terminology
 

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 01:52:35 -0800 (PST), Dr Hfuhruhurr
wrote:

On 8 Jan, 09:30, "ChrisM" wrote:
In message ,
Dr Hfuhruhurr Proclaimed from the tallest tower:

On 8 Jan, 03:41, "Bill Wright" wrote:
I've got used to the fact that when a customer says 'analogue' they
probably mean 'terrestrial'.

Bill

Thirty Five years ago I was at school doing PE and the teacher asked
us to spin around clockwise. One kid sat down crying "but i've got a
digital watch".

Doc

35 years ago...? Were digital watches commonly available in 1973? Or was
this a very rich kid...?

...Or was it just a joke?

It was a joke, but I did get my years wrong. it was more like 30 years
ago. I had one, a Casio.
I looked just like this http://www.casio.co.uk/Products/Watc...%20a%20Glance/

Doc
I had a Captain Kramen digital watch in the late 70's. He was a
character devised by Kenny Everett. It had a touch sensitive button
for showing date and seconds. Everyone at school thought it was well
cool.

Marky P.

terminology
 

Bill Wright wrote:

A sundial on your bonce would be more practical.

Only if it has the special luminous markers to extend the
operating hours.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

terminology
 

In article ,
Chris J Dixon wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:

A sundial on your bonce would be more practical.

Only if it has the special luminous markers to extend the
operating hours.

Why did I initially read that as 'opening hours' ?

--
*Change is inevitable ... except from vending machines *

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

terminology
 

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:02:56 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
ChrisM wrote:
In message
, Dr
Hfuhruhurr Proclaimed from the tallest
tower:

On 8 Jan, 03:41, "Bill Wright" wrote:
I've got used to the fact that when a customer says 'analogue' they
probably mean 'terrestrial'.

Bill

Thirty Five years ago I was at school doing PE and the teacher asked
us to spin around clockwise. One kid sat down crying "but i've got a
digital watch".

Doc

35 years ago...? Were digital watches commonly available in 1973? Or
was this a very rich kid...?

...Or was it just a joke?

I well remember a workmate 'flashing' his new Sinclair LED watch in '78.
If such a thing was available 5 years earlier I doubt a kid would have
afforded one.

I was at uni 73-76 and I think it was my second year when I bought - and
built - a Sinclair watch. I think it was £17 for the kit, maybe 25 for
ready-made. I remember knackering the flexi with my soldering efforts,
and they sent me a replacement FOC - in an envelope!

Chris

terminology
 

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 14:13:32 -0000, "Bill Wright"
wrote:


"Robin Faichney" wrote in message
.. .
Re
radio tuners, some digital displays front an analogue functionality
(infinately variable, in principle), and others are "genuinely"
digital (will tune only a predefined set of discrete frequencies, eg
87.5-108MHz in 100KHz steps).

So where does that leave those old rotary controls that had a large number
of click stops?

Good question, don't know. But I'd say, if they were rotary switches,
then digital, but if they were the traditional variable capacitors
with click stops built-in to the turning mechanism, then analogue. I'm
assuming you're talking about tuners, but I suppose you might not be.
I've come across such controls (analogue with clicks) before, but not
as tuners, as far as I can remember.

Actually, instead of digital vs analogue, we should be talking
discrete versus continuous, here. A traditional clock face is
analogue, but a sweep second hand is continuous, whereas a non-sweep
one (stepping, jerky, you know what I mean) is discrete. What's called
a digital clock/watch is genuinely digital in the sense that it
displays digits, but of course that means it's also discrete. A
clockwork mechanism is arguably discrete due to the tick-tock-type
escapement mechanism, though the display (ignoring any second hand) is
effectively continuous -- meaning the steps are too small for humans
to see. Some physicists believe that space and time are discrete, ie
there's a smallest unit in each case that cannot be subdivided. In
which case you might say that everything is ultimately digital.
--
http://www.robinfaichney.org/

terminology
 

On Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:24:03 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
Chris J Dixon wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:

A sundial on your bonce would be more practical.

Only if it has the special luminous markers to extend the
operating hours.

Why did I initially read that as 'opening hours' ?

Because you've got booze on the brain -- elementary Freudianism, my
dear Watson.
--
http://www.robinfaichney.org/

terminology
 

On 8 Jan 2008 16:36:17 GMT, chris wrote:

I was at uni 73-76 and I think it was my second year when I bought - and
built - a Sinclair watch. I think it was £17 for the kit, maybe 25 for
ready-made. I remember knackering the flexi with my soldering efforts,
and they sent me a replacement FOC - in an envelope!

About '79 or so, at uni, I got a Sinclair programmable calculator. You
could play a lunar lander type game on it, but the program was lost
when you switched off so you had to enter it each time using the
keypad. Once was enough for me. It was no match for Space Invaders
down the pub.
--
http://www.robinfaichney.org/

terminology
 

"Chris J Dixon" wrote in message
...
Bill Wright wrote:

A sundial on your bonce would be more practical.

Only if it has the special luminous markers to extend the
operating hours.

Yes of course. A sundial that you could only see during the day wouldn't be
much good would it?

Bill

terminology
 

"Robin Faichney" wrote in message
...
Actually, instead of digital vs analogue, we should be talking
discrete versus continuous, here. A traditional clock face is
analogue, but a sweep second hand is continuous, whereas a non-sweep
one (stepping, jerky, you know what I mean) is discrete.
When I was 13 I got a microscope fror Christmas. One fascinating discovery
was that I could see the minuites hand move on my watch.

I wish I had all those minutes back. I've wasted most of them.

Bill

terminology
 

I've got used to the fact that when a customer says 'analogue' they
probably
mean 'terrestrial'.

Have you got that backwards? Or are some people really calling their DTT
reception "analogue"?

That's exactly what I mean. They refer to satellite as 'digital' and DTT
as 'analogue'. When they have an IDTV they have no idea that the
transmission is digital. All they know is that they have a new telly and
it gets more channels than the old telly, and that they also have Sky,
which as everyone knows is synonymous with 'satellite' and 'digital'. To
differentiate between the two they call everything that isn't Sky
'analogue'.

My 70ish parents (who have the free channels from Sky) have taken serious
convincing that they will still be able to watch TV in their lounge after
analogue switch off. Some idiot had convinced them they would need a
Freeview box (currently no service in Mid Wales) or they would have to start
paying a Sky subscription.

I've broached the subject of video recordings and the bedroom TV a few
times, and I'm working up to a proper explanation session.