Ever wondered why?

[Ricesnaps]

Couldn't sleep and got thinking...

Why is it:

- that we all use 250 watt lamps, why didn't they make a 300 watt?
- if a 150watt discharge is brighter than a 24v 250, why not make a 200 watt version?

So this led me to thinking what else is there is our industry that is so set in stone we never consider why it can't be different?

for example:

- star cloths are all white LED's - why? why not green?

Anyone got any others?

[soundlad]

I have a chavet disco ball light thingy:D and that uses a 300w 240v lamp!!!

[dannyboy]

With lamps, science would most proberbly be the answer along with cost.

As with star cloths = "STARS" = white/blue maybe?

[DMX Will]

star cloths are all white LED's - why? why not green?

Stars are white!! That's why! And you can get multi-coloured star cloths. Although most theatrical star cloths don't use LEDs, they use small christmas light-style bulbs.

[Candybeatdiscos]

yeah i have a gobo flower light that uses 240volt, 300watt bulbs.....

i usually think of other things in bed rather than lamps etc lol

[spin mobile disco]

Its mainly down to supply and demand, its cheaper to make things in large numbers so the popular bulbs should become cheaper. Any not popular bulbs therefore become more expensive and manafacturers dont use them. Hence they fade out and are replaced with there cheaper version.

[BeerFunk]

Why do we put the clocks forward and back every year? Why not adjust the length of a second, so that one year is equal to one exact orbit of the Sun?

The reason being, that centuries ago, the calculation of one orbit of the Sun was only ever so slightly out, although at that time still pretty d@mn accurate! However, that is why we need to make such adjustments, which, in all out technological advances, looks a bit silly now.

The point is - it's way too much hassle and expense to change it - maybe that's the same idea with the lamps? :D

[Marc J]

Why do we put the clocks forward and back every year? Why not adjust the length of a second, so that one year is equal to one exact orbit of the Sun?

The reason being, that centuries ago, the calculation of one orbit of the Sun was only ever so slightly out, although at that time still pretty d@mn accurate! However, that is why we need to make such adjustments, which, in all out technological advances, looks a bit silly now.

Putting clocks forward and back every year is "daylight saving" and was initially for farmers (I think), although the main argument against getting rid these days is because you don't want to be sending your kids to school / home in the pitch black....

Adjusting the length of a second as you suggest has nothing to do with this, but would get rid of leap years ;)

[spin mobile disco]

We only adjust clocks forward and back for daylight saving, it is suppost to make it safer for people to go and come back from work / school in better conditions. lighter in winter and then back again for summer because its no loger needed. Your right though it is a bit pointless although you do get an extra hour in bed when they change :), but one less when they change back again :(

[spin mobile disco]

Doh faster typer than me lol

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Why do we put the clocks forward and back every year? Why not adjust the length of a second, so that one year is equal to one exact orbit of the Sun?



I was trying to explain that to my kids the other day - where were you when I needed you? ;)

[rob1963]

Why do we put the clocks forward and back every year? Why not adjust the length of a second, so that one year is equal to one exact orbit of the Sun?

The reason being, that centuries ago, the calculation of one orbit of the Sun was only ever so slightly out, although at that time still pretty d@mn accurate! However, that is why we need to make such adjustments, which, in all out technological advances, looks a bit silly now.

The point is - it's way too much hassle and expense to change it - maybe that's the same idea with the lamps? :D


Beerfunk, I think the reason for changing the clocks is something to do with having lighter evenings in the summer. The fact that we put them on in the spring & compensate for this by putting them back in the winter doesn't actually make any difference to the length of a year....that would only be different if we changed the clocks ONCE a year & didn't change them back.

However, you are right about the length of a year being a bit off. I think each year is about 365.25 days long, which is why we have an extra day in February every 4 years to compensate for this & catch up.

You're absolutely right about it being too much hassle to change it though, which would be a complete nightmare. Much easier to have an extra day in the year every 4 years! :)

On the subject of time, Here's a brainteaser: Which timepiece has the most moving parts? :confused:

[rob1963]

Talking of lamps, a word of advice: Get them from a certain online auction site.

I've recently started doing this, and the main lamps I use (branded) are £5 to £6 each (including p + p), whereas my local disco shop is selling them for £13.45!!!

Here ends Rob's money-saving tip of the day! :D

[Dragonfly]

Why do we put the clocks forward and back every year? Why not adjust the length of a second, so that one year is equal to one exact orbit of the Sun?:D

because then we'd have to change the length of time it takes to say ...

misi...misssipp...missip..... missippi :D :D :D

[Marc J]

Also, you can't just go changing the length of a second because you don't like leap years. Loads of other units are measured by it, for example: -

Frequency - 1Hz = 1 occurence per second.
Newtons - 1N = the force required to give a mass of 1Kg an acceleration of 1m/second²
Watts - 1W = 1 joule per second.

Only 3 examples, but these units are all integrated into the calculations for other things including horsepower, calories....pretty much everything.

British Gas would probably use it as a good excuse for another gas price hike too, since the value of a kW/h would change....

Bored yet? :zip:

[soundtracker]

BST was brought in during the Ist World War to increase daylight hours and improve working efficiency - if you need more info, ask Mikee, he was there.

[Marc J]

On the subject of time, Here's a brainteaser: Which timepiece has the most moving parts? :confused:

There's a http://www.loweringprices.com/smilies/censored.gif big clock in the museum down the road from me - click here (http://freespace.virgin.net/sharmanka.kinetic/clocktower/). Loads of things happen when it goes off....I bet that's got loads of moving parts!

But your answer is probably gonna be something cryptic like "The Universe" or something like that :cool:

[rob1963]

There's a http://www.arcadadesign.com/images/censored.gif big clock in the museum down the road from me - click here (http://freespace.virgin.net/sharmanka.kinetic/clocktower/). Loads of things happen when it goes off....I bet that's got loads of moving parts!

But your answer is probably gonna be something cryptic like "The Universe" or something like that :cool:


No Marc, it's more simple than that. The timepiece with the most moving parts is.......an egg timer! :p

[Marc J]

:doh:

[Dragonfly]

Also, you can't just go changing the length of a second because you don't like leap years. Loads of other units are measured by it, for example: -

Frequency - 1Hz = 1 occurence per second.
Newtons - 1N = the force required to give a mass of 1Kg an acceleration of 1m/second²
Watts - 1W = 1 joule per second.

Only 3 examples, but these units are all integrated into the calculations for other things including horsepower, calories....pretty much everything.

British Gas would probably use it as a good excuse for another gas price hike too, since the value of a kW/h would change....

Bored yet? :zip:

:Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping: :Sleeping: ........ Sorry Marc did you say something?

[Corabar Steve]

There's a hell of an echo in here today :d

[BeerFunk]

Putting clocks forward and back every year is "daylight saving" and was initially for farmers (I think), although the main argument against getting rid these days is because you don't want to be sending your kids to school / home in the pitch black....

Adjusting the length of a second as you suggest has nothing to do with this, but would get rid of leap years ;)


We only adjust clocks forward and back for daylight saving, it is suppost to make it safer for people to go and come back from work / school in better conditions. lighter in winter and then back again for summer because its no loger needed. Your right though it is a bit pointless although you do get an extra hour in bed when they change :), but one less when they change back again :(

I knew I'd made a mistake as I was typing it, couldn't think what it was! I was in a hurry though :o

[flatliners]

idea i had awhile back a website with lots of music karaoke and videos that us djs can pay to use every time we gig that has 1,000,000 + music tracks lots of karaoke and videos and it would be streamed into your hard drive so you couldnt keep the music but play it for the night then us djs wouldnt have to carry any music or very little and have access to lots of tracks also it could give the record companys feed back on what is being played

[spin mobile disco]

And thats is do do with BST how? or bulbs? think you may have posted in wrong section there flatliners

[PropellerHeadCase]

However, you are right about the length of a year being a bit off. I think each year is about 365.25 days long, which is why we have an extra day in February every 4 years to compensate for this & catch up.

Actually it's 365.249 which is why it's every 4 years except on the turn of the century except where the century is divisible by 4 :confused:

[Dragonfly]

Actually it's 365.249 which is why it's every 4 years except on the turn of the century except where the century is divisible by 4 :confused:


has anyone seen my will to live ? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :D

[rob1963]

Actually it's 365.249 which is why it's every 4 years except on the turn of the century except where the century is divisible by 4 :confused:


Wow Propeller...thanks for correcting me, I had no idea my figure was so far out!!! :D

[Corabar Steve]

has anyone seen my will to live ? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :D

Probably with mine after 3 1/2 weeks of ripping

[PropellerHeadCase]

Pedants R Us

3½ weeks? I've been ripping for 18 months.

[Corabar Steve]

All day every day?

[theoloyla]

I've been ripping since that curry I had last night!!!

[Corabar Steve]

Did you miss a D out somewhere Theo? http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/sick/sick0019.gif

[PropellerHeadCase]

All day every day?

Obviously not - just look at my post count as compared to when I signed up :D

That said I do have 23,318 MP3s on my hard-drive and that doesn't take into account the hundreds I've since deleted as duplicates or because, as remixes go, they were crap. So, somewhere in the region of 25,000-26,000 tracks ripped in the last 18 months. :bang:

Thanks for the overshare, Theo.

[Corabar Steve]

5,446 & counting

[Shaun]

I've barely started ripping yet, the thought of it's filling me with dread. It has to be done though :(

[Dragonfly]

I did it all twice!!!! as I wasnt happy with the results first time round at a lower bit rate.

took 3 months .... mon -fri 9am start 3pm finish

[rob1963]

On the subject of ripping, I've been thinking of transferring all my cds to my hard drive, ready for when I eventually go digital.

What software do you recommend I use for this?

[Corabar Steve]

Audiograbber with LAME MP3 encoder

[rob1963]

Thanks Steve! :)

[spin mobile disco]

Or Exact audio copy with lame encoder

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I must admit, I find Audiograbber easier.