Tearing your radio apart

[xxxlibris]

Chaps, chaps, a question: did any of you when you were tiny do things like pull your radio to pieces to see how it worked, and then rebuild it? Or develops your own computer skills out of sight of school/parents, and learn how to hack? Or similar? And if you did do any of these things, how have they contributed (or not) to you being in the line of

Comments

[biascut]

Not quite what you're talking about, I don't think, but my parents both have a very, "Yeah, I can probably work that out, give or take" attitude to things, which we picked up. In my case, I applied it to cooking, sewing and knitting - I usually read recipes and patterns through to get the jist, and then set off on my own - and anything basically mechanical and not powered or precision engineered: I'll muck about with bike brakes and wheels and tyres and things, but nothing involving ball bearings or car engines. My brothers will muck around with car engines. I'm also perfectly happy to have a go at painting/tiling/grouting and that kind of stuff when we have a Helen&Mary place

[xxxlibris]

I think it's all part of the same ethos though, about figuring out how simple systems work, and then how simple systems become complex systems. Same principles, I think, as interaction design, where you learn by doing and fiddling, rather than being involved in high-faluting theory first. (and your computer program = very impressive!) And also yes to the concept that 'Oh yeah, I can probably do that' attitude about potentially unknown things (see: my career to date); I think there's some interesting research on how these attitudes are differently fostered in boys who get toys that allow them to fiddle and rebuild, vs girls who don't.

[shermarama]

It doesn't matter what toys you get, you can always fiddle and rebuild if you're that way inclined. I had a Sindy, who had a ballerina dress; I made her a sword and bits of armour and stuff out of card and straws and she became Action Hero Sindy. Mind you, I was only allowed to have the house-building sort of lego, which only went so far for making her jet bikes or wing fliers or things to travel in, until I saved up some money and bought a box of Technics lego.

I spent several years working as a lab and workshop technician, fixing things and building things and fiddling with things, and now I'm a design engineer. It comes out regardless of what toys you're given, I think, although I could have got on to the engineering track a lot sooner - no-one in my family is technical and given that I was very good at physics at school, everyone thought I should do a physics degree, when actually I just wanted to use physics for making stuff.

[oilrig]

Was given an old, small radio, which had had the batteries left in and gotten corroded, so new battery terminals had to be installed. This meant taking it apart, and while the back was off....... was well chuffed when I discovered that you could change the tuning by twiddling one of the internal dials with a screwdriver, rather than the knob on the side... :)
A box of meccano also had several old clock in, and these were dismantled and rebuilt into other models too :)

Never was that good at software hacking. still aren't.

[xxxlibris]

See, it's always the radios - I wonder why that is? And mechano, I'd completely forgotton about that.

[friend_of_tofu]

OTTERS! With their little otter's noses!

I have nothing else to add. I am and always have been technically incompetent, and prone to destroying almost nothing, though I did *love* tearing my favourite books into pieces when I was 2, in the hopes that my mother would continue to put them back together. She finally ran out of patience.

[xxxlibris]

I did *love* tearing my favourite books into pieces when I was 2, in the hopes that my mother would continue to put them back together
That is *brilliant*, although oy, your poor mum!

[friend_of_tofu]

Initially, she would repair them with glue, or needle & thread, but she soon decided I'd never learn if she did that, so she stopped, and threw them away once I'd destroyed them. I stopped shredding them quite quickly once I realised they weren't coming back, or so my mum says.

This is one of her (many) favourite stories about what a tiny terror I was. Am. I dunno, you'd have to ask her!

[judiff]

i like saw this crown of bacon and like thought of you - there's a like a load of other bacon related crafty goodness from the same issue of AntiCraft if you click on the names of projects at the op too.