Computer
TOOLS Pitchcare’s web monkey, Alastair, looks at the tools of the IT age.
USB Memory Stick / USB Flash Memory
In each issue I will bring to your attention a useful device that may help you with your computing at home or work. In this issue we’ll have a look at the USB memory stick, a small piece of plastic and metal with a computer chip inside. The only external connector is a USB plug, which you can connect into any USB socket on your computer. If you’re using Windows XP or most other modern operating systems, when you plug it in, it is automatically detected and shown in ‘My Computer’ as a new storage device. Just like a hard disk it stores your pictures, music, presentations or in fact any computer file that you may need to carry about with you. Perhaps you work from home one day and create a presentation that you will give the next
day. You can’t email it because it is bigger than your work’s email system will allow, you’ve run out of CDs to burn it so you have no way of transferring the presentation from home to work. In steps the memory stick, swiftly copying the file where required.
The memory stick is solid state memory, meaning there are no moving parts inside. As such, they are very durable and travel easily, especially as they are so small, usually no bigger than a finger. Available in a range of sizes from 64Mb upto 2Gb and from a cost of £10 upwards, the USB Memory Stick is one tool that I would not be without.
Links
www.last.fm - The social music revolution. Type in a band or artist you like, discover your musical 'neighbours' and use their software in combination with your music player to chart your most played.
www.youtube.com - Instantly find and watch thousands of fast streaming videos, upload video files of your own, easily share your video files family, friends, and co-workers.
www.imdb.com - Lots of information about every film you have ever heard of - a complete database of film trivia. Includes user submitted goofs, for example in Mission Impossible III “the railway wagons in the yard at the factory in Berlin have American-style couplings not European ones.”
Shortcuts
Save your wrist, use the mouse less by taking advantage of these handy keyboard shortcuts.
In Internet Explorer and Firefox: Home: Takes you to the top of a webpage End: Takes you to the bottom of a webpage F5: Refreshes the current page F11: Makes the page fullscreen
Tools Of the Trade THE STIMPMETER
IN the search for faster greens, some objective rather than subjective measure was needed, and the Stimpmeter was adopted. This simple tool was invented in 1935 by the US golfer E.G. Stimpson, to achieve "accurate, objective, statistically valid measurements", but it was not introduced into the UK until the 1980s. The following standard measurements have now been adopted for regular and tournament play.
SPEED Fast
REGULAR PLAY TOURNAMENT PLAY 8 feet 6 inches 10 feet 6 inches
Medium Fast 7 feet 6 inches 9 feet 6 inches Medium
6 feet 6 inches 8 feet 6 inches
Medium Slow 5 feet 6 inches 7 feet 6 inches Slow
4 feet 6 inches 6 feet 6 inches
Without taking these measurements as “set in stone”, it is possible to use them to assess the speed of each green on the course, and work towards a consistent standard. The Stimpmeter is an extruded aluminum bar, 875mm long, with a V-shaped groove extending along its entire length. It has a precisely milled ball-release notch 750mm from the tapered end (the end that rests on the ground). The underside of the tapered end is milled away to reduce bounce as a rolling ball makes contact with the green.
How to Use - Place a measuring tape on the green (choose the flattest part), place the stimpmeter on the green with the tapered end at the end of the tape. Place a golf ball in the ball- release notch and gradually raise this end of the stimpmeter until the ball releases and rolls down the stimpmeter on to the green (see photo).Measure the distance the golf ball rolls. Repeat the test four times, changing the direction of the ball roll, to get an average reading of your green. The stimpmeter can be purchased online from the Pitchcare
Store,
www.pitchcare.com/shop or, alternatively, ring 01902 824392.
Days OFF!
... or what Pitchcare readers get up to out of office hours
LEE JACKSON, Deputy Head Groundsman at the City of Manchester stadium: Days off, like most groundsmen out there, are a rarity! I can usually be found in front of the TV, trying to avoid looking after my two kids - Callum (3) and Ellie (12 weeks), whilst my girlfriend, Samantha, is doing her garden - the same garden I condemned when she bought what looked like dead turf from B&Q. Being the experienced groundsman I am, I told her it was no good and she was wasting her time with it! She ignored my professional advice and treated it with lashings of BabyBio ... and won the local garden competition! My contribution to the garden this year is to use some marking paint to put a St George’s flag on the lawn for the World Cup. Aside from this I can usually be found perusing dodgy websites on the internet, you know the ones - Pitchcare etc!
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