Author Topic: You know you're old when.....  (Read 41718 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline luiHS

  • Frequent Contributor
  • **
  • Posts: 609
  • Country: es
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #175 on: July 10, 2021, 04:20:46 am »
You had a black and white TV, you remember the day Elvis died and when the movie Grease was released.
 

Online TimFox

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9002
  • Country: us
  • Retired, now restoring antique test equipment
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #176 on: July 10, 2021, 02:06:40 pm »
You meet the first younger employee at work who was not alive when JFK was shot.
(I've been old for a long time.)
 

Offline NiHaoMike

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9321
  • Country: us
  • "Don't turn it on - Take it apart!"
    • Facebook Page
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #177 on: July 10, 2021, 02:53:26 pm »
When you remember cars that had generators instead of alternators. If they were giving you trouble on the road, for a quick fix you could take a screwdriver and press in on the brushes to get better charging (and make sparks).
Alternators have had brushes as well. The first use of a brushless alternator/starter in a mass produced car dates back a little over 20 years ago with the Honda Insight.
Cryptocurrency has taught me to love math and at the same time be baffled by it.

Cryptocurrency lesson 0: Altcoins and Bitcoin are not the same thing.
 

Offline coppice

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10034
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #178 on: July 10, 2021, 06:47:51 pm »
When you remember cars that had generators instead of alternators. If they were giving you trouble on the road, for a quick fix you could take a screwdriver and press in on the brushes to get better charging (and make sparks).
Alternators have had brushes as well. The first use of a brushless alternator/starter in a mass produced car dates back a little over 20 years ago with the Honda Insight.
The alternator ones are pressing on slip rings, so they don't usually spark.
 

Offline Gyro

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10173
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #179 on: July 10, 2021, 06:49:37 pm »
You can stretch the springs on alternator brushes too to make up for the minimal amount of remaining carbon.  ;)
« Last Edit: July 10, 2021, 06:52:23 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
 
The following users thanked this post: GlennSprigg

Offline Bud

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 7276
  • Country: ca
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #180 on: July 10, 2021, 06:54:20 pm »
You meet the first younger employee at work who was not alive when JFK was shot.
(I've been old for a long time.)

You feel even older when you ask them who was JFK and they do not know   >:D
Facebook-free life and Rigol-free shack.
 

Offline coppice

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10034
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #181 on: July 10, 2021, 07:12:55 pm »
You meet the first younger employee at work who was not alive when JFK was shot.
(I've been old for a long time.)
You feel even older when you ask them who was JFK and they do not know   >:D
There are plenty of people graduating from university these days who barely know anything. Knowing who the current prime minister or president might be would be beyond them.
 

Online TimFox

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9002
  • Country: us
  • Retired, now restoring antique test equipment
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #182 on: July 10, 2021, 07:18:28 pm »
I was hospitalized for an injury a few years ago, and following normal practice the staff would occasionally ask me who the President was, etc. to check for stroke.  Once, they asked me what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 and, being a smart-ass, I replied "Well, that's controversial...". 
 
The following users thanked this post: RJSV

Offline coppice

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10034
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #183 on: July 10, 2021, 08:51:02 pm »
I was hospitalized for an injury a few years ago, and following normal practice the staff would occasionally ask me who the President was, etc. to check for stroke.  Once, they asked me what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 and, being a smart-ass, I replied "Well, that's controversial...".
"What is 911?". "Its the taxi booking number for the infirmed."
 

Online TimFox

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9002
  • Country: us
  • Retired, now restoring antique test equipment
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #184 on: July 10, 2021, 09:59:18 pm »
As a curmudgeon, I continually complain that, in this "Information Age", no one knows anything.
 

Offline coppice

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10034
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #185 on: July 11, 2021, 09:07:21 am »
As a curmudgeon, I continually complain that, in this "Information Age", no one knows anything.
"Why do I need to know that? I can look it up when I need to." :)
 

Offline mansaxel

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3559
  • Country: se
  • SA0XLR
    • My very static home page
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #186 on: July 11, 2021, 09:36:58 am »
"Why do I need to know that? I can look it up when I need to." :)

This is true. And should be put to good use. What tables and listings of hard facts can't tell you, is the "Why". That's where the effort should be. The "Why" in general does not need better than hand-waving accuracy facts, except for focussed short periods of study, during which maximum effort should be put in getting the right data, to better ground the pondering.

There is a need for good data, but it first and foremost needs to be understood, not remembered.

Offline Cerebus

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10576
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #187 on: July 11, 2021, 11:30:06 am »
"Why do I need to know that? I can look it up when I need to." :)

This is true. And should be put to good use. What tables and listings of hard facts can't tell you, is the "Why". That's where the effort should be. The "Why" in general does not need better than hand-waving accuracy facts, except for focussed short periods of study, during which maximum effort should be put in getting the right data, to better ground the pondering.

There is a need for good data, but it first and foremost needs to be understood, not remembered.

“Never memorize something that you can look up.”
― Albert Einstein
Anybody got a syringe I can use to squeeze the magic smoke back into this?
 

Offline GlennSprigg

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1259
  • Country: au
  • Medically retired Tech. Old School / re-learning !
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #188 on: July 11, 2021, 11:38:15 am »
"Why do I need to know that? I can look it up when I need to." :)

This is true. And should be put to good use. What tables and listings of hard facts can't tell you, is the "Why". That's where the effort should be. The "Why" in general does not need better than hand-waving accuracy facts, except for focussed short periods of study, during which maximum effort should be put in getting the right data, to better ground the pondering.

There is a need for good data, but it first and foremost needs to be understood, not remembered.

“Never memorize something that you can look up.”
― Albert Einstein

Except basic Times Tables!!!!  Kids these days know nothing without a computer, smartphone, calculator, shop-till !!   :palm:
Diagonal of 1x1 square = Root-2. Ok.
Diagonal of 1x1x1 cube = Root-3 !!!  Beautiful !!
 

Offline CatalinaWOW

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 5569
  • Country: us
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #189 on: July 11, 2021, 01:55:45 pm »
It is a matter of efficiency.  You need not memorize seldom used data.  But it it is far faster to remember something than to look it up.There are many constants I find worthwhile to memorize.

Language learning is a potent example of a place where you can look everything up, but memorizing is the only right answer.  Apologies to Albert.

Multiplication tables in an age of calculators are kind of a grey area.  For the bulk of the population, who never use math unless forced that memorization is wasted effort.  I would rather spend the time used to force them to learn these tables to convince at least some of them the value of arithmetic in daily life.  For those who figure it out the memorization is something they will figure out is useful.
 

Online TimFox

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9002
  • Country: us
  • Retired, now restoring antique test equipment
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #190 on: July 11, 2021, 02:12:48 pm »
A very useful feature of my undergraduate education was memorization of a few very useful values, including dimensionless constants.
Two approximate examples, useful in atomic physics and nuclear physics, are h c = 12345 eV Angstroms, and (h-bar) c = 200 MeV fm
« Last Edit: July 11, 2021, 02:32:18 pm by TimFox »
 

Offline jmelson

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 2851
  • Country: us
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #191 on: July 11, 2021, 06:05:27 pm »
I was hospitalized for an injury a few years ago, and following normal practice the staff would occasionally ask me who the President was, etc. to check for stroke.  Once, they asked me what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 and, being a smart-ass, I replied "Well, that's controversial...".
Well, to answer the original question, "When you  have your first stroke, you know you are old."
I woke up a couple weeks ago, and could not write.  it didn't matter how slow I went, all I got was scribbles.  I went to the hospital and they verified damage from a previous stroke.  Now I'm on cholesterol medicine and anticoagulants.  I can write fairly normally, now, and typing is  getting easier.

Jon
 

Offline mansaxel

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 3559
  • Country: se
  • SA0XLR
    • My very static home page
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #192 on: July 11, 2021, 08:05:29 pm »

Language learning is a potent example of a place where you can look everything up, but memorizing is the only right answer.

<snip>

Multiplication tables in an age of calculators are kind of a grey area. 

I actually agree. There is sort of a threshold above which more memorizing becomes useless. But I'd say that multiplication tables are below the threshold.

Language is more complex -- first it depends on which language, and second which part. For English, memorizing is pretty much the only thing that works. There are so many special constructs.  German, or Latin, OTOH, are much more "learn the rules, or you will not understand a thing".  This is called "analytical" and "synthetic" language. The Wikipedia article explains it much better than I've cared to remember.  :-DD

Obviously, there is a memory effort in both situations, but it's focussed differently.

Online TimFox

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9002
  • Country: us
  • Retired, now restoring antique test equipment
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #193 on: July 11, 2021, 08:13:08 pm »
A good book on the nature of grammar that I read a couple of years ago (but can't locate now to quote it directly) pointed out that grammar textbooks are not of much use to native speakers of the language, but extremely useful (or necessary) for foreigners learning a second language.
 

Offline coppice

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10034
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #194 on: July 11, 2021, 08:46:22 pm »
Multiplication tables in an age of calculators are kind of a grey area.  For the bulk of the population, who never use math unless forced that memorization is wasted effort.  I would rather spend the time used to force them to learn these tables to convince at least some of them the value of arithmetic in daily life.  For those who figure it out the memorization is something they will figure out is useful.
Having technical discussions with people who can't estimate quickly in their heads is a slow and tedious activity. Estimation, rather than precise calculation, will always be something we should be able to do in our heads.
 

Online TimFox

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 9002
  • Country: us
  • Retired, now restoring antique test equipment
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #195 on: July 11, 2021, 08:49:27 pm »
Especially on simple estimations, such as if the resonant frequency needs to change by 10%, the capacitor value needs to change by 20%. 
Or if a R-C hp filter needs its corner to shift by 10%, what is a 10% increase in the resistor value.
An exact calculation requires a calculator, but is not always necessary.
 

Offline Cerebus

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 10576
  • Country: gb
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #196 on: July 11, 2021, 09:30:51 pm »


Preceded by:



and similarly:


« Last Edit: July 11, 2021, 09:34:00 pm by Cerebus »
Anybody got a syringe I can use to squeeze the magic smoke back into this?
 

Offline Wolfgang

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1827
  • Country: de
  • Its great if it finally works !
    • Electronic Projects for Fun
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #197 on: July 11, 2021, 11:13:47 pm »
... when the first computer you used expected input in the form of punched cards.  8)
 
The following users thanked this post: newbrain

Offline Gregg

  • Super Contributor
  • ***
  • Posts: 1156
  • Country: us
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #198 on: July 12, 2021, 02:29:06 am »
When your first bicycle had skip tooth chain and replacement chains were readily available in many hardware type stores.  I still don't understand why these chains even existed.
 

Offline BrumbyTopic starter

  • Supporter
  • ****
  • Posts: 12413
  • Country: au
Re: You know you're old when.....
« Reply #199 on: July 12, 2021, 02:40:14 am »
When your first bicycle had skip tooth chain and replacement chains were readily available in many hardware type stores.  I still don't understand why these chains even existed.
They made perfect sense on a chainsaw.  Don't know about bicycles.


Ah.  After some ferreting around it appears that had something to do with differing "standards" in bike chains as they evolved to what we see today.



So, then.... It seems I'm not that old.   ;D
 


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo
Smf