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Tech Smorgasbord Archives - 23
|
| Chicken/Egg Debate Finally Settled (source:
CNN) |
 Finally,
one of the major paradoxes of the physical world has been resolved. Wars have been
fought, and civilizations have fallen over the debate (well, not really).
Disney deserves the credit for convening a panel of experts to address the enigma
as a promo for
Chicken Little. The verdict: "The living
organism inside the eggshell would have had the same DNA as the chicken it would
develop into; therefore, the first living thing which we could say unequivocally
was a member of the species would be this first egg. So, I would conclude that the
egg came first." Settled. |
|
10-29-2009
| It's Baaaaack... (source:
Popular Science) |
 It is amazing how
often a news story will report on some inane idea that most readers dismiss as folly
and then just as enough time has passed to forget about it, the item reappears as
a serious concept, ready to be codified in law. It has happened again, this time
regarding electric cars not making enough noise for pedestrians to be adequately
forewarned. Maybe the real motivation is the market potential for "Vroomtones" that are planned by some for customizing
your announcement. If you think the obnoxious phone ring tones and morons with their
car windows vibrating from 1000 W stereos are bad now, just wait until the streets
are filled with DOT-mandated rolling boom boxes. |
|
10-1-2009
| 2009 Small Business Hiring ↑ - Pay ↓
(source:
eWeek) |
| The good news is that hiring by small businesses has picked up in the last few
months. The bad news is that average pay has gone down. An optimist would say this
is a good thing since more people are being employed and taken off unemployment.
SurePayroll's research indicates a 2.9% growth in small business for the year, but
also shows an 8.8% decrease in salaries. The pessimist would say this is a bad thing
since it demonstrates a willingness of employers to exploit the dire situation of
many people. The truth is probably somewhere in-between. |
|
9-3-2009
| OnStar.gov (source:
RF Cafe)
|
 A
while back, I reported on the government's use of
vehicle tracking
and monitoring systems for criminal prosecution and other nefarious activities.
That was enough to scare you just a little. Now that the Government effectively
owns the OnStar system via having
a controlling (70%) interest in General Motors, think about whether you want the
Fed having access to the time and place of every movement you make - even if you
are not a criminal. You can be guaranteed that they will exploit the opportunity
for electronic voyeurism. You will know things are bad when OnStar is standard equipment
on every model shipped. |
|
8-6-2009
| Considering Consulting? (source:
IEEE 2006 Survey) |
| Whether you have been the victim of the bad economy or are just tired of working
at the same location every day, maybe now is a good time to finally try independent
consulting. A
2007 report is available for cheap.
| Years in Engineering |
% |
Years Consulting |
% |
| > 40 |
5 |
>20 |
16 |
| 31-40 |
33 |
10.1-20 |
26 |
| 21-30 |
37 |
3.1-10 |
41 |
| 11-20 |
21 |
<3 |
17 |
| <10 |
3 |
|
|
| PE License |
% |
Hourly Billing Rate |
% |
| Yes |
20 |
>200 $/hr |
17 |
| No |
80 |
100-199 $/hr |
56 |
| |
|
50-99 |
25 |
| |
|
<50 |
2 |
|
|
11-5-2009
| Tech Shrines for Geeks (source:
MSNBC) |
 This is a
report on some of the contents of a book titled "The Geek Atlas," which offers more than 100 places
you can visit that are focused on topics of science and technology. Included are
places like Bletchley Park in England, where the German's Enigma machine code was
broken, the Early Television Museum in Ohio, and even Bill and Dave's famous garage
where HP was born. I would recommend staying away from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
in the Ukraine, though. |
|
10-8-2009
| Frying Brains in 2009 (source:
Environ. Working Group )
|
 The Environmental Working Group has
published their latest list of cell phone radiation levels. It is based on currently
available phones. Here is a small sampling of popular
 models. See the
full list.
| Model |
Level W/kg |
| Kyocera Jax S1300 |
1.55 |
| Motorola MOTO VU204 |
1.55 |
| Motorola i335 |
1.53 |
| Apple iPhone 3G |
1.39 |
| Nokia 5800 |
1.29 |
| Blackberry Curve 8900 |
1.01 |
| Palm Pre |
0.92 |
| Nokia 6301 |
0.87 |
| Samsung SGH-t229 |
0.38 |
| Motorola RAZR V8 |
0.36 |
| Samsung Impression |
0.35 |
|
|
9-10-2009
| Off the Grid (source:
IEEE Spectrum) |
 This is all you need to be a multimillionaire without a hookup to
the power grid - a few hundred deep-cycle lead-acid batteries, racks of servers
for SCADA, high-tech solar panels, a wind turbine, LED lighting, and a private helicopter
and boat for access to island. Now, I do not begrudge
Segway designer
Dean Kamen his toys, but calling it "green" is a bit of a stretch when considering
the external resources needed to build and maintain the Nerd Island paradise for
one man. Mr. Kaman is a prodigious inventor and owner of
DEKA R&D Corporation. |
8-13-2009
| Classical Relativity
(source:
Scientific American) |
| "In classical general relativity…" Does anything strike you as odd
about that sentence I read in the October 2009 edition of Scientific American? Applying
the adjective "classical" to a statement regarding general relativity implies the
existence of a more modern version. It seems to relegate the "classical" version
of relativity to the same standing as "classical" Newtonian physics. While most
of the world slept, avant-garde physicists have been formulating (literally) strange
new models of the universe based on observed behavior. Before being too quick to
defend the honor of professor Einstein, remember that he was a staunch opponent
of quantum mechanics, and dedicated the latter years of his life to disproving its
validity. Nothing stays the same. |
|
11-12-2009
| Rhonda 3D (source:
Rhonda Forever)
|
 Rhonda 3D free-form drawing software
was originally developed half a decade ago, and then dropped off the scene. It has
recently re-emerged with a video of it in use. The website says a team is being
assembled to bring it to various platforms, including cellphones and PDAs (the line
between the two devices is becoming less distinct). You can become a beta tester
if doodling is your passion. |
10-15-2009
| 2009 Career and Salary Survey (source:
T&M World) |
Test & Measurement World just published the results of their 2009 Career
and Salary Survey. Many charts are available for viewing, but here are some of the
highlights. Keep in mind the audience is T&M engineers.
| Category |
Highest |
| Age |
45-54 (38%) |
| Gender |
Male (97%) |
| Education |
BS (47%) |
| Experience |
>30 yrs (27%) |
| Salary |
$60-80k (23%) |
| % Pay ↑ |
0 (33%) |
| Highest Paid |
| Job |
Software Test |
| Industry |
Computer & SW |
| Age |
55-64 yrs |
|
|
9-17-2009
| World's Fastest-Growing Companies in 2009
(source:
Fortune) |
| Fortune magazine released their rankings for 2009. BlackBerry maker
Research In Motion tops the list. They have been the darling of Canada for a long
time... and for good reason. Congratulations to them.
There are 13 energy companies and 24 tech companies in
the list. |
|
8-20-2009
| ElectroHydroDynamic (EHD) Cooling (source:
Tessera)
|
 There's
a new sheriff in town for guarding against the heat villains. It's name is
EHD Cooling. Tessera has developed a technology
that generates ionized air and then creates a flow between electrodes set at different
voltages. Its advertized advantages include no moving parts, no noise, very low
profile, low expense, and long life. Another one I thought of might be lowering
ESD risks by virtue of the ionized air picking up and removing accumulated charge
on electronic devices. Cool idea, literally. |
|
11-19-2009
| T&M World 2009 Salary Survey (source:
T&M World) |
Test & Measurement World just published the results of their 2009 Career
and Salary Survey. Many charts are available for viewing, but here are some of the
highlights. Keep in mind the audience is T&M engineers.
| Salary |
% |
| > $150k |
8 |
| $120k to $150k |
13 |
| $100k to $120k |
16 |
| $80k to $100k |
19 |
| $60k to $80k |
23 |
| $40k to $60k |
12 |
| < $40k |
9 |
|
|
10-22-2009
| High School Inventors (source:
Popular Science) |
 How
many of us, given the opportunity, would turn back the hands of time and take a
different path in life? I know I would. Philip Streich has spent his high school
days inventing a solvent that isolates carbon nanotubes. Teen amateur astronomer
Samantha Hopkins designed an aeroponic food chamber for future lunar and planetary
colonists. I flew model airplanes and exploded M-80s underwater. The 8 high school
kids featured here already have scholarships for college. I was lucky to graduate. |
|
8-27-2009
| The Words of Politics (source:
CapitolWords.org)
|
 Not many people accuse
politicians of being particularly science savvy. Just as they are willing to vote
for multi$B spending bills they have never read, politicians pass legislation based
on often incorrect and/or biased information provided by special interest groups.
The website CapitolWords.org
allows one to search for how often specific words are entered into the Congressional
Record. For instance, the above chart tracks
FCC.
The big September 2003 spike is the telemarketer "Do Not Call" rules era.
Broadband, radio,
visa,
etc., produce results with identifiable peaks. |
|
9-24-2009 |
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