On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:03:21 -0000, William Sommerwerck wrote:
"UCLAN" wrote in message
...
William Sommerwerck wrote:
The most annoying thing I've found is in the user interface for
programming them. Is it just me or are they always extremely
badly designed?
Both. The Sony SL-HF900 had a superbly simple system that I won't
waste time describing. I've seen other VCRs whose programming system
is so difficult to follow that even an instruction book isn't of much
use.
The timer programming on the HS-U4xx, HS-U7xx, and HS-HD2000U
is a snap. The HS-HD2000U even lets the user enter all of the info
(on time/off time/channel, etc.) into the remote, then press "transmit",
and all of the info is sent to the VCR. Nifty.
My Hi8 Sony Hi8 VCR has such a system. But I'd be willing to bet that most
people couldn't use it, because the utterly trivial and obvious concept that
you have to enter the channel, day, and start/stop times is completely
beyond their comprehension. Most people act by rote, not by understanding.
The Sony SL-HF900 was about as simple as you could get. You pressed a big
bar, and the setting you were to change blinked. You spun a big knob to
change it, then pressed the bar again. This was repeated until everything
was set.
Is that one of those knobs you can spin and press? My GPS has that, I always press it by mistake while trying to turn it.
--
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The A-Z of tools:
a. DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying....
b. WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere across the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about the time it takes you to say "Ouch".
c. ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning steel pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age....
d. PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads....
e. HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes....
f. VICE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand....
g. OXY-ACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your garage on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside a brake drum you're trying to get the bearing race out of....
h. WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 9/16 or 1/2 inch socket you've been searching for for the last 15 minutes....
i. HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering a car to the ground after you have installed your new front disk brake setup, trapping the jack handle firmly under the front fender....
j. EIGHT-FOOT LONG DOUGLAS FIR 2X4: Used for levering a car upward off a hydraulic jack....
k. TWEEZERS: A tool for removing wood splinters....
l. PHONE: Tool for calling your neighbour to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack....
m. SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for getting dog-do off your boot....
n. E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit....
o. TIMING LIGHT: A stroboscopic instrument for illuminating grease buildup....
p. TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of ground straps and brake lines you may have forgotten to disconnect....
q. CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A large motor mount prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle....
r. BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER: A handy tool for transferring sulphuric acid from a car battery to the inside of your toolbox after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just as you thought....
s. AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw....
t. TROUBLE LIGHT: The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under motorcycles at night. Health benefits aside, it's main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading....
u. PHILIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splash oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off Phillips screw heads...
v. AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact
wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 40 years ago by someone in Sindelfingen, and rounds them off.
w. PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part....
x. HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short....
y. HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit....
z. MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes containing seats and motorcycle jackets...