Thoughts on Ben Heck?

[miguelvp]

...
Talking of which, I think BH's show would probably be better alongside an engineer, with Ben providing the charisma and presentation, and the engineer providing tech content.
...

You just described: BH as Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor (Home Improvement TV Series), Al Borland of course being the real deal

[EEVblog]

I thought I should watch BH's latest video, the one tearing down a classic Mac. He ponders on how old the hard drive is, turning it over in his hands.  At 7m10s it shows you a nice close-up of the HDD with at least 6 1990 date codes on display, but still can't work it out.

Try shooting a video blog off-the-cuff style and you'll very quickly learn that it's easy to miss stuff when you are talking, looking at stuff, thinking about what you are going to say next etc. I doubt Ben re-watches his takes and checks for mistakes or something he missed etc. It's shoot, move on, shoot, move on...
I have that problem along with the added problem of viewing a lot of my video through the camcorder viewfinder, that compounds the issue. Hence I'll miss stuff that is blindingly obvious to anyone watching the video at a higher resolution.

[george graves]

This is why I have always turned down every offer of in-video sponsorship.

Apparently it works well for Twit.tv.   I don't think it would fly here.  Leo use to hock an anti virus program.....one "This week in Tech"....before the show started, on the pre-show live stream,  he said something about what crappy software it was.....so yea....

In the same fashion....not telling us if you "had to pay"/"got it for free"/"have to return it"  a piece of review equipment always raises an eyebrow with me.  I know you're the kind of guy that it won't effect your opinion (I honestly don't  - totally, totally trust your reviews - I know you're the kind of guy that will tell it like it is - even if someone gave you a $100k scope and you slammed it)  But it would be a 5 word sentence in the video.  Why not just tell us?  What's the big secret?  And don't say that people will make assumptions.  We already do!  So spill the beans!

And speaking of in video ad......A free  piece of equipment isn't  a product placement ad?  No? If I was a marking director, and I  knew I had an amazing scope(for example), that Dave would approve of, of course I'd send you one for free.  You would be puddy in my hands....like taking candy from a baby....fish in a barrel.

I think it should be up front.  I'm sure you've ranted on about this in the past....Blah!  Think of it from the viewers perspective....that's all.

Sorry if this post was kinda negative.  I do love your vids - always give a thumbs up!  Learning more and more!  Thanks Dave! 

If a woman ran an electronics blog, would you just stare at her breasts the whole time?

Yes

And this I why I never recommend this forum to people. 

[max666]

I thought I'll just leave this one here ...

[nixxon]

Have you seen this Dave Jones voicetoy hack?

http://youtu.be/wYo4lOuD_-Y

[jlmoon]

BTW, you'd be shocked at how much Element 14 pay to get each episode edited and produced. Let's just say that one episode costs more than I've spent on the entire 5 years of my blog for all my camera gear, software and PC's etc

yeah and Dave we have received  more "bang for your bucks" ~spent,  than Ben's anyday!

[David_AVD]

The BH show is more light entertainment and general ideas.  It's different to Dave's videos so direct comparisons (better / worse) are probably not really fair.

[Br0ski]

Ben Heck is more general application.
More of bringing it all together.
Dave is more gritty technical. (no real comparison)
But in addition to Dave I also watch a little mjlorton
http://youtu.be/dZCU_9_xesU

Br0ski
@Br0ski47

[diyaudio]

I don't mind Ben, besides he gives Dave props so respect,
You can go very far in life just having a good personality, you don't have to be Mr I know everything to be liked or loved by others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYo4lOuD_-Y&feature=youtu.be

[Br0ski]

Quote from: miguelvp on May 13, 2014, 12:47:35 AM>Quote from: Zad on May 12, 2014, 10:45:11 PM

He doesn't do theory, he doesn't have any academic background or formal training in electronics. My definition of an engineer is someone who can tell you not just what, but why. All the way back to the electron level.

Even if I agree with you about BH,

I present you Jeri Ellsworth, no formal training but she can bake transistors at home:


Sure others can do electronics without formal training.


Jeri Ellsworth is in a class of her own. She isn't a supermodel but she definitely isn't ugly. She is a hell of a resourceful chick.

[EEVblog]

Jeri Ellsworth is in a class of her own. She isn't a supermodel but she definitely isn't ugly.

What's that got to do with anything? 

[zapta]

Jeri Ellsworth is in a class of her own. She isn't a supermodel but she definitely isn't ugly.

What's that got to do with anything? 

I think he is saying that Ben Heck is more attractive but shalower. 

Seriously, what kind of formal education does she have? No chemistry or physics degrees? Does she has any experience in the semiconductor industry? What she is doing is very impressive.

Another impressive lady is that Oculus (?) woman that you interviewed on the Amp Hour. She knew her stuff!

[David_AVD]

If you find the technical content interesting, what does it matter if the presenter is male / female or what they look like?

[Rigby]

It doesn't matter.  Some people just can't comprehend that women are people, too.

[zapta]

If you find the technical content interesting, what does it matter if the presenter is male / female or what they look like?

If you care *only* about technical content then it doesn't matter. Some people have more than one interest in life though.

[David_AVD]

Having more than one interest is good, however you shouldn't base your judgement of technical merit on gender or looks.

[Br0ski]

Quote from: EEVblog on Today at 03:24:10 PM > Quote from: Br0ski on Today at 02:19:44 PM

Jeri Ellsworth is in a class of her own. She isn't a supermodel but she definitely isn't ugly.

What's that got to do with anything? 

Knowledge wise Dave I think she would give you a run for your money. Perhaps I could have left my personal opinion out of it. I think you should have her visit your show. Knowledge wise it does not matter she is a female. However I am a male (person, for all you gender neutral folks) and entitled to my own opinion. Sorry if you males (people) do not feel the same. But she is making stuff from the rawest materials which is just unbelievable.

Quote from: David_AVD on Today at 06:00:06 PM
Having more than one interest is good, however you shouldn't base your judgement of technical merit on gender or looks.

I learned that along time ago never judge a book by it's cover. Leave that to the sales people.


Sticking to the thread, she puts BH in the dust.

Br0ski
@Br0ski47

P.S. For some reason when I hit quote it does not want to make my posts look all clean and organized? anyone?

[zapta]

Having more than one interest is good, however you shouldn't base your judgement of technical merit on gender or looks.

I don't think he did. He just provided two independent opinions on two different topics.  ;-)

[Br0ski]

Quote from: zapta on Today at 07:37:45 PM>Quote from: David_AVD on Today at 06:00:06 PM

Having more than one interest is good, however you shouldn't base your judgement of technical merit on gender or looks.

I don't think he did. He just provided two independent opinions on two different topics.  ;-)

Thank you Zapta.

[zapta]

Quote from: zapta on Today at 07:37:45 PM>Quote from: David_AVD on Today at 06:00:06 PM

Having more than one interest is good, however you shouldn't base your judgement of technical merit on gender or looks.

I don't think he did. He just provided two independent opinions on two different topics.  ;-)

Thank you Zapta.

I didn't say that the second opinion was appropriate for this forum ;-)

Anyway, I agree with you that what Jeri is doing is very impressive. Much more than buying Digikey parts and sticking them together as most of us here do.

[miguelvp]

Yup, she is a smart cookie, compare her Element 14 video contribution for reference, actually it's funny because this involves the Ben Heck's lab as well

http://www.element14.com/community/groups/jeri-ellsworth?ICID=hp_jerivideo_july8

[dannyf]

can bake transistors at home:

That sounds like a perfect job for a machine; or at best a technician.

[SeanB]

She did it just to show it can be done, like the original designers did. No fancy fab in the beginning, and they struggled as well getting pure monocrystalline raw materials, where impurities are measured in atoms per kilogram, not parts per thousand or million typical of chemical metallurgy. That monster fab did not spring out of the ground as is, it grew from a small home baking oven and a small lab with crude chemicals.

[advancednewbie]

I would love to see Mr. Jones drink a beer or three and see how he copes.  On the other hand, I think Ben gives a real world view into the life of an engineer no matter how outlandish he may be.  His show assumes, in a sense, that you kind of know what you are doing and provides a project (or continue there of) every week and for that I commend his effort given his situation with Element 14.  So there you go.  Take it or leave it.  But I think Ben is an all 'round good guy.   He should, however, give Felix a greater chance to show his shit to do with Linux / wiring - but that's just my opinion.

Cheers.

[george graves]

I would love to see Mr. Jones drink a beer or three and see how he copes.

I don't condone excessive drinking. And I've know many people that don't drink cause they have a history of it in their family.  But, guys that don't have a drink ever, I don't trust.  Something shady going on there.

“Son, never trust a man who doesn’t drink because he’s probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They’re the judges, the meddlers. And, son, never trust a man who drinks but refuses to get drunk. They’re usually afraid of something deep down inside, either that they’re a coward or a fool or mean and violent. You can’t trust a man who’s afraid of himself. But sometimes, son, you can trust a man who occasionally kneels before a toilet. The chances are that he is learning something about humility and his natural human foolishness, about how to survive himself. It’s damned hard for a man to take himself too seriously when he’s heaving his guts into a dirty toilet bowl.”

James Crumley

Ben is a master of running high speed data signals all over the place, and it working.  Hats off to him.  I think he uses old 40 conductor IDE hard drive cable.  Maybe cause they are flat his can pull it off so often?