approaching L2 at last...

[Ronn! Blankenship]

At 05:51 AM Thursday 5/22/2008, David Hobby wrote:

>Hi.  Sorry to interrupt the GeekFest, but I'd suggest not
>using "can set any digital watch without the manual" as a
>test for membership.



I didn't mean that "can set any digital watch without the manual" 
qualifies one for geekhood so much as the more general "Then again, 
if I'm thrown an unfamiliar user interface, I can usually figure it 
out anyway.  [...]  And I like to explore all the options in the UI 
fairly early on."



>We had one that we never could set.  I used to carry it in
>my backpack, in case I was teaching in a room with a broken
>clock.



Many of the classrooms I have taught in during the past couple of 
decades had the one and only clock located high on the front wall, 
iow just about right over the head of someone standing at the podium 
or desk in front of the black/white board.  Do not ask me who thought 
that was a good idea.



>   So I'd set it on the table, and read it using the
>algorithm: "ignore the hour and add 12 minutes".
>(Which is probably also geeky.)
>
>The problem was that the thing had 4 buttons, pretty much
>unlabeled.  I tried pressing all 4, then holding all 4,
>then pressing twice, then combinations...  And never did
>find the setting mode.  Of course the only test for the
>setting mode was that you could set the watch in it, and
>maybe you had to hold a button before it started to set,
>or something.  Or maybe the watch was just broken, and
>COULDN'T be set.



Did any of the buttons cause any change at all, e.g., toggle between 
time and date display?


. . . ronn!  :)