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Tech Smorgasbord Archives - 9 |
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An Enigma - or is it a Paradox?
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It occurred to me the other day how in mathematics, we define
π radians = 180°
Well, according to Merriam-Webster, the definition of an irrational number (π) is "a
number that can be expressed as an infinite decimal with no set of consecutive digits repeating itself indefinitely and that cannot be expressed
as the quotient [or fraction] of two integers." A rational number (180) is any number that is not irrational. So have we not declared that an
irrational number is equal to a rational number?
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Acceptable Gifts forForeign Countries
(source: Inc Magazine Aug 2007)
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India: Chocolates, dried fruits, sculptures. Present in social setting.
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China: Pens, small electronic devices. Nothing white since bad connotations in superstition.
Present at social event, offer 3 times.
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Brazil: Personal gifts - jewelry, sports mementos. Present in social setting.
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Russia: Liquor, what else? (not vodka, though). Gifts not expected in Russia.
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Nigeria: Luxury items expected, but who cares? Nigeria is a hub of massive corruption and
identity theft. I say give a set of strong handcuffs. Do so in a public setting.
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Anyone Know What Kind of Gas Mileage a Prius Gets at 100 MPH?
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 Mr. Gore's son must not have
gotten the memo. Looks like the family will need to purchase a few more carbon offset credits.
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Top Mobile Web Domains March 2007 (source:
Telephony 5/21/07)
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1 |
US: google.com UK: google.co.uk
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2 |
US: yahoo.com UK: bbc.co.uk |
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3 |
US: msn.com UK: orange.co.uk |
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4 |
US: microsoft.com UK: three.co.uk |
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5 |
US: live.com UK: o2.co.uk |
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6 |
US: go.com UK: google.com |
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7 |
US: cnn.com UK: mobile-favourites.co.uk |
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8 |
US: weather.com UK: ebay.co.uk |
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9 |
US: myspace.com UK: msn.com |
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10 |
US: passport.net UK: yahoo.com |
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Top Ranked Engineering Colleges for
2006(source:
graduateshotline.com)
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1 |
Mass. Inst. Tech. |
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2 |
Stanford U. |
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3 |
U.C. Berkley |
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4 |
Cal. Inst. Tech. |
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5 |
U. of IL, Urbana |
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6 |
Georgia IT |
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7 |
U. of Michigan |
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8 |
Cornell U. |
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9 |
Carnegie Mellon |
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10 |
U. of Texas, Austin |
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15 |
Princeton U. |
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19 |
Harvard U. |
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24 |
Johns Hopkins U. |
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30 |
Duke U. |
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31 |
Rensselaer (RPI) |
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38 |
Yale |
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My alma matter, U. of VT, did not place in the top 50...go figure. |
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2006 Top Electronics R&D Spenders
(source:
Electronic Business) |
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# |
Company |
% |
$M |
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1 |
Cadence |
31 |
460 |
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2 |
Broadcom |
31 |
1117 |
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3 |
Agere |
28 |
445 |
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4 |
Maxim |
26 |
481 |
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7 |
AMD |
21 |
1205 |
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9 |
AnalogDev |
21 |
537 |
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12 |
Qualcomm |
20 |
1538 |
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22 |
STMicro |
17 |
1667 |
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25 |
Infineon |
16 |
1585 |
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26 |
Ericsson |
16 |
4080 |
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28 |
TI |
15 |
2,195 |
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40 |
Agilent |
13 |
655 |
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57 |
Motorola |
9.6 |
4106 |
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58 |
Nokia |
9.5 |
5145 |
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59 |
Samsung |
9.5 |
6083 |
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87 |
Murata |
7.1 |
295 |
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93 |
IBM |
6.7 |
6107 |
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123 |
EPCOS |
5.4 |
90 |
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214 |
Tyco |
2.2 |
914 |
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% = % or revenue |
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2007 Salary Survey(source: Design News)
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These results are primarily from mechanical engineers. Overall average is $78k. By comparison, EE Times' 2006 survey
showed base of around $76k for EEs.
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% |
Base Salary Range |
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2 |
$150k-250k |
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3 |
$130k-$150k |
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5 |
$110k-$120k |
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4 |
$100k-$100k |
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9 |
$90k-$100k |
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11 |
$80k-$90k |
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14 |
$70k-$80k |
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18 |
$60k-$70k |
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15 |
$50k-$60k |
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10 |
$40k-$50k |
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2 |
$30k-$40k |
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What's YourInternet Speed?
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Average download speeds in the U.S., according to the Communications
Workers of America:
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The Fastest (Mbps) |
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1 |
Rhode Island, 5.01 |
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2 |
Kansas, 4.17 |
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3 |
New Jersey, 3.68 |
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4 |
New York, 3.44 |
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5 |
Massachusetts, 3.00 |
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The Slowest (Mbps) |
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46 |
North Dakota, 1.31 |
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47 |
Iowa, 1.26 |
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48 |
Wyoming, 1.25 |
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49 |
West Virginia, 1.12 |
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50 |
Alaska, 0.55 |
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National Average, 1.97 |
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Other Places (Mbps) |
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Canada, 7.60 Japan, 61.0
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Test Yours Here |
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