twinw4ll
Most folk don’t know what the first man made object to break the sound barrier was.
Thick I tell ye, couldn’t even work it out FFS.
I was that person once, then I became a self righteous arsehole.
Go on then....
I can think of an obvious one and a not so obvious one.
being pedantic a deerhound / greyhound cross isn’t a lurcher. A lurcher is, classically speaking, a sight hound of any breed crossed with a non-sight hound of any breed.
Both greyhounds and deerhound are sight breeds so fall at the first hurdle
Technically a lurcher is a sighthound crossed with a working dog, not just any dog....to be fair it's a pretty broad term these days...
Technically a lurcher is a sighthound crossed with a working dog, not just any dog….to be fair it’s a pretty broad term these days…
This thread is quickly going from one place to another.
This thread is quickly going from one place to another.
Did you not know that's how these things usually work?
I would rather spend time with people who are not interested in diesel engines that those that argue the toss about the technicalities of a Lurcher...
Did you not know that’s how these things usually work?
I've been lurking around these parts for as long as I can remember. Have you heard of r/whoosh? Perhaps it was too subtle.
I often have a greater understanding as to how things work than my ability to use those things.
About 30 years ago I could tell you exactly how a computer worked, but zero chance of doing anything useful with it.
About 30 years ago I could tell you exactly how a computer worked,
Analogue or digital?
I famously turned to my wife while watching Gogglebox one evening and said incredulously "Is there a stupid one in every couple?"
The short answer would appear to be "Yes"
This thread is quickly going from one place to another.
Very good.
only female cows have udders the other day.
Unless I'm very much mistaken, cows have one udder, with usually four teats on it.
Bulls have one, big, teat and it takes a lot longer to get a pint out of.
And I worked in a large farming insurer with a person who thought that cows and bulls were different species. Mind you, she also turned up for her first farm visit in 4" stilettos.
Rifle bullet is supersonic, so i am guessing at 1850 ish not googled btw
Woman at work always turns the thermostat to 9, because the room warms up faster.. Yep the 2kw heater miraculously becomes a 28kw combi boiler system
I know two educated middle-aged men who have literally never cooked a meal.
My brother in law while living at home post university uses to say "I'd like a bath" so his mother would run it for him.
Could translate medieval latin manuscripts but couldn't (or wouldn't) run a bath.
My sister, who has been driving for around 15 years, was really impressed when I changed gear straight from 3rd to 5th.
.
My girlfriend's colleague, in her mid twenties, had to ring her to ask how to warm a tin of soup.
A friend borrowed my van this week as his car is dying. He didn’t know you should wait for the curly orange symbol to go off on the dashboard or that diesel engines don’t have spark plugs.
Reminds me of when I was down at Southampton boat show. A promotor/owner of an fully electric sailing boat was singing its praises about how little maintenance is needed and saying something alongs the lungs of you wouldn’t ever have to get your hands dirty changing the spark plugs on an engine... don’t think Diesel engines have spark plugs to change in the first place
Oh gods, thermostat wars in an open-plan office. They boxed off the controller in a locked Perspex box in the end.
It's a bit warm, I'll knock the aircon thermostat down to 16'C.
It's really cold for some odd reason, I'll whack the heating on and ram the aircon up to 30.
It's hot in here, let's open all the windows and drop the aircon back down to 16 whilst leaving the heating on at full chat.
Hello, maintenance? Yeah, it's all iced up again. No, us neither, we were only trying to refrigerate the planet.
She’s got a first class law degree so clearly isn’t daft but I do wonder how some people see the world.
Is it just me or…?
I think it’s partly down to focus - there are very smart people who just have a specific focus on a certain thing, and there are others, like me, who just don’t have the brain ‘shape’ to have that sort of focus, I know a bit about all sorts of stuff, or at least what I can remember, because I’m interested in lots of different things, I’m not interested in specifics enough to spend time learning about it.
Like cars, over the last five years, I’ve driven hundreds of different cars and vans, and they continue to change all the time, but that doesn’t mean I know specific stuff about how they work, I can’t even figure out how to open the bonnet on some cars, but the manufacturers don’t make it easy if you haven’t read the user manual! And jump-starting vehicles is tricky when the battery is hidden in the boot, or under a floor panel.
As far as buying a car because of the colour is concerned, I’ve never done that, I’ve only ever made a point of never buying a car painted brown, or with a brown interior.
Or a cream interior, because I’ve seen first hand just how quickly they get very grubby!
Most folk don’t know what the first man made object to break the sound barrier was.
Not sure, but as someone said, was it a whip? On a similar subject, anyone know what the fastest man-made object was?
Oh gods, thermostat wars in an open-plan office. They boxed off the controller in a locked Perspex box in the end.
One of my jobs as an apprentice working on BMS, was to fit thermostats in offices. Not connected to anything, but stops complaints about temperature from the office drones
On a similar subject, anyone know what the fastest man-made object was?
Was it the manhole cover from one of the US nuclear tests?
On a similar subject, anyone know what the fastest man-made object was?
I'd suspect its one of the Voyager craft
On a similar subject, anyone know what the fastest man-made object was?
Laser beam?
On a similar subject, anyone know what the fastest man-made object was?
The first ever hire car?
#driveitlikeyoustoleit
Not sure a laser beam counts as an object.
I’d go with some sort of spacecraft, voyager/space shuttle/iss.
Not sure a laser beam counts as an object.
It is sometimes. Sometimes it's a wave though
reminiscences about purple anodising
Where have you been for the last 10 years? Gunmetal is the new purple.
matt_outandabout
Full Member
I could be wrong, but I think the OP was hinting at this kind of intelligence:
That video is both hilarious and terrifying at the same time.
I ride a bike on the road with people potentially like that.
IMO, it just boils down to curiosity
Some people have absolutely no interests/compulsion to understand how the things around them (often things they use every single day) work. Personally, I think curiosity comes to you from your parents/teachers etc, asking and being asked questions, showing you how things work when you are young.
These days this is laid particularly bare by the fact like mundane knowledge of this sort is literally at your fingertips - all you need is to wonder something like "how does a microwave work? Seems to be magic" and you can have the answer in seconds.
I know a bit about all sorts of stuff, or at least what I can remember, because I’m interested in lots of different things, I’m not interested in specifics enough to spend time learning about it.
And yet, I'd consider you an authority on things that light up and things that cut stuff. Hence our previous interchange.
I pride myself on knowing a bit about a lot of things, but I perhaps sell myself short when it comes to things I am actually good at. You're doing the same here I fear.
One of my jobs as an apprentice working on BMS, was to fit thermostats in offices. Not connected to anything, but stops complaints about temperature from the office drones
Brilliant.
One of my daughters university house mates was filling out an application for a part time job in Manchester, this girl comes from Crewe. She had to check if her English language proficiency was best described as basic, intermediate or fluent, because she didn't know what fluent was. Alice suggested in that case she should tick intermediate. 🤣
On a similar subject, anyone know what the fastest man-made object was?
Fire as it emits light.
Different people know different things.
I can bore people for days about stuff that interests me works. Want to know about the intricacies of doping in sport and the effects various drugs have on human performance? Come and talk to me. Want to talk about the evolution of running shoe technology and why a carbon plate results in quicker times? Sit down, lets chat. Want to talk cooking and the different techniques in French cuisine? Lovely.
Want me to know literally anything practical around the house in terms of DiY? No chance, get a man in. Want to know anything about a car bar the very basic changing a wiper blade or filling up a washer bottle? Again, get a man in.
I could be wrong, but I think the OP was hinting at this kind of intelligence:
Watched a couple of sections of this for some reason and jesus christ the guy doing the commentary (why?) sounds like a smug pillock. Also, I often refuel on the "wrong" side when other pumps are busy. Literally every pump has a long enough pipe, and a sign telling you to do this...
On understanding how things work, a bit of a science background goes a long way. Someone mentioned how a stylus 'reads' from vinyl. I know bugger all about hifi whatever, but did make mechano turntable as a kid, pin in the bottom of a yoghurt pot and you can play 45s. Buggers them up mind. Also made an electric motor which involved coils of wire and a stick which could also light a bulb when spun, so know that moving a coil near a magnet makes current.
So whilst there's no way I could knock one up, or do the sums for speaker wattage or whatever, I do on a level understand how an old hifi works. I know a similar amount about how air molecules get that sound to your ear, and a tiny bit about how that makes it to the cochlear, translates into signals to hearing bits of your brain. Very slightly deeper knowledge, though closer to the edge of what's understood, of how the brain recognises patterns and interprets what's going on. And I could probably tell you it was a piece of Wagner that was playing, but probably not what as I'm not as cultured as I might be.
Which is my vague point: a fair bit of this comes down to the old arts v science dichotomy in the way we educate folks and what we value as culture.
(That said some people are thick when it comes to applying knowledge they actually have - thinking of a surf trip once where the guy driving was convinced that if his van only had a sixth or seventh gear he'd be able to cruise at 90 and save fuel. A british gas engineer. Hey ho.)
But:
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”.
Arthur C. Clarke, who knew how many things work.
I often refuel on the “wrong” side when other pumps are busy. Literally every pump has a long enough pipe
I'd say most rather than 'literally every,' and that's a big-ass car. I've done it in my Civic (fuelled from the opposite side, behave) with the tyres kissing the kerb and sometimes the hose has only just reached.
On a similar subject, anyone know what the fastest man-made object was?
On the planet, some sort of space object (capsule/shuttle?) re-entry I reckon.
Man made but extra-terrestrial, there are faster space probes.
Something I did for a mate to explain the turntable thing:
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I’d say most rather than ‘literally every'
okay, figuratively, though I've never found one that didn't go round a berlingo including with bikes mounted on the back, and that's without squeaking the tyres. Just need to pull all the way forward. Either way, voiceover guy is still an idiot.
Something I did for a mate to explain the turntable thing:
We'd best spend £10/m on speaker cable, then.
I've no idea how radios work. Are the radiowaves everywhere in the air all the time, all around us and going through us? Do they ripple through the air? What are they made of? Do I need a tin hat? Is there anywhere that they can't get too (radio dead spots, if you like)?
Either way, voiceover guy is still an idiot.
I'm generally cynical that these sorts of videos are staged clickbait (like the pizza slices woman for instance), but this did seem to be either genuine or particularly well acted. Agreed though that the guy was an arse, "shall I go mansplain to the silly little woman how to drive?"
It’s like some people are just wilfully ignorant, they wear it like a badge of pride. It amazes me sometimes how people get through their lives. But you’ve hit the nail on the head, their brains just aren’t that shape. They’re probably really good at, er, something else.
That's a particular thing with computers I reckon @Cougar .
Possibly less so in other areas.
I once designed the front end "look and feel" of a bespoke online entry system - we knew it had to be idiot proof and simple and easy to read and (after a couple of fairly basic incarnations) it got to something that was genuinely very good and very capable.
But the calls we got about it and everyone said (almost proudly) "oh I'm hopeless with computers, I leave all that to [family member]".
It's not like you had to know the inner workings of a computer or the internet, it was literally clicking big simple buttons on a screen. I want to enter this event. Click. We deliberately built it like online shopping on the assumption that everyone knew how to put "things" into a basket and then buy the contents of that basket.
In very few other common areas of life would anyone proudly say "oh yes I'm hopeless at that!". Cooking maybe? But even then most people at least know a few basic recipes they can get by on. Don't they?
In very few other common areas of life would anyone proudly say “oh yes I’m hopeless at that!
This is true to some extent, but it's easy to see this willful ignorance when it is something you know about or are interested in but I think it is a trait almost everyone has. Can you name the last 20 FA cup winners or all the Kardashian children, what about the hits of One Direction? I suspect there are many here who would happily declare their ignorance in these matters.
This is true to some extent, but it’s easy to see this willful ignorance when it is something you know about or are interested in but I think it is a trait almost everyone has. Can you name the last 20 FA cup winners or all the Kardashian children, what about the hits of One Direction? I suspect there are many here who would happily declare their ignorance in these matters.
True, but how does this then turn into pseudo virtue-signalling? At what point do I jump into a thread on football to go "I know jeff all about football, me, I think it's shite!" There, that's them told!
It's a weird mentality and I don't get it. I understand a lack of interest in a given subject, I understand the lack of knowledge that follows on from that, but I abjectly fail to see why it's something to be proud of. Like they're working towards their Vocal Ignoramus boy scout badge or something. Weird.
First man made object to break the sound barrier would be a whip? Little sonic boom is when it cracks. Maybe.
I’ve no idea how radios work. Are the radiowaves everywhere in the air all the time, all around us and going through us? Do they ripple through the air? What are they made of? Do I need a tin hat? Is there anywhere that they can’t get too (radio dead spots, if you like)?
Me as a non-expert on this, waiting to be corrected by someone who is...
Yep, all around us the time and going through us.
Not really ripple like sound waves, which actually are air moving, but they do radiate from a central point, the transmitter, and go in out circles from there.
Electromagnetic waves. Same thing as light, infrared, ultraviolet, microwaves, etc, etc. Frequencies and wavelengths vary but the principle is the same. Our eyes have evolved as detectors for one range of frequencies, which we see as light, different frequencies as different colours. Or is it wavelengths? Radios just detect wavelengths too small for us to see. Our skin can detect bigger wavelengths, we sometimes feel the heat when infrared hits us.
No.
Yes, Either too far from the transmitter (same way you can't see a torch too far away) or blocked by something really solid, hills, some buildings etc, in the same way light makes shadows from things it can't get through or how x-rays can't get through really dense stuff like lead.
