There was a previous replier that mentioned Tibco Spotfire. This software solution deserves, IMHO, a much stronger endorsement. I have no idea how much it costs and I suspect it's hell'a expensive, but know this: it will let you visualize the living daylights out of whatever data you can throw at it.
As another poster mentioned, there is no substitute for UNDERSTANDING your data. But sometimes 'understanding' must be arrived at by an initial hypothesis (an educated guess) and the data must support the hypothesis. Tibco is a tool that will let you visualize the data very easily to test these hypotheses, in a very dynamic and flexible way.
How does it work? Think about pivot tables in Excel... then think about feeding it the same juice that the Incredible Hulk took. It's pivot tables on lots and lots of steroids.
The "laws" of science simply *describe*. They do not govern.
Here's a couple pearls I've picked up:
"Science is the attempt to come up with systematic, coherent and useful descriptions of how the natural world works." - Chris Mack, litho guru
I've been writing patents for a while for the companies I've worked for and here's my view: if you want to be able to enforce the protection of your IP - you better have deep pockets. Just to get the patent is hundreds if not thousands of dollars. And then once you have it - depending on the level of detectability - you will need to determine if someone is infringing on it. Obviously - there are certain kinds of inventions that are easy to detect and vice-versa. Then once you've determined that, it's not like you can just call the 'cops'. You need to *sue* them and pay legal fees.
It's good to see Shockley getting some press considering that the transistor is one of the most fundamental building blocks of modern technology. To get some perspective, take a look at the first transistor: http://www.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=16247&ar ticleTypeId=0
Notice the tranangular shape? This is where we get the symbol for transistors in circuit diagrams.
Also another interesting bit of trivia: the three terminal transistor was discovered *before* the two terminal diode.
HYDROGEN! At a boiling point of -252C, they should be able to get about 60 degrees cooler.
They should be able to run even faster. I can't imagine any other concerns.
While I don't know what IBM has done specifically for this processor, a catch-phrase that often comes up when talking about solving leakage is "high-K" dielectric. This means that instead of oxidizing the Si surface, they *grow* the dielectric from a different material (often halfnium or zirconium).
"These new materials, along with the right process recipe, reduce gate leakage more than 100-fold, while delivering record transistor performance... This thicker class of materials, known as "high-k," is likely to replace today's silicon dioxide technology in the next few years."
I remember seeing RedHat box getting stolen
on
Free Geek Robbed
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· Score: 1
I remember seeing a RedHat box getting stolen in a Walmart. It had to have been ~7 yrs ago or so... right around the time of RedHat 6. (Yes.. there was a time when Walmart stocked Linux distros on their shelf. )
There was this really sketchy looking guy wearing a heavy coat. He really didn't look the part of a computer geek. He must have had no idea what he was stealing. If he did, he wouldn't be stealing it. He grabbed the box and stuffed it under his shirt and took off.:)
This is my favorite. The error started from a single key-in mistake --> more than $230 million dollars in damage. How would you like to be directly responsible for one of the largest slides in the Tokyo stock exchange for 2005?
http://www.physorg.com/news8901.html
"National labs are supposed to have such an atmosphere, but my stint in one of them makes me think otherwise. "
If the national lab environment wasn't for you... the corporate environment may be even worse. As a PhD in chemical engineering working at an R&D lab in one of the biggest 'tech companies' in the US that still does physical sciences reseach... I can say this from first hand experience. And, by the way, we employ a LOT of PhD mechanical engineers (mostly with materials science expertise).
At one of the conferences I've attended, I talked with one of the pioneers in my area of research (organic electronics) that works at TJ Watson Lab. Even he complains at how 'managed' the research is at Watson. Actually - his particular project got shelved. All my friends (other PhDs) at Watson do seem to have this cloud of doubt looming over their head regarding the longevity of their positions.
"...labs where basic research in applied engineering is still done in the US, without the pressure of money and immediate results?"
As you know - physical sciences research (of which I suspect you are a part of) is extremely expensive. (~$4000 barely gets me an electronic weighing balance that allows me to weigh out the chemicals that I use, much less do anything with it) Someone's got to pay for this. The return on investment for research has gained huge scrutiny in the past several years since it's typically so bad. Many company's don't have such efforts (e.g. Apple, Dell) and are still successful as they concentrate on industrial design and business execution. They simply BUY this technology from smaller companies (or acquire them). And as far as working for those 'smaller companies'... this is even more stressful since it is really sink or swim.. so the 'pressure of money and immediate results' is even greater.
My best advice is this... on your interviews - ask as many questions as possible to learn about how serious the company is in making the appropriate investments for whatever project they are hiring you for. Talk to your would-be peers and ask them frank questions about the work environment.
Lastly - one of my close collegues at work left a senior scientist position at a national lab to work where we do now and he regrets it deeply. If you are really, truly into research and learning the nature of things, and have low tolerance for corporate bullshit - then stay in academina/national lab. If you can stomach it - as I can - there are definitely perks to working for a big company's reseach lab (e.g. the pockets are deep).
I've been a Warren Buffet fan for a long time. (Though have never been able to replicate his investing success). Here's one guy that's got life figured out. As of a few years ago, at least, he was still living in his home in Omaha, Nebraska for which he paid less than $40,000 decades ago. To get a sense of his spartan style - check out how plain http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/ is and consider that onestock in his company makes google look like child's play.
another important thing about Google
on
Google's DNA
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· Score: 1
the founders and CEO understand something about orders of magitude and numerical quantities. The CEO and founders yearly salary are 1 dollar, because they know that their fortunes are worth $12B - enough money to take care of their great great grandchildren. (and then some)
These guys are fundamentally intelligent starting from top management. Imagine if only more CEOs were as intelligent and exercised as much wisdom.
higher IQ does not necessarily even remotely translate to "being smart", or "overall happiness" in life. All these things, as far as I can tell, are unrelated.
FYI - a ring oscillator is just a proof of concept and there is no practical application, per se. It shows that their carbon nanotube transistor technology is well understood enough so that they can make simple logic devices (an oscillator is a bunch of inverters (NOT gate) strung together. Not long ago, slashdot had an article about a transparent ring oscillator from Oregon State Univ. Again, this was done as a stepping stone from discovering an entirely new semiconductor (this is NOT silicon, people) to making a useful device.
Slashdot Mirror
There was a previous replier that mentioned Tibco Spotfire. This software solution deserves, IMHO, a much stronger endorsement. I have no idea how much it costs and I suspect it's hell'a expensive, but know this: it will let you visualize the living daylights out of whatever data you can throw at it.
As another poster mentioned, there is no substitute for UNDERSTANDING your data. But sometimes 'understanding' must be arrived at by an initial hypothesis (an educated guess) and the data must support the hypothesis. Tibco is a tool that will let you visualize the data very easily to test these hypotheses, in a very dynamic and flexible way.
How does it work? Think about pivot tables in Excel... then think about feeding it the same juice that the Incredible Hulk took. It's pivot tables on lots and lots of steroids.
The "laws" of science simply *describe*. They do not govern.
Here's a couple pearls I've picked up:
"Science is the attempt to come up with systematic, coherent and useful descriptions of how the natural world works."
- Chris Mack, litho guru
Science always deals with models of reality, not the ultimate nature of reality.
- http://www.lightandmatter.com/
forget pdf, rtf, odf.... how bout wtf? Compact, portable, universally understood and exceedingly effective in getting your point across.
Is "solid state" really a good way to refer to flash drives? Sounds like a terrible mis-nomer to me.
I've been writing patents for a while for the companies I've worked for and here's my view: if you want to be able to enforce the protection of your IP - you better have deep pockets. Just to get the patent is hundreds if not thousands of dollars. And then once you have it - depending on the level of detectability - you will need to determine if someone is infringing on it. Obviously - there are certain kinds of inventions that are easy to detect and vice-versa. Then once you've determined that, it's not like you can just call the 'cops'. You need to *sue* them and pay legal fees.
... I shudder to think of what will happen when all those new linux users try to plug in their printer (yikes!)
It's good to see Shockley getting some press considering that the transistor is one of the most fundamental building blocks of modern technology. To get some perspective, take a look at the first transistor:r ticleTypeId=0
http://www.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=16247&a
Notice the tranangular shape? This is where we get the symbol for transistors in circuit diagrams.
Also another interesting bit of trivia: the three terminal transistor was discovered *before* the two terminal diode.
Guess not. should have known better.
Just 4 months late!! Not bad. First post!
HYDROGEN! At a boiling point of -252C, they should be able to get about 60 degrees cooler. They should be able to run even faster. I can't imagine any other concerns.
While I don't know what IBM has done specifically for this processor, a catch-phrase that often comes up when talking about solving leakage is "high-K" dielectric. This means that instead of oxidizing the Si surface, they *grow* the dielectric from a different material (often halfnium or zirconium).
m
From: http://www.intel.com/technology/silicon/high-k.ht
"These new materials, along with the right process recipe, reduce gate leakage more than 100-fold, while delivering record transistor performance... This thicker class of materials, known as "high-k," is likely to replace today's silicon dioxide technology in the next few years."
oohhh nooo.... he reversed the polarity!!!!!!!!!!!!
What?!?! no Asia Carrera?!?!?
I remember seeing a RedHat box getting stolen in a Walmart. It had to have been ~7 yrs ago or so... right around the time of RedHat 6. (Yes.. there was a time when Walmart stocked Linux distros on their shelf. ) There was this really sketchy looking guy wearing a heavy coat. He really didn't look the part of a computer geek. He must have had no idea what he was stealing. If he did, he wouldn't be stealing it. He grabbed the box and stuffed it under his shirt and took off. :)
This is my favorite. The error started from a single key-in mistake --> more than $230 million dollars in damage. How would you like to be directly responsible for one of the largest slides in the Tokyo stock exchange for 2005? http://www.physorg.com/news8901.html
"National labs are supposed to have such an atmosphere, but my stint in one of them makes me think otherwise. " ...labs where basic research in applied engineering is still done in the US, without the pressure of money and immediate results?"
If the national lab environment wasn't for you... the corporate environment may be even worse. As a PhD in chemical engineering working at an R&D lab in one of the biggest 'tech companies' in the US that still does physical sciences reseach... I can say this from first hand experience. And, by the way, we employ a LOT of PhD mechanical engineers (mostly with materials science expertise).
At one of the conferences I've attended, I talked with one of the pioneers in my area of research (organic electronics) that works at TJ Watson Lab. Even he complains at how 'managed' the research is at Watson. Actually - his particular project got shelved. All my friends (other PhDs) at Watson do seem to have this cloud of doubt looming over their head regarding the longevity of their positions.
"
As you know - physical sciences research (of which I suspect you are a part of) is extremely expensive. (~$4000 barely gets me an electronic weighing balance that allows me to weigh out the chemicals that I use, much less do anything with it) Someone's got to pay for this. The return on investment for research has gained huge scrutiny in the past several years since it's typically so bad. Many company's don't have such efforts (e.g. Apple, Dell) and are still successful as they concentrate on industrial design and business execution. They simply BUY this technology from smaller companies (or acquire them). And as far as working for those 'smaller companies'... this is even more stressful since it is really sink or swim.. so the 'pressure of money and immediate results' is even greater.
My best advice is this... on your interviews - ask as many questions as possible to learn about how serious the company is in making the appropriate investments for whatever project they are hiring you for. Talk to your would-be peers and ask them frank questions about the work environment.
Lastly - one of my close collegues at work left a senior scientist position at a national lab to work where we do now and he regrets it deeply. If you are really, truly into research and learning the nature of things, and have low tolerance for corporate bullshit - then stay in academina/national lab. If you can stomach it - as I can - there are definitely perks to working for a big company's reseach lab (e.g. the pockets are deep).
it is called 'open source'... bass drum - cymbal drum - *duck*
I've been a Warren Buffet fan for a long time. (Though have never been able to replicate his investing success). Here's one guy that's got life figured out. As of a few years ago, at least, he was still living in his home in Omaha, Nebraska for which he paid less than $40,000 decades ago. To get a sense of his spartan style - check out how plain http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/ is and consider that one stock in his company makes google look like child's play.
FYI - They DO ALLOW their bootlegs to be freely downloaded via bittorrent! See: http://bt.etree.org/index.php?cat=137
I heard from a birdie that MS atleast sells the XBox360 at cost (i.e. no profit). Very similar to the inkjet printer business models...
putty http://www.google.com/search?q=putty
the founders and CEO understand something about orders of magitude and numerical quantities. The CEO and founders yearly salary are 1 dollar, because they know that their fortunes are worth $12B - enough money to take care of their great great grandchildren. (and then some) These guys are fundamentally intelligent starting from top management. Imagine if only more CEOs were as intelligent and exercised as much wisdom.
higher IQ does not necessarily even remotely translate to "being smart", or "overall happiness" in life. All these things, as far as I can tell, are unrelated.
Yes, but you can combine the inverters which make NOT gates to make AND gates as well as well as OR gates and ... you get the picture.. t
FYI - a ring oscillator is just a proof of concept and there is no practical application, per se. It shows that their carbon nanotube transistor technology is well understood enough so that they can make simple logic devices (an oscillator is a bunch of inverters (NOT gate) strung together. Not long ago, slashdot had an article about a transparent ring oscillator from Oregon State Univ. Again, this was done as a stepping stone from discovering an entirely new semiconductor (this is NOT silicon, people) to making a useful device.