The number of statements
uttered verbally and/or in print is uncountable. Some are more noteworthy than others either
because of sheer brilliance, good humor, or utter inanity. We all hope our own remembered
words, if any, fall into one of the first two categories rather than the third. I do a lot
of reading and find many notable quotes to use that fit the theme of RF Cafe; they fall into
all three categories. I always try to verify quotes from original sources or at least from
printed books like
The Experts Speak, of which I own a hard copy. Enjoy.
"[It's] the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live." - Amanda McBroom (from The
Rose)
"Wherever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Across the 8th Dimension)
"Blink your eyelids periodically to lubricate your eyes." - A tip from page 16 of the
Hewlett Packard Environmental, Health & Safety Handbook for Employees
"Getting ready for RoHS is like packing your suitcase without knowing if you are going
skiing or to the beach." - Drew Hession-Kunz
"Where the calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30
tons, computers of the future may only use 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1 1/2 tons."
- Popular Mechanics, March, 1949
"You know what seems odd to me? Numbers that aren't divisible by two." - Michael Wolf
"I am the world's foremost expert on my own opinion." - Barry Farber, veteran talk show
host
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves,
tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." - Ronald Reagan
"My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and
why it exists as all." - Stephen Hawking
Lewis's Law of Travel: The first piece of luggage out of the chute doesn't belong to anyone,
ever.
"Duct tape...also known as Mexican solder." - Red Green, of the Possum Lodge's
Handyman's Corner
(PBS). Lodge motto: "Quando omni flunkus moritati." (Pseudo-Latin for "When all else fails,
play dead.")
"Engineering is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a figment of
the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization
in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings homes to men or women. Then it elevates the standard
of living and adds to the comforts of life. This is the engineer's high privilege." - Herbert
Hoover
"Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." -
Sir Winston Churchill
"People in the computer industry use the term 'user,' which to them means 'idiot.'" -
Dave Barry
"Engineering is the professional and systematic application of science to the efficient
utilization of natural resources to produce wealth." - T. J. Hoover and J. C. L. Fish
"An inventor is simply a fellow who doesn't take his education too seriously." - Charles
F. Kettering
"Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." - Wernher von Braun
"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson
"Yet for eighteen years, four different presidents didn't dare replace him, because it
would have been like poking around inside a whirring engine." - David Bodanis, re Alan Greenspan
"We were off by 39 orders of magnitude..." - American Institute of Physics
e-newsletter correction
for a reported peak energy density value.
"The fact is, we are living in a Wal-Mart world; It's all about the lowest price, and
we are not investing in innovation." - Mike Korkowski, on the effect of H-1B visas on salaries.
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling
2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed
formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit
design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at
the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps
while typing up your telephone line, and a nice lady's voice announced "You've Got
Mail" when a new message arrived...
All trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other rights of ownership to images
and text used on the RF Cafe website are hereby acknowledged.