Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> But then, I'm not good with time management. I tend to burn hours
> working on "interesting" but irrelevant problems, and no time at all
> working on the stuff that I don't know how to do.

Heh, you just described me.

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Darren New wrote:
> [.. snip interview ...]

LOL!!

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Invisible wrote:
> I'm not disputing that getting paid for OSS is a good idea - I'm just
> saying it's highly nontrivial to achieve this.

Before getting paid for OSS, you have to contribute to OSS on your own, and
get used to how things work...

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Invisible wrote:
> Anyway, when I reached the age of 9, I still couldn't read or write.

Want some *weird* facts?

I'm currently 17. I could read at the age of 2 (!).

But I finally learned to tie my shoe laces a few weeks ago. From a
website... :/

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Tom Austin <taustin> wrote:
> One think to keep in mind, you are best off not trying to drive the LED
> directly from the chip.  Some chips can do it, but most cannot.  Lots of
> times you need to put a *switch* that the gate switches.

I have an electronics kit, with CMOS ICs, LEDs, and AA batteries adding up
to 9v. I have always connected LEDs directly at the output of gates. With a
resistor, of course (3.3k ohm), I mean without any kind of switch.

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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> But I finally learned to tie my shoe laces a few weeks ago. From a
> website... :/

And I'm in my 40's, and only learned I was tying my shoes wrong last 
year.  I've been using a granny knot instead of a square knot for 40 years.
-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)

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Tom Austin <taustin> wrote:
> Mike Raiford wrote:
>> Just keep in mind CMOS is very easy to cook.
>> 
> 
> yes, they are easier than TTL to *damage*
> 
> TTL can withstand a bit more abuse before they peter out.

Heh. I once built a circuit following exact instructions from a breadboard
diagram. It didn't work. I touched the IC and it was hot. (uh oh) I noticed
I was using the *wrong IC*! I was giving it power into an OUTPUT PIN!!

After that abuse, it still worked fine :)

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Darren New wrote:
> Mueen Nawaz wrote:
>> [ lots of stuff ]
> 
> I'll second everything she said, including helping you find and get 
> involved in the right place if you want.
 >
> [lots more stuff]

I'll add my voice to this and third it. I don't know if anyone has 
already said this, but the UK *is* the same - most PhDs in the sciences 
and engineering (including CS) are fully funded, and I highly recommend 
following this path if you're interested.

I have a PhD in materials science. I did it because I wasn't sure what I 
wanted to do beyond not moving to London for some faceless graduate 
program. I also wanted to stay in programming (I'd just finished a CS 
MSc). Ha, materials doesn't sound like programming, I hear you say. 
Well, speculative emails brought me to the attention of my prof-to-be, 
who was looking for someone to do some numerical modelling. The rest is 
history; a postdoc project followed and in total I spent 7 years in 
flexible, fun and stimulating work with interesting people.

And of course many of them are geeks, in the best possible sense!

Although I no longer work in that field, or even academia (I was 
drifting away from the programming - experimental research is 
interesting but not my first love!), I made sufficient contacts that I 
could easily have found something had I wished it.

And despite what you say, you *can* write technical documents. You keep 
posting them here, and they are well-written. Style and structure is 
something you pick up whilst reading around the subject, and most 
institutions will offer formal training for students and staff.

The holiday allowance isn't too shabby either ;-)

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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> Tom Austin <taustin> wrote:
>> One think to keep in mind, you are best off not trying to drive the LED
>> directly from the chip.  Some chips can do it, but most cannot.  Lots of
>> times you need to put a *switch* that the gate switches.
> 
> I have an electronics kit, with CMOS ICs, LEDs, and AA batteries adding up
> to 9v. I have always connected LEDs directly at the output of gates. With a
> resistor, of course (3.3k ohm), I mean without any kind of switch.
> 


With TTL you should be able to drive a LED from the outputs.
With CMOS you better check to be sure.

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Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> Tom Austin <taustin> wrote:
>> Mike Raiford wrote:
>>> Just keep in mind CMOS is very easy to cook.
>>>
>> yes, they are easier than TTL to *damage*
>>
>> TTL can withstand a bit more abuse before they peter out.
> 
> Heh. I once built a circuit following exact instructions from a breadboard
> diagram. It didn't work. I touched the IC and it was hot. (uh oh) I noticed
> I was using the *wrong IC*! I was giving it power into an OUTPUT PIN!!
> 
> After that abuse, it still worked fine :)
> 

You would be amazed what you could do to a chip and have it survive.
Just because you exceeded the maximum ratings, or hooked up something 
backwards doesn't mean that it is killed tho you probably brought down 
the reliability of the chip.


Then you would be surprised how easy it is to make one fail.  Sneeze 
wrong and it's over.


It's all in the magic blue smoke.  All chips run on it - if you let it 
out then it doesn't work any more.
I just wonder how they get the blue smoke in there in the first place.

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