h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In re current and shocking: it depends, I believe, on how much resistance is flowing through the circuit. We were learning about this in physics in school just the other day; and we learned that since water is a better conductor of electricity, if you're standing in water it's far easier to get shocked. Though I'm not *quite* sure that made any sense at all.

That's to do with contact resistance - the resistance between you and whatever you are touching: due to dirt and grime on you hands you may have quite a high contact resistance. If your hands are wet, the water will conduct the electricity around the dirt and make a better contact.

It's OK, everyone, you don't need to explain current and resistance to me; I do actually understand them. I just haven't got around to writing the last section of this yet.

Resistance is useless!

Zube

It looks like I won't have time to add the section on Electricity to this before my holidays, so I'd like to put it on hold until I come back in about 2 weeks time.

If anybody feels it should be withdrawn from Peer Review, I'll do that, but I think it can sit here quietly until I'm ready to add the section as requested.

I think it could stay here...

HELL

I don't see why not... hopefully no one will pick it while you're gone!

To take this in a different direction.

You say <>

Are you sure about that? How about sun dials? Although I am open to being told that where they predated mechanical clocks they didn't have that name.

The only etymology I have found is:

Middle English dyal, from Medieval Latin dialis clock wheel revolving daily, from Latin dies day


Otherwise an interesting read.

You're right, Johnny. My use of the word "originally" is not quite correct. Telephones got the word dial from clocks. But clocks had got it from sundials hundreds of years before that. I'll rephrase it slightly.

I just thought that with your name, the mention of sundials was appropriate.

-- I couldn't resist posting this biggrin here.

OK, I've changed it to:

"The word 'dial' at that time meant the face of a clock, which was itself normally circular."

Sounds good

Welcome back, Gnomon (about a week after I wrote this, that is).

I actually own an old rotary phone (it's in my closet somewhere) and grew up in a household that was connected to a party line. It was always a bit frustrating to pick up the telephone and discover that someone else on the party line was using their telephone, so you couldn't use yours.

A bit about proper usage of the telephone... It's important to remember whether you are making or receiving the call when initiating a telephone conversation. I once had a co-worker who, having been taking calls almost non-stop for four hours, had to make an outgoing call. He dialed. The person at the other end picked up. "Hello?" My co-worker then proceded to completely confuse the person he had called by saying "Hello, this is [name] with [company], may I help you?"

NBY

I like it; good job!

Anybody else have a nosy old lady neighbor who'd listen in on the party line, with a hanky over the phone so no one could here her breathing?

About half the time I answer the phone at home, I use my company's greeting. My friends just laugh now. Telemarketers hang up, though, which is a plus!

Hey there Gnomon:

The piece is looking really good!

Just an inconsiquential point about dials. Clocks certainly are not the only things to which the term has referred. Many guages, for example pressure gauges and aeroplane dashboards use the term dial, not to mention the old telly adverts demanding 'don't touch that dial!'.

As someone who has named himself after part of a sunDIAL, I would expect Gnomon to know this.

B

I'm glad you're going to put in something about the voltage.

I also thought you could put in something about where the rings are generated (local exchange - used to be a rotating drum thingy), which is why caller and called can hear different ones. Or perhaps that is too obvious.

Of course, thinking about it, that can't be true. Or you wouldn't hear the foreign ring tones when you call abroad. Perhaps it used to be. I had heard it as an explanation of the different number of rings heard by caller and called.

Hi Gnomon

Not sure if these are in the scope of your Entry

The old locks for the dial phone parents used, to stop their teenagers calling their friends, that also prevented them from dialing 999 in an emergency, as the lock was fitted in dial 1.

And the Trimphones, we didn't have one of those, my friends did, the ring was different from the 'regular' dial phones, can't remember more than that.

Emmily

A delightful entry.

My in-laws had a rotary dial until they moved house last year, so I'm not sure if they are really that rare.

You might want to include mention of the letters that used to be part of phone numbers as well, to indicate the exchange. They were grouped three per hole. The numbers/letters were around the edge of a circular plate under the moving dial. I think this is what makes it look similar to a clock face.

Although dialling was slow, numbers were shorter in the earlier days, because there weren't so many subscribers.

What about mentioning the other tones - engaged, number unobtainable? I'm not sure that you've made clear that you don't actually hear the other phone ringing.

Hope that's helpful.