Thursday, April 3, 2008

I Heart Nerds!

In the course of my day-to-day work activities, I sometimes have to do a little research on the various components that make up the boards I design. What I am usually looking for are the dimensions of the component. All the companies that manufacture parts have websites where I can search for this information. As you can imagine, the information on these sites can get pretty technical. Most of it I have no clue on what it means--all I need to know is the size.
The other day I was doing one of my usual searches and I came across this little drawing at the end of a multi-page "ap note". (An Application Note is where the REAL hard-core technical stuff is...all research-y and lots of formulas like on the mad scienist's blackboard).

WOW! Nerd Humor! I was laughing so hard when I saw this because it is SO true. I have been around engineer types my whole adult working career (well, except for the restaurant part). Engineers are a special breed--especially the electrical ones. They are just processing at a level us "normals" can only dream of. And most of them are pretty funny too, sometimes in a weird way, but nonetheless funny.
So I went back through this list of ap notes (there were a hundred or so) and randomly selected some. All of the ones written by this guy Jim Williams not only had the little drawings at the end, but usually were prefaced with a funny anectdote of how this circuit or research came into being. Some were really funny stories...like how his six-week sabbatical turned into an unplanned circuit designing binge.
Here are a few drawings to share:

"Methinks the load doth protest too much"

"Speak softly and carry a big PNP" (a PNP is a type of transistor)

3 comments:

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Hey MaryRuth,
Saw your interview in the Daily Link. :) Funny thing was while I was reading it, I kept thinking I know all this stuff already. ;)

Whoohoo! I made your top 3. But wait a minute, why am I not #1? Hmph!

MaryRuth said...

Hi WC! Did you read it in the newspaper or online? The editor made me sound all smart and stuff--If I didn't know me already, I would have been impressed.
The link listing was in no particular order--I swear! I was gonna write you over the weekend to let you know. Did you notice any more hits than usual on your site? I've been enjoying your last month of posts--I think I will try to make the chicken curry this weekend.

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Online. I was checking my stats and got one hit early in the day. That's all. My hits doubled with that In-N-Out hidden menu post. Who knew? I thought everyone knew the hidden menu so it was just a quickie post but everyone's been bookmarking it. Go figure.