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And given the current level of debt, is it moral to pay Raytheon for random crap?

I'd love to know which "random crap" you're speaking of, because we've been laying off people for quite some time. When you've laid off too many of the good ones, you'll have plenty of difficulty building non-"random crap" when you really need to. No, you can't just hire any new engineer, because many of the technologies we deal with are highly specialized.

I'm not advocating paying the military-industrial complex to build crap, because there are so many things that they do need, and precious little funding for it.

BTW, next time you use your microwave oven, remember where it was developed http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/history.html. Or, the next time you go by an marina, notice the name on many of the radars.

Microwaves predate the space program by many years. Here's a short history: http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/history.html/

File under how microwave ovens were invented. It all started with a melted candybar and a radar transmitter.

Ignorance is bliss. Now try to learn something.

Wow, if you're going to be snarky at least get your facts straight.

You're right about the frequency of the microwave oven, but it's not the resonance frequency of water, that's 545GHz.

Microwaves work by electromagnetically vibrating any asymetrical (polar) molecules found in the target foodstuffs. Water is usually a very large percentage of that, but you're just vibrating the molecule, not causing it to resonate. If you did, the water on the outside of the food would absorb all the energy and you'd have a cold center.

Some links:
Microwave tech
Good Eats
Water resonance chart
How Things Work

Here's a good history of microwave ovens

Here's another article with info abt the electromagnetic spectrum

2.45GHz heats water pretty good and since the human body is mostly water you all might want to take care where you point those 99dbi yagi antenna. Yes this is the frequency that the magnetron uses to cook.

Why does metal arc in a microwave oven?

A microwave oven creates an electrical field within the oven cavity. Metal in the field creates a low resistance "preferred path", which channels the current to a point. When the electron potential is high enough, it can break permitivity of air, and arc to another metal contact point. Moving electrons is current, with losses as heat, which can melt the metal & other objects in the microwave.

So yes, the RFID will spark, but not for the reason you thought it would.

As for using RFIDs to begin with, I think Albrecht is a little too luddite for my taste, and doesn't have the foresight to see the benefits. I would rather see regulations on what kind of personal information can be tracked, rather than outright banning. But then again, a collection transparency policy should apply to all companies and governments, not just those that opt to use RFIDs...

Oh, yeah... Interested in the Microwave? Go to this page to learn about it.

--

"To do what ought to be done, but would not have been done unless I did it, I thought to be my duty"

does a Microwave have coils?

Nope, it has a magnetron (sounds like something from a bad sci-fi movie, doesn't it? I remember giggling the first time I saw a dynamometer...).

You can see it here. There's also a link to theory of operation.

If you want to bugger up a microwave, the simple way is to de-align the waveguide (note: very dangerous).

Yes, it's offtopic. I was answering a question. I've already moderated myself down accordingly to save your points. :-)*