Post Avee1c0qoWvvvb6FX6 by VirginiaHolloway@urbanists.social
(DIR) More posts by VirginiaHolloway@urbanists.social
(DIR) Post #AveXTpDMckuBImSUam by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:16:02Z
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When I was first learning electronics I bought a bunch of kits from Boldport. Including the "cordwood puzzle" and when it came I was so despondent. It's pair of PCBs and parts and YOU need to puzzle out how to put them together. I remember thinking that I'd never be able to work it out. Just putting a kit together correctly and having it work was my limit. I put the puzzle away, forgot about it. I found it today ... guess what?It's SO EASY. Nice to be old and learn new tricks isn't it?
(DIR) Post #AveXgI7OzCRIQ8c97Q by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:18:16Z
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I used to think that this thing was so advanced and complicated and that only super experts would understand it at all. I even thought it was sort of mean that Boldport made it so hard! Now I'm like "this is baby stuff"This has happened with mathematics for me many times. But only a few times with electronics. I'm totally self-taught in electronics. My knowledge is hard won, my students get to learn these things much faster with my help. But, that's what I love about teaching.
(DIR) Post #AveXovXoHkS10y5I3c by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:19:52Z
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What is something that once seemed advanced and impossible to you that later became easy?Isn't that feeling the best high in the world?
(DIR) Post #AveXzgQmog9VKKvbDE by davep@infosec.exchange
2025-06-30T10:21:47Z
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@futurebird Almost everything I put off for months to years and then take 30 minutes to a few days to complete.It's more a feeling of "you absolute dolt" than anything else.
(DIR) Post #AveY0c4SVqks5svaSm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:21:56Z
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If you want to try the puzzle there are still a few of them here:https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/cordwood-puzzle-too?variant=29443898310739
(DIR) Post #AveYj7kM6WcN4mkVJQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:29:59Z
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This thing almost made me cry 8 years ago. LOL.
(DIR) Post #AveZFFeYFBaQrdLzpA by mina@berlin.social
2025-06-30T10:35:43Z
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@futurebird Unfortunately, I hardly know anything about electronics, but now, I'm sooo intrigued to try one of these out.Needless to say, I love cute blinking stuff.
(DIR) Post #AveZeVChYzncKkMrpY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:40:24Z
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@mina For a first kit something like this will be less upsetting:https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806563908696.htmlSlowly you learn how to control the heat in the iron, the names of the parts, how to read the board and circuits etc.
(DIR) Post #AveaX0RlcQaoryP6w4 by mina@berlin.social
2025-06-30T10:50:12Z
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@futurebird I'm not an *absolute* beginner, I know the names (in German) of electronic parts and their functionality:Last year, I have soldered the axolotl and the mini organ with my daughter (huge success), but they had very detailed assembly instructions:https://shop.blinkyparts.com/en/navigation/d280f46375b44a53bfc4b18866bf62f9 What I lack, is deeper knowledge and practice.I have already ordered the puzzle a minute ago. I like a challenge.
(DIR) Post #AveaaJliEnM3fCJQzA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:50:51Z
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@mina Nice!Let me know how it goes. :)
(DIR) Post #AveaeptWjfycSW7d2W by mina@berlin.social
2025-06-30T10:51:09Z
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@futurebird I will, dear!
(DIR) Post #AveafzrZ9vBnfHl4ym by Phosphenes@mastodon.social
2025-06-30T10:51:42Z
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@futurebird Having a conversation for the first time in a new language felt like magic.
(DIR) Post #AveahCwS1Af0W9cXVQ by TheOtterDragon@eldritch.cafe
2025-06-30T10:52:00Z
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@futurebird Every new skill I learnt at school, I guess. I remember the feeling.
(DIR) Post #Aveb5JhwVuMGS5KYwy by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:56:27Z
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@TheOtterDragon Sometimes things that made you feel frustrated and like you are in over your head, like you don't even belong working on something so advanced can later make you feel smart. I think teaching young people this is the most important thing school can do. But, with time, with more practice and exposure to simpler problems they can become something you master. I worry that some people never find this confidence in their education.
(DIR) Post #AvebJ1RhCyPvrqGadU by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T10:58:56Z
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@TheOtterDragon And I think it's really important that it isn't about "talent" ... it's about persistence and time. It is important to not just try the same thing over and over, but chipping away iteratively at a topic that seem opaque will make it yield. If you see that another person could do it? It's possible to do. And you can do it too if you want to.
(DIR) Post #AvebgisPtne5E74AjY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T11:03:12Z
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@TheOtterDragon I don't think it's really possible to learn without feeling like you don't get it at all for a time. But, with enough positive experiences finding the way through that feeling the sense that a problem is "too much" becomes exciting rather than making you just want to give up. It's also important to know that sometimes it might take years to get there. Which is why finding this puzzle easy was so exciting for me. I didn't really feel like I'd learned much ... but I have.
(DIR) Post #AvecGZUsFYgIYq9GAS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T11:09:38Z
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@datarama @TheOtterDragon To the extent that it might exist I think people place too much stock in it and allow it to limit themselves and worse try to use it to limit others. But everyday we have the opportunity to grow new talent if we want to.
(DIR) Post #AvecXwmquZzriTqKDQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T11:12:50Z
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@TheOtterDragon When teaching I encounter students in mathematics who give up very quickly. This isn't because they are terrible or lazy, they have simply learned that trying over and over to understand math isn't very productive and have had very few moment of success. It's rational not to waste your energy if that's happened. But, it's my task to start dissolving that sense of not belonging. "this isn't for people like me"That's how I felt about the cordwood puzzle.
(DIR) Post #AvecaHXciayIfEpi6q by hal_pomeranz@infosec.exchange
2025-06-30T11:13:14Z
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@futurebird I remember being mystified by front-end parsing in my compiler design class. I was really not getting it, so I went and talked to my prof during office hours. And during that conversation it just “clicked” into focus for me.So while I agree that persistence and effort pay off, don’t be afraid to reach out for help from experts when you are stuck.
(DIR) Post #AveczjFmp0K7qsckO8 by Gorfram@beige.party
2025-06-30T11:17:48Z
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@futurebird Operating the clutch in a car with a manual transmission. That was so hard to learn. At first it seemed impossible, and when I finally did it, effectively but badly, I thought I’d never get much better.Years later I realized that I did it probably hundreds of times a week, all smooth and sweet, without even giving it a conscious thought.
(DIR) Post #AvedKjpbrubXj1OjzM by catsalad@infosec.exchange
2025-06-30T11:21:35Z
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@futurebird Getting up early on a regular basis. (Never thought I would become an early bird... And like it!)
(DIR) Post #AvedUVjBA1XEsZ3A6C by KatLS@ohai.social
2025-06-30T11:23:22Z
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@futurebird cutting continuous bias tape from a single piece of fabric once seemed like magic.
(DIR) Post #Avee1c0qoWvvvb6FX6 by VirginiaHolloway@urbanists.social
2025-06-30T11:29:20Z
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@futurebird This is an aspirational post: I hope one day I feel that way about swimming. I never learned as a child and am now trying to learn as an adult. I watch people glide leisurely by in the water and then I thrash and flail. It's as though our bodies have entirely different limbs, or the water is more buoyant in the next lane at the pool. I hope one day I glide along and the flailing is just a distant memory.
(DIR) Post #Avee9XCsZBIZL5VHwu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T11:30:48Z
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@VirginiaHolloway I think that can happen for you. And someday I'll really understand capacitors and be able to predict what they do in a circuit rather than guessing and just building it to see what happens.
(DIR) Post #AveeHFRyT7OOaKF5qC by dan613@ottawa.place
2025-06-30T11:32:10Z
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@futurebird I don't recall, but I guarantee it was after a good night's sleep.
(DIR) Post #AveeNef9dqpGWASj0C by Nonya_Bidniss@infosec.exchange
2025-06-30T11:33:21Z
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@futurebird Any household small repair or upgrade. Things I've done by myself include changing light switches & fixtures, replacing toilets & faucets, laying tile, fixing a lawn mower, building an 8ft-long garage workbench, installing ceiling fans, etc. Turns out you don't need to hire people for these things. Thanks to the internet there are endless tutorials available for just about any small things you'd want to do around the house.
(DIR) Post #AveefX1olVJC3JaT9k by lyda@mastodon.ie
2025-06-30T11:36:34Z
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@futurebird When I was in elementary school I used to love getting my new math book. I'd flip to the end and marvel at all the meaningless symbols and thought it was magic how it would all make sense to me at the end of the year.That's what teachers and writers do - magic!
(DIR) Post #AveenvNQ7dYzsth41Q by dragonarchitect@rubber.social
2025-06-30T11:38:05Z
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@futurebird My electronicsy butt and operational amplifiers.They were triangular black boxes in circuits until I understood their parsimonious equation: Vout = Vin+ - Vin-This came after watching a video that broke them down into a few simple properties. The equations that describe different op amp configurations are merely derivations of the original after a bit of analysis of the surrounding feedback loop(s).It is now circuit analysis a la kirchhoff that eludes me a bit.
(DIR) Post #Aveeq3QVAGSbQg9O9Q by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T11:38:28Z
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@Wyatt_H_Knott @VirginiaHolloway yeah I know but it's not always "just like a battery" I understand smoothing capacitors. But when they are used for timing? I'm a bit mystified by that. I get it takes time to charge and discharge but ... why does it discharge? why do they sometimes discharge before fully charged? Why are some polar and some non-polar? How is that even possible?
(DIR) Post #Avef0PF0uejhyxiHNQ by grob@mstdn.social
2025-06-30T11:40:19Z
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@futurebird a big thing for me was more related to confidence but skill: when I started to try and repair things (furniture to electronics, just anything) I was surprised how high the chances of success are. I just had not done it because I *thought* I couldn't do it. But in the end: before tossing it in the bin, why not repair it? It's already broken, so no worries!
(DIR) Post #AvegLSeZWNcsbIGtZg by superflippy@mastodon.xyz
2025-06-30T11:55:18Z
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@futurebird Last week I finally got up the courage to learn how to drive the family boat. And it was easy! The first time I went out on the boat years ago I was terrified & huddled in the middle, holding on to the boat for dear life. This week, I steered us across a bay and down a creek, confidently standing when the boat bumped over waves.
(DIR) Post #AvehZps65qtocQ13XU by norbipeti@toot.norbipeti.eu
2025-06-30T12:09:06Z
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@futurebird my favourite one is when I was little I'd do some scripting for a game (well, the multiplayer mod, SA-MP) and then one day I came across the source code of the mod itself and realized that it's using the same printf() to write things to the screen. It blew my mind that it's so simple (the rest wasn't but y'know). I thought regular programs were these impossibly hard to make things.I've been working as a programmer for a few years now after all the hobby projects heh.
(DIR) Post #AveiIhRiGYoHWD4GeW by phooky@hexa.club
2025-06-30T12:15:49Z
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@futurebird it totally is, and it's been a while since I had that feeling. Maybe I've gotten there with mechanical CAD? I've been throwing my brain against a wall with topology, maybe it's time to find a good text and go to town.
(DIR) Post #AveiIi0SBObDFxK0no by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T12:17:15Z
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@phooky Topology needs time to seep into your soul. You can memorize the definitions and walk through the proofs but some of it just needs to ... sit with you for a time... or at least that's how it was for me. I got an A in Topology in college but didn't understand it until three years later.
(DIR) Post #AveiJxXltu0DjaVCvQ by phooky@hexa.club
2025-06-30T12:14:13Z
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@futurebird I miss boldport club! Those kits were SO GOOD.
(DIR) Post #AveiQbfTdGy9unHB8S by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T12:18:44Z
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@phooky I know right? Boldport was amazing. And you could tell it was a labor of love, their kits were so considerate and made to really help you to learn. And they were forgiving. (I'd say "except for the cordwood puzzles" but I can even see how these were made with care now. )
(DIR) Post #Avek4GWXlTxJsKZXmq by dan613@ottawa.place
2025-06-30T12:37:04Z
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@futurebird @TheOtterDragon I tutored a young man whose medication made it very hard to focus. Algebra was a previous topic he should have learned to solve quadratic equations but he struggled with the concept of variables and how to solve for them. I think we had to go over them for 4 weeks. And then one day he solved an equation like he had been doing them his whole life. I think I may have been happier than he was!
(DIR) Post #AvenvMx0trI51Cy08G by OldCoder@dansu.org
2025-06-30T13:16:40.767903Z
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When I was perhaps six years old, I wandered up to some outdoors benches at school. A boy of impressive age was sitting there. The boy was probably 8 or 9. He was writing something on a piece of paper. I looked over his shoulder to see what it was.He was doing three-column addition. Three columns! How could I ever match that?
(DIR) Post #AvenvOLViGTpLTR4xE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-30T13:20:17Z
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@oldcoder This is exactly how I felt when I missed a lecture in complex and came in and saw this: "aw hell no. they've got a circle on it now?!?"It turned out to be fine. But yeah. Math is just always like this from the playground to the very end.
(DIR) Post #AveoeDbuTRpb55Tuq0 by jollyorc@social.5f9.de
2025-06-30T13:28:14Z
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@futurebird I had something similar happen to me, but it was a bittersweet moment: When I was a kid, teenager and even young adult, my dad was the one who can DIY: Fiddling with power outlets, reparing radios, casting plaster models, weathering faux antiques, applying wallpaper, woodworking, building RC U-boats - he could do it all.Then, about 15ish years ago, he asked me to help out setting up an IKEA kitchen, including appliances because he couldn't make heads or tails of the manuals.I was dang proud that I got there and could help, but boy it also hurt a bit that I lost him being the guy I could ask for help in case I get daunted by a DIY task.
(DIR) Post #AvepLiAAkv9cI4FLXc by BashStKid@mastodon.online
2025-06-30T13:36:14Z
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@futurebird As you say, this is all about confidence.Confidence to say ‘hey I can try this’Confidence to say ‘this isn’t working out, I need a different tool from the toolbox, or some help, or some time’Confidence to come back later and persevere, and get a different view of your old problem. And the confidence to say ‘turns out I’m pretty terrible at this, could you help me please?’
(DIR) Post #AveqxpL6cezTVQ6DpY by Tattie@eldritch.cafe
2025-06-30T13:54:19Z
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@futurebird the circle must be there to blend the contour. Advanced stuff indeed.@oldcoder
(DIR) Post #Avet5dWgcxuh5oMrRI by mattmcirvin@mathstodon.xyz
2025-06-30T14:18:04Z
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@futurebird @TheOtterDragon There are a few specific topics that I learned decades ago but that for some reason never intuitively "stick", so I have to relearn them over and over when I have to. Partial fraction decomposition in calculus. The theory of Lagrange multipliers. Those are two.
(DIR) Post #AvetCvxEVhicH2GRZQ by MishaVanMollusq@sfba.social
2025-06-30T14:19:26Z
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@futurebird @TheOtterDragon The Book “An Experiment with Time” did that to me rececntly with its model of Serial Time.Still don’t see how it is a proof for alternate time lime lines without evoking Everett Wheeler’s PhD thesis.But i am kinda jonesing to read itsSequel The Serial Universe.It came out the same year as Heidegger’s Being And Time; which has over 400 pages discussing being in phenomenological detail and the Time discussion is 6-10 pages that hint at a sequel that was never written because Nazism .
(DIR) Post #AvevNm2buLNycd4mbw by leon_p_smith@ioc.exchange
2025-06-30T14:43:50Z
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@futurebird Three things that come to my mind are purely functional programming, continuations, and continued fractions.As far as I know, continuations and continued fractions aren't related to each other in any particularly interesting way. But I've also been toying with the two concepts for decades.But I've also built my philosophy of math education based around my first "aha" moment with continued fractions.I'd consider continuations considerably more niche, but it's a very popular niche.
(DIR) Post #AveyR0h0Bqe0nIChNY by Archergal@wandering.shop
2025-06-30T15:18:02Z
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@futurebird I once tried to fix something w/a mechanical typewriter & couldn’t make much sense out of it. Later, after working keypunch machines & other mechanical things, i went back & looked at the typewriter. It was SO OBVIOUS what the problem was! I was amazed
(DIR) Post #Avez6p6peBQX20DvV2 by johnlogic@sfba.social
2025-06-30T15:24:40Z
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@futurebird Though I've had a burning fire to learn, I can't and won't claim to be self-taught in electronics and computers, as I had many good mentors. (I've also enjoyed teaching, especially those moments when a student pushes through and grasps something new!)@mina if you are interested, I wrote a page about PCB fabrication technologies; the cordwood method dates back to the early 1950s. (This link includes a bookmark.)https://syncopate.us/articles/2006/m04a#fab
(DIR) Post #Avf850OVcLlJ2WhRzc by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2025-06-30T17:06:06Z
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@futurebird @oldcoder Narrator voice: It did not turn out to be fine.
(DIR) Post #AvfBIV2BJILTh8NlwG by adrake@sfba.social
2025-06-30T17:42:09Z
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@futurebird @Wyatt_H_Knott @VirginiaHolloway when used for timing (at least if I'm imagining the same kind of circuit you're describing) the charge<->discharge switch is forced by the rest of the circuit, e.g. a few transistors alternating between connecting it to power or ground when the voltage reaches a certain level. On their own they just charge/discharge to whatever voltage they're connected to and sit there forever.Polarized capacitors are weird hacks, they're mostly just a big parallel plate capacitor inside, but there's some electrochemistry going on in the background. Keep the voltage positive and the electrochemistry doesn't do much (it will self-heal any cracks in the insulator between the electrodes but that is a tiny amount of current). Flip the voltage around and the electrochemistry runs in reverse and breaks down the insulator, with catastrophic results.
(DIR) Post #AvfmTUzzTjDL4gSwPA by andymandias@mastodon.social
2025-07-01T00:38:42Z
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@futurebird Speedrunning is where I encountered it the most. Probably because, unlike my experience in schooling, speedrunning means revisiting earlier work over and over. School was almost always on to the next thing.Being able to casually complete an extra difficulty challenge for fun, when beating it the first time at regular difficulty was a challenge. It’s closer to “being able to reproduce those motions” than “being able to intellectually understand”, but imho it’s a feeling akin.