Smorgasbord Archives - 8

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These items are an archive of past Smorgasbord topics that have appeared on the RF Cafe homepage.

Global Wireless Data
Market Update - 2006

Source: Chetan Sharma

A few tidbits based on extensive data collection and analysis:
- Highest annual mobile
  data revenue:
    Japan  $20B
    U.S.    $16B
    China  $9.2B
- Japan became the
  1st nation to have
  > 50% of subscribers
  using 3G. U.S. and
  W. Europe @ 10%
- India overtook China
  for subscriber growth
  rate
- Countries with
  double-digit growth in
  data revenue:
    Czech          40%
    U.S.             33%
    Brazil           32%
    Netherlands  31%
    UK               20%
    Japan           14%

 

"A Company Called Thompson Ramo Wooldridge"

Well, the way you have been accustomed to reading the slogan is, "A Company Called TRW." I doubt that 1% of TRW employees even know what the letters stand for - but TRW logo - a trademark of TRW, Inc.now you do. The 1958 merger of Thompson with the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation created the familiar TRW name.

 

Fahrenheit's Scale

Anders Celsius chose his 0° and 100° as the freezing and boiling points of water - makes sense. Where, then did Daniel Fahrenheit come up with 32° and 212° for the same points? It depends on who you ask. Most say 0°F was the coldest available temperature for him in his home of Danzig, Poland (Dan wanted to avoid negative temperatures, thus his zero point), and 100° represented his body temperature. Conveniently, maybe divinely in his day, that put the freezing and boiling points of water 180° apart (think reciprocal headings on a compass). Do Google for other theories.

 

Internet Addiction
on the Rise in U.S.
(Popular Science research)

31,000,000 American adults show signs of Internet abuse according to the Stanford University School of Medicine. They report the following statistics:

- 30% of businesses
  in U.S. have fired an
  employee for
  inappropriate Web
  usage

- 90% of the time a
  typical U.S. Internet
  "addict" spends on
  gaming & recreation
  (vs. productive use)

- 260 additional beds
  are planned for
  China's first Internet
  addiction center

- 413 million
  broadband
  subscribers projected
  by 2010

- 50 hours straight was
  spent on an Internet
  cafe terminal before a
  Korean man died of
  dehydration

 

Magazine Ad Update

If the number of advertisements is an indicator of success, then Microwave Journal is king among RF engineering magazines. Penton now owns RF Design and Microwaves & RF, so their total ad revenue now combines. My Kirt's Cogitation on magazine advertising last year tallied the number of pages of text vs. ads for RF magazines. The IMS2006 issue of MWJ topped the revenue intake by far. Here is a page count for their IMS2007 issue.

Total Page = 370

Full-Page = 197
1/2+ = 51
1/4+ = 42
1/8+ = 12

Total Ads = 63%
+32-page TriQuint flyer

(disclaimer: reader should verify)

 

The CFL Mercury Onslaught Has Begun

Well, that sure didn't take long. Poor Brandy Bridges, of Maine, was trying to be green, but dropped a CFL bulb and broke it on the floor of her daughter's bedroom. To make a long story short, she called the "authorities" about how to clean the mess. $2,000 paid for the HazMat crew's efforts, but now parts of her house are quarantined with plastic barriers due to higher than government stipulated mercury vapor levels. Tip: If you break a CFL and want help, call from a public pay phone.

 

Tax Advantages of Working Overseas

I'm not a tax advisor, and I don't play one on TV. However, I have dug up some info for those of you who might be considering the tax advantages of out-of-country jobs. It can be quite lucrative, from what I've read.

Verily Sayeth the IRS:

 

Not Quite So...
(IEEE Spectrum, et al)

You have likely seen this paragraph:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

The claim is not as absolute as presented. Consider this version:

Anidroccg to rcraeseh at Cdgribmae Utisreviny, it dnose't...

Its interpretation is nowhere near as clear even though it follows the proposed rule. A lot of work has been done to debunk the myth.