Video Blog #92

[TheWelly888]

Just been watching your latest drive-time.

I do watch you for fun ( and your mannerism!   ) and your speech is easy enough for me to follow.

There's no need for lectures really when there are plenty on YouTube but your pointing out that videos are not very efficient made me think that perhaps lectures are not very efficient at delivering information either.

I did attend university ( electronic engineering ) 20 years ago but I could not cope with the heavy work load and had to drop out.

I do think that your tutorials are interesting the way you delivered them as long as you stick to a 30 minutes time limit.

I have to say that your video blogs are inspiring me to get back into electronics design, I've a shit load of components extracted from scrapped medical equipment at home and would like to get a few things together.

Keep it up, Dave! And blow some shit up occasionally!

[avrfreaks]

I agree, let's blow up some electronics!!!

[orbiter]

Just keep doing what your doing Dave, all seems well to me

Oh and by the way I'm with the others... How about.. Don't turn it on - don't take it appaaart... Blow it up?

orb

[mikeselectricstuff]

I think one area where individual sites work is the more specialist, obscure & arcane areas - electronics & engineering is a huge field & there are tons of interesting little nooks at the edges.
Some examples that comes to mind are induction heating,  Lasers and tesla coils.
Something these sort of pages have in common is they cover areas that are generally the territory of the big / industrial / expensive guys, but where amateurs have had a go & have compiled useful information not generally available elsewhere.

This is an approach I've taken on my site electricstuff.co.uk, which is mostly a collection of random articles including some specialised and/or obscure areas, like mercury arc rectifiers, Obsolete display devices and Itegrated circuits from the 1920's.

PS: Dave, I'm sure you get some really dumb emails - how about starting a page for the best ones you've received.

PPS: how about a "don't turn it on, take it apart" T-shirt, with some appropriate graphics? (I have a similarly themed section on my site )

[Krumm]

Well, as somebody who is wanting to get into electronic design (FPGAs, robotics and the like) I think your video blog is perfect for my needs. I work as a software engineer, so the gentle introductions to certain things such as basic product design, which multimeters to avoid, simple circuits, choosing components etc, none of those can be picked up from a text book without serious study (or perhaps serious loss of money or body parts), but you present the material in a much more comfortable manner. So yes, as orbiter said, just keep doing what your doing!

Krumm.

[saturation]

Entertainment can be informative, its what PBS, Discovery channel and others try to be.  

Information in all fields abound on the Internet, but learning and turning it into knowledge is still up to readers.  The novice has to sort out good and bad information, which is a paradox, how do they know what is bad if they don't know the good?  The MIT intro course in electronics is an example, but how many are going to really know electronics after watching it, or reading Horowitz and Hill?

What the Internet can't provide is feedback from folks with experience, for describing what isn't yet described or can't be, and proxy for those who are in a situation and you are not.  Also, knowledge is constantly on the move, while repositories are archived in books or Wikipedia for access to those who know how to use it, but what of the new and evolving not yet written?

The videos are very helpful when you dissect devices, rather than getting a static image of one photo, a clear video of you moving around the interiors is akin to getting multiple angle photos, and putting the viewer more closer to the actual experience than a static image.  Likewise, a static image is more experiential that a prose description.

IMHO I think you know very well what you're doing, so you can zero into on key strengths and weakness during a presentation and get to key features quickly.  Recently, your simplification of linear versus switching power supplies is exemplary; in some of the posts I read on this forum there are a number of folks who can't see the forest from the trees.


 

[easilyconfused]

I was born in December of 1945. I've been exposed to thousands of methods of teaching. Ask anyone and they'll tell you who their favorite teacher was. Mine were the ones who had passion. Passion is not a commodity. I've always wanted to learn electronics but, until now, have found few who would or could get me to understand. After I watched one of your videos I knew I had found the blog where I would learn about electronics. Thank you for going to the trouble to do it, and thank you for your passion in sharing your knowledge.

[Herr R aus B]

Hi!

OK - this might be a little bit outdated, but since a couple of days I got stuck with your blog. Stumbled in while searching information about setting up a H bridge to control DC motors with the arduino. Somewhat like that. And now I am addicted  As I just watched #92 where you asked for feedback. Well - I just signed on for that and here is why I got stuck with your blog:

• It's a nice proof of why Aussies generally are known to be weird - not at least as you drink more beer than we germans do 
• I really can improve my bad english (what a heap of shit full of garbage)
• maybe I can even pick up some electronic base knowledge - I am a computer scientest but eventhough struggling with electronics since aeons... don't get the damn abstract stuff in my coder head
• I 137%ually agree with your statement, that education must be based on entertainment - especially in fields like electronics, computer science and bla, hich ould get quite dry timewise...
• I like your outbursts
• The project Sagan stuff touched me - well done!

And I furthermore agree on the fact, that we don't need marketing geeks und that the US pisses everybody off :-) The just charged me 112€ for a damn visum plus stamps for some burocratic crap and everything has to be negotiated using a hotline they charge you some 2€/minute just to explain you that you have to use formular number bla bla bla in case you are getting in from the east coast or formular bla bla bla in case you plan to get in from the west coast furthermore formular bla bla bla including appendix some bla in case you have been to the moon before using your own private car etc etc etc... ich I wouldnt wann do that world trip and visit good friends in the US of A I would... and that all, because I am getting there with a container ship - would I enter the land of the free as common tourist taking a plane, I would not have to prepare anything as I am citizen of the EU. But eas I come from New Zealand...

well...

is that of any interest to anyone? certainly not, but I liked the lamenting a lot :-)

Same goes for the mentioned "MBA dickheads" changing a product design without any need :-)

So - briefly spoken: I am mainly here for the entertainment! Keep on ranting and lamenting! And thanks for the great introduktion to meters and stuff... besides entertaining, your blog is a big deal of a brilliant educational approach!

Greetings from Berlin / Germany

Axel

PS: Will be in Sidney for 2 days in September - any serious recomendations in terms of touristy stuff besides the harbour bridge etc? What abour good Jazz oin Sidney?