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Tech Smorgasbord Archives - 12

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

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36

Ph.D.s of the Stars

(who would have guessed?)

Brian May, guitarist for the rock group Queen, just completed a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the Imperial College, London, where he began studies 40 years ago. His thesis: "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud."

John Cleese, of the Monty Python show and films, earned a law degree from Cambridge.

Bill Cosby earned a Ph.D. in education from UMass Amherst.

"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." star Robert Vaughn holds a Ph.D. in communications from USC.

Actor and former senator Fred Thompson hold a law degree from Vanderbilt.

William Sanderson, aka Larry of "Larry, Darryl and Darryl" fame from the Newhart Show, has a law degree from Memphis State.

1-14-2008

2007

The Year in Numbers

source: the Enquirer)

(no, not THAT Enquirer

399 Dollars wanted by Amazon.com to buy Kindle e-book reader.

271 The total value of semiconductor revenues in billions of dollars this year, according to iSuppli.

154 Current Intel market capitalization in billions of dollars.

74 Number of days it took Apple to sell one million iPhones.

19.6 Current nVIDIA market capitalization in billions of dollars.

13 Age at which Nick Ciarelli started ThinkSecret site (closed recently following a legal dispute with Apple).

11 Number of companies acquired by Oracle in 2007.

1 Rating of AMD's Hector Ruiz in ranks of best-paid semiconductor bosses.

1-1-2008

Perks Received in 2007

(source: Electronic Design)

Healthcare	67%
401(k) Match	65%
Time Off	39%
Training	23%
Pension	24%
Stock Options	19%
Stock Purchase	17%
Tuition Reimburse	19%
Prof. Org. Dues	16%
Cellphone	13%
Company Car	6%
Health Club	8%
Sabbatical	3%
Daycare	1%

1-8-2008

Considering

Changing Jobs in 2008?

(source: Electronic Design)

Top Reasons for Seeking

New Opportunities in 2007:

Better pay	69%
Interesting work	58%
Personal fulfillment	33%
Want dynamism	27%
Stock options	26%
Job stability	24%
More responsibility	21%
Personal/family	21%
Poor management	20%
Want to relocate	17%
Less stress	18%
Wrong job	13%
Potential layoff	13%
Join a startup	13%

1-1-2008

National R&D Spending

(1953-2004)

(source: National Science Foundation)

(constant 2000 dollars)

12-20-2007

Top States for Federal Procurement Spending

(2005, per capita)

(source: U.S. Census Bureau)

$22,892	District of Columbia
$5,104	Virginia
$3,908	Maryland
$3,637	Alaska
$3,324	New Mexico
$2,675	Connecticut
$1,881	Alabama
$1,824	Hawaii
$1,807	Arizona
$1,621	Massachusetts

12-11-2007

Top Patent Producing

States for 2006

(source: USPTO)

Total Patents Awarded
25,039	California
6,716	Texas
6,406	New York
4,368	Massachusetts
4,178	Michigan
4,053	Illinois
3,627	New Jersey
3,620	Washington
3,291	Ohio
3,268	Minnesota
3,261	Florida
3,186	Pennsylvania
2,536	Oregon
2,349	Colorado
2,232	North Carolina

12-2-2007

GPS-Enabled

Cellphones Now Required Equipment

Waaaay back in the mid 1980s, colleges started requiring students to buy a PC - usually a model dictated by the school (for compatibility - we did not always have Windows). This caused quite a concern for many who did not want to spend $2k or more for something a $5 slide rule and a $1 pen could do. My alma matter, UVM, mandated an ATT 6300 and an IBM dot matrix printer (cannot recall the model). Total bill - $3,500. Yup, in 1987 dollars. Today, computers are issued at birth and most kids cannot use a pen, never mind a slide rule.
Someday, people will look back and have the same memories of this announcement in today's news about Montclair State University (NJ) requiring all students to carry GPS-enabled cellphones. The cost: $420 a year for a base plan, which is bundled into the tuition bill.

11-27-2007

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Kirt Blattenberger,

BSEE - KB3UON

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 tying up your telephone line, and a nice lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...

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