Comments by "Zetectic" (@zetectic7968) on "Technology Connections" channel.

  1. Fascinating! I was never a very good typist with a typewriter ☹ I remember back in the early 90' or maybe the very late 80's a friends aunt had a Smith Corona ( maybe another brand) This had about a 4" LCD screen that would display 3 lines of text. A whole page could be typed into the memory, reviewed, edited and then with a touch of a button be printed out. Actually I think the memory could go up-to about 10 pages or so many characters. As for standardisation, we are left with QWERTY because it was a way of slowing down typist to prevent key jams. In the past I read about a DVORAK layout but never got round to trying it out
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  2. You get what you pay for! So glad I bought a good LG fridge/freezer with auto-defrost & a vacation setting. I think it is 20 years old now or there abouts.
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  3. I have CFL's in use that are over 11 years old. I want to switch to LED's but the damn things won't die plus I had a supply of various spares.
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  4. Were you referring to the "Walkie-Talkie" building in London ? Blistering paint on parked cars?
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  5. Gas mantles I used in the distant past were fragile & easily damaged, so frequent replacement was not uncommon. Here in the UK coal gas was also called Town Gas as towns & cities had gasworks to provide it locally. This gas was often used when people wanted to commit suicide by "sticking their head in the oven". As a child an elderly family friend still has gas lamps in his hallway.
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  6. Worst decision I made, buying a 110 camera. The negative were so small that only 6 x 4 photos looked any good. Never had a camera that could read DX codes ( very old school SLR). Interesting video though. Problem now is find places that will develop film.
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  7. Shops had awnings when I was a child. They also stop the sun fading/bleaching fabrics & doing similar to wooden furniture. Retractable ones would give more flexibility.
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  8. Don't buy one of those hot water dispensers for $100+! Boil a kettle and make a Thermos flask of your preferred hot beverage. A lot cheaper and just as convenient plus more energy efficient.
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  9. I only used flash bulbs a few times but my Kodak Instamatic used flashcubes which were more expensive than flash bulbs. Moving to an electronic flashgun in a hot-shoe you then had to carry spare batteries as 4 x AA wouldn't last for a whole roll of 36 exposures.
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  10. The 2 linked smoke alarms were replaced last year with the same brand of ionisation variety. As I live in a rented place I had no choice. In the UK I was not aware that photo-electric ones existed. They certainly don't seem to be widely advertised
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  11. These are pure 💩 on external doors & need constant adjustment because there are affected by temperature, wind, a heavy door and people holding them open as they slip in or out thus they slam or don't close.
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  12. In the UK in the 90's uplighters became a thing and in new build they installed 5 amp sockets/outlets controlled by a light switch by the door. Said 5 amp circuit need a different plug, small with 3 round pins so it could be plugged into a regular 13 amp socket. Trouble was in rented apartments they did want to put the effort in to using the specific plugs and so they just used the regular sockets & it is then walking into a room in the dark to find how to turn on the lamp. Personally I've never had a problem with ceiling lights supplemented by table/standard lamps as necessary or to taste.
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  13.  @zechsblack5891  I guess it has to be all or nothing. Thanks for the story
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  14. Years ago living in London, England a man from California had an apartment in the building. He was adamant that the UK was backward still having switches on electrical sockets/outlets and that our Bayonet Cap light bulbs (Frankenstein bulbs, his words) were dangerous compared to USA ES ones. Maybe he thought that the 2 locking pins at the base were live ( they aren't). Spotlight bulbs (R40 & R60) used in the kitchens & Bathrooms used Edison Screw bulbs and because of the heat it wasn't uncommon that the screw would detach from the bulb when it came time to replace a failed bulbs. This meant turning off the power and using pliers to extract the thread base from the lamp-holder: this very rarely happen with a BC bulb.
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  15. Do you keep you beans in the freezer? Scale build up can be bad in a very hard water area and will either impact [performance or shorten the life of the machine. An erstwhile American friend used the cold drip method to make a concentrate, kept in the fridge, from a pound of coffee . She would then use a measured dose to make single cups. As quick as instant but much better.
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  16. In the UK dimmer switches are so 20th Century. You can still buy them but they are a niche product. When CFL bulbs took over the market, most could not work with dimmer switches. LED bulbs are here but expensive. I still have 6 CFL spares & the ones in the lamp-holders are 5+ years old and still going strong, in fact the one in the bathroom is 9 years old.
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  17. 2 Not so fun facts. 1 There was a long public campaign to have electric kettles in the UK come with shorter or coiled(springy?) flexes/cords as you children were reaching up to the counter top, grabbing what hung over the edge & ending up with boiling water over them. 2 Back in the 20th Century it was usual to by an electrical appliance with no plug just bare wires at the end of the cord. People would sometimes wired the plug incorrectly (not attach the earth) & and not change the fuse to the appropriate rating as all plug came with a 13 amp fuse as standard thus it was no good for lamps etc that had a draw of 750 watts or less. Happily all appliances (and extension cords) come with a pre-fitted mould ed& correctly fused plug. However their are some exceptions when some do now arrive with a EU plug & adapter for UK
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  18. Hi UK here 👋Government is trying to encourage people to install heat pumps. Trouble is that with additional insulation, large radiators it can cost $35k to 50K and government will only give you a grant of 10k max. This put them out of reach for at least 50% of the populations factoring residents of apartment blocks (very common in big cities). I grew up in a house with coal fires and no central heating, so wearing a sweater in the house was a must. Paraffin heaters helped and the moisture produced went up the multiple chimneys. Propane heaters can be bought here but again it produces additional moisture so condensation/damp can be a problem with continuos use. I have watch a few other videos. It seems that a COP of 3 is deemed good for the UK. Another point raised was to have the system properly commissioned to ensure max efficiency and that seems to be a widespread problem than not enough installers have the knowledge or training/expertise to do it properly. Thanks for the video as always. Look forward to the next instalment.
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  19. These are the bane of city life! Due to careless drivers & idiotic pedestrians who can't be aware of their surroundings & beware of hazards. Even worse are the constant announcement "vehicle reversing"
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  20. Because I'm old I can remember the family car with semaphore arm indicators. They would sometimes get stuck & not come out. Someone would be told to thump the central pillar until it released. Oh & that same car had a pedal on the floor for the high beam. How far we have come. The driving test not longer has hand signal either.
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