On Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:40:10 -0000, Dave West wrote:

"harry" wrote in message
...
On Jan 6, 5:33 pm, alan wrote:
On 06/01/2013 16:35, Arfa Daily wrote:

Did anyone see that dreadful 'quiz show' on BBC last night that they
were trying to pass off as entertainment ?

I turned it off after round one - never to be seen again. I thought
they were scrapping the crap out of the bottom of barrel with the
Richard Hammond programme on before it and thought things couldn't get
worse.

Yep, the Beeb is getting really bad.
If you compare the quality of the news with all the other news
channels now available it's total crap.

The hours they spend interviewing celebrities!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

if you've got freeview 'russia today' and 'aljerzeeraz 'make an interesting
different slant on the news.

The latter was useful in the "Arab Spring" as it had access where others
didn't.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

On 07 Jan 2013 12:06:47 +0000 (GMT), Theo Markettos
wrote:

Tandy were rather too keen on selling a single diode in an A6 blisterpack
and asking a quid for it.

Yep; when a Tandy opened in my LocalTown I was quite pleased, for at
least there was somewhere I could get components over the counter, but
I really had to be desperate to spend the money they wanted. I usually
waited until I was going to the LargerCity with its several proper
component stockists.

On Sun, 6 Jan 2013 21:07:00 +0000 (UTC), dmc@puffin. (D.M.Chapman)
wrote:

There was a thing in the paper last week about this. The gist of it was
that the BBC wanted a pilot making (even though it was they had made
umpteen editions already, and it was the same writers), whereas Gold
were happy to commission it without a pilot, so they got the deal.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20908049

"In response, the BBC said: "Yes Prime Minister was last on air 25
years ago so it would not be unusual to ask for a pilot as clearly a
lot of the elements, including the cast, would be different."

That's a fair point - it could easily fall on its arse.


"UKTV was involved in the initiation and development of the project;
the BBC decided not to broadcast a new series as it was felt a better
use of resources to invest in new comedy, for example Mrs Brown's Boys
and Miranda."

That's just a crock of ****. Two of them, in fact.

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
Brian Gaff wrote:
Hmm, well, I liked Tandy I have to say, Unlike Maplin they had people who
know their stuff and they also sold hi fi that was pretty good, if a
little
flambouyant at times. all made to a high standard and by companies you
had
heard of, though rebadged as realistic.

Tandy were rather too keen on selling a single diode in an A6 blisterpack
and asking a quid for it. I used to go in for the purpose of laughing at
the prices. Which isn't too far different from the way Maplin is today,
in
fact.


The problem with Maplin now is when you want *two* of anything - they won't
reorder until there are precisely zero showing in stock, and they don't
appear to be able to cancel things off when they aren't actually there
(computer says no...), so if the last one (or one of the preceding) goes
missing they'll never actually order any more.

When they do order more, it's likely to be half a dozen or less, it seems -
I had to *put in an order* and wait a few days to get three (yes, three) 24V
bulbs that the "store search" said there were six of in my local shop...

Dave H. (the other one)

On 07/01/13 14:02, D.M.Chapman wrote:
In article , geoff wrote:

The truth of the matter is that we have a country that is so dumbed down
that he has to aim at the lowest common denominator and people seem
embarrassed at any display of scientific knowledge or intelligence. Dara
seems to be someone who is bucking the trend - good luck to him


Yeah, he seems geniune enough. I didn't mind his show - would have like more
science but most of it was ok.

My 11 year old son loved the show however... and was very interested. Guess
that's a success then.

Dara always comes across as friendly and appears to have a real wish to
share his enthusiasm. How true that really is I don't know, but he was
very good at responding to a question sent to him from my sons friend via
twitter (and I'm sure he gets millions of tweets!)... could have been a
lucky hit I guess, but that's two 11 year olds who spent several hours
listening to science instead of playing minecraft. That's a win in my
books.

Darren


+1.

I like Dara and the show was passably interesting.
If you didn't mind it being dumbed down for 11 years olds,

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show
would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Monday, 7 January 2013 18:19:56 UTC, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show

would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

You'd be lucky to get that onto BBC4, even as a replacement for "Only Connect". It reminds me of the reaction when Bernard Levin and Jonathan Miller were let loose together:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEJz6p5Rndk

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.

Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I'm not convinced that most managed to absorb them tho.

I had one silly cow who is a tad older than me proclaim
that it was crucial to take the batterys out of a battery
powered radio of hers that I was having a look at for
her, so I wouldn’t electrocute myself in the process.

And that wasn’t one of the dinosaur valve radios either.

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , tim.....
writes

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
That Irish guy, if you mean Science club. I watched the first one and
thought, a bit infantile this, and watched the second one and it was
even more rubbishy. Surely there is more knowledge out there than what
he spouts. Its like going back to the Junior school.

Oh, I quite liked it

The truth of the matter is that we have a country that is so dumbed down
that he has to aim at the lowest common denominator and people seem
embarrassed at any display of scientific knowledge or intelligence. Dara
seems to be someone who is bucking the trend - good luck to him


--
geoff

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has not
left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of knowledge in
average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that planets and stars are
different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and which have no
atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we were
taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers

--
geoff

In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
On 07/01/13 14:02, D.M.Chapman wrote:
In article , geoff
wrote:

The truth of the matter is that we have a country that is so dumbed down
that he has to aim at the lowest common denominator and people seem
embarrassed at any display of scientific knowledge or intelligence. Dara
seems to be someone who is bucking the trend - good luck to him


Yeah, he seems geniune enough. I didn't mind his show - would have like more
science but most of it was ok.

My 11 year old son loved the show however... and was very interested. Guess
that's a success then.

Dara always comes across as friendly and appears to have a real wish to
share his enthusiasm. How true that really is I don't know, but he was
very good at responding to a question sent to him from my sons friend via
twitter (and I'm sure he gets millions of tweets!)... could have been a
lucky hit I guess, but that's two 11 year olds who spent several hours
listening to science instead of playing minecraft. That's a win in my
books.

Darren


+1.

I like Dara and the show was passably interesting.
If you didn't mind it being dumbed down for 11 years olds,

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show
would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

You obviously didn't see this series of lectures on BBC4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y4y46

They do exist, from time to time

--
geoff

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
When did you go to school though. My education was in the fifties and 60s.
We did science properly when you really could burn yourself and blow up the
labs..

What do you mean "could"

That's how we ended up with a state of the art science block

--
geoff

On 07/01/13 20:09, Arty Effem wrote:
On Monday, 7 January 2013 18:19:56 UTC, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show

would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

You'd be lucky to get that onto BBC4, even as a replacement for "Only Connect". It reminds me of the reaction when Bernard Levin and Jonathan Miller were let loose together:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEJz6p5Rndk

Of course teh top priority thing Blair did was to get the right people
into the Beeb and cancel spitting image.


Fine to poke fun at thatcher and major..


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 07/01/13 21:38, geoff wrote:
In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
On 07/01/13 14:02, D.M.Chapman wrote:
In article , geoff
wrote:

The truth of the matter is that we have a country that is so dumbed
down
that he has to aim at the lowest common denominator and people seem
embarrassed at any display of scientific knowledge or intelligence.
Dara
seems to be someone who is bucking the trend - good luck to him


Yeah, he seems geniune enough. I didn't mind his show - would have
like more
science but most of it was ok.

My 11 year old son loved the show however... and was very interested.
Guess
that's a success then.

Dara always comes across as friendly and appears to have a real wish to
share his enthusiasm. How true that really is I don't know, but he was
very good at responding to a question sent to him from my sons friend
via
twitter (and I'm sure he gets millions of tweets!)... could have been a
lucky hit I guess, but that's two 11 year olds who spent several hours
listening to science instead of playing minecraft. That's a win in my
books.

Darren


+1.

I like Dara and the show was passably interesting.
If you didn't mind it being dumbed down for 11 years olds,

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show
would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

You obviously didn't see this series of lectures on BBC4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y4y46

They do exist, from time to time

well no, because if there is one thing investigating morality shows you,
its that its a false concept.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Mon, 7 Jan 2013 21:30:10 +0000, geoff wrote:

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers

Because all the risk has been reduced to mere bland nothing-ness we've
become a nation of whinging ninnies, expecting everything to work and
be painless, just like ****ing fluffy clouds.

On Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:19:56 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show
would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

Posh boy with opinions.
Wow.

In message , Grimly
Curmudgeon writes
On Mon, 7 Jan 2013 21:30:10 +0000, geoff wrote:

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers

Because all the risk has been reduced to mere bland nothing-ness we've
become a nation of whinging ninnies, expecting everything to work and
be painless, just like ****ing fluffy clouds.

And mcdonalds ...


--
geoff

In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes

I like Dara and the show was passably interesting.
If you didn't mind it being dumbed down for 11 years olds,

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show
would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

You obviously didn't see this series of lectures on BBC4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y4y46

They do exist, from time to time

well no, because if there is one thing investigating morality shows
you, its that its a false concept.




Ah, but each lecture was taking on morality from the viewpoint of
different philosophers and a different standpoint.

But - just an example of how there are challenging programs out there
from time to time

just ... not very often

--
geoff

On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers


Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was pretty
simple.

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceived SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

"She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon."

In message , Tim Watts
writes
On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers


Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was pretty
simple.


Most people don't even make any attempt to grasp the rudiments of
anything vaguely technical or ... anything at all really

I remember someone saying that they wished they could speak Indonesian
as well as I could, my reply was had they actually made any effort to
learn ? which was met with stony silence

learning useful disciplines takes effort

media studies doesn't




--
geoff

"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2013-01-07, geoff wrote:
In message , tim.....
writes

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
That Irish guy, if you mean Science club. I watched the first one and
thought, a bit infantile this, and watched the second one and it was
even more rubbishy. Surely there is more knowledge out there than
what he spouts. Its like going back to the Junior school.

Oh, I quite liked it

The truth of the matter is that we have a country that is so dumbed down
that he has to aim at the lowest common denominator and people seem
embarrassed at any display of scientific knowledge or intelligence. Dara
seems to be someone who is bucking the trend - good luck to him

Quite. I suspect the agenda of the show is to try and show that science
isn't as geeky as most of the public think.



But they already had a good show in that respect. It was called Tomorrow's
World (I was on it once .... )

Arfa

"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , Tim Watts
writes
On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that
planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers


Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was
pretty
simple.


Most people don't even make any attempt to grasp the rudiments of anything
vaguely technical or ... anything at all really

Other than me and the missus, I can't think of anyone else in our immediate
family, who would have the vaguest notion how to put the spare wheel onto
their car. I would be surprised if they actually knew where to find it, or
the jack and tools even ...

Arfa



I remember someone saying that they wished they could speak Indonesian as
well as I could, my reply was had they actually made any effort to learn ?
which was met with stony silence

learning useful disciplines takes effort

media studies doesn't




--
geoff

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...


"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2013-01-07, geoff wrote:
In message , tim.....
writes

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
...
That Irish guy, if you mean Science club. I watched the first one and
thought, a bit infantile this, and watched the second one and it was
even more rubbishy. Surely there is more knowledge out there than
what he spouts. Its like going back to the Junior school.

Oh, I quite liked it

The truth of the matter is that we have a country that is so dumbed down
that he has to aim at the lowest common denominator and people seem
embarrassed at any display of scientific knowledge or intelligence. Dara
seems to be someone who is bucking the trend - good luck to him

Quite. I suspect the agenda of the show is to try and show that science
isn't as geeky as most of the public think.



But they already had a good show in that respect. It was called Tomorrow's
World (I was on it once .... )

Arfa

Selling burgers?

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...


"geoff" wrote in message
...
In message , Tim Watts
writes
On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that
planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky
and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers


Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was
pretty
simple.


Most people don't even make any attempt to grasp the rudiments of
anything vaguely technical or ... anything at all really

Other than me and the missus, I can't think of anyone else in our
immediate family, who would have the vaguest notion how to put the spare
wheel onto their car. I would be surprised if they actually knew where to
find it, or the jack and tools even ...

WTF is a spare wheel?

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
Brian Gaff wrote:
Hmm, well, I liked Tandy I have to say, Unlike Maplin they had people who
know their stuff and they also sold hi fi that was pretty good, if a
little
flambouyant at times. all made to a high standard and by companies you
had
heard of, though rebadged as realistic.

Tandy were rather too keen on selling a single diode in an A6 blisterpack
and asking a quid for it. I used to go in for the purpose of laughing at
the prices. Which isn't too far different from the way Maplin is today,
in
fact.

Theo


Tandy also did some 'interesting' packs at very reasonable prices. When LEDs
were first around, I bought a pack of assorted ones from the local Tandy
store, and in among them were several different types of 7 segment LEDs,
which at the time were like magic devices. A couple of them were obviously
surplus stock from a calculator manufacturer, as they were blocks of four,
with little lenses as part of the package. I also bought my first digital
clock from them. It was just a module, to which you had to add your own
power supply, wiring, and switches. I grafted it into a plate of aluminium,
and it sat by my bed - and even after I got married - for years. Strobe
tubes were another interesting item. I also still have the 12 volt mini
drill kit that I bought from them. It's in a blue plastic carry case, and
the drill itself is very robustly made. It has a little stand that it can be
fitted into, and also a flexible drive about a foot long. It must be 40
years old now, but is still used regularly, and still works as good as the
day it was new.

I liked Tandy ... :-)

Arfa

"news.virginmedia.com" wrote in message
...

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
Brian Gaff wrote:
Hmm, well, I liked Tandy I have to say, Unlike Maplin they had people
who
know their stuff and they also sold hi fi that was pretty good, if a
little
flambouyant at times. all made to a high standard and by companies you
had
heard of, though rebadged as realistic.

Tandy were rather too keen on selling a single diode in an A6 blisterpack
and asking a quid for it. I used to go in for the purpose of laughing at
the prices. Which isn't too far different from the way Maplin is today,
in
fact.


The problem with Maplin now is when you want *two* of anything - they
won't reorder until there are precisely zero showing in stock, and they
don't appear to be able to cancel things off when they aren't actually
there (computer says no...), so if the last one (or one of the preceding)
goes missing they'll never actually order any more.

When they do order more, it's likely to be half a dozen or less, it
seems - I had to *put in an order* and wait a few days to get three (yes,
three) 24V bulbs that the "store search" said there were six of in my
local shop...

Dave H. (the other one)

I've had it happen to me a couple of times, but I've always found them to be
very good at resolving the situation. They have placed the order online for
me and taken the money in the shop. They have then asked me if I wanted the
items delivered direct to my house, or to the store for collection. On each
occasion, I have had the items delivered to my house, and they have been
with me the next day.

Arfa

On 07/01/13 22:55, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
On Mon, 7 Jan 2013 21:30:10 +0000, geoff wrote:

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers

Because all the risk has been reduced to mere bland nothing-ness we've
become a nation of whinging ninnies, expecting everything to work and
be painless, just like ****ing fluffy clouds.

And totally unable to function without a Big Government to tell us what
top do...

"Put The BIG X Cross here next to the NIce Chap marked 'Labour Party'
and that's ALL the thinking you have to do for the next 5 years".


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 07/01/13 23:02, Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
On Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:19:56 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show
would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

Posh boy with opinions.

WHAT???? are you going on about NOW?

Wow.



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 07/01/13 23:12, geoff wrote:
In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes

I like Dara and the show was passably interesting.
If you didn't mind it being dumbed down for 11 years olds,

Now look at this and ask yourself whether in today's BBC such a show
would even be contemplated. let alone made..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGwSe0ZptV0

You obviously didn't see this series of lectures on BBC4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00y4y46

They do exist, from time to time

well no, because if there is one thing investigating morality shows
you, its that its a false concept.




Ah, but each lecture was taking on morality from the viewpoint of
different philosophers and a different standpoint.


When philosophers start talking morals I realise that most philosophers
don't do critical thinking.

In other words its all ********.

What is good? heck even Nietzsche wrote a book called 'beyond good and evil'


Hell on earth happens when people think there is such a thing as some
absolute Good.



But - just an example of how there are challenging programs out there
from time to time

Honestly I haven't seem one that was really challenging for years.

The most intellectually stimulating thing las year was Gary Anderson
describing how to design a formula one car in 15 second bits over half a
dozen races..

just ... not very often



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 07/01/13 23:51, Tim Watts wrote:
On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers


Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was pretty
simple.

I dont think TVs were THAT specialist when they were full o' valves

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 08/01/13 01:45, Arfa Daily wrote:


Other than me and the missus, I can't think of anyone else in our
immediate family, who would have the vaguest notion how to put the spare
wheel onto their car. I would be surprised if they actually knew where
to find it, or the jack and tools even ...


That's what alcoholics anonymous is for innit?

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Jan 7, 11:51*pm, Tim Watts wrote:
On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:









In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers

Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was pretty
simple.

Every generation thinks things are getting too complicated.
We've got one now has given up trying to understand things. Supposing
it's even possible.

On Jan 8, 1:45*am, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"geoff" wrote in message

...









In message , Tim Watts
writes
On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that
planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers

Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was
pretty
simple.

Most people don't even make any attempt to grasp the rudiments of anything
vaguely technical or ... anything at all really

Other than me and the missus, I can't think of anyone else in our immediate
family, who would have the vaguest notion how to put the spare wheel onto
their car. I would be surprised if they actually knew where to find it, or
the jack and tools even ...

Arfa



You are getting old.
The reason is that many cars now don't have one.

At one time you had to carry many tires and tyre levers.
I expect these people thought the end of the world was nigh when spare
wheels were invented.

On Jan 8, 12:20*am, geoff wrote:
In message , Tim Watts
writes









On Monday 07 January 2013 21:30 geoff wrote in uk.d-i-y:

In message , Brian Gaff
writes
Well if he can raise the bar, but at the moment I feel that the bar has
not left the ground yet. Mind you I'm flabbergasted by the lack of
knowledge in average people of under 30 years. IE not knowing that planets
and stars are different or which planets are gaseous and which rocky and
which have no atmosphere etc.
Also not understanding the rudiments of how electricity works and how
transformers work. There are very simple books on these concepts and we
were taught them as a matter of course.

I see little desire to "find out", no sense of discovery, a lack of
wonderment how and why

we're becoming a nation of hairdressers

Yep...

I wonder if in part, everything is now too complicated?

In 1970, you could open your car bonnet and identify everything - and the
choices when something went wrong were limited.

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was pretty
simple.

Most people don't even make any attempt to grasp the rudiments of
anything vaguely technical or ... anything at all really

You don't see kids playing with Meccano sets any more.

Just been treading up on it. Typical.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Of course teh top priority thing Blair did was to get the right people
into the Beeb and cancel spitting image.

Ah, talk about dumbing down and TurNiP will instantly pop-up to provide
a good practical example of someone so dumb that he can barely string
two sentences together.

How did getting "the right people into the Beeb" permit Blair to "cancel
spitting image"? Here's a clue TurNiP, Spitting Image was an ITV
production.

Here's another clue, TurNiP, Spitting Image was cancelled on 18th
February 1996, Anthony Charles Lynton Donkey******** Blair became Prime
Minister on 2 May 1997.

Most people don't even make any attempt to grasp the rudiments of anything
vaguely technical or ... anything at all really

Other than me and the missus, I can't think of anyone else in our immediate
family, who would have the vaguest notion how to put the spare wheel onto
their car. I would be surprised if they actually knew where to find it, or
the jack and tools even ...

Arfa

That .. Ought to be part of the driving test. A simple job that every
driver, unless of course physically disabled from doing so, should have
that competency......

--
Tony Sayer

OK - TV's have always been specialist - but most other machinery was pretty
simple.


I dont think TVs were THAT specialist when they were full o' valves


Now this is a good point. A TV of say 1960 or even earlier had pretty
straightforward circuitry so much so that I managed to convert a 1960's
era 405 line set to 625 lines and it worked very well.

Course these days a few chipset's and well, what can you do with
those?...
--
Tony Sayer

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
I've had it happen to me a couple of times, but I've always found them
to be very good at resolving the situation. They have placed the order
online for me and taken the money in the shop. They have then asked me
if I wanted the items delivered direct to my house, or to the store for
collection. On each occasion, I have had the items delivered to my
house, and they have been with me the next day.

How long ago was this?

--
*A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

tony sayer wrote:

Now this is a good point. A TV of say 1960 or even earlier had pretty
straightforward circuitry so much so that I managed to convert a 1960's
era 405 line set to 625 lines and it worked very well.

Course these days a few chipset's and well, what can you do with
those?...

Back in CRT days, my set started to misbehave. More in hope than
expectation, I checked with a multimeter that power was getting
through the double pole mechanical main switch (since this was
about as far as I was comfortable dabbling.

As it happened, one pole of the switch was high resistance. I
simply wired round the offending pole, and it survived until I
replaced the set.

BTW, for the sake of clarity, I don't recommend repairing this
way, as it reduces the safety of the installation.

Whilst making the repair I had to invert the set to reach the
fault, rectify and check it worked. On righting it I discovered
the error of my ways - it took a few restarts to get it properly
degaussed ;-)

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

On Tuesday 08 January 2013 01:54 brass monkey wrote in uk.d-i-y:


WTF is a spare wheel?

A useful thing cars used to have...

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceived SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

"She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon."

On Tuesday 08 January 2013 07:46 harry wrote in uk.d-i-y:


You don't see kids playing with Meccano sets any more.

Just been treading up on it. Typical.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano

Parents don't encourage them...

http://www.sciencetoys.co.uk/Motors-...s-Science-Kit-
technology/dp/B007WDGZF2?traffic_src=froogle&utm_medium=organic& utm_source=froogle

I got that ^^ for my 7 year old lad for Xmas. It's basic, but very well
made. I lent him a multimeter, another motor and a bunch of LEDs to add in
and try stuff.

He found the Red-Green (reverse wired pair) LED and noticed that when he
turned the handle one way, it lit of Green and the otherway, Red.

So I got him to swap the magents on the motor (they are coded red and blue
and are external - clever!). He was highly interested to note what happened.

I'm losing the daughter to art - but I did get her to help unpack a laser
printer last night, looking for all the shipping tape and orange thingies to
pull off. Every bit helps stave off the curse of helplessness...

--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceived SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

"She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon."

On 08/01/2013 01:54, brass monkey wrote:

WTF is a spare wheel?



Its something that now comes in cans.