Devon | February 1, 2010 10:46 PM

Common on molded plastics and usually where you can't see them (underside, back, or inside of the product).

Posted by: Colin | February 1, 2010 11:08 PM

I was going to say batch numbers, machine operator. The 08 does look like a year, but I would have thought the same TV wouldn't be being produced over multiple years and that the month or even day of the month would be more appropriate.

Posted by: Katherine | February 1, 2010 11:12 PM

counter clockwise from top left
month
year
day
shift maybe?

manufacturing counters are on a lot of objects if you go looking for them. if there is a recall due to a particular area or time, blame can be assigned.

Posted by: peter | February 1, 2010 11:36 PM

The top ones could also be the revision number of the plastic mouldings. There is no standard for how revisions are numbered, so it could be Rev 8.2 or 82.

If a moulding is made as a multi-cavity tool, then there could be a number indicating the cavity, but this is usually just stamped into the tool, rather than be a dial like these.

Posted by: Zeno | February 1, 2010 11:46 PM

These are usually dates which, along with other manufacturing data, allows management to find the worker that fucked up when they were making the TV, or for quality control, or for recalls.

Lots of products have these, but they often look different. Check your car battery, you may find a paper version of this. Beer used to be marked with a code that involved little cuts along one side of the label (some beer may still do this).

But these might instead be instructions for building an alien landing strip.

Posted by: Greg Laden | February 2, 2010 12:20 AM

I say a weird bizarre Satanic Techno Masonic cult making TVs and spreading evol! haha

Posted by: megan | February 2, 2010 1:37 AM

My extensive experience playing myst says you should note the positions of those dials because you will soon encounter a set with which you would otherwise not know how to deal. Doubtless those levers will open a safe with another cryptic key in it or else destroy an invisible wall

Posted by: Scrabcake | February 2, 2010 3:32 AM

Posted by: Scrabcake | February 2, 2010 3:35 AM

You're definitely going to want to write those down so you can proceed to the next level. My advice is to leave your living room, then walk into the bathroom and immediately walk out without touching anything. Then go upstairs and move the portrait in the north bedroom to reveal the hidden locked door to the attic. Then go back downstairs and back into the bathroom. Lift the lid on the toilet, where you'll find a silver key. This key will unlock the attic, where you'll find a vintage wireless receiver. Look at the bottom of the wireless set, and enter the codes. Good luck!

Posted by: HP | February 2, 2010 4:34 AM

Drink more Ovaltine.

Posted by: wrpd | February 2, 2010 4:48 AM

8+2 = 10
8+2+8+5 = 23

The child who put your TV together in the factory in China is urging support for the 10^23 campaign against homeopathy and, by extension, against 'traditional' Chinese medicine which was unable to save her family (and led to her falling into the hands of the orphanage/factory owners).

You discovered it just a little too late.

Posted by: Rob A | February 2, 2010 9:37 AM

Rev 8.2?
"8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets."

It's a sign of the end times!

Posted by: Al | February 2, 2010 9:50 AM

Rev 8.2? "8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets."
It's a sign of the end times!

No, I think it indicates a specific word. Starting from the top right, it indicates '2' (The second book of the Tetrateuch, Exodus), chapter '5', verse '8', word '8'. Which turns out to be 'number'. So, it's just a number on a plastic part, nothing out of the ordinary.

Posted by: Phillip IV | February 2, 2010 12:16 PM

Well, I'd say it can't be time or date or anything, seeing as the mold will presumably be used on other times and dates as well. Seems a bit wasteful.

Posted by: Mike | February 2, 2010 4:34 PM

The arrows can be rotated to point to new data like a date stamper that you adjust daily. I'm guessing the round number areas can be swapped out easily as well through a port in the mold.

Concur with Peter. There are 31 tick marks on the putative "day" mark.

Posted by: The Gregarious Misanthrope | February 2, 2010 9:46 PM

Sadly all I could think is that you need to turn your tv up to 11. It's only set at 8 currently.

Posted by: sive | February 5, 2010 6:08 AM

Peter's answer is the correct answer

Posted by: vive | February 20, 2010 3:16 AM