breaking news Ben Heck can talk for more than 10 seconds at a time - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 28, 2014, 06:14:56 pm
content: Came across this on the BBC:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29034700I actually liked it, nice to see the man talk without a script for more than 10 seconds and act and sound natural. If only he was like that on his Ben Hek show, I guess that's what corporate sponsorship does for you........

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 01:10:53 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on September 29, 2014, 12:47:16 amI have still the assembly code to read Spectrum tapes on an original IBM PC that came in with a DIN cassette connector. I derived the timings from the Spectrum disassembly code and it worked as long as the IBM ran at 4.77MHz (I believe that's the standard clock speed, yup, just looked it up and that's what it was)

author: DavidDLC
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 01:21:03 am
content: "breaking news Ben Heck can talk for more than 10 seconds at a time"So disrespectful.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 01:44:24 am
content: Quote from: DavidDLC on September 29, 2014, 01:21:03 amWe all know how Simon feels about Ben Heck, it's like the song "Money for Nothing"

author: DavidDLC
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 01:47:31 am
content: No justification for being disrespectful.

author: DavidDLC
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 02:09:00 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on September 29, 2014, 02:00:29 amYou have to be kidding

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 02:22:47 am
content: Ben's in-video Element 14 ads might be scripted in some way (as you'd expect for succinctness, I'd do that too if I had such ads), but I don't think the rest of his show is, it seems very off-the-cuff to me.

author: David_AVD
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 03:14:53 am
content: I was (pleasantly) surprised that he doesn't push E14 product all the way though the show. Apart from the obvious advert breaks, there's very little mention of E14.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 06:09:18 am
content: Well I think after one video I gave up watching, he would start to talk, I'd get into what he was saying and then it would stop abruptly and jump as it was clearly edited so he only ever said once sentence at a time, it was worse than listening to a screen reader. It felt like trying to walk down the road but keep hitting a wall that was not supposed to be there. Maybe i should watch some of the other stuff as the style may have improved but what little I've seen just does not feel natural.I was just rather surprised to find this random piece on the BBC with no other mention of what was going on at the event near it, ah but notice the other guy in the tent and the last bit of the article, he was the element14 guy, oh that might just have had something to do with it.The article talks about how he has made a name for himself in america..... yea ? you mean youtube is not world wide ? very informed BBC reporter, or maybe the element 14 guy just dictated the whole article for them.

author: justanothercanuck
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 10:24:01 am
content: Some of the videos he made about the Ghost Squad pinball table aren't that bad. But I agree, TBHS reads like one big Element14 advertisement.

author: David_AVD
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 10:32:47 am
content: Quote from: justanothercanuck on September 29, 2014, 10:24:01 amWe must be watching a different show. Plenty of mention of Adafruit, etc and hardly any E14 pushing in the content sections.

author: VK5RC
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 10:36:57 am
content: TBHS seems to be going for 'punch'; rapid scene changes, lots of editing, different camera angles to give it 'energy'. Not too much E14 advertisement to me.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 10:38:17 am
content: I don't watch TV (at all not even have a license) so maybe it's just that I'm not used to any scripting and "acting" last time i watch a TV program at a friends house it was so scripted that I was not missing what i was not watching.If you want to see real TV shows that explain things nicely look at "secret life of machines" that was brilliant but the guys that did it were not presenters but engineers so they explained things clearly and naturally and if something went wrong they didn't cut it out it stayed so you could see what not to do.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 10:39:40 am
content: Quote from: VK5RC on September 29, 2014, 10:36:57 amwell if that is what floats peoples boat, just make me feel giddy.

author: timb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 11:02:21 am
content: Man, The Secret Life of Machines was *amazing*! It ran over here in the U.S. during the *very* early 90's on the Discovery Channel (back when they aired actual educational stuff, not this fucking "XXXTREME FISHING ICE ROAD AXEMEN" shit).I remember the episode on Fax Machines blowing my 7 year old mind.That show is a good part of the reason I started taking things apart and got more interested in electronics.Sent from my Smartphone

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 11:06:47 am
content: Quote from: timb on September 29, 2014, 11:02:21 amI saw it more recently when a friend and fellow forum member gave me the whole series on a DVD (They are free to download), the guy that did them is ingenious and seems to have quite a flare for explaining how things work. Even though I'm 31 i enjoyed them and I can see that at a young age they'd have gripped me.

author: VK5RC
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 11:13:43 am
content: I find Sir David Attenborough's videos some of the most beautiful but also informative, I could watch them again and again. His enthusiasm is infectious and genuine. His depth of knowledge is awe inspiring, no wonder the BBC did so well with people like him in senior admin positions.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 04:09:22 pm
content: "TBHS seems to be going for 'punch'; rapid scene changes, lots of editing, different camera angles to give it 'energy'. Not too much E14 advertisement to me."I lasted one and a half shows before giving up on the man for good. I then sat down and wrote the post 'How Good is the EEVBlog' with a new appreciation of Dave's work.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 04:59:44 pm
content: full text version for anyone interested:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29011895For UK members information there is a UK wide charity called "remap"http://remap.org.uk/that do a lot of the sort of thing that Ben seems to have done on modifying items for use by a disabled person. I'm a "panel member" myself as I know most members are mechanical people and i thought I'd put some electronics skills up if they are required. Might be something some of us may be interested in doing for fun.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 06:49:12 pm
content: I do not watch TV, but due to a quirk of Auntie SAUK I still have to cough up every year for a license. main reason is I once owned a set, and use one as a PC monitor. So, because it has a tuner that could be used to get the Soul And Brain Crusher junk, I have to pay, even if I do not watch them at all and only watch the other free to air channels or pay for digital content from Multichoice. That the number of pirate viewers outnumbers the legit ones 50 to one is not ever going to be addressed, mostly because of **redacted** reasons.At least the Beeb content is watchable, along with the older stuff.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 07:30:37 pm
content: I don't watch TV even if it's free.It's news to me that you need to pay to watch TV, should be the other way aroundAnd you can pay less and watch black and white (like 1/3rd of color TV)What it's weird is that if you evade the license you potentially go to jail even if it's never been enforced. Although I would have to agree that watching TV should be considered a Crime, licensed or not.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 08:12:46 pm
content: Some TV is OK. My favorite show is Jeopardy. I also like to watch "How it's made". There is some educational TV if one searches enough.

author: RobertHolcombe
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2014, 09:48:19 pm
content: I suppose I'm lucky/too young to even know what a television license is, I never knew that was a thing

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2014, 05:28:55 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on September 29, 2014, 11:30:02 pmDon't forget shaking cameras. Commonly used to try to create some sense of "reality" when the story is razor thin and unbelievable. I.e. a sure sign that it is high time to turn off the TV.Actually, shaking a camera is a disgrace to the profession of cameraman. For a century their predecessors worked hard to create good, sharp and stable pictures, even under extreme conditions like in war zones. Then these guys can't help their drug habit and declare shaking cameras a new kind of art.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2014, 03:36:47 pm
content: The one thing that really annoys me on TV are the needless special effects. Discovery Channel showed a documentary series on weapons development a while ago and during every interview they changed at least once to a shot of the expert filmed from floor level and converted to a black & white image.Black and whiteOn a High Definition color channelAs for the constant edits and changes of shot I invite you to watch Citizen Kane one Saturday afternoon. Orson Welles took some time producing his masterpiece and the average shot length is over a minute. They also dug a hole in a studio floor at one point just to get the angle of a shot right but that's another story.