1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Get in text with technology with tech Stuff from half 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. Come with me and you'll 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: be in a world of pure imagination and tech. I'm 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: an executive producer here at hell Stuff Works. I love 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: all things tech, and typically I would cover a specific 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: topic at this point, but instead I'm going to look 8 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: at a bunch of different topics have been sent to 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: me over the past several months that perhaps don't merit 10 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: a full episode, but I could group them together and 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: actually address them instead of just leaving them to hang 12 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: in the air or in the ether. So I'm gonna 13 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: take a several handful of requests from various listeners to 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: chat about very different topics and kind of give you 15 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: a quick overview of each one some of them. One 16 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: of them in particular, I will do a full episode 17 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: on later, but we'll mention that when we get there. 18 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: First listener Marcus wrote in and asked if I could 19 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: cover fido net. So, for those of you who have 20 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: been around for a while, you may be familiar with 21 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: this term, and so Marcus said, this is for you, 22 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: what the heck is fido net? Well, from the name, 23 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: you might think it's a computer network for dogs, and 24 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: in fact the logo is an as key art image 25 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: of a dog, but that's not what the network actually is. First, 26 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: fido net is closely related to bulletin board systems or 27 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: bbs is. I've talked about these in the past, but 28 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: let me give a quick summary of what those are, 29 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: and then we'll get back to phido net. Bolton board 30 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: Systems developed not long after the home computer market got established. 31 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: If you've listened to my episodes about the early computer days, 32 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: the home computer days, you know that hobbyists made up 33 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: a large chunk of the computer owning population. Many of 34 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: those hobbyists weren't just interested in getting a new toy 35 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: or a fancy calculating machine. They wanted to experiment with 36 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: what they could do with these machines, and they wanted 37 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: their computer to be able to communicate with other computers. 38 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: In places like California, there were hobby clubs like the 39 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: Homebrew Computer Club, but in other places it could be 40 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: hard to find someone who shared your interests. It was 41 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: just difficult to track anyone else down. So what was 42 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: needed was a means of communication between different machines, even 43 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: if they were separated by hundreds of miles from each other. 44 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: These days, we use the Internet to send and retrieve 45 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: information all across the world through millions of interconnected machines. 46 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 1: But back in the late seventies and early eighties, the 47 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: Internet was still kind of taking shape. It was really young, 48 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: and it was not accessible to most people. It's pretty 49 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: much a network connecting some government and academic institutions, and 50 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: slowly a few other machines were growing and joining the network, 51 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: and that was about it. The average person didn't have 52 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: Internet access. Heck, at that time, the average person had 53 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: no idea that the Internet was even a thing at all. 54 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: In nine, a couple of members of the Chicago area 55 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: Computer Hobbyists Exchange also known as CASH, began to experiment 56 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: with their newsletter archives. Then this crazy idea, why not 57 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: use a microcomputer, you know, a personal computer or home 58 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: computer to host the newsletter. The computer would have a modem, 59 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: a dial up modem that hooks into the telephone line, 60 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: and members could use their own computers that had dial 61 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: up modems to call into the host machine and read 62 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: the newsletter archives. If this sounds a bit like a 63 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: rudimentary Internet, You're not far off. The Internet uses a 64 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: similar structure, with machines acting as servers serving data to 65 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: other machines that are acting as clients. With a BBS, 66 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: the host computer is a server and the users computer 67 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: is the client, except this was a one to one 68 00:03:55,280 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: connection in most cases, not a persistent Internet. A cash 69 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: club called their hosted system Ward and Randy's Computerized bulletin 70 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: Board System, which was frequently shortened to c b b 71 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: S that would later become BBS. This was named Afterward 72 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: Christensen and Randy Seuss. Those were the two who created 73 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 1: this software. They wrote up a report about their idea 74 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: and how they did it, and a magazine called byte 75 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: b y t E ran the story. More hobbyists began 76 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,359 Speaker 1: to create similar systems on their home machines. Now over time, 77 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: these systems became more sophisticated. Programmers began to make hosting 78 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: software that would allow for more complicated features and operations. 79 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: By the mid nineteen eighties, typical bbs could host messages, 80 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: including a simple version of email. You could log into 81 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: the host machine, You could look for other members who 82 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: also used that service, and you can leave them messages. 83 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: But it was all limited to that host machine. You 84 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: couldn't leave messages for someone on a front BBS because 85 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: there was no connection at that point between the two. 86 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: So a BBS was limited by the host computer, and 87 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: the users were often limited by which bbs is were 88 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: within their dialing network. So if you wanted to log 89 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: into a local BBS, it wasn't a big deal. You 90 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: could do that. You could look at the user list 91 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: and you'd say, Oh, that's my buddy Bill. I'm gonna 92 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: leave Bill a message and use the hosting service to 93 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: leave a message for your buddy Bill. Bill. When Bill 94 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: logs in can see that he's got a message, he 95 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: sees into Oh, Sally sent me a message, and sends 96 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: a message back to Sally, and so on and so forth. 97 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: If you want to log into a different BBS, you 98 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 1: had to call a totally different number, the number for 99 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: that particular machine, and then you would connect into it 100 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: and you could navigate and leave messages to those users. 101 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: Some of these bbs is might be in other area codes, 102 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 1: as in telephone area codes, and back in those days, 103 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: you had to pay for a long distance and the 104 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: rates were depending and upon lots of different things, but 105 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:03,919 Speaker 1: it boiled down to the fact that most people weren't 106 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: willing to spend lots of money to connect to other 107 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: bbs is, so you were kind of limited in your options. 108 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: This created an opportunity for programmers and BBS operators. Users 109 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: loved getting access to files, systems, and games that were 110 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: on other machines, but they didn't necessarily have the money 111 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,719 Speaker 1: to dial up for a long distance call to connect 112 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: their computer to another one that was across the country. 113 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: Kristensen and Seuss had proposed a way to network bbs 114 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: is to allow for information exchange, but it was another 115 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: enthusiast named Tom Jennings who actually made it happen. In 116 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: four Jennings created a BBS hosting program he called fidoh. 117 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: This was for computers running on MS DOSS. As MS 118 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: DOSS was establishing itself as a power player in the 119 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: home computer space, more BBS operators began to adopt Fido, 120 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: and so Jennings added in a little feature in his 121 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: BBS hosting program m. It would let to Phido bbs 122 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: is call each other, so as long as they were 123 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: both running the phyto software, they could communicate. The call 124 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: would be automatic, and upon making a connection, the two 125 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: separate bbs is could exchange data, meaning messages in this case, 126 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: so messages from one user to another. This would effectively 127 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: allow users from one BBS to send mail to people 128 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: connecting to the other bbs. So if you, Sally wanted 129 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: to send a message to Bill, but Bill was using 130 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: a different BBS, and your BBS and Bills BBS, we're 131 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: able to talk to each other. Suddenly you could do that, 132 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: when as before, you could only leave messages for the 133 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: people who logged into your specific BBS. This was revolutionary. 134 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: You were no longer restricted to chatting with people that 135 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: were only in your own community. It was kind of 136 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: like opening up a highway between two previously isolated cities. 137 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: People could come and go and make new connections. And 138 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: by adding more bbs is to the system, you could 139 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: increase this even greater. Right, you could suddenly leave messages 140 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: for people at all sorts of different places. Administrators had 141 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: to figure out a few ways to make the system 142 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: efficient and reduce costs as much as they could. That 143 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: included coming up with ways to compress data so it 144 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: could be sent quickly across dial up modems, and since 145 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: exchanges frequently happened between systems that had to call one 146 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: another over long distance. Time was money, so you wanted 147 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: to cut that time down as much as possible, thus 148 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: the need for compression strategies, because the smaller the file, 149 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: the less time it takes to transmit it across the 150 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: telephone lines. Phone companies also would charge different rates for 151 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: a long distance at different times of the day, which 152 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: would lead administrators to try and tweak their systems to 153 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: connect to one another at the low points of the day, 154 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 1: typically in the middle of the night, although the middle 155 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: of the night in one place is not the middle 156 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: of the night in other places, so even that required 157 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: some tricky work. This meant that you could have technically 158 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: received a new message, but you weren't able to see 159 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: it yet. So let's say you've got a friend named Julie. 160 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: Julie lives across the country, and she writes you a 161 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: really nice letter on her BBS. You log into your 162 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 1: local BBS, but because your system and julie system have 163 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:16,079 Speaker 1: not yet called each other that day to exchange information, 164 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:19,719 Speaker 1: you don't yet see Julie's message. It lives on her 165 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: native BBS but has not yet made the transition over 166 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:27,079 Speaker 1: to yours, so it would look as if Julie hadn't 167 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: written you yet, when in fact she had. It's just 168 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: that the two systems have not sinked up yet at 169 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: that point. Once they did sink you would see her 170 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: letter once you checked your mail. So it wasn't quite 171 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: as seamless as web mail would be later on, but 172 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: it was still far faster than using something like snail mail. 173 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: By the early ninety nineties, fido net had twenty thousand 174 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: bbs s or nodes connected to it. By this time, 175 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: phido net could support many different inter networked features. Websites 176 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: could end up adopting some of the popular features later on, 177 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: such as message forums. Jeff Brush cre aided a system 178 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: called Echo Mail in nineteen six that was essentially a 179 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: message board where people could post a message and anyone 180 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: connected to one of the bbs is on that network 181 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: could respond to that message, so it could become all 182 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: sorts of discussions, just like you see on forums and 183 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: message boards today on the web. Fido neet kept going 184 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,199 Speaker 1: strong as online service providers like a O L Online 185 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,959 Speaker 1: showed up later, but once internet access became more common 186 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: and broadband access became a thing, the BBSs saw a 187 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: steady drop in activity many node administrators chose to take 188 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: their machines offline or they didn't bother to fix them 189 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,200 Speaker 1: once a machine broke down. Phido neet still exists to 190 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: this day, however, with computers still sending information back and 191 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: forth to each other. It interconnects with the Internet, meaning 192 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: it's not entirely separate from the network of networks. And 193 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: that's the general skinny on fido NEETs. So we're gonna 194 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: now move on to the next topic, and this one 195 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,360 Speaker 1: is about agile work environments in general and Scrum in particular, 196 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: and it's a request from listener Lucien. So if you're 197 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: a software developer, if you're in that business, you're you've 198 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: likely at least heard about agile methodology and agile processes, 199 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: or maybe you've gone through the actual process of adopting 200 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: agile methodology. But for the rest of us the term 201 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: might sound a little mystical. So what is agile methodology? Basically, 202 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: it's just a framework for getting work done. It's a process, 203 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: if you will, to follow when you're working on developing software. 204 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,199 Speaker 1: There have been many proposed methods of streamlining the development 205 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:41,959 Speaker 1: process so that a development team is making the best 206 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 1: use of its time and talent. Scrum technically predates the 207 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: current versions of Agile, but many of the concepts from 208 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: scrum have been adopted by the Agile framework. Ikuhiro No 209 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: Naka and hiro Taka Takuchi proposed the process in an 210 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,680 Speaker 1: article in Harvard Business Review back in nineteen six. They 211 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: elaborated on the idea over time, likening software development to 212 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: a game of rugby. Now, in rugby, players try to 213 00:12:10,559 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: move a ball down a field into an opponent's end zone, 214 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: and they can pass the ball back and forth to 215 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,439 Speaker 1: one another. Not not in a forward line, but they 216 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: can pass it back and forth to one another in 217 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: an effort to try and get the ball to that 218 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: end zone. That basic concept plays over to software development, 219 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: in which part of a team, or a small team 220 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: within a team, might have control of the project the ball, 221 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: in other words, for one part of the process before 222 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: passing it over to another mini team to keep the 223 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: development moving forward. By the ninet nineties, this method had 224 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 1: taken on the name scrum, which is also the word 225 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: for a massive rugby players trying to gain possession of 226 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: a ball during a rugby game. If you've ever seen 227 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: anything that looks like a big huddle in rugby, and 228 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 1: it involves both teams and they're all kind of pushing 229 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: against each other's shoulder to shoulder. That's a scrum. The 230 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: development moves forward in phases called sprints, and each sprint 231 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: can take anywhere between a week to a month or more. 232 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: There are three big roles within the scrum methodology, and 233 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: everyone falls into one of those categories. First, you have 234 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: the product owner. Now, this is the person who defines 235 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: what the software is supposed to be, what it can do, 236 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: what it looks like once it's all finished. The product 237 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: owner is supposed to think of the software in terms 238 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,679 Speaker 1: of how the final customer is going to experience that software. 239 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: Now that customer might be an average person, or it 240 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,319 Speaker 1: might be another company, but whatever it is, the product 241 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 1: owner is the one who defines what the software is 242 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: supposed to be able to do. So let's just say 243 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,839 Speaker 1: that it's a spreadsheet program. The product owner would be 244 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: the one who has to say, all right, this program 245 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: has to be able to record and tally long lists 246 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: of figures and run various operations on those figures. But 247 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: the product owner probably and say also it should play 248 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: music and display headlines of breaking news. The product owner 249 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 1: sets the expectations for the rest of the team as 250 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,840 Speaker 1: to what the software should ultimately do at the end 251 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,839 Speaker 1: of the day, and a good product owner won't make 252 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: lots of changes to that expectation as the project moves forward, 253 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: Otherwise the team will have to deal with the dreaded 254 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 1: feature creep. If you listen to the Apple episodes, you 255 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: heard me talk a lot about feature creep. That's when 256 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: typically well meaning but perhaps naive stakeholders add more requirements 257 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: to an increasingly bloated and complicated project. It also makes 258 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: it harder to actually make the project work. The more 259 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: stuff you add to it, the more opportunities there are 260 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: for stuff to go wrong. Next, you've got your scrum master. Now, 261 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,920 Speaker 1: this should be a totally different person from the product owner. 262 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: The scrum master's job is to run interference for the 263 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: rest of the team to smooth out potential obstacles, to 264 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: make sure the team has the assets they need to 265 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: get their work done on. They're kind of a facilitator. 266 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: They're also in charge of making sure the team is 267 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: able to follow the scrum philosophy, which relies very heavily 268 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: on self organization. Now, if you've ever been a work 269 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: environment in which self organization played a big part and 270 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: you were new to it, you might have experienced some 271 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: difficulty in adjusting at first. It is something that some 272 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: people find really challenging. The scrum master is supposed to 273 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: help team members who are feeling a bit lost. The 274 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: final role is what the majority of the people on 275 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: any given project fall into, which is the development team. 276 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 1: These are the people responsible for creating the product according 277 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: to the expectations of the product owner. Typically, the team 278 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: works on incremental segments of the development process. Each increment 279 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: represents a sprint, and they might be implementing a new 280 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: feature or developing something totally different that's supposed to integrate 281 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: with the rest of the software later on. It can 282 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: really depend upon whatever the software development project is. Most 283 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:06,680 Speaker 1: projects require several sprints, and each sprint has a predetermined deadline. 284 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: So when I say sprints take maybe a week to 285 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: more than a month, that deadline is set ahead of 286 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: time based upon the assessments of the product owner and 287 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: the scrum master. They take a look and they say, well, 288 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: based upon what we need and based upon what our 289 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: team is able to do, we expect that this part 290 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: of the project is going to take two weeks, so 291 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: we're gonna set that sprint time for two weeks. Ideally, 292 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: each sprint ends with a fully developed increment in the 293 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: product that would be ready to go if it were 294 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: fully realized piece of software. So, in other words, if 295 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: you are developing a specific feature for a software program, 296 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: at the end of that sprint, that feature should be 297 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: completely done, and if everything else were ready to go, 298 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 1: you would say, let's ship today. You're not supposed to 299 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: have something that's partly finished or it's dependent upon something else. 300 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: Ideally it's all self contained. Each sprint begins with a 301 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: meeting to define requirements and expectations, and it ends with 302 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: another meeting to review how the process worked. In addition 303 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: to those bookend meetings, the development team has a daily scrum, 304 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: which is a short fifteen minute meeting that's meant to 305 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: review what work has been done already, what work still 306 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: needs to be done, and what could possibly cause problems 307 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: in getting work done for that day. So if you say, hey, 308 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: I need to do X, Y and Z by the 309 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: end of today, but I can't or it's gonna be 310 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: hard because of this other thing, the scrum master can 311 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: try and take care of that other thing and remove 312 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: that obstacle from your path. Then you rinse and repeat 313 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,239 Speaker 1: until the full project is finished and ready to go. 314 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: And that's scrum in a nutshell. There's a lot more 315 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,679 Speaker 1: that has been said and written about it extensively, and 316 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: it's not a one size fits all solution to software development. 317 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: For example, if you've got a team that has a 318 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: lot of ultra specialized workers, people who really focus in 319 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:08,480 Speaker 1: on a narrow but deep set of software development skills, 320 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: scrum probably won't work so well because it's really meant 321 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: for people who are more general purpose programmers. Uh. They 322 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: have to be really flexible and be able to move 323 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: from one thing to another. If you've got someone who's 324 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: got a kind of a razor sharp focus on a 325 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: very deep subject, they probably can't be as flexible as 326 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: other people. And it's not to say that one type 327 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: of developer is better than another. They both have their 328 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: uses dependent upon what it is you need to create. Uh. 329 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: So this particular methodology, while it might be ideal for 330 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 1: certain organizations and the types of software they develop, may 331 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: not work at all for others. And I can tell 332 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: you having observed it at firsthand. Anytime you implement a 333 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: new methodology, a new process. There are so many growing 334 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: pains and so much a smith It has to happen, 335 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: and typically the people who are going through it hate 336 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: it when it first starts because change is scary and 337 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: no one likes to have to do it. Uh So 338 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: it's it's one of those things where is it an 339 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: effective tool. It's completely dependent upon your circumstance. Also, I 340 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: should add that while there's anecdotal reports about scrum and 341 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: agile methodologies improving workflow, there's no empirical evidence necessarily that 342 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: actually states that these approaches to work are inherently better 343 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,719 Speaker 1: than others. It may just be that it is a 344 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: way for you to write down how projects get done 345 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: so that you have a better way of keeping track 346 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: of it, which has its own value, But it doesn't 347 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: necessarily mean that this particular approach is going to get 348 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: things done in a more efficient and uh cost effective manner. 349 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: I've got a lot more to say in this listener 350 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: grab bag episode, some more subjects to cover, but before 351 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: I do that, let's take a quick break to thank 352 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: our sponsor. One of the other requests I received recently 353 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:16,879 Speaker 1: was in response to the show I did about the 354 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: history of clocks. The request was to talk about atmospheric clocks, 355 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: a particular type of clock that harnesses physics to keep 356 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: the clock wound and keeping time properly. And it's pretty 357 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: cool stuff. So here's to you, climber z z z 358 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: whomever you may be. First, a quick review. For a 359 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 1: mechanical clock. To keep time, you need a few elements 360 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: in place. You need some sort of way to generate 361 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: the force necessary to turn the hands on the clock's dial. 362 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: This force should be steady, but it also cannot be 363 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,200 Speaker 1: constant if we want it to be easy to read 364 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:53,879 Speaker 1: the time on the clock. If the hands are constantly 365 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,919 Speaker 1: in motion, even if they're moving slowly, it's harder to 366 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: read the time. So there needs to be a method 367 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: of regulating the movement of the clock pieces to make 368 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 1: it simpler and more regular to tell time, and to 369 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: make sure you're you're telling time accurately. Enter the escapement. 370 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 1: Now it sounds like a trap door or something, but 371 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 1: an escapement is actually a device that helps regulate the 372 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: motion of a clock's innards. And there are a lot 373 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,919 Speaker 1: of different types of escapements, but they all basically do 374 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: the same thing. They act as a break for the 375 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,200 Speaker 1: other parts of a clock, and they released that break 376 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: at regular intervals to allow the parts to move and 377 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: for the hands to progress around the clock dial. So 378 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 1: let me explain with an example, and this is when 379 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: I talked about in that previous episode about the history 380 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: of clocks. I mentioned that there was a famous water 381 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: clock tower built in China around the year ten ninety four, 382 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: which was eight years after they had started building the thing. 383 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: It took eight years to build it. The inventor of 384 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 1: this tower was a genius named Sue Song. He used 385 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: a water wheel to transmit force from flowing water to 386 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: the clock's mechanisms. Now, imagine that you've got a vertically 387 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,880 Speaker 1: aligned water wheel, and around the rim of the water 388 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: wheel are buckets. As water falls from above, it fills 389 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,479 Speaker 1: the bucket on the furthest edge of the water wheel, 390 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: and the weight of the filled bucket causes the wheel 391 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: to rotate. Now, if you didn't have a break, the 392 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,719 Speaker 1: wheel would rotate rather haphazardly. Su Song knew this, so 393 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: he built in a simple but effective system on the 394 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: opposite side where the water was flowing. He created a 395 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,880 Speaker 1: weighted lever. On one end of this lever, you would 396 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 1: have a little bit of a weight, and on the 397 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: other end, it would actually rest against the backside of 398 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: the bucket opposite the one being filled. If you're having 399 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:46,120 Speaker 1: trouble imagining this, draw a circle. Then draw some simple buckets, 400 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: all facing along the same direction. So let's say we're 401 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:54,639 Speaker 1: making the buckets face counter clockwise. So the bucket on 402 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: the rightmost side of your wheel should be facing upwards, 403 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 1: open style. The bucket on the leftmost side of the 404 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: wheel should be faced down, so it's the bottom of 405 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: the bucket that's toward the top of the circle. The 406 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: lever would rest against that downward facing buckets bottom. It 407 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,880 Speaker 1: would stop the water wheel from rotating freely. The lever 408 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: was weighted so that would only hold back the wheel 409 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:21,440 Speaker 1: until the bucket on the other side had a sufficient 410 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: amount of water in it. At that point, the bucket 411 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: with water would weigh enough to turn the wheel, lifting 412 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 1: the lever up, and the wheel would rotate one position. 413 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 1: And as the bucket cleared that lever, after it's lifted 414 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 1: it up, because it's on a little pivot, the lever 415 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:42,880 Speaker 1: would fall back down and stop the next downward facing bucket, 416 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,639 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, some of the water would slash out of 417 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: the bucket that just moved downward the filled bucket, and 418 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: there'd be a new bucket in the place of the 419 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,040 Speaker 1: old one that would be filling up with water, and 420 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: the whole system would start again. Now, that was the 421 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: escapement that lever because it controlled the rotation of the 422 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,120 Speaker 1: water wheel. As clockmakers created more sophisticated clocks, the escapement 423 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: took on other forms, but its purpose remained the same, 424 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,560 Speaker 1: to create a means to keep the rotation of a 425 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 1: clock's inner works regular according to the divisions of time 426 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: we humans have arbitrarily set as being meaningful. One other 427 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,679 Speaker 1: thing that did change was how clockmakers would provide the 428 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: force necessary to operate the clock. Sue Song was using 429 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: falling water and a water wheel, but most clocks use 430 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: some other methods, such as a wound spring. Winding such 431 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: a time piece means you are curling metal ribbon, creating 432 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: stored energy. So take a piece of metal, cut it 433 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: into a ribbon, usually use steel, and then you curl 434 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 1: that into a coil, and you keep curling the coil 435 00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: tighter and tighter and tighter. The metal ribbon quote unquote 436 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 1: wants to return to its natural state of being a 437 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,240 Speaker 1: straight piece of metal the spring under tension creates the 438 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: force that drives the rest of the clock's gears. As 439 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: it starts to unwind, it provides the energy needed to 440 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 1: turn the other gears of the clock. But eventually this spring, 441 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: often called a main spring, well unwind to a point 442 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: where it no longer can provide the force needed to 443 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,919 Speaker 1: keep accurate time, which is when you have to wind 444 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 1: the clock back up again. If you've ever had a 445 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: watch that did this, you know what I mean. Like, 446 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: once a day, you'd wind your watch, which would actually 447 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,560 Speaker 1: coil this spring tighter so that it would continue to 448 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 1: unwind and provide the energy necessary to make everything else move. 449 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:40,679 Speaker 1: But what if you came up with a way that 450 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: didn't require you to wind the clock on a regular basis. 451 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: What if the clock was somehow able to wind itself 452 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:53,040 Speaker 1: using physics. Enter the atmosphere clock, also known as the utmost. 453 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: There was a man named Jean Leon Reuter, who was 454 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: a Swiss engineer who was living in Paris at the time, 455 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: who invented the device in nineteen twenty eight. He wanted 456 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: to create a clock that was self winding, and to 457 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: do so he looked to the weather. Specifically, he figured 458 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: if he could create a device that depended upon variations 459 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: in air pressure due to changes in temperature, he could 460 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: provide the winding motion necessary to keep a clock in 461 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,879 Speaker 1: good working order. The heart of the ATMOS clock is 462 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: a sealed chamber filled with an expandable fluid or gas. 463 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,439 Speaker 1: The original patent suggests mercury, but more recent ATMOS clocks 464 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,760 Speaker 1: use gases like ethel chloride, which boils at fifty four 465 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit or a little more than twelve degrees celsius. 466 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: It's this gas that provides the force needed to wind 467 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: the clock. The gas will expand or contract with changes 468 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: in temperature. Higher temperatures make the gas expand, and lower 469 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: ones will make it contract to the point where it 470 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: will condense. If you get the gas cold enough, it'll 471 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: condense into a liquid. The gas will respond to small 472 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: variations in temperature, which is good because these clocks were 473 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: meant to be stored indoors, where temperature variations are less 474 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: extreme than they are outside, so little changes in temperature 475 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:14,199 Speaker 1: can provide enough energy to keep the clock wound for 476 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: a couple of days. In some cases, expanding gas can 477 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 1: do a lot of work, like pushing against stuff, so 478 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: if you either put something in that sealed chamber to 479 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: push against, or you make the chamber itself part of 480 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,199 Speaker 1: a mechanism. So it's kind of like bellows that expand 481 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 1: and contract. You can leverage that to do useful work. 482 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: In the case of an atmos clock, that work involves 483 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:43,359 Speaker 1: providing the force necessary to wind the clock's mainspring. So 484 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: the big trick there is translating this expanding and contracting 485 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: motion into a winding motion. Now, a typical approach is 486 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: using a chain attached to a bellows that contains the gas. 487 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: The other end of the chain is wrapped around a 488 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:03,120 Speaker 1: ratcheted opponent that can wind the spring. If you replace 489 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: the chain with a knob, you could physically turn the 490 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: knob and wind the spring that way. Turning one way 491 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: winds the spring. Turning the opposite way would allow the 492 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: ratcheted component to keep the existing tension on the spring, 493 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: but allow the free rotation of the knobs. So, in 494 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: other words, you can't unwind the spring by turning the 495 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: knob because the ratchet allows you to turn it freely 496 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: without actually losing any of that tension. Turning it the 497 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,200 Speaker 1: other way would allow you to actually wind the spring. 498 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 1: So you can only turn it one way to affect 499 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:40,480 Speaker 1: the spring. So this chain is under tension. On this 500 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: ratcheted component, you might use a spring attached to the 501 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: chain that keeps it under this tension, so it's always 502 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 1: pulled tight. No matter if the bellows is fully expanded 503 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:55,320 Speaker 1: or completely contracted. This pushes. So let's say that the 504 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,960 Speaker 1: temperature increases. When the temperature increases, the gas inside the 505 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: bellows will expand end, so the bellows moves outward. That 506 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 1: would mean that the bellows is quote unquote pushing the chain. Now, 507 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: you can't really push chain or rope, right. If you 508 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: have a length of rope in front of you and 509 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: you try and push it, it doesn't really do anything. 510 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: But if the rope is under tension as then if 511 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 1: there's a weight on the other end of the rope 512 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: and then you quote unquote push it, what you're really 513 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: doing is letting out the rope a little bit, right, 514 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,320 Speaker 1: same thing works with this particular approach. The chain gets 515 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 1: pulled a bit from this tension, and the bellows expanding 516 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: allows the chain to move in that way. This would 517 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:41,800 Speaker 1: end up turning the ratcheted portion in a way where 518 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: it was freely rotating so it's not it's not winding 519 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,160 Speaker 1: the spring, it's just rotating so it doesn't unwind. Then 520 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: when it gets colder, the bellows contract and pull the 521 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 1: chain inward. This ends up turning the ratcheted component so 522 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: that you are winding the main spring. So every time 523 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,280 Speaker 1: the temperature goes down, the main spring gets wound a 524 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: little bit more, and as it unwinds, it's winding back 525 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: whenever the temperature drops. It does this over and over 526 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: and over again, so it keeps that mainspring pretty much 527 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:18,479 Speaker 1: under tension consistently, so you don't ever have to wind 528 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: it by hand. As being wound by actual physical changes 529 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,880 Speaker 1: in the environment, it's being wound by changes in air pressure, 530 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:29,760 Speaker 1: which in turn is being affected by changes in temperature. 531 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: It's pretty awesome. The interesting thing to me is that 532 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: the in the end result, it looks like the whole 533 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,000 Speaker 1: thing is winding itself, and at a very casual glance, 534 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:43,600 Speaker 1: it almost sounds like it's a perpetual motion device. But 535 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: that's not the case. Let me explain why, because there's 536 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: a lot of confusion about the concept of perpetual motion machines. 537 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,240 Speaker 1: A true perpetual motion device if such a thing were possible, 538 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 1: and spoiler alert, it's not. Would continue to work once 539 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 1: you set it in motion, with no need for any 540 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 1: external power source. So imagine a pendulum and you started swinging, 541 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: and it continues to swing indefinitely. It will swing until 542 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,360 Speaker 1: the heat death of the universe or the surfaces on 543 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: is destroyed, but it will continue swinging until something forces 544 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,920 Speaker 1: it to stop. That would be a perpetual motion machine, 545 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: but it's also impossible in our world. It would counteract 546 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: all limitations on the system. So the laws of physics 547 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,600 Speaker 1: as we understand them, states such a thing is impossible. 548 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: If it is in fact possible to create a true 549 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: perpetual motion machine, it would mean that our laws of 550 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 1: physics are wrong, that we are incorrect in the way 551 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:47,640 Speaker 1: we have formed the laws of physics. But that would 552 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,960 Speaker 1: also mean that all the observations we have made based 553 00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,920 Speaker 1: upon those laws would need to be readjusted. And we've 554 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 1: made a lot of technology that depends upon those laws 555 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: being true and the technology works, which seems to be 556 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:05,239 Speaker 1: pretty strong evidence to support that those laws, while they 557 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: may not be comprehensive, are on the right track, Because 558 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: if science didn't work, we wouldn't have stuff like computers, 559 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: technology is essentially science made physical. So why is perpetual 560 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,040 Speaker 1: motion impossible? Like, what was about our laws of physics 561 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: that state that this is an impossibility. Well, let's look 562 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,560 Speaker 1: at thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics is about the 563 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 1: conservation of energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but 564 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:40,239 Speaker 1: it can be converted from one type of energy into another. So, 565 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,480 Speaker 1: for example, potential energy stored in a wound spring can 566 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: convert into kinetic energy as it unwinds, but no energy 567 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,160 Speaker 1: was actually created in that system and just changed from 568 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: potential to kinetic, So you didn't create energy, you just 569 00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: kind of translated it. A mechanical object is always going 570 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: to have to deal with friction. It's always going to 571 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 1: have parts that rub against other parts, and friction is 572 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: this resistance that matter encounters when it moves against other matter. 573 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: A mechanical system with enough power can overcome friction, but 574 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: it loses some energy in the form of heat. Now, again, 575 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 1: it's not having energy destroyed. Instead, is that some of 576 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 1: the energy that would be used to do mechanical work 577 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:29,040 Speaker 1: gets converted over into heat, which can dissipate into the environment. 578 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:32,920 Speaker 1: That means that the overall system has lost energy. We 579 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: just lost it, and that means we can no longer 580 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: use that energy to continue to do work. So any 581 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: mechanical system, however well engineered, will eventually lose enough energy 582 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: from heat so it will stop working without external energy 583 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: being poured back into it. That is, so that's the 584 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,760 Speaker 1: only way you can counteract that is to add more 585 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,000 Speaker 1: energy into the system. And that's what our modern technology does. 586 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:58,240 Speaker 1: It draws power from various sources. Some of those sources 587 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,960 Speaker 1: are physical, like water wheels or windmills. Some of them 588 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 1: rely upon electrical sources like batteries, but all of them 589 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: require a source of energy to keep things moving because 590 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,360 Speaker 1: they cannot go perpetually. They have to have that extra 591 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,720 Speaker 1: boost of juice. There are a lot of free energy 592 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,640 Speaker 1: machines out there. Such a thing is completely impossible based 593 00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: upon our understanding of the laws of physics. Most of 594 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 1: these free energy machines, on closer inspection, either don't work 595 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,359 Speaker 1: at all. Actually, when I say most, I should say 596 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,240 Speaker 1: all the other don't work at all, or it turns 597 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: out that they were using some other external power source 598 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: in order to keep going, and either the person who 599 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: created it did not understand what was actually happening, or 600 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: their purposefully trying to cover it up in an effort 601 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: to market something that simply cannot exist. In an Atmos clock, 602 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 1: while it might seem like the spring is magically wound 603 00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: over time, the added energy is actually coming from the 604 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,759 Speaker 1: external environment. Changes in temperature and then air pressure are 605 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 1: the key because they create the work necessary to wind 606 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,279 Speaker 1: the clock. That's your external source of energy. So while 607 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,480 Speaker 1: it might look like it's all doing this on its own, 608 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,359 Speaker 1: it's actually reacting to its environment. The environment is the 609 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 1: thing that's providing the extra oomph needed to wind the clock. 610 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,439 Speaker 1: It's pretty awesome. By the way. These Atmos clocks are 611 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 1: sought after by clock enthusiasts around the world, and you 612 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: can get new ones if you've got about six or 613 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,920 Speaker 1: seven grand on you. You can find them on eBay 614 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,800 Speaker 1: for a few hundred dollars, depending on the make and model, 615 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: and it's uh and what shape it's in. They're incredibly delicate, 616 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:44,480 Speaker 1: these clocks. They need to be on level surfaces. You're 617 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:46,640 Speaker 1: not supposed to handle them too much. You're not supposed 618 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: to move them around while they're actually working because it 619 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:53,759 Speaker 1: can disrupt the workings of the clock. So they're beautiful. 620 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 1: They'll keep accurate time for ages because you don't have 621 00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:03,359 Speaker 1: to wind them, but they are incredibly persnickety. So if 622 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: you are a clock enthusiast and you want to find 623 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,759 Speaker 1: something truly special, start looking around for atmos clocks. If 624 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: you got you know, a few hundred, a few Hondo 625 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,319 Speaker 1: says that, or if you're like really rolling in at 626 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:18,000 Speaker 1: a few thousand, if you want a new one. Um 627 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,080 Speaker 1: also if you are rolling in it and you want 628 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,440 Speaker 1: to spend a few thousand on o'clock. Uh hey, my 629 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:28,400 Speaker 1: birthdays in June. I'm just saying alright. One more listener 630 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,960 Speaker 1: requests to go before we take another break. This one 631 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: comes from Sam, who wanted to learn more about tests iracts. 632 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: So I just talked about physics. Let's talk about super 633 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,719 Speaker 1: duper crazy physics. Now. You may have heard of the 634 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:43,320 Speaker 1: term tests iract if you're a fan of the Marvel 635 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 1: films that have come out over the last few years, 636 00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,239 Speaker 1: or if you read The Wrinkle in Time or A 637 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 1: Wrinkle in Time, because the characters travel through time and 638 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,839 Speaker 1: space using tests iracts, although the ones in that book 639 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:56,840 Speaker 1: are different from your typical tests iact. One of the 640 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,840 Speaker 1: Infinity Stones in the Marvel universe, which will play a 641 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 1: pretty important part in the next couple of Avengers movies, 642 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:04,919 Speaker 1: is in a form that they called the tests Are Act. 643 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,080 Speaker 1: So what the heck is it? Well, first, it's not 644 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:11,359 Speaker 1: what Marvel depicts. A tests Are Act is technically a 645 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:16,880 Speaker 1: four dimensional object, or at least the three dimensional representation 646 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:20,080 Speaker 1: of a four dimensional object, and really is a three 647 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,080 Speaker 1: dimensional representation on the two dimensional medium of a four 648 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 1: dimensional object. But let's explain that in a second. Let's 649 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:28,760 Speaker 1: just wrap our heads around this whole idea and review 650 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 1: our concept of what a dimension is. So a point, 651 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,640 Speaker 1: as an a DoPT a single point in space is 652 00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:41,399 Speaker 1: a zero dimensional object. There's no dimension to It has 653 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: no height, and has no length, and has no depth. Now, 654 00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: if you take two points and you draw a line 655 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,920 Speaker 1: between the two points, you now have a one dimensional object. 656 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 1: A line has width or length, depending upon your perspective 657 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:58,680 Speaker 1: and frame of reference, but it cannot have both. It 658 00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: has one or the other. It's just got the one dimension, 659 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,520 Speaker 1: which you can express in units that measure length, such 660 00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:09,920 Speaker 1: as centimeters or inches or miles or yards or meters 661 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:12,800 Speaker 1: or whatever. But that's the measurement we use for length. 662 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,000 Speaker 1: That is one dimension. It has no area, It has 663 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:20,120 Speaker 1: no volume. Next we get our two dimensional up images. 664 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:24,560 Speaker 1: These are your basic geometric figures like squares and circles 665 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:27,799 Speaker 1: and triangles. They have height, they have width, but they 666 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:31,120 Speaker 1: do not have depth. We can measure these objects not 667 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 1: only by how long their individual sides are or single side, 668 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:38,200 Speaker 1: as is the case of a circle, but also how 669 00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:42,480 Speaker 1: much area they cover. If we take a square and 670 00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:44,680 Speaker 1: we extend the corners back a bit and draw a 671 00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:47,799 Speaker 1: second square, and we connect things up, we we now 672 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:51,239 Speaker 1: have a cube. This is a three dimensional object or 673 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,720 Speaker 1: representation of a three dimensional objects. It has height, width, 674 00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:57,960 Speaker 1: and depth, which means it not just has the width 675 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:02,400 Speaker 1: and length and depth. The depth creates the concept of volume. 676 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,759 Speaker 1: A three dimensional object can hold stuff in the real 677 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,640 Speaker 1: world and it's it's got volume to it. This is 678 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 1: the world in which we live, or at least the 679 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,719 Speaker 1: world that we can perceive. Our senses allow us to 680 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:18,680 Speaker 1: understand three dimensions. Pretty much everything we encounter, with the 681 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:22,480 Speaker 1: possible exception of some politicians and celebrities are happens to 682 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:24,879 Speaker 1: be three dimensional. And that was just a snarky joke, 683 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: because even politicians and celebrities have three dimensions, unless they 684 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:31,600 Speaker 1: are traditional cartoon characters. In which case two dimensions. A 685 00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:36,040 Speaker 1: test erect is the three dimensional representation of a four 686 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:39,000 Speaker 1: dimensional object on a two dimensional medium. We sometimes call 687 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:44,640 Speaker 1: these hypercubes. You can actually draw a representation of this. Obviously, 688 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:47,200 Speaker 1: it has to obey the rules of our three dimensional perception, 689 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:52,239 Speaker 1: so it's a little tricky. The accepted octacorn figure is 690 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: made up of eight cubes joined together, which isn't that 691 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:58,840 Speaker 1: crazy when you first think about it. After all, regular 692 00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:01,560 Speaker 1: cube is bound by six squares. So you take with 693 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,720 Speaker 1: six squares, you bind them together, you've got a cube. 694 00:40:04,040 --> 00:40:07,320 Speaker 1: Take eight cubes, you bind them together. You get a tessaract. 695 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,680 Speaker 1: There are three cubes to each edge, which means in 696 00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:13,560 Speaker 1: total you have thirty two edges and twenty four squares 697 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:16,879 Speaker 1: in one tests or act A rotating tests. I act 698 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:21,880 Speaker 1: defies easy explanation. Let's just say it doesn't move the 699 00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,400 Speaker 1: way you think it would based off our understanding of 700 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 1: three dimensional objects. You can actually rotate it along two 701 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:34,680 Speaker 1: planes simultaneously. There are animations that simulate this. They show 702 00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:38,000 Speaker 1: testaracts rotating along these two planes at the same time, 703 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:40,680 Speaker 1: and I suggest you look them up to see them, 704 00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:43,880 Speaker 1: because there is no way I can describe what it 705 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,920 Speaker 1: looks like in words, you kind of have to view it. 706 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:50,000 Speaker 1: If you go to even a Wikipedia article on the tessaract, 707 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,480 Speaker 1: you can see these things in this kind of animation. Also, 708 00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:57,279 Speaker 1: these animations of rotation aren't a real representation of four 709 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:02,120 Speaker 1: dimensional rotation because we cannot do that in this particular medium. 710 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:04,839 Speaker 1: This isn't that big a deal either when you think 711 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:07,239 Speaker 1: about it, because you can draw a cube on a 712 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:09,839 Speaker 1: two dimensional sheet of paper, and the cube you draw 713 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:13,360 Speaker 1: isn't really three dimensional. It's a series of lines on 714 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,759 Speaker 1: the two dimensional sheet of paper, so it's impossible to 715 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:21,360 Speaker 1: be three dimensional, but it represents a three dimensional object. Now, 716 00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:24,600 Speaker 1: Einstein got all relative on us and proposed that the 717 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:27,880 Speaker 1: fourth dimension in our universe is time. There are various 718 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:31,920 Speaker 1: mathematical models of the universe that follow things like string 719 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: theory that suggests there may be eleven or twenty six 720 00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,920 Speaker 1: dimensions out there, or maybe more. But because of the 721 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,759 Speaker 1: way we've evolved, we can only directly perceive and understand 722 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:45,760 Speaker 1: three spatial dimensions, and we can recognize the passing of time. 723 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:49,279 Speaker 1: So I hope that that is an interesting discussion on 724 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:53,560 Speaker 1: the tests or act. It is a fascinating, uh hypercube 725 00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:58,239 Speaker 1: of a subject, but again, really tricky to describe in 726 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:00,400 Speaker 1: an audio podcast, So I do wreck when you go 727 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:02,919 Speaker 1: and look at those animations, because they'll break your brain 728 00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,520 Speaker 1: a little bit. All right, let's take another quick break 729 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:15,920 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor. MICHAELA wrote me and asked if 730 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:18,759 Speaker 1: I might do an episode on speakers and headphones, and 731 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,200 Speaker 1: I might. In fact, I will. I'm gonna do a 732 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:24,640 Speaker 1: full episode on speakers and headphones and talk about the 733 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,719 Speaker 1: evolution and development of the technology. It will warrant a 734 00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:29,880 Speaker 1: full episode, but for now, I'd like to give a 735 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:33,440 Speaker 1: brief explanation of how speakers work, and then when I 736 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 1: get to the full episode about speakers and headphones, you 737 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:38,879 Speaker 1: can listen to me do it again, or at least 738 00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:42,080 Speaker 1: give a summary. I probably won't go into full detail 739 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:43,600 Speaker 1: right here, but I want to give you kind of 740 00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:46,160 Speaker 1: an overview because it is interesting and it will be 741 00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,520 Speaker 1: a nice lead into the episode they'll be coming up 742 00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:51,719 Speaker 1: in the near future. So it helps if we look 743 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:56,759 Speaker 1: at the process of recording sound first, since playing soundback 744 00:42:56,960 --> 00:43:00,960 Speaker 1: is essentially the same process, but reversed sound is a 745 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:06,359 Speaker 1: physical phenomenon. Sound waves pass through physical media like the air. 746 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:09,120 Speaker 1: The air is a is a physical medium. It's got 747 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:13,440 Speaker 1: molecules in there, so when you make a sound, molecules 748 00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:17,800 Speaker 1: in the air vibrate, and this vibration gets passed from 749 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:20,040 Speaker 1: some air molecules to the next, to the next, to 750 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:23,720 Speaker 1: the next, and it propagates outward. And we often draw 751 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:25,680 Speaker 1: a sound as moving out in a wave. It kind 752 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:27,839 Speaker 1: of moves out, almost more like a bubble, but it's 753 00:43:27,920 --> 00:43:30,919 Speaker 1: in a wave in all directions that it can move 754 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:33,880 Speaker 1: through until it loses enough energy where it's no longer 755 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:37,239 Speaker 1: really moving anymore. Molecules will vibrate through the medium and 756 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:39,719 Speaker 1: pass that vibration along, and if you're close enough to 757 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:41,719 Speaker 1: the source of the vibration of the source of the 758 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,440 Speaker 1: vibration was strong enough, your ears will pick it up. 759 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:47,440 Speaker 1: That's because the air is moving in and out of 760 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,640 Speaker 1: your ear canals, changing the air pressure slightly due to 761 00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:55,400 Speaker 1: those vibrations, which in turn essentially pushes and pulls against 762 00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,920 Speaker 1: your tim panic membrane. It's more fair to say it 763 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:02,279 Speaker 1: pushes the tim tympanic membrane in, and then when the 764 00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:06,759 Speaker 1: pressure is lower than inside the inner ear, the tympanic 765 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:10,160 Speaker 1: membrane pushes back out again, rather than to say push 766 00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:13,600 Speaker 1: and pull. But that that's getting kind of into semantics 767 00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:16,239 Speaker 1: at that point, I think anyway, the timpanic membrane is 768 00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:18,560 Speaker 1: better known as your ear drum. Now, that causes some 769 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,040 Speaker 1: fluid in your inner ear to slash around a bit. 770 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:24,400 Speaker 1: I'm skipping over some stuff like the tiny little bones 771 00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:27,440 Speaker 1: connected to ear drum. But ultimately it makes some fluid 772 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:30,480 Speaker 1: slash around, and it activates some nerve cells that pick 773 00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:33,840 Speaker 1: up this slashing of fluid. It sends electrical impulses to 774 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:37,319 Speaker 1: your brain, and the gray matter in your skull interprets 775 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:42,080 Speaker 1: these electrical impulses as sound. Higher frequency sounds cause the 776 00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:45,440 Speaker 1: air pressure to fluctuate faster, and we perceive these sounds 777 00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:49,360 Speaker 1: as having a higher pitch. The air pressure level is 778 00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:53,520 Speaker 1: a sound waves amplitude, which we register as volumes. So 779 00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:56,759 Speaker 1: the greater the amplitude, the louder the sound. When we 780 00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:00,880 Speaker 1: record sound, we use a microphone incited to tpical microphone 781 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:04,600 Speaker 1: is a diaphragm. It's a thin layer that's made out 782 00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:08,279 Speaker 1: of a very flexible material, like very thin plastic. The 783 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,280 Speaker 1: diaphragm responds to sound waves in a way that's similar 784 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:15,040 Speaker 1: to our own tympanic membranes. High pressure pushes the diaphragm 785 00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:19,080 Speaker 1: in lower pressure allows the diaphragm to extend outward. Components 786 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,880 Speaker 1: in the microphone detect this vibration and convert the physical 787 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:27,919 Speaker 1: vibrations into electrical signals. This is a transducer. A transducer 788 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:31,040 Speaker 1: takes uh these kind of energies from one form and 789 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:34,439 Speaker 1: turns into an energy of another form, in this case 790 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:37,720 Speaker 1: physical vibration to electric signals. I'll go into more detail 791 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:41,040 Speaker 1: about that in the full episode. And then this electrical 792 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:44,759 Speaker 1: signal would go on to amplifiers and other components to 793 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:49,120 Speaker 1: ultimately head towards either a speaker so you're broadcasting live 794 00:45:49,239 --> 00:45:52,360 Speaker 1: straight out, or a recording device, or some combination of 795 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:56,120 Speaker 1: the two. So a speaker takes this process and effectively 796 00:45:56,280 --> 00:46:00,200 Speaker 1: reverses it. Basically, it takes an incoming electrical signal and 797 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:05,280 Speaker 1: translates that into physical vibrations, using a flexible cone called 798 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:08,640 Speaker 1: a diaphragm to do it. The diaphragm is attached to 799 00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:13,440 Speaker 1: a suspension inside the speaker. The suspension, in turn is 800 00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:17,160 Speaker 1: connected to a frame inside the speaker. The whole apparatus 801 00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:20,840 Speaker 1: of this one part of a component is called a driver, 802 00:46:21,360 --> 00:46:23,640 Speaker 1: and a speaker can actually have multiple drivers in it. 803 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:25,359 Speaker 1: It doesn't have to have just the one. A lot 804 00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:28,200 Speaker 1: of them do have one or two. And these are 805 00:46:28,239 --> 00:46:30,480 Speaker 1: the big circular things you're looking at when you're looking 806 00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:32,759 Speaker 1: at speakers, So the speaker is kind of like the 807 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:38,239 Speaker 1: overall structure. The drivers are the individual noise making devices 808 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:44,399 Speaker 1: inside of them, and the vibrations that these these uh 809 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:48,480 Speaker 1: diaphragms make these cones, these drivers inside the speakers, that's 810 00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:52,000 Speaker 1: what's making all the sound. It's just those components vibrating. 811 00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:53,920 Speaker 1: I have a lot more to say about that process, 812 00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:57,080 Speaker 1: including the actual mechanisms that cause the drivers to move 813 00:46:57,120 --> 00:46:59,239 Speaker 1: within a speaker, and spoiler alert that has to do 814 00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:02,279 Speaker 1: with magnets in an upcoming episode, but I wanted at 815 00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:03,840 Speaker 1: least to give the basics now to kind of be 816 00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:06,279 Speaker 1: a teaser for it, and also because I wanted to 817 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:09,040 Speaker 1: thank MICHAELA for writing in and and suggesting it. I 818 00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,800 Speaker 1: didn't want a chance to forget it. Our last request 819 00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:15,160 Speaker 1: comes from Nathan, who wanted to know more about the 820 00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:18,320 Speaker 1: site I Fix It I F I X I T. 821 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:22,400 Speaker 1: This site helps both repair professionals and d I Y 822 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:25,960 Speaker 1: hobbyists understand the components of various pieces of hardware on 823 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,880 Speaker 1: the market, including stuff like smartphones and game consoles and 824 00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:33,439 Speaker 1: all sorts of electronics. Typically, it can be really hard 825 00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:36,640 Speaker 1: to find information on those devices unless you happen to 826 00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:40,640 Speaker 1: be a licensed professional who essentially gets permission from the 827 00:47:40,719 --> 00:47:45,000 Speaker 1: respective companies to work and repair their products. I fix 828 00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,920 Speaker 1: It helps reverse this trend of technology becoming progressively more 829 00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:52,080 Speaker 1: like a black box. A black box piece of technology 830 00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:55,239 Speaker 1: is one where the hardware is locked away so that 831 00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:58,120 Speaker 1: you can't really observe how it works. A lot of 832 00:47:58,160 --> 00:48:01,600 Speaker 1: companies make hardware hard to act access. Apple is infamous 833 00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:04,160 Speaker 1: for this, so that it's very difficult for you to 834 00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:07,000 Speaker 1: get under the hood and make it do what you 835 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:08,839 Speaker 1: wanted to do. When you might want to hack it 836 00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:12,000 Speaker 1: so it's doing something it wasn't intended to do. You 837 00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:14,440 Speaker 1: might just want to repair it, but a lot of 838 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:17,160 Speaker 1: companies make it very difficult to do and they guard 839 00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:20,399 Speaker 1: the secrets about how these devices work, and I fix 840 00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:25,120 Speaker 1: It is philosophically opposed to that. It's a crowdsourced approach 841 00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:28,759 Speaker 1: to tear downs and repairs. The community of users can 842 00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:32,799 Speaker 1: contribute guides, photo albums, and more to help others work 843 00:48:32,840 --> 00:48:35,279 Speaker 1: on their gear or someone else's gear if they need to. 844 00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:37,959 Speaker 1: The site got its start back in two thousand three, 845 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,120 Speaker 1: there were a couple of college students who were attending 846 00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:45,719 Speaker 1: California Polytechnic University and the two roommates started off by 847 00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:48,920 Speaker 1: trying to fix an Eyebook device. There was no reference 848 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:52,799 Speaker 1: guide available for the actual computer they were working on, 849 00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:56,040 Speaker 1: so they rolled up their sleeves, they unscrewed the case, 850 00:48:56,040 --> 00:48:59,120 Speaker 1: and they started poking around. Eventually they identified what the 851 00:48:59,120 --> 00:49:01,040 Speaker 1: problem was and they were will to fix it. And 852 00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:03,160 Speaker 1: then they thought, huh, I bet other people are having 853 00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:05,839 Speaker 1: a similar problem with their devices. What if there were 854 00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:10,480 Speaker 1: a centralized database of repair information that people could use 855 00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:14,160 Speaker 1: that they don't have to either rely on an expensive 856 00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:18,160 Speaker 1: licensed repair man, or even worse, that they might just 857 00:49:18,239 --> 00:49:21,400 Speaker 1: throw away a salvageable piece of technology in order to 858 00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:24,439 Speaker 1: go out and buy a new one. Eventually, their help 859 00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:28,800 Speaker 1: site evolved into a user powered community. Again. The people 860 00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:31,560 Speaker 1: are the ones who submit repair guides and photo albums, 861 00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:34,600 Speaker 1: and they explain step by step what every piece inside 862 00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:37,960 Speaker 1: various technologies is, what it does, how to fix or 863 00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:40,960 Speaker 1: replace it, and more. On a personal note, I have 864 00:49:41,080 --> 00:49:44,960 Speaker 1: found I fix its site to be incredibly helpful whenever 865 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:48,080 Speaker 1: I needed to research a particular device to learn about 866 00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:50,880 Speaker 1: the components inside it. I did it all the time 867 00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:53,560 Speaker 1: for how Stuff Works articles. If you read some of 868 00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:56,440 Speaker 1: my old How Stuff Works articles, you'll often see I 869 00:49:56,560 --> 00:49:59,760 Speaker 1: fix It as one of the sites I source as 870 00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:01,719 Speaker 1: one of the ones that I used while I was 871 00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:04,960 Speaker 1: researching the material. Some companies, it turns out, are not 872 00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:08,920 Speaker 1: very forthcoming about the tech that's inside their products. They 873 00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:11,880 Speaker 1: might not tell you what kind of graphics processing unit 874 00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:15,440 Speaker 1: is in their computer, or the type of processor that 875 00:50:15,520 --> 00:50:18,799 Speaker 1: you might find inside a hand set, and so the 876 00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:21,000 Speaker 1: only way to really know for sure if you don't 877 00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:24,120 Speaker 1: have access to internal company documents is to break one 878 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:26,799 Speaker 1: of them open and take a look yourself. Fortunately, that's 879 00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:28,480 Speaker 1: what the people and I fix It do for you, 880 00:50:28,880 --> 00:50:30,600 Speaker 1: so you don't have to do it yourself unless you 881 00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:32,279 Speaker 1: need to in order to fix it, in which case 882 00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:34,000 Speaker 1: you go to I fix It and you'll learn how 883 00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:37,160 Speaker 1: I fix it. Teardowns have a ton of different popular 884 00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:40,760 Speaker 1: gadgets that remove all this mystery, and it also removes 885 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:42,440 Speaker 1: the need for me to do it myself, which I 886 00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:44,840 Speaker 1: greatly appreciate, although I did once do it for the 887 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:47,879 Speaker 1: Nintendo three D S. We had it for about three 888 00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:51,560 Speaker 1: days and then I took it apart and I took 889 00:50:51,560 --> 00:50:54,399 Speaker 1: it apart in away where I can guarantee it will 890 00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:57,080 Speaker 1: never work again. It was in a bucket on my 891 00:50:57,120 --> 00:50:59,719 Speaker 1: desk for a long time though. Anyway. The philosophy of 892 00:50:59,719 --> 00:51:02,879 Speaker 1: the founders is that anyone with a desire to learn 893 00:51:03,080 --> 00:51:06,040 Speaker 1: should be able to maintain his or her technology. It 894 00:51:06,120 --> 00:51:09,200 Speaker 1: should not be kept apart from us as an almost 895 00:51:09,320 --> 00:51:12,480 Speaker 1: mystical object that we never fully understand. They want to 896 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:14,560 Speaker 1: put the power back in the hands of the users 897 00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:18,520 Speaker 1: and to help consumers avoid what could become predatory policies. 898 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:22,160 Speaker 1: After all, if a company is using proprietary hardware, even 899 00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:24,759 Speaker 1: down to the types of screws it uses to hold 900 00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:29,000 Speaker 1: everything together, it is locking the users into an ecosystem, 901 00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:32,960 Speaker 1: whether that's best for the consumer or not. And news flash, 902 00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:36,120 Speaker 1: it is rarely best for the consumer. It is almost 903 00:51:36,160 --> 00:51:39,680 Speaker 1: always best for the company. From a business standpoint, you 904 00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:42,560 Speaker 1: can't really blame companies for doing this, But from that 905 00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:46,200 Speaker 1: practical standpoint as a consumer, it kind of bites if 906 00:51:46,239 --> 00:51:50,120 Speaker 1: you've not checked out, I fix it. You should fix that. 907 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:53,040 Speaker 1: It gets pretty technical, but it also will help you 908 00:51:53,120 --> 00:51:55,680 Speaker 1: understand your technology better, and who knows, you might see 909 00:51:55,680 --> 00:51:59,600 Speaker 1: the opportunity to write a guide all of your own. Well, 910 00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:02,400 Speaker 1: that does it for this grab bag. I want to 911 00:52:02,440 --> 00:52:05,239 Speaker 1: thank all of you for sending in requests. I've got 912 00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:08,960 Speaker 1: tons of requests for full length episodes that I've started 913 00:52:08,960 --> 00:52:11,600 Speaker 1: to schedule out try and I looked at the schedule 914 00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:15,279 Speaker 1: earlier today and it looks like listen, I'm pretty much 915 00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:18,560 Speaker 1: set until mid June. I'm recording this at the beginning 916 00:52:18,560 --> 00:52:21,520 Speaker 1: of April and now I've got through mid June. Of course, 917 00:52:21,520 --> 00:52:25,799 Speaker 1: one of those episodes is the upcoming tenth anniversary of 918 00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:28,719 Speaker 1: tech Stuff. If you guys have suggestions for topics I 919 00:52:28,719 --> 00:52:31,960 Speaker 1: should cover on any episode, but in particular, if you 920 00:52:32,080 --> 00:52:37,680 Speaker 1: have requests for the tenth anniversary, please send them my way. 921 00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:39,840 Speaker 1: You can send them to my email address that is 922 00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:42,920 Speaker 1: tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com. You can 923 00:52:42,960 --> 00:52:45,440 Speaker 1: send them to me on Facebook or Twitter. The handle 924 00:52:45,440 --> 00:52:48,680 Speaker 1: of both of those is text stuff hs W. I 925 00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:52,080 Speaker 1: would love to hear from you. Don't ask how tech 926 00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:55,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I have done that episode at least three 927 00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:57,480 Speaker 1: times now, so I'm not going to do it for 928 00:52:57,520 --> 00:53:00,279 Speaker 1: the tand anniversary. But if you have a suggestion for 929 00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:03,280 Speaker 1: what should be the tenth anniversary episode of tech Stuff, 930 00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:05,480 Speaker 1: I want to hear it. Also, remember we have an 931 00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:08,000 Speaker 1: Instagram account. You can follow that and see all sorts 932 00:53:08,040 --> 00:53:11,760 Speaker 1: of interesting pictures and behind the scenes photos and stuff 933 00:53:11,760 --> 00:53:15,560 Speaker 1: like that. Also, on Wednesdays and Fridays, I record this 934 00:53:15,600 --> 00:53:17,440 Speaker 1: show and if you ever want to watch me record 935 00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:20,520 Speaker 1: it live, you can go to twitch dot tv slash 936 00:53:20,560 --> 00:53:23,680 Speaker 1: tech stuff and you'll be able to watch me mess 937 00:53:23,719 --> 00:53:26,200 Speaker 1: things up right in front of your face. You can 938 00:53:26,239 --> 00:53:28,160 Speaker 1: also chat with me and point out when I mess 939 00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:30,719 Speaker 1: things up and hopefully do it in a way that 940 00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:33,320 Speaker 1: doesn't make me want to cry because Tari is getting 941 00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:37,000 Speaker 1: tired of having to hug me after every show. It's exhausting. 942 00:53:37,400 --> 00:53:41,120 Speaker 1: I'm a very high maintenance podcaster. You guys, thank you 943 00:53:41,200 --> 00:53:43,880 Speaker 1: so much for listening. I really look forward to chatting 944 00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:52,799 Speaker 1: with you again really soon. For more on this and 945 00:53:52,840 --> 00:53:55,359 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics. Because it has to works, dot 946 00:53:55,400 --> 00:54:03,640 Speaker 1: com one