Comments for JB's Circuit

Comment on Conservation of Design Pain by jblyler

jblyler — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:10:01 +0000

Hi Stephan. Actual data would be great, but it would be difficult to obtain due to differences in even very similar designs – as you point out. Still, trends can be discerned. Also, experience from many other engineering disciplines show that reuse increase the cost of interface design and verification. — John

Comment on Conservation of Design Pain by Stephan

Stephan — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:39:47 +0000

Good thinking, but would be good to have at least few examples, both technically and financially – like on transistor count, power, chip area, $, design time, etc. Unfortunately, seldomly two designs are done in parallel under same constraints, to allow a direct comparision…. I think the real world is always a mix. Only sometimes big things shift something. I wonder what that could be?

Comment on Jobs, Ritchie and America’s Media Obsession by Gary Dare

Gary Dare — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:28:43 +0000

No flame here, Roberto. While both Ritchie and Jobs were giants, the main difference is that Dennis Ritchie’s accomplishments were in the technology infrastructure while Jobs’ were in the user interface. The majority of people will experience technology through the user interface.

Comment on Jobs, Ritchie and America’s Media Obsession by Roberto Avanzi

Roberto Avanzi — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:32:57 +0000

I happen to be one of those that think that the overall legacy of Dennis Ritchie is more important than that of Steve Jobs, but I have seen so many stupid comments that I want to provoke a bit. Just a bit.

1. Ritchie designed C, the programming language whose “features” are the first cause of a programmer mindset that leads to almost all software insecurities and exploits. Jobs’ vision led to the least insecure smartphone platform so far.

2. Ritchie invented unix, but it was Jobs’ company that made the first user friendly unix.

Now flame.

Comment on Jobs, Ritchie and America’s Media Obsession by JesseJ

JesseJ — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:18:10 +0000

One of my favorite quotes from magician Frank Garcia, as he waved his hands over a deck of cards was:

“I do nothing, but I do it well!”

Comment on Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 by Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 | Twin Rivers

Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 | Twin Rivers — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:13:55 +0000

[...] Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 [...]

Comment on Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 by Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 | My Cell Phone Site

Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 | My Cell Phone Site — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 07:02:08 +0000

[...] Pictures from Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 [...]

Comment on Lower Consumer Power Trend Masks Manufacturing Component by jblyler

jblyler — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:53:35 +0000

Not sure what you mean by, “eliminating 40W wall warts that don’t do anything.” Are you referring to TVs? The reports notes that energy useage is going down, in part (but it doesn’t say how much) due to lower power electronic devices. My point was that these engergy savings represent only part of the picture. One must also consider the power that went into creating these low-power devices. — JB

Comment on Lower Consumer Power Trend Masks Manufacturing Component by mfg

mfg — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:21:22 +0000

how much of the savings is actually in active device use? i bet much of the savings comes from eliminating 40W wall warts that don’t do anything. and i don’t think that production of a new wall wart is that much more intensive than the old ones.
seems like a fairly pessimisitic article.

Comment on Engineering – The Lost Profession by JesseJ

JesseJ — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:57:24 +0000

I know what a “Brass Rat” is, but I’ve never heard of an Iron Ring!