Stupid comments by an engineer

It's particularly silly in the humanities. At one time, we expected professors of English and philosophy and so on to be _learned_, i.e. to actually know their subjects forwards and backwards.

At Oxford and Cambridge, English degrees were only introduced in the

1920s, and the requirements for a BA in English included being able to read and write the English of all periods, including Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. That went away in the 1960s, I think, along with a lot of other good stuff.

Then the humanities got the 'originality' bug, which has been a huge disaster for learning in general--you don't get tenure for agreeing with your predecessor.

In engineering, the basic professional qualification is a bachelor's degree, whereas in science, it's a doctorate. The narrow specialization of Ph.D's in engineering is not typical of most scientific disciplines IME. The skills are just different. I was fortunate to have a brother who taught me how to solder at age 10, but then I went and did physics and astronomy and math and all that stuff--I've never taken a circuits course in my life, unless you count the jokey RLC-circuits-for-scientists class they made us take as sophomores. (I could have taught that course at the time.)

Spending 20 years at school won't make a fool into a wise man, but if you have a few brain cells to rub together to begin with, it isn't always wasted. ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058
hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

Pathetic, hopeless & depraved.

--
The movie \'Deliverance\' isn\'t a documentary!

Congress is practicing medicine. What are you going to do about it?

--
The movie \'Deliverance\' isn\'t a documentary!

Someone told him to get bent, and he did.

--
The movie \'Deliverance\' isn\'t a documentary!

Yep, MIT is well known as a party school. When I was a student, the local liquor stores would deliver to the dorms, no ID checked. Likewise the local Italian restaurants in Central Square... that's where I learned to drink Chianti ;-)

Hmmmmm! I used to write courses and teach for ICE (Integrated Circuit Engineering).

Is there interest? Analog I/C design is almost a lost art. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
"Somebody had to build the ceiling... 
           before Michelangelo could go to work."
                                                 - John Ratzenberger

http://analog-innovations.com/SED/Somebody_had_to_build_the_ceiling.pdf

Funny that. I joined mid year with a full year's subs and they still expected another years worth at year end. Not good value at all. Not to mention all the added charges for accessing online libraries of research reports, which was one of the main reasons for joining in the first place.

Joined the aiaa recently. Same scenario in practice, but more interesting and they keep in touch regularly. Hardly ever heard from the ieee unless they were trying to sell me something...

Regards,

Chris

I think the expression is "a left handed monkey wrench". At least from the song I remember :-)...

Regards,

Chris

I joined IEEE in 1962. Quit around 1968 when they made the Proceedings extra cost.

Rejoined 5 years ago when I could get the old farts rate ;-)

Still couldn't get papers from outside my member groups.

Inquired about some kind of senior membership that would allow reasonable-cost access to the "digital" libraries.

Confiscatory fees.

So I let my IEEE membership lapse.

Worthless bunch of shit-heads.

Slowman fits right in.

So I white-list select @ieee.org addresses (remarkably few people use @ieee.org addresses anymore), then kill file Slowman ;-) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
"Somebody had to build the ceiling... 
           before Michelangelo could go to work."
                                                 - John Ratzenberger

http://analog-innovations.com/SED/Somebody_had_to_build_the_ceiling.pdf

My favorite was proudly proclaimed by a MSEE with 3 months actual hands on work experience. "I found the problem. The fuse is shorted." Art

I just object to any self serving organisation that expects me to feel gratefull for the high prices they are charging me.

Member organisations should be there to serve the members. Oherwise, what is the point ?...

Regards,

Chris

I feel the same way about AARP. I'm dumping them this renewal (Part D) period. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, CTO                            |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
"Somebody had to build the ceiling... 
           before Michelangelo could go to work."
                                                 - John Ratzenberger

http://analog-innovations.com/SED/Somebody_had_to_build_the_ceiling.pdf

Well part of this is the Dilbert Principle: That is we all do stupid stuff. The only reason society works is that we don't all do stupid stuff at the same time.

b. Farmer

If I was _ever_ told not to connect an electrolytic capacitor backwards it was by a lab technician interested in keeping his lab quiet and clean, not by a prof. I know that I had to learn the lesson myself while building a high-current power supply (good thing I had extra 'lytics).

Someone who starts out competent and gets a PhD can do amazing things.

Of course, someone who starts out _incompetent_ and gets a PhD will do amazing things, too -- it's just a different sort of amazement.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

They came around to my school trying to get us to join. I was to broke at the time, now I'm glad I didn't waste my money.

Any extra cash went on booze and women ---> priorities.;)

ou

I agree with you here. I have worked with some guys in the Electromagnetics lab at Ohio State University. All , absolutely top rate . I worked with some PhD types at Raytheon quite a few years ago. they were top rate too.

I think the people on this board are looking to compare their circuit design expertise with a PhD's circuit design expertise. Most PhD's do not do circuit design, so it is not really a fair comparison.

But how about Barrie Gilbert from analog devices (He is a Dr. - it may be honorary - he sure has earned that if it is - but I assume it is regular PhD). His designs have made my life so much easier in many cases. case in point , the low cost log amps that came out about 10 years ago. Absolutely breathtaking.

That is true too, but I think it is not as frequent as the circuit designer crowd wishes it to be. Now if you want to rag on PhD's in other fields like edumacation - ......

Is it me or was it only 'in the old days' that people went into electronics (.i.e. got educated in it at college level) because they were already hooked on it and had built a bunch of stuff? A friend and I were selling crystal radios at primary school before we were eleven years old. By the time I was 18 and went to university I had read every electronics book in the city library, passed the Radio Amateurs Exam, and built dozens of bits of kit. Don't kids do that any more?

Cheers

Ian

Many moons ago, when GE still made small appliances, they had a troubleshooting tip for a toaster suggesting that if it didn't work the user should try reversing the plug. Kinda cute, actually.

In message , snipped-for-privacy@uakron.edu writes

Problem is it's extremely difficult to get anywhere without one.

--
Clint Sharp

Right. Of course the academics weren't interested. It was useful and it wasn't profitable (for them).