The stupidity of slimulations

When I was teaching a senior level microprocessor course in a (then) local college, about 10% could convert from binary to decimal. Fewer than half of them could write the pseudocode (or even start the problem). One argued with me that "OR" and "ADD" were the same thing = "They're both '+'".

Slowman's mindless stream of lies does remind one of a politician.

Heck no! You only get the god's honest 100% truth from a reputable mainstream media organisation like CNN. Their coverage of Sandy Hook was magnificent. And Wolf Blitzer is the most honest and trusted reporter of them all. No question. ;-)

It would probably have ended up with Bill discussing with himself the relative merits of Marxism vs. Trotskyism. ;-)

Auditioning for Slowman's job, now?

Yep. I run into that almost weekly. My wife is trying to break me of my natural abrasive self ;-) I'm learning. In a recent episode I quite quickly spotted the "power" person and made friends before we got into specifications ;-) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Most limiting example: naive magnetic designers 'assume' very early frequency rolloff of material. Not true. Magnetic molecules work out to

1GHz, really stopping at 2GHz [but you knew that, right?]. So, try and argue with one of these designers how the such-and-such material still has perm of 100's, even 1000's at 100MHz; they won't listen. Luckily, empirical evidence trumps archaic thought processes.

Formulas for magnetics remind me of formulas for chemistry, where y=m*x, except better is y=m*x + x0, except better is y=(m + fudgefactor)*x + x0 + anotherfudgefactor, and so on ALL formulas based upon trying to accurately MEASURE what happened, and not much based upon WHY something happened. And thus, very difficult to EXTRAPOLATE, meaning predict performance OUTSIDE that range.

Now apply that to magnetics and consider extreme minaiaturization, one easily gets outside the range of where most magnetic formulas were created. Trying to design in that realm using the concepts from the 30's is just like dragging baggage.

There is no joy quite like Schadenfreude >:-}

Like nitwits who chant, "Elections have consequences" and "We won, get over it". They're ending up the big financial losers in the "affordable" acts of the messiah. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

It that before or after you slape them around?

Jamie

:-) Indeed. Not in my line of work. Though I will readily admit, from time to time I simply use PSpice to solve differential equations.

Of course. See...

as compared to my _very_first_ chip design...

still being sold 50 years later (by Lansdale... the military still love it :-)

I never counted, but generally it's in play all day long, sometimes overnight ;-) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Yep, It has long been an aim of mine to make a retirement business out of creating accurate models of OTS devices.

I just signed my first contract with a major manufacturer ;-)

And the nice thing about it, it's not work, it's fun. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Sure they do, to mount hinges.

Try and find a spec is the first problem. Though I'm contemplating simply running LTC's encrypted stuff on LTspice and matching it in PSpice. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Historically, from not doing well in those scenarios, being torn between, "If I tell you that, I'm already working for you, so pay me." and "You've done it wrong, you should do it this way."

The latter actually DID happen while talking with a National Semiconductor Designer [un-named designer]. His bull-headedness at thinking he was correct while not entering into any kind of discussion to clarify was the most amazing experience in analog design I've ever gone through.

For me, instead of battering a potential employee with obtuse questions, probably a myriad of unspoken constraints; I much prefer to put the interviewee on their comfortable turf and get them to explain in detail their own work: some obstacle they overcame, some accomplishmnet they're proud of. That way, by making them already feel like a team member [and not challenged] you can learn, observe, test that all important 'communication' ability and sense their focus, as in, can they prioritize(sp?). And, of course, by their discourse you can find out if they're full of shit, or will be extremely productive.

No, your reply would of been long winded, twisted, full of shit commentary and by the time the reader made it to the end, they would have forgotten what the subject matter was.

Yes, you'd made a good politician in your younger days.

Jamie

I'd bet that fewer than 10% of carpenters have ever hung a door. Most probably don't even own a hammer, anymore.

LT has a little more knowledge of their parts than they give others. They give more than most other suppliers. The chip designer, obviously, has the information but it's treated like family jewels. It is.

But the resemblance is something you see in the mirror every morning!

Jamie

Following these comments, reminded me of a trait [I wish I had] from the managers I've met/worked with in my career that I truly admire/respect - you can count them on one hand! Two of these managers were at Polaroid, Dr. Land and VP, Duncan [who was actually portrayed in a POGO cartoon] Dr. Land, although owner and the buck stops here person, I never saw him once say, "You're wrong, it's my company, do it my way." Rather he would create 'scenarios' to 'test' someone's hypothesis, then during the testing of that hypothesis EVERYONE, including the originator, would see the folly and EVERYONE knew in their hearts that error, and believed that they themselves had uncovered the flaw, and each person simultaneously were committed to pursue the correct path, as though it came from inside themselves.

I know my description is lacking, but you get the sense. Somehow, he would build 'inside' the person, rather than beat them from the outside. Truly a motivating leader of industry.

As I said, one of the traits I wish I had. So far, the best I can emulate is to just bite my lip, and wait for a 'proper' opportunity to point out someone's error. Instead of immediately/simply saying, "That's not right." Albeit, I miss their face getting all red and puffy.

No way. Not a man among us could fill his shoes. ;-)

NO! Politics involves a lot of making friends and compromise. It'a a *job*. Sloman couldn't get elected dogcatcher.

--

John Larkin                  Highland Technology Inc 
www.highlandtechnology.com   jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com    

Precision electronic instrumentation