MIKE ROSS wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

MR>  the Miller multiplication

RJT> I've heard the name before,  but forgot about it because
RJT> that sort of thing doesn't usually enter into what I'm
RJT> dealing with.  I wonder if that's perhaps responsible for
RJT> the otherwise odd design of TTL inputs?  I'll bet that
RJT> characteristic makes it harder to design RF amplifier
RJT> stages,  too,  something I've never really had much of a grasp of.

MR> In RF work reactive components are swamped out by using lower
MR> impedances or by adding the opposite sign (i.e. LC) for resonance
MR> as for example an oscillator circuit would. The input/output
MR> capacitances tend to be treated as parasitic lumped constants and
MR> get included with the actual components used.

Yeah,  you've gotta figure in those "fudge factors" in order for
it to work!

RJT> I'm not real clear at the moment as to what sort of effects come 
RJT> into play when you start to forward bias a junction,  though.  
RJT> It's been *years* since I reviewed any of this stuff...

MR> It's true for a lot of stuff but it often just takes a little 
MR> brushing up to get with it again.

Sure,  but I don't have a lot of those books any more.

MR> Just today I took out the sheet music and plucked a few guitar 
MR> studies, sight reading as I played which I hadn't done in a few 
MR> months. It was hesitant at first but it quickly came back. I didn't 
MR> attempt Recuerdos De Alhambra however.... yet! 

Heh.

MR> I'd heard that old memory gets replaced with newer stuff but I'm 
MR> not so sure about that. The human brain really does seem to have 
MR> limitless storage. Heard a theory that memories aren't actually 
MR> stored in our brains, and that our brains are just antennas or 
MR> terminals linked into a larger universal mind where all human 
MR> knowledge resides. I don't believe this but it's a decent 
MR> alternative description.

It's holographic,  from what I understand.  If this is a subject that's of
interest to you there's an excellent book out there by James P. Hogan that
talks at length about AI and why it's not working and probably won't in a
great many avenues that some seem to be pursuing.  I can't remember the
exact title offhand but "Minds" and "Machines" are in
there.  I should probably pick up a copy for my library one of these days. 
Anyhow,  he talks at length in there about the sorts of things that the
human mind can do well,  and poorly,  and the same sort of thing with
computers,  and how different they are.

RJT> I remember when articles about stuff used to go into all sorts of
RJT> aspects of how semiconductors were fabricated,  both discrete devices
RJT> and chips.  And back then I used to really wonder what the heck 
RJT> difference it made to most of us,

MR> What happens when those who designed the black boxes are gone? Good
MR> question! 

There seems to be a perception behind that and other portions of the thread
(how long can you archive stuff?) that suggests that people think that a
serious decline is headed our way.  Is that the case?

MR> Reminds me of the old "Starlost" scifi Tv series where a 
MR> group of people were living an agrarian type lifestyle on an 
MR> interstellar generational ship which was headed on a collision 
MR> course with a star. The descendants of the original crew were 
MR> simple farmers which didn't even know they were on a ship until 
MR> they accidentally found out and had no idea how the ship worked yet 
MR> they were determined to alter its course and save their pod 
MR> "worlds" once they became aware of their predicament.

I'd forgotten about that one.

MR> ... Whip me, Mistress Lisa, whip me... OOPS! ...wrong echo.

!

:-)

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