When I was at RIM, we used a broken quick sort method that the candidate was asked to fix. We didn't time how long it took the candidate to implement the fix, but it generally required the candidate to do some research as to what was wrong. One of the team leads created a simple app that tested the performance (ie speed) of the fix.

What was really interesting to me was the number of candidates who refused to do the test (50-60%) because they said it was "beneath them". The big problem was, RIM's HR (OD) that insisted we interview the candidatest that refused to do the test because we were losing potentially half the candidates that were responding to the job applications (this was when RIM was The Place To Be).

The best candidates were the ones that did the test and asked if we had any more. These candidates also tended to produce code that ran sort the fastest.

myke

If I understand what was discovered in TFA (and press release noted by Trepidity), the etched scales reduce the internal reflections of the produced light which result in some of the produced light being lost in the structure of the LED and lens.

Does anybody know how much light is actually lost within the LED and lens? The article mentions that the extrated light is increased by 55% which implies that at least a third of the light produced by an LED is lost within the structure - would this be correct?

I would presume that this loss would be influenced by the shape of the LED lens - correct? I seem to remember that pin through hole LEDs are designed with the emitter at the focus of the curved lens to minimize reflected losses BUT this could be a huge advantage for SMT chip LEDs which tyically just have a flat surface for the lens.

Are there other applications in which this can be used as I would think that this could be useful in other applications? I would guess that adding the triangular "roof" structure would make it difficult to focus/direct the light produced by the LED. This would mean that the typical power dispersion patter of a typical LED would be evened out and the light output would be difficult to focus - correct?

myke

I think I can honestly say that I have had Thinkpads for 20 years and I have never had a bad experience on them (other than having a six year old system at one point that could run Cygwin but basically nothing else - the story about how I got the replacement made me a legend at work) - they have travelled literally around the world at least twice and have almost as many frequent flyer miles as I do.

They're great road warrior machines, well built, well thought out (their docking ports are worth every penny) and, amazingly enough, they're probably the only brand that didn't loose their quality when they were bought out/sold (I'm still pissed at what happened to Alienware).

Hopefully they'll keep a few of the old ones around so I can stock up before they try to emulate Apple.

myke

Disappointing because Elon Musk is doing more to make spaceflight exciting than probably anybody since the 1960s by being up front and centre about what he is doing. The Dragon 2 sounds quite interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing the evolving concept (especially in light of the experiments that SpaceX have been publicizing).

The Boeing entry, even though it is similar to SpaceX's just seems to be "corporate".

XCOR seems to be an (interesting) contender for sub-orbital while Scaled Composites & SS2 have kind of dropped off the radar and has been eclipsed by SpaceX showing that individuals can actually make it into space for real.

Nice to see progress and some renewed promise for space!

myke

"In your Face, Aldrin!"
"A quarter million miles, billions of dollars, and you won't believe what I just stepped in."
"What's that monolith doing here?"
"Man, you can't believe what a fart smells like in here."
"Houston, has Aldrin told you about his crotch rot yet?"
"Honey, I think I left the stove on."
"Houston, you're not going to believe this, but there's a flag with the Hammer and Sickle standing here."
"Man, I could use the fresh, relaxing taste of Coca-Cola."
"Suck it, Aldrin!"

myke

I would normally do that as well BUT that wasn't an option because the theraputic software only worked on Windows 95 and I could not find a set of CDs and a license I could use for that.

myke

Fair comment and I did learn from it.

Back to isorox, drinkypoo and Opportunist - what kind of process do you go through when you get reconditioned computer equipment?

myke

My daughter, who has a hearing defect, was prescribed a listening program that only worked on - Windows 95.

This was in the early days of Windows XP, so finding a Windows 95 machine (or a set of disks) was somewhat hard.

I did manage to find one at a local electronics consignment store which claimed to have gone through and sanitized the system from the previous owner.

My seven year old daughter looked at the "Videos" folder and found somebody's collection of something that we could only described as "Jamacian Dungeon Porn". To use the vernacular of the article, these videos were not "pristine" and really quite disturbing.

She was pretty freaked out by them at the time and, ten years later, she still says she remembers the screams although she can't remember what was on the videos.

As for the store caring? We got the impression they were most upset at the idea we didn't save a copy of the videos for them.

I'm sure our story (and the one in the article) are pretty rare, but I can see the probability of something like this with "reconditioned" equipment is no where near approaching zero.

myke

Actually, if all you think the 555 can do is oscillate, then you're in for a pleasant surprise.

There are a lot of really amazing things you can do with it - just doing a quick search, take a look HERE.

myke

Onto a more serious note; it's always great to see somebody bring in some new ideas to bring electronics to kids.

It will be very interesting to see how the concepts are brought across using puppets. I would have liked to see some examples before the story went live.

The big issue that I always find is that when somebody comes up with a new idea for teaching concepts, they can illustrate basic concepts very effectively but get bogged down when the material becomes deeper and not so readily obvious.

Having said that, if they have a character for a 555, maybe they have a good formula!

myke

I would put in a vote for Lt. Ellis over Col. Lake.

I would agree that it was Anderson's best show.

myke

Sad to hear Gerry. Anderson died.

Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet were my favourite shows as a young child. (Although I would say only "The Thunderbirds" had any kind of staying power now that I look back at them as an "adult").

When they came out, I never missed an episode of UFO and Space 1999 (although Space 1999 started out strong but didn't really have the chops to go the distance). If you get the chance, watch a few episodes of "UFO" - many of them are quite good and have aged reasonably well (despite being stuck in 1970).

My favourite quote about him came from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, after "Team America" said that Gerry Anderson must be insane, because of all the problems they had with the puppets in the movie.

A great legacy and I know many people who remember fondly growing up with his creations.

Thank you,

myke

I've just spent four evenings wrapping presents - I love the idea of the boxes which suggest something completely useless inside of them.

I wish Happy and Safe Holidays for Everyone!

myke

Seriously as there are many people here (myself included) that do not respond to Anonymous Cowards. I would have thought the person doing this would want everybody to know who they are so that they will gain noteriety in the lead up to their attempt.

Very impressive numbers, but I would have thought there would be a YouTube video or somesuch which backed up the claim.

If I submitted as AC, would the editors accept my claim to my questions regarding my unusually long eyebrows, which irritate my eyes and I can't control with shaving, waxing, plucking, laser or electrolysis as well as let me know who else has this problem and what they are doing about it?

myke

I was going to ask if anybody has any addititional information, but you can go through the press release.

The two big things that jump out at me are:
1. The quoted efficiency (7.5%) seems to be quite low - aren't other more traditional cells at 20% or more? I don't see any indication that these cells cost half or less than traditional solar cells which would make up for the efficiency losses.
2. There doesn't see to be any method of passing current from cells that are butted up or overlapping each other which means that there must be wires running to each cell. This would mean that the process of putting on different surfaces is not as simple as implied in the article summaries.

Anybody who can explain more about the application of these cells?

myke