Kirt's Cogitations™ (aka Factoids) Archive

RF Cafe University"Factoids," "Kirt's Cogitations," and "Tech Topics Smorgasbord" are all manifestations of my ranting on various subjects relevant (usually) to the overall RF Cafe theme. All may be accessed on these pages:

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Kirt's Cogitations Archive (formerly known as Factoids) - RF CafeCog·i·ta·tion [koj-i-tey'-shun] – noun: Concerted thought or reflection; meditation; contemplation.

Kirt ['kərt ] – proper noun: RF Cafe webmaster.

These articles were originally known as 'Factoids,' but the title was changed because of the multiple (and sometimes unflattering) definition of the word.

Note: There is also a huge collection of my topical 'Smorgasbord' writings that might interest you as well.

These original Kirt's Cogitations™ may be reproduced (no more than 5, please) provided proper credit is given to me, Kirt Blattenberger.

360 - Necessity Is the Mother of Invention

359 - An RF Cafe Visitor's Thoughts on AI

358 - The Life and Times of a Recovering Disc Jockey - Jim Quinn, The Warroom

357 - Nothing Lasts Forever - Including Copyrights

356 - ChatGPT Thinks I Discovered and Own Everything

355 - No ARRL Membership Renewal for Me

354 - The Eagles' Joe Walsh: "I'm an Analog Guy"

353 - RF Cafe Sponsors at IMS 2023 in San Diego

352 - ChatGPT: Inaccuracies in Technical Responses

351 - Odes on Technology - ChatGPT

350 - Noise Figure / Y-Factor Disagreement Conundrum - Solved

349 - Mystery Burst Transmission in the HF Ham Bands

348b - Chinese Spy Balloon Fiasco

348 - ChatGPT: OpenAI Content Generation

347 - USPTO Timeline: Milestones in Patents

346 - QST Member Spotlight 2023 - Members of Notability Dr. Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr., K1JT

345 - Engineering Website Traffic Summary - 2022 per SEMRush.com

344 - Electronics Companies Magazine Ads - August 2022 Microwave Journal

343 - FITSAT-1 CubeSat Flight over Erie, Pennsylvania - December 12, 2012

342 - Electronics Companies Magazine Ads

341 - My Bifurcated Spinal Cord

340 - Carl Kohler's Life & Times per Son, Christoverre Smorgasbord

339 - Kazakhstan Broadcast Facility in Balkhash

338 - Astrometry.net Plate-Solving Star Identifier

337 - The XML Guts of an Excel Workbook File

336 - Eyes of a Generation™... Television's Living History

335 - Bob Pease's Messy Workbench in CQ Magazine

334 - The Letter "Xi" Stricken from Greek Alphabet

333 - Electronics Themed ASCII Art

332 - Log Polar Plane Stencil c1958

331 - Engineering and Technology History Wiki (ETHW) - Dr. Dave Leeson

330 - What Does My Overheated Transmissions Have to Do with Admiral Grace Hopper?

329 - COVID-19 Vaccination Effort Has No Statistically Significant Control Group

328 - PS Magazine - The Preventative Maintenance Monthly

327 - How Long Is 1 Trillion Seconds?

326 - Sears 1940 Amateur Radio, Test Equipment, Sound System Catalog

325 - Inventors and Their Inventions

324 - QST Christmas Covers

323 - The Radio Boys Adventure Book Series

322 - The New Normal - Face Masks Forever

321 - Power Equivalent in the Electricity-Water Analogy

320 - The 3D Smith Chart: From Theory to Experimental Reality

319 - Morse Code in the "Western Union" Song

318 - Ham Radio Operator Homes - Buy & Sell

317 - The Lincoln Vocational Technical Center - A Partial Autobiography

316 - How to Remove Clutter from Online Document Displays

315 - New Silvertone Radio Line, 1941 Sears Catalog

314 - Stacked Yagi TV Antennas by Dave Jones, N1UAV

313 - Sansui TA−300 Integrated Tuner Amplifier

312 - RF Cafe Advertiser Booth Location at IMS 2019

311 - The Longitude Problem

310 - Little Known Facts About Dr. Robert M. Page

XXX - Drone-Based Field Measurement System™ (dB-FMS)™

309 - Radio Industry Marks 20th Anniversary - Harrisburg Telegraph c1940

308 - Last Chance to Buy a New Radio - Harrisburg Telegraph c1942

307 - Replacing the Dial Cord in a Realistic Patrolman−50 Radio

306 - Hearing Microwaves - It's All in Your Head

305 - Insider $$$tock Trading at Your Company

304 - Open Radio Shack Sighted in Ashtabula, Ohio

303 - Sonic Booms, Fallout, Satellites, and the Moon

302 - Found: Very Rare HP 5212A Electronic Counter

301- Vintage Alliance Model U-100 Tenna-Rotor Installation

300 - Of Zerts, Plenches and Spunfits

299 - World's 1st Radio Broadcast from a Moving Train

298 - Daylight Saving(s) Time vs. Standard Time

297 - Amateur Radio Call Sign Assignment Investigation

296 - ESD Damage Control - It's Not Just for Semiconductors Anymore

295 - Farewell and Adieu, H. Ward Silver

294 - Edwin H. Armstrong: The Rest of the Story

293 - 60th Annual "Jamboree on the Air" 1958-2017

292 - Nikola Tesla in 19th Century Newspapers

291 - The Great North American Solar Eclipse of 2017

290 - 1st Newspaper Appearance of Transistor Invention Announcement

289 - Breaking News: The Arctic Icebergs Are Melting - circa 1922!

288 - MIA: The Other Half of the Antenna and Cable Loss Equation

287 - A Radio Shack Eulogy

286 - 1930 U.S. Census - Do You Own a Radio?

285 - Heathkit DX-60B Amateur Radio Transmitter Restoration

284 - Lightning Protection Systems

283 - Call Me KB3UON/AE - Amateur Extra License Exam Passed!

282 - Therapeutic Radio, by Marek Klemes

281 - Domain Name Valuation per Online Estimators

280 - Canadian National Railways Radio Department

279 - Neil Carlton's (VE3NCE) Radio Stamp Collection

278 - Sputnik Watch in Erie, Pennsylvania

277 - The Broken U.S. Patent System

276 - 2017 Obamacare Cost for RF Cafe

275 - Is Your Domain Being Blocked by a Country?

274 - Dead White Men

273 - Defeating AdBlock Plus™

272 - All Elements Heavier Than Helium Are Metals?

271 - X-Microwave™ Block-Level Prototyping System

270 - 1st Mention of Electric Light in The New York Times

269 - The Shive Wave Machine - Bell Telephone Labs

268 - IEEE MTT-S Buys Rights to Smith Chart

267 - 'Drone' Registration with the FAA Begins Today

266 - 2016 Obamacare Cost for RF Cafe

265 - How I Handle Unsolicited Telephone Calls

264 - Not Many Know -40°F = -40°C

263 - September 11, 11 Years Later

262 - Rationalizing Pi

261 - RF Cafe at IMS 2011

260 - CFLs - Will They Really Save the Earth?

259 - CQ Engineers & Technicians: QST a Great Resource

258 - How an Electrical Engineer Spends "Vacation"

257 - Refusing to Suffer Fools

256 - The Resistor Cube Equivalent Resistance Solution

255 - Websites - Wayback™ When

254 - "That's One Small Step for Man..."

253 - RF Cafe Visits Beantown

252 - SR3BMUN (NUMB3RS in Reverse)

251 - The New [Smart] Colossus

250 - Zeptoeverything - It's Mine

249 - RF Cafe's Greener Man-Cave

248 - AM/FM Under Siege

247 - The 10,000-Foot View

246 - Nowhere to Hide

245 - Of Free Software

244 - Science in Music

243 - Retiring Your Retirement Plans?

242 - Choose Your Welfare System

241 - You Can't Choose Your Relatives

240 - The Law of Unintended Consequences

239 - Trial by Fire

238 - Too Clever by Half

237 - Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

236 - OpenOffice.org - What's in It for You?

235 - The More Things Change...

234 - FireWire of a Different Sort

233 - Exactly Why Are You Looking for a New Job?

232 - The Stamp of Approval for Science

231 - All Hail the CFL

230 - Windowtalkers™

229 - Tax Freedom Day – An Oxymoron

228 - Not Such A Smooth Operator

227 - A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

226 - WWVB

225 - Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

224 - RF Technology in Autos

223 - Electronic Voting

222 - Engineering °s

221 - RFCafe.EU's Raison d'Être

220 - Expensive Exposure

219 - It Happened When?

218 - What a Difference a Letter (Word) Makes

217 - Hobbyists are Still the Future

216 - Points of Inflection

215 - Disruptive Disruptions

214 - Ignorance is NOT Bliss

213 - U.S. Leads the Nuclear Energy Pack

212 - Rules of Thumb

211 - My Astronaut Days of Yore

210 - Domiciliary Hot Spots

209 - The American Spirit Alive and Well

208 - Tempus Fugit

207 - Splitting Hairs Over Precision

206 - Our Best Days are Before Us

205 - Pure Genius

204 - H1B or RG30M Visas?

203 - WLAN in the Most Unlikely Places

202 - MSI - A Trip Back

201 - Riddle Me This, Riddler

200 - The Good Old Days?

199 - Techno-Speak

198 - Mixed Signals

197 - Secure RFID. Or Not.

196 - Chinese Piracy. Arrrrr....

195 - A Step Back to Today

194 - Is Print Now Passé?

193 - Katrina: The Political Mother of All Storms

192 - When is a Phone Not a Phone?

191 - To RSS, or Not to RSS

190 - Ubiquitous GPS

189 - Caveat Emptor

188 - Researching the State of R&D

187 - Petty Patents

186 - Technopolis c2005

185 - The More Things Change...

184 - Why You Shouldn't Take a Mercury Thermometer in Your Carry-On

183 - The Next Assembly Line Robot - Antifreeze

182 - A Reason to Question Authority

181 - Why Google Won't Be Offering Me a Job

180 - Entertain Me, But Don't Insult Me

179 - RFID Could Save Your Leg...or Kidney, or...

178 - Lorem Ispum, Et Cetera

177 - Thanks for Helping Us Track You

176 - Of Enigma Machines and Windtalkers

175 - One Man's Fast is Another Man's Slow

174 - Voxel Searching

173 - Obliquity of the Equinoxes

172 - Gray Markets

171 - H1B Visas in 2004

170 - Why Dilbert's Tie Curls Up

169 - Online Fraud Toppers

168 - ISO Stands for Nothing - Just Ask Them

167 - Thank a Terrorist

166 - The 1st Professional Human Computer

165 - Big Brother's Big Brother

164 - Ima Cum Laude. Areyoua Cum Laude?

163 - Water for the Naive?

162 - So Quite, You Can Hear a Snowflake Drop

161 - Well, They Say the Mind is the First Thing to Go

160 - Now That's Cold!

159 - Does Your Employer Want You Dead?

158 - Why You Get Bumped

157 - Good Luck

156 - Just an Old жена's Tale

155 - Top 300 Electronics Companies for 2003

154 - Bug Sniffers

153 - Some Really Cool Speakers

152 - Geekdom Ain't so Bad

151 - Look Deep Into My Eyes

150 - Faster than This Speeding Train, Superman?

149 - AWG Math

148 - Hand Me an 8-denarius Nail, Please

147 - Fledgling Pilots

146 - Plastic, Heal Thyself

145 - BSOD on Cellphones

144 - Oh, to Be a Turtle(...and not the Mutant Ninja type, either)

143 - The Mavens of Techno-Speak

142 - Computer Punch Cards Making a Comeback?

141 - One Man's Summer is Another Man's Winter

140 - Congressional Hypocrisy - Synonymous Terms

139 - Magnetoresistance - Fodder for Micro Hard Drives

138 - X-Prize - the Grown-Up's Toy Rocket

137 - Mnemonic for VSWR and Return Loss

136 - The Pre-Plastic Era - Not So Long Ago

135 - H1Bs Filling the Void?

134 - The Origin of "I"

133 - Cockleburs on Your Tennies

132 - Really Big and Really Small

131 - Will White LEDs Dethrone the Incandescent Bulb?

130 - Wi-Fi in Your Cellphone (WiFiFone?)

129 - A Side Order of Insect Filth with Those Fries?

128 - So Near, and Yet So Far

127 - Don't Be a Human Lightning Rod

126 - High Voltage Auto Systems Coming to a Car Near You

125 - C60 - the Buckminsterfullerene

124 - A Cell Phone by Any Other Name...

123 - EE Times 2002 Salary Survey

122 - Insist on Cash When Russia is the Customer

121 - Dirty Money

120 - The Marvel That is Carbon

119 - These Aren't My Pants

118 - A New Wind Chill Chart

117 - It's Baaaack....

116 - Mathematica - Summa Cum Laude

115 - Entangled Qbits

114 - Lobster Compasses

113 - SETI Wants Your Computer

112 - Cray = Guess

111 - NASA's Got the Time

110 - Green Death

109 - Well, Duh, Reentries Are HOT

108 - The n-Gun Salute

107 - Ctrl+Alt+Del That Varmint

106 - Ping Pong Balls in Space

105 - Dephlogisticating Phlogistons

104 - The NUMB3RS Behind Rock Skipping

103 - Paint Brushes 101

102 - The Origin of the Name "Wall Street"

101 - Project "Butthead Astronomer"

100 - Patents c2003

99 - We Don't Need No Stinking Fab

98 - I've Got Your WMD Right Here

97 - The Bottom Line Trumps Security

96 - Silicon Implants

95 - We're All Freaks... In Our Own Sort of Way

94 - Uncloaking Stealth

93 - Rossum's Universal Robots

92 - New Pick-Up Line: What's Your Erdös Number?

91 - Big Brother's Along for the Ride

90 - 2004 Salary Survey

89 - Microstrip Ice Detectors

88 - The Google Bomb

87 - Chipping Your Ride

86 - Snowflake Shape Predictability

85 - Daylight Savings Time Inanity

84 - Cool Wall Warts

83 - e-Cats

82 - Snowflake Shape Predictability

81 - Oak ID

80 - My Technology (and My Money) Go to China

79 - Nowhere for Nukes to Hide

78 - Cheap GaN

77 - Amazing

76 - Does a "Fair" Coin Really Exist?

75 - Carbon in the News Again

74 - The Doppler Toppler

73 - No Shortage of Oil

72 - The Good Trojan

71 - My Computer IS a Tennis Shoe

70 - The Dumbing Down of America

69 - A Glue that Sticks to Nothing

68 - Bluetooth - Oops, I Just Violated Their Trademark

67 - Lorem Ipsum - Not Really

66 - Daylight Saving Time - Birth of a Burden

65 - pB-Free: The Craze Has Begun

64 - Time Standard of the Dark Ages: The H2O Clock

63 - À la tonalité, le temps sera...

62 - The Twilight Zone - Defined

61 - Early Leakage Currents

60 - Paris Mean Time - Non

59 - Wreck Your Prius? Call in the Hazmat Team

58 - Frozen Smoke

57 - Nowhere to Hide

56 - Galileo vs. GPS & GLONASS

55 - Gold Digging

54 - The 1st Computer Rodent

53 - Bottom Line Trumps Ideology

52 - These Boots Were Made for Charging...

51 - Running Out of IP Addresses

50 - Unbreakable Code?

49 - Jack (and Jacques) Has Become a Dull Boy

48 - Two Squeaky Clean Seals: $200,000. Watching an Orca Eat Them: Priceless

47 - See-Through Semiconductors

46 - Stock Option Envy

45 - Shooting Crooked - On Purpose

44 - Wi-Fi Insecurity

43 - Theirs Choose Ph.Ds, Ours Choose Baseball Caps Worn Backwards and Baggy Pants

42 - Notice to IEEE Insurance Customers

41 - Hmmmm.. Maybe I Should Test This Theory on My Two Cats...

40 - Escalating the Performance of Escalators

39 - Real Plastic Money

38 - Do You Stutter? You're in Good Company

37 - LED Taillights on the Way

36 - Earthshine on the Moon

35 - Hoax Hotline

34 - Microwave Oven Clocks Causing Global Warming

33 - The First Photo

32 - Not This Year

31 - R.H.I.P. (Rank Has It's Price)

30 - Hand Me the Raid

29 - Family-Friendly Wal-Mart

28 - A Better Photodetector

27 - Wow, We're Popular!

26 - No Wonder I Feel Poorer

25 - Terrorist Inerters Needed

24 - Memorial Day Tribute

23 - Not Sure I Like These Odds

22 - Tuning In Your Tennis Shoes

21 - A Cool Concept

20 - We Are Not Alone

19 - Solstice Trivia

18 - Patently Offensive

17 - Electronic Porpoises on the Ocean's Horizon

16 - NAND Seems Logical

15 - We'll Take Him

14 - Better Re-Check Those Numbers

13 - My Mussel Glue Can Beats Your Gorilla Glue

12 - Ala Doc's DeLorean

11 - Allies Not Required

10 - These Are a Serious Set of Speakers

9 - U.S. Losing More Ground in Academia

8 - Falling Through the Earth

7 - Ethernet, Meet Gasnet

6 - Blowing Bubbles at the ISS

5 - href="pi-poetry-kirts-cogitations-5.htm">Pi Poetry

4 - Farewell and Adieu to Pioneer 10

3 - Piezoelectric Foam

2 - Top 100 R&D Companies for 2002

1 - Untitled Collection

0 - New York Taxing Out-of-State COVID-19 Healthcare Workers