[HN Gopher] The Secret Life of Machines (1988)
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       The Secret Life of Machines (1988)
        
       Author : mattlondon
       Score  : 106 points
       Date   : 2024-01-24 06:23 UTC (16 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.secretlifeofmachines.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.secretlifeofmachines.com)
        
       | throw0101d wrote:
       | See also playlist from Tim Hunkin's channel:
       | 
       | * https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtaR0lZhSyAPLuoSbMA29...
       | 
       | * https://www.youtube.com/@timhunkin1
       | 
       | * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Machines
       | 
       | The theme song is Bennett's "The Russians are Coming" (a reggae
       | cover of "Take Five"):
       | 
       | * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-fvwg9zy08
        
         | georgesimon wrote:
         | There's an interesting note on his site [0] about how he had to
         | demonetize all his YouTube videos because of the music, and how
         | the original band are not getting anything from it either. So
         | the only people making money from his work are the record
         | company.
         | 
         | [0] https://www.timhunkin.com/a243_Secret-Life-of-Machines-
         | intro...
        
           | kragen wrote:
           | that's what copyright is for, and what it's always been for:
           | government-granted monopolies for publishers. the statute of
           | anne was enacted thanks to lobbying from the worshipful
           | company of stationers, not from authors
        
           | bombcar wrote:
           | And Google. Don't forget Google. They make money whether they
           | pay out any.
        
             | georgesimon wrote:
             | Yes, Hunkin gives a much better explanation than me on his
             | site, which both exposes my own misgivings, and hits a bit
             | harder at copyright.
        
       | aardvark179 wrote:
       | I loved these when I was a kid, and I've watched few since
       | they've been on YouTube. They are beautifully clear and
       | understandable explanations of everyday machines.
        
         | astrodust wrote:
         | Even more clear with the remastering!
        
       | steezeburger wrote:
       | Tim Hunkin is such a treasure. He has so much interesting and
       | educational content available for free. Even modern stuff on his
       | YT channel. It's all really excellent.
       | 
       | https://youtube.com/@timhunkin1
        
         | threeio wrote:
         | He's got a clock at the exploratorium in San Francisco.
         | 
         | https://www.exploratorium.edu/video/tim-hunkins-tinkerers-cl...
        
       | 55555 wrote:
       | This series was instrumental in me learning the basics of
       | engineering. I'm forever thankful, and I highly recommend it!
        
       | paradox460 wrote:
       | Sometimes my 1 year old is fussy and doesn't want to take his
       | naps. Putting these on, or a Japanese how its made, or similar,
       | has worked wonders. He'll sit down to watch and fall asleep in 10
       | minutes on average.
        
       | simonw wrote:
       | Because I'll never miss an opportunity to promote this... Tim
       | Hunkin has an arcade in London called Novelty Automation which is
       | legit one of the most under-rated things to do in the entire
       | city:
       | 
       | https://www.novelty-automation.com/
       | 
       | It's tucked away down some side streets five minutes walk from
       | Holborn tube station. It's best described as a collection of
       | satirical arcade games, almost all of which were made by Tim.
       | 
       | There's a small hadron collider, and a money laundering crane
       | game, an Amazon Warehouse job simulator and so much more.
       | 
       | It is utterly delightful. Everyone I have sent there has loved
       | it. If you haven't experienced it yet you should fix that!
        
       | threeio wrote:
       | One of the best shows. Between reruns of this and Connections on
       | the old discovery/learning channel, I was a happy kid ;)
        
         | NegativeLatency wrote:
         | As a fan of both of these, any others you'd recommend?
        
       | gabrielsroka wrote:
       | See also https://www.timhunkin.com/a243_Secret-Life-of-Machines-
       | intro...
        
       | ilamont wrote:
       | Lived in London in the early 90s and loved the concept and
       | presentation of the TV program, a wonderful blend of inquiry,
       | creativity, and eccentricity.
       | 
       | I haven't seen an episode in decades but I still remember the one
       | where they made magnetic recording tape and another scene where
       | they tested the hypothesis (or Murphy's Law) about a piece of
       | toast always landing on the buttered side. It was basically a
       | bunch of people sitting at picnic tables flipping toast onto the
       | grass and recording the outcome.
       | 
       | I remember thinking: something like this could never fly in the
       | U.S. The suits would shoot it down before it saw the light of
       | day. But I was proven wrong a little over 10 years later when
       | MythBusters launched.
        
         | schiffern wrote:
         | The videotape scene is here[0], but the buttered toast scene
         | must be from a different show. I re-watched recently and they
         | don't that demonstration in TSLoM.
         | 
         | [0] https://youtu.be/g1JlUcFKm5o?t=536
        
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       (page generated 2024-01-24 23:01 UTC)