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Obsolete skills

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:17 pm
by Snowfire
Were you once able to set the timer on a VCR (I wasn't but my kids were), balance the tone arm of a turntable, use a logarithm table or even do long division ?

Here's a site that will bring a memory or two back or re-ignite the desire to adjust the horizontal hold on the TV

skills:skills [ObsoleteSkills]

Obsolete skills

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:49 pm
by Bryn Mawr
Snowfire;1416480 wrote: Were you once able to set the timer on a VCR (I wasn't but my kids were), balance the tone arm of a turntable, use a logarithm table or even do long division ?

Here's a site that will bring a memory or two back or re-ignite the desire to adjust the horizontal hold on the TV

skills:skills [ObsoleteSkills]


That's frightening - I know most of them :wah:

Obsolete skills

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:51 pm
by Betty Boop
Ooooh there's a few there, like using carbon paper, just reminded me how much I actually used a pen in most of my jobs instead of a keyboard. Remember sitting with the adding machine for hours, never looked at the machine, just the list of numbers and the fingers did the work. Telexing, boy was I glad when the fax machine was invented :wah:

Obsolete skills

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 3:55 pm
by FG-administator
Snowfire;1416480 wrote: Were you once able to set the timer on a VCR (I wasn't but my kids were), balance the tone arm of a turntable, use a logarithm table or even do long division ?
I had my book of log tables in my hand this lunchtime and I balanced the tone arm of my deck two days ago. I'm not sure I can cope with opening the link, it might upset me.

How can anyone not be able to do long division?

Obsolete skills

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:02 pm
by Betty Boop
FG;1416502 wrote: I had my book of log tables in my hand this lunchtime and I balanced the tone arm of my deck two days ago. I'm not sure I can cope with opening the link, it might upset me.

How can anyone not be able to do long division?


Because we've happily forgotten!!



I lie, I remember the pain of long division.

Obsolete skills

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 5:23 pm
by Bruv
Long division ?

I once put garden worms through the cogs of my Mum's mangle,my Dad thought I was a mass murderer.

I am not proud of it..

Obsolete skills

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:08 am
by FG-administator
I finally manned up and opened the link. I'm sure there's still people who do most of those things.

Adding entries might be a good idea. There's no mention of Veronica, for example.

I remember how to determine spectrophotometric composition by eye before Lovibond automated their Colorimeters, for example. That was an art in itself but it's so obsolete it's almost forgotten. I was in the Science Museum last year and the number of tools in their display which I'd used in my youth was startling. And yes, they did have a spectroscopic colorimeter.

Obsolete skills

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:20 am
by Oscar Namechange
Bruv;1416514 wrote: Long division ?

I once put garden worms through the cogs of my Mum's mangle,my Dad thought I was a mass murderer.

I am not proud of it..
Don't feel bad... I used to put worms up the gas taps in the chemistry lab at school.

Obsolete skills

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:32 am
by Snowfire
I've knapped flint. Got a few scars to show for it.

Logarithms were a complete mystery to me at school. A dark art that only certain people were capable of, like understanding simultaneous equations.

There are those of us who use our brains and those of us who use our hands. Like I said, I've knapped flint

Obsolete skills

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:41 am
by Oscar Namechange
Snowfire;1416598 wrote: I've knapped flint. Got a few scars to show for it.

Logarithms were a complete mystery to me at school. A dark art that only certain people were capable of, like understanding simultaneous equations.

There are those of us who use our brains and those of us who use our hands. Like I said, I've knapped flint I can still skim stones.

Obsolete skills

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:46 am
by Snowfire
oscar;1416602 wrote: I can still skim stones.


Bet you can sour milk too

Obsolete skills

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 11:08 am
by Oscar Namechange
Snowfire;1416603 wrote: Bet you can sour milk too You;re heading for a slap young man...