dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

In article , Mike Coatham
wrote:
On 23/08/2010 11:12 p.m., Jim Lesurf wrote:
In , notme
wrote:

i would like to sign off now,and thank some of the less prissy folks

althoughyoumaywanttodismissitasprissysomeofusthink itmakessenseto
[snip]

Nice one Jim.:) As an aside,I hope your PHD students didn't write their
assignments in that style. I can see it now -- FAILED!

One of the duties of a PhD supervisor is to make sure the PhD is readable -
if only by the chosen examiners! :-)

Glad to say that none of my students ever failed a PhD or even failed to
submit. Although I think that tells you more about them than it does about
me. :-) One of my best students later admitted he chose me as supervisor
because he found me one day using a stereo microscope to read microfiches
of old copies of SF magazines. Decided I was mad enough to be his preferred
supervisor. 8-]

However one of the reasons I've become 'sensitised' to poor presentation is
the sheer number of exam scripts, essays, etc, I've had to assess over the
years that were virtually unreadable. Some had no paragraphs or sections.
No page numbers. etc. Some were 'handwritten' illegibly.

To me this is a concern on a number of levels. It shows lack of thought for
the *reader*. It may mean in exams, etc, marks are not given because the
info was indecyperable. And employers (or potential employers) presented
with such rubbish might not be best pleased.

But for me the bottom line is that writing for others to read is a form of
*communication*. So it seems daft or lazy or even arrogant to write in a
way that makes the result needlessly harder for others to read. Matter of
being considerate as well as an aid to clarity.

However I do realise that some people find this much harder. e.g. some have
difficulty with various aspects of language, etc. And I'm sure that some
devices like tiny phones may make 'normal' typing hard. But "cannae be
bothered" doesn't seem to me to be decent reason when you are trying to ask
other for help/info.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

"Ian Iveson" wrote in message
news:jFBco.161232$qO1.110662@hurricane...
Geoff Mackenzie wrote:

over n out

Pedants mode on: "over" means "I have finished speaking and require a
reply". "Out" means "I have finished speaking and do NOT require a
reply". Therefore "over and out" has entirely contradictory meanings.
Constantly misused in WW2 films since the forties.

Probably won't bother the OP much, I suppose.

All that usage in films has established "over and out" as a bona fide
expression, surely? If the OP had just written "out" I wouldn't have known
what he meant.

Yes, accepted. The English language is constantly evolving, and justly so.
I am probably biased due to my pilot training in the early seventies when my
R/T instructor insisted on "correct" usage. English is the common language
for all air traffic controls bar one, and where pilots do not have English
as a first language it is important for there to be clear understanding of
not only not what you say but the reply you expect.

Here's a paradox:

http://www.answers.com/topic/over-and-out

??? Couldn't get beyond "find a Chinese wife".

Then there's:

http://dictionary.pokerzone.com/Over+and+Out

Yes, defines it exactly.


Maybe his attenuated grammar is normal in financial markets? Otherwise it
doesn't quite fit with the rest of his persona.

Ian


Yes, quite possibly. Missed the bit about financial markets - I've deleted
the OP. Every trade/profession has its jargon!

Probably better get back to the origins of this thread - ish; anybody want
a pair of Quad ESL 63s, pair of monoblock Quicksilver amps and an REL sub?
Will be on eBay later this year. Downsizing with a vengeance!

Geoff MacK

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote

English is the common language for all air traffic controls bar one,

Which one is the exception?

David.

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

In article ,
Jim Lesurf wrote:
In article , notme
wrote:

i would like to sign off now,and thank some of the less prissy folks

althoughyoumaywanttodismissitasprissysomeofusthink itmakessenseto
considerthereaderswhenpostinginparticulartoconside rthemwhenasking
forhelporinformationusenetisnotawriteonlymediumand whileyoumayfind
ithardtowriteclearlysomeotherswhohaveinfoyouwouldf indusefulmayalso
findreadingbadlyformattedtextapitastillyouareasfre easanyoneelsetowrit
easyouchoosejustastherestofusarefreetostruggletore adwhatiswrittenor
nottherealityisithinkthatyoudontneedtogototheoutol earnhowtowriteinaw
ayotherscanreadnortolearnhowtobepoliteandconsidera te.

slaintejim :-)

Have you moved to Glasgow, Jimmy? ;-)

--
*Sorry, I don't date outside my species.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

Geoff Mackenzie wrote:

Here's a paradox:

http://www.answers.com/topic/over-and-out

??? Couldn't get beyond "find a Chinese wife".

:-)

Just below that is quote from a comms dictionary:

"(Commtalk)Does not exist--an oximoron."

Probably better get back to the origins of this thread -
ish; anybody want a pair of Quad ESL 63s, pair of
monoblock Quicksilver amps and an REL sub? Will be on eBay
later this year. Downsizing with a vengeance!

I want the Quads. It's the bidding more than everyone else
that I'm not keen on.

Ian

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

In article ZMMco.1318$P75.792@hurricane,
Ian Iveson wrote:
I want the Quads. It's the bidding more than everyone else
that I'm not keen on.

You just set a figure you're willing to pay and stick to that. If it's
more than anyone else you win. If not, you get a bargain - ie less than
you were willing to pay.

These speakers come up quite regularly. If someone *must* have them at
that point in time they'll go for a 'high' price. If no one wants them,
not. Varies from month to month.

--
*If you lived in your car, you'd be home by now *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

"David Looser" wrote in message
...
"Geoff Mackenzie" wrote

English is the common language for all air traffic controls bar one,

Which one is the exception?

David.



Quebec, Canada. They insisted on French, to the total bewilderment of many
overseas pilots. Don't know how they got that past the Powers That Be. I'm
probably out of date, though; that was the case in the seventies and
eighties, but I would hope that they've been brought up to date by now.

Regards,

Geoff MacK

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

"Ian Iveson" wrote in message
news:ZMMco.1318$P75.792@hurricane...
Geoff Mackenzie wrote:

Here's a paradox:

http://www.answers.com/topic/over-and-out

??? Couldn't get beyond "find a Chinese wife".

:-)

Just below that is quote from a comms dictionary:

"(Commtalk)Does not exist--an oximoron."

Probably better get back to the origins of this thread - ish; anybody
want a pair of Quad ESL 63s, pair of monoblock Quicksilver amps and an
REL sub? Will be on eBay later this year. Downsizing with a vengeance!

I want the Quads. It's the bidding more than everyone else that I'm not
keen on.

Ian

Unfortunately market forces (and my current impoverished state) prevail!
Sorry.

Geoff MacK

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:12:10 +0100, Jim Lesurf
wrote:

In article , Mike Coatham
wrote:
On 23/08/2010 11:12 p.m., Jim Lesurf wrote:
In , notme
wrote:

i would like to sign off now,and thank some of the less prissy folks

althoughyoumaywanttodismissitasprissysomeofusthink itmakessenseto
[snip]

Nice one Jim.:) As an aside,I hope your PHD students didn't write their
assignments in that style. I can see it now -- FAILED!

One of the duties of a PhD supervisor is to make sure the PhD is readable -
if only by the chosen examiners! :-)

Glad to say that none of my students ever failed a PhD or even failed to
submit. Although I think that tells you more about them than it does about
me. :-) One of my best students later admitted he chose me as supervisor
because he found me one day using a stereo microscope to read microfiches
of old copies of SF magazines. Decided I was mad enough to be his preferred
supervisor. 8-]

However one of the reasons I've become 'sensitised' to poor presentation is
the sheer number of exam scripts, essays, etc, I've had to assess over the
years that were virtually unreadable. Some had no paragraphs or sections.
No page numbers. etc. Some were 'handwritten' illegibly.

To me this is a concern on a number of levels. It shows lack of thought for
the *reader*. It may mean in exams, etc, marks are not given because the
info was indecyperable. And employers (or potential employers) presented
with such rubbish might not be best pleased.

But for me the bottom line is that writing for others to read is a form of
*communication*. So it seems daft or lazy or even arrogant to write in a
way that makes the result needlessly harder for others to read. Matter of
being considerate as well as an aid to clarity.

However I do realise that some people find this much harder. e.g. some have
difficulty with various aspects of language, etc. And I'm sure that some
devices like tiny phones may make 'normal' typing hard. But "cannae be
bothered" doesn't seem to me to be decent reason when you are trying to ask
other for help/info.

Slainte,

Jim

I wish you could have helped more widely, Jim. I've read many PhDs in
my time, and they have been pretty much universally bad. Far too much
text on each page. Non-proportional fonts (must they really look
typewritten?), one paragraph per two pages, roughly. Add to that
nonsensical chapter ordering, and finally a conclusion that always
read "More work is needed on this subject" and the sinking feeling
was complete.

Oh yes, graphs. A microwave filter usually figured somewhere. If it
was centred on 20GHz, and had a bandwidth of 100MHz, it would be
presented on a scale of 0 to 60 GHz. There would also be upwards of a
dozen different plots on the same set of axes. An indecipherable mess
would be my kindest description.

d

dilemma, speaker decision for different amplifiers
 

In article , Don Pearce
wrote:
On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:12:10 +0100, Jim Lesurf
wrote:

In article , Mike Coatham
wrote:
On 23/08/2010 11:12 p.m., Jim Lesurf wrote:
In , notme
wrote:

i would like to sign off now,and thank some of the less prissy
folks

althoughyoumaywanttodismissitasprissysomeofusthink itmakessenseto
[snip]

Nice one Jim.:) As an aside,I hope your PHD students didn't write
their assignments in that style. I can see it now -- FAILED!

One of the duties of a PhD supervisor is to make sure the PhD is
readable - if only by the chosen examiners! :-)

Glad to say that none of my students ever failed a PhD or even failed
to submit. Although I think that tells you more about them than it does
about me.


I wish you could have helped more widely, Jim. I've read many PhDs in my
time, and they have been pretty much universally bad. Far too much text
on each page. Non-proportional fonts (must they really look
typewritten?)

The font and size may sometimes be determined by the examination rules for
the particular university. No bad thing considering the range of weird
fonts and absurd sizes you risk if there were no limits set! ;-

The regs may even give the range of number of words per full text page. And
the bindery may limit how many pages per volume they will bind. So meaning
the candidate is tempted to pack it all in to too few pages.

It can sometimes throw up oddities, though. IIRC my old uni (now Queen
Mary, U London) had regs that specified the required type of font in a
strange way. They meant to tell students things like 'don't use roman
numbers for sections, equation numbers, etc'. But ended up saying
essentially 'use arabic'. One of the students in the same dept as myself at
the time was from Egypt and was tempted to write his thesis in Egyptian
arabic. It may have met the regs, but I doubt his supervisor of the time
(who he didn't like) would have been pleased. 8-]

And I can't say that all of my own students managed to do as well in
terms of presentation and layout as one another. One of the best was
am Australian who used TeX and his thesis was very clear and ordered.
The poorest used 'Word' because he was used to it, but seemed unable
to do completely satisfactory equations and graphics.

I don't use 'Word' but I have a low opinion of it, judging by the
results I've seen from many people. I wonder if it makes decent
technical layout hard to achieve. Certainly I often found that the
appearance of 'Electronics World' looked dire to me for reasons that
seemed curiously similar to the problems I saw in reports, etc, from
students using it. Classic being lousy bitmap versions of graphs. With
lines more like arrays of lego than actual continuous lines. And quite
odd-looking equations. How much that is the software and how much the
users I can't really tell. Others may be better placed than I to
comment!


, one paragraph per two pages, roughly. Add to that nonsensical chapter
ordering, and finally a conclusion that always read "More work is needed
on this subject" and the sinking feeling was complete.

"More work is needed" is a vital conclusion for all academic research.
Otherwise they'd all be out of a job. :-) It also is a catch-all signal to
the examiners that the candidate realises he doesn't know everything. He
just needs to know more than the examiners... about that one narrow topic.

Oh yes, graphs. A microwave filter usually figured somewhere. If it was
centred on 20GHz, and had a bandwidth of 100MHz, it would be presented
on a scale of 0 to 60 GHz. There would also be upwards of a dozen
different plots on the same set of axes. An indecipherable mess would be
my kindest description.

Yes, graphics are also a minefield for the unwary. Made harder when theses
and other publications have all the graphics in monochrome. One good thing
about modern printing is that it is now possible to have very well printed
results compared to the medieval period when I typed my own PhD thesis.
TippX, carbon paper copies, and hand-written equations. Seems like stone
tablets, now... :-)

The root of the problem is, I suspect, often the same as the cause of
computer manuals being indecypherable. The writer knows the content and is
unable to grasp that the reader *doesn't* know and needs things explained
with due care. The result is often a text which only makes sense once you
have understood the contents for yourself. So can then be a useful
'reminder' or 'reference' *if* you can ever find things though the muddle
of poorly organised sections, no real index, etc.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html