Stupid comments by an engineer

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message

Amazing. Truly amazing...

I think it popped up here a couple months ago, but in case you didn't see it, this little take on HP's garage is good:

O'Reilly is a pretty reasonable/sane guy; not bad at all to listen to, and I think there's more "substance" than some of the more popular guys (on both sides... e.g., Rush Limbaugh or Al Frankin... And whereas O'Reilly was willing to go on Stephen Colbert's show, I can't imagine Rush would visit, say, John Stewart...)

Absolutely, I'd certainly buy a copy.

---Joel

Intellectual: A man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. Dwight D Eisenhower

Could also apply to PHDs

O'Reilly appeared on "The View" today... hilarious, costumed as Count Dracula ;-)

How much $:-) ...Jim Thompson

Ah, there are a number of professionals here, actually, at Milwaukee School of Engineering. Freshmen are recommended to address their instructors "Professor" when in doubt, as they aren't necessarily Doctors.

Still, you have to weigh the fact that those are the people willing to teach instead of only work, so maybe it's not as good as it sounds. ;-)

Tim

Nope, they really don't.

I got to chat with the school's EE chair once. He said, about 30 years ago, people like me (kids who stuck screwdrivers into radios) were common (he was one himself), so there was a lot of curriculum they could test out of, or heck maybe even in those days it was just "you know ohm's law? sure, you can skip this prerequisite".

But nowadays, that's a lot less common (probably less than 10%), and the certifications are more stringent, and the bureaucracy more impersonal, so I'm doomed to sit in classes alongside students who don't know the right end of the soldering iron.

Not that the classes are very useful anyway. I'm in a control systems class right now. I still don't know what the hell 1/(s+2) is. I know full well what 1 / (s + 1/RC) is, but see, that's not what they teach. It's just more numbers, run the algebra and find the answer. Who cares which way it goes with respect to something like frequency. Academia is all about abstraction, because it's an escape from reality, and algorism (Laplace transforms, etc.) because it's easy. No one teaches practical stuff, and no one teaches the holistic point of view.

Tim

No money in the degree if they allow you to test out of courses.

In fairness, most will never need to touch a soldering iron. I've worked with many who haven't into any sort of lab since college. There is a lot more to EE, these days, than PCBs.

That is an issue. Laplace should be taught after there is a sound circuits understanding. They never taught Gregg before English.

Nah, an "algorism" is:

"I'm always right, no matter how the facts turn out."

Sounds like the KRW mind set to me.

Even if true, it beats *being* AlwaysWrong, hands down.

I guess you'll have to perform a complete reversal of your past twenty years then.

Some day we will seek out Nymbecile, show him multiple sheets of paper listing his ignorant statements, then drag him behind a pick-up truck.

In the meantime, krw, I must add you to my file of...

(From: troll-feeder) & ((troll-in-reference)|(troll-in-body))

pairs... sorry ;-) ...Jim Thompson

You had better watch how you word your utter horseshit, boy.

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Dunno what you did wrong, Jimbo. I've been teaching Electronics Technology at the local community college since the early 1980s on a BS-Physics.

Jim

Dunno. I can only tell you that I offer my students a two letter grade bonus if they achieve a General ham license during the semester and in thirty years, not one taker.

(or if already a General, Extra.)

Jim

So skip the basics and take advanced courses.

This is excellent. Lots of ancient instrumentation is failing or out of production, and there are few people who can design next-gen gear. Most of the kiddies are useless around real electricity [1], and the big aerospace and scientific instrument companies are less and less eager to do stuff in-house.

Some academics want to abstract the math away from real circuits. That's why it's so good to come into these classes with some real circuit experience and instincts. Then lightbulbs turn on for you while the rest of the class doesn't notice.

But most circuit designers can learn all they need about control theory in one day.

Spice has eliminated the need for most analytic solutions to control loops. Most good loops are nonlinear anyhow, so were never solvable analytically. The best combo is good instincts and LT Spice.

John

It was probably his attitude.

That "everyone but me is a leftist weenie" mentality is pretty blatantly apparent. Probably more so in person.

I would not want to be taught by such a twit either.

They probably called some of his former employers and got a handle of his "people skills"... or lack thereof.

You don't read very well, do you AlwaysWrong?

No problem. Glad I can be of service. ;-)

Advanced courses? What advanced courses?

I'm not disagreeing, just stating the way it is. Being able to do this work has worked out well for me.

Spice isn't good for building instincts, however. It too easily becomes a crutch and makes people believe that they're really standing.

Haven't seen that so much, but I have been tutoring one student who has a real problem with algebra.

Take your lobotomized brain elsewhere, chump.