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thearclampman.bsky.social
Collector and researcher of lighting technology from medieval to recent. History of the electrical industry especially during the carbon lamp era and our contemporary changes in decarbonisation
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Astonishing evidence at the Covid Inquiry. The Government repeatedly ignored offers from the Crick Institute to provide mass testing on a national scale. Instead, the Government paid Deloitte consultants to project manage, not yet established, privately run labs. 1/2

submitted 13 days ago • 38 comments

I have been reading up about Whaling and one day I must attempt to read this book when I can find a copy and I have a month with nothing else to do. In the meantime I enjoy these unusual quotes

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

My camera no longer works and it was a 24 megapixel DSLR Expensive £500+ to replace what was originally £350 camera A £200 smartphone has a 50 megapixel camera. More phones made than cameras so are cheaper and smaller. Is this the way to go?

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

Last night I watched a documentary broadcast by pbsAmerica It was on the Iwo jima battle in WW2 During the commentary photographs showed American soldiers in battle. Except for the overlaid text. A. I. Image Maybe the original photos were too expensive. But not historic photos. What do others think?

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

I mostly buy used books because the content is fixed at the time of printing and they are a window into past thoughts and technology. Some of my best finds have been sleeping on library shelves for decades until revealing their contents to me.

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Waking up this morning the choice was between a book on shipwrecks or this post on the finding of the remains of an 1857 ship being discovered. Which one was the biggest temptation to read. The screen was easier to read and I will never see it again. My book can wait for another day, week or month

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

@electronvalve.co In the UK Hansard is the official report of parliament and the house of commons are our electected representatives. hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025...

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

Over the weekend I fell off the wagon and visited a car boot sale where I spend far too much money shopping for things I don't need. 60p later I got myself a paleographic exercise. I need practice

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

For some inexplicable reason on the hottest days of the year so far I had the illogical urge to remove a block of solid beef dripping from the fridge and melt it in my air fryer while I peeled and chipped a couple of spuds. Not satisfied with the chip portion another spud was processed. Why? No idea

submitted 25 days ago • 1 comment

Barbed wire was how the West was won. Once invented it was strung for miles round the edges of cattle ranches. Fence wire is easy to cut but use long springy loops and it becomes a barrier for troops in war or as only just visible in this photo to top fences. Obviously protecting the street light?

submitted 30 days ago • 0 comments

I saw this candlestick holder on a gimbal in the Nelson gallery. The gimbal keeps the candle upright as the ship rolls in heavy seas. It looks like a spring loaded candle holder. Spring loaded candle holders are generally attributed to the late nineteenth century but Nelson died earlier

submitted 31 days ago • 1 comment

Building the factories to make the solar panels will speed up the change to solar power. Panels last 25 years and if this factory makes 3GW per year then 75GW of solar power before replacements are needed. The uK demand is about 40GW

submitted 33 days ago • 0 comments

1/2 I just caught a familiar shape out of the corner of my eye while watching a documentary on 100 days of Donald Trump. To check out the brief shot of the outside of the supreme court in Washington I checked it out on Google streetview

submitted 33 days ago • 1 comment

Before Easter I visited an old friend and we did several of the historic dockyard museum attractions

submitted 35 days ago • 1 comment

This is a perfect thread of posts for those addicted to doomscrolling

submitted 43 days ago • 0 comments

It was lovely to see Portsmouth recognise Hertha Ayrton by an info board at Portsmouth harbour.

submitted 43 days ago • 1 comment

Today was a walk with friends between Bedwyn and Hungerford along the canal. Sadly I did not find any really old solar panels but my life was lit up by visiting my favourite secondhand lightbulb shop. In fact it is the only shop I know

submitted 46 days ago • 1 comment

Watching the 2008 film "The Duchess" She has just married the Duke and the carriage enters the courtyard of their home Devonshire house But hang on.. Wait.. What? A gas street light! No gas street lighting appeared until after her death in 1806

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

Interesting thread and subsequent discussion of future energy transition

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

@electronvalve.co A visit to the city of London today. I do like a neon lobster

submitted 48 days ago • 2 comments

For many years oil lamps and candles were our main lighting technology. Now we have developed technology so tiny pixel lamps create photographic display screens controlled by powerful processors. And what do we do? Make animated pictures of old oil lamps of course

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

I collect historic lighting technology but fancy a solar panel to add to my collection. Nothing modern but the first ones had round wafers set in the housing. I did enquire at a recycling company who processes old panels but they told me that they never get the really old ones back

submitted 52 days ago • 1 comment