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Young people are 'lost generation' who can no longer fix gadgets, warns professor
The Telegraph ^ | 28DEC14 | Sarah Knapton

Posted on 12/28/2014 12:12:37 PM PST by familyop

Danielle George, Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering, at the University of Manchester, claims that the under 40s expect everything to ‘just work’ and have no idea what to do when things go wrong...This year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are entitled ‘Sparks will fly: How to hack your home’ she is hoping it will inspire people to think what else they can do with common household objects...Ideas include using a magnifying glass and shoe box to turn a mobile phone into a rudimentary projector; how to use tin foil to make too small batteries fit correctly and how to turn a bottle of water into a lamp.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: academia; science; technology; teotwawki
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To: mrsmith

BTW at the nursing home we had gas dryers. The washers were the pain. The detergent would eat you up if you weren’t careful.


221 posted on 12/28/2014 8:22:12 PM PST by cva66snipe ((Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?))
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To: familyop
For some reason, this thread brought this old song to mind...

"One Piece At A Time" - Johnny Cash


222 posted on 12/28/2014 8:28:26 PM PST by Heart-Rest ("Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in Thee." - St. Augustine)
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To: cva66snipe

Made service calls on laundry equipment for a while and 90% of the problems I had to solve were caused by the installers not the on-site maintenance personnel.

Learned electrical formulas from the ASROC manuals my father used to bring home to study. Don’t think that system ever worked reliably in the sixties. Must have been very frustrating for him.


223 posted on 12/28/2014 8:41:18 PM PST by mrsmith (Dumb sluts: Lifeblood of the Media, Backbone of the Democrat Party!)
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To: miss marmelstein
Yes, we baby-boomers don’t know a thing about this stuff! We have to call in somebody if the toilet acts up!!! How different from my father’s generation.

I dunno. I'm a lady, I'm a boomer, and I have more tools than Home Depot. Much depends on your lifestyle and your location. Personally I live in dread of not being able to fix stuff, because that makes me so helplessly dependent.

224 posted on 12/28/2014 9:28:16 PM PST by ottbmare (the OTTB mare, now a proud Marine Mom)
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To: Heart-Rest

I remember that. Funny song. :-)


225 posted on 12/28/2014 9:38:06 PM PST by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of corruption smelled around the planet.)
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To: Tired of Taxes

arth ping


226 posted on 12/29/2014 5:16:08 PM PST by Morgana ( Always a bit of truth in dark humor.)
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To: familyop; 2Jedismom; 6amgelsmama; AAABEST; aberaussie; AccountantMom; Aggie Mama; agrace; ...

ANOTHER REASON TO HOMESCHOOL

This ping list is for the “other” articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. This can occasionally be a fairly high volume list. Articles pinged to the Another Reason to Homeschool List will be given the keyword of ARTH. (If I remember. If I forget, please feel free to add it yourself)

The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. Metmom holds both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. I am filling in temporarily. Please freepmail if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.

227 posted on 12/29/2014 6:43:39 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: dsrtsage

Is that his fault or that of his parents?


228 posted on 12/29/2014 7:06:35 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: familyop; Morgana
When I was growing up, young men worked on their own cars and fixed things themselves.

Today, though, young people do build their own computers and do other things. For example, robotics is popular these days.

“But there is now a big maker community who are thinking hard about what we do with all of these gadgets. They are remaking and repurposing things.

Many homeschool (and other) families today are involved in the "Maker Movement" - which involves do-it-yourself hobbies, etc. Anyone - homeschooled, schooled, whatever - can find more information at Make Magazine.

229 posted on 12/29/2014 7:41:49 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: familyop

I’ve done timing belts on cars; oil changes and brake jobs are trivial.

I’ve built desktop PCs from components for 30+ years.

I recently replaced batteries in some iPhones to extend the life of the devices.

Home wiring is easy. I have a working knowledge of the NEC for residential application.

That’s just for starters.

In short, I am not the guy this article is about.


230 posted on 12/29/2014 7:56:46 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Maine Mariner

My father built the Heathkit color tv (with remote!). Took him a month. Funny thing though, he was never interested in watching it.


231 posted on 12/29/2014 8:15:13 PM PST by HandyDandy (Don't make-up stuff. It just wastes everybody's time.)
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To: ansel12

One of my early prototypes was when I turned my bicycle into a chopper. I used a hacksaw to saw the front forks off of my sisters bike. The hacksaw was one of my earliest and mostly used tools (it was my fathers, really). I turned my football helmet into a “quarterbacks” helmet by cutting of the excess face caging. Nowadays, of course, my go-to is the Sawsall, which I affectionately refer to as the Solves-all.


232 posted on 12/29/2014 8:27:25 PM PST by HandyDandy (Don't make-up stuff. It just wastes everybody's time.)
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To: HandyDandy

I like that “solves-all”, the next time you do a helmet, try a grinder, it works well for something like that also.


233 posted on 12/29/2014 9:15:16 PM PST by ansel12 (They hate us, because they ain't us.)
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To: familyop
I learned to fix every appliance in the home, even the refrig. I also learned to remodel the kitchen.
I learned young how to build the house, run the plumbing, string the electrical and grow a garden.
I even learned to build my own powerful computer for top 3d games on the cheap.

I also learned to rebuild a car, paint it and drop a nice cam in for that extra power.

The first step it trying...

234 posted on 12/29/2014 9:34:15 PM PST by MaxMax (Pay Attention and you'll be pissed off too! FIRE BOEHNER, NOW!)
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