There is a recommended procedure on personal computers called “defragmenting.” What follows is a layman’s description of how a hard drive works and why defragmenting is important. Read the rest of this entry »
A reader named Anand suggested diagrams for the scan test basics article. I’m happy to oblige. Read the rest of this entry »
In light of this week’s Supreme Court decision, here are a few words of advice from a former marksmanship instructor to anyone tempted to run out and buy a handgun for home defense. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the highest-traffic articles I’ve written for this blog is Scan Test Basics. It seems fitting to review that article and add a few more thoughts on this topic.
It occurs to me that something I’ve been saying for a long time is probably applicable to the most recent financial meltdown, and it has to do with the widely held sentiment that, no matter what it is that we do, “We are in business to make money.” My blood boils every time I hear this statement uttered as though it were common knowledge and inherently obvious. The problem is that it is not only misguided, it is 180 degrees wrong! We are not in business to make money, we make money to stay in business. Read the rest of this entry »
A blog post by Matt (who, I’ve just noticed, posts his picture but not his last name in his blog) seems similar to something I’ve been saying for a number of years, that EDA GUIs are not designed, they grow. These are tools intended for use by other engineers, and they still suffer from the same points Matt lists. Enjoy!
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Well, I haven’t written anything in awhile, and the big news story is the health care debate in Congress, so I’ll use this forum to weigh in with my two cents.
People opposed to health care reform tell scary stories about the prospect of rationing health care. The definition of “rationing” is “restricting the consumption of a relatively scarce commodity”. If health care is a relatively scarce commodity, either it will be rationed or it will be distributed unfairly, with many people not getting any. Kind of like the current situation. If it is not scarce, it won’t be. Given that health care is neither free nor cheap, it stands to reason that it will not be overly abundant, hence, it should be rationed. The only question is by whom and by what criteria. The criterion could be first come, first served, or it could by according to wealth, supply and demand. If we are compassionate, it will be by need. Then the only question is by whom. Would you prefer government bureaucrats or insurance company bureaucrats? Or someone else? Insurance company bureaucrats are incentivized, directly or indirectly, by insurance company profits. How government bureaucrats would be incentivized is uncertain. Who do you mistrust more?
I’m currently doing some training development with Faizul Alam of Catalyte IC Design. The modules I’m working on are Introduction to DFT (Design for Test), Advanced LinkedIn topics, plus a possible resurrection of my Semiconductors for Non-Engineers seminar. I’ll be releasing more information here as things progress. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s a difference between following the spirit of the law, and following the letter of the law. There’s a difference between being meticulously thorough, and CYA. There’s a difference between meeting the customer requirement, and meeting the customer specification. Read the rest of this entry »
