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From: Bill Sloman <bill.sloman@ieee.org>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.design
Subject: Re: kids these days
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:40:38 +1000
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On 30/09/2024 2:41 am, Cursitor Doom wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Sep 2024 13:22:31 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
> wrote:
> 
>> On a sunny day (Sun, 29 Sep 2024 10:10:33 +0100) it happened Cursitor Doom
>> <cd@notformail.com> wrote in <d56ifj1angpnq16qhhb0vplmlr3tt7opnf@4ax.com>:
>>
>>> On Fri, 27 Sep 2024 08:42:27 GMT, Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On a sunny day (Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:21:31 -0700) it happened john larkin
>>>> <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote in <v1rbfj18eqbgr1t9bfvdfqqmn1q91gcfof@4ax.com>:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bosses-firing-gen-z-grads-111719818.html
>>>>>
>>>>> Oh. I just hired one.
>>>>
>>>> There is a lot of truth in that article.
>>>> I have had to work with newcomers, some knew nothing
>>>> But then when I started... in my first job designing a.o. mil stuff
>>>> I had to figure it all out for myself the same day the requests got on the table.
>>>> One old guy, who had some experience with electronics but had a lot with high power stuff..
>>>> and a manager to rule us, was the environment, and a big factory floor building the things we came up with, and
>>>> a test room (HV stuff 100 kV etc megawatt stuff.. and a little corner and oscilloscope for me to test what I came up with,
>>>> build  proto circuits.
>>>>
>>>> Later when starting in broadcasting we got 6 month in the school benches in their own studio, while getting payed,
>>>> and exams after that, everything from audio, video, satellite, management, politics (who can do what, red phones sort of
>>>> thing), the works.
>>>> As that (video, audio etc) was my real interest, I found it relaxing and fun.
>>>> Then when you are put in charge of a real event, I remember the first day I ran alone in a head control room
>>>> I had to call my boss back from his dinner in some restaurant.. could not find the cables we had to swap
>>>> to sync some remote location,
>>>> turned out those were hidden under the floor boards ..
>>>> Did not they tell you that?
>>>> (Must have missed that :-) ).
>>>>
>>>> It all depends,.
>>>> Do you give the poor new guy training? ANY kind of training?
>>>
>>> He doesn't have to. John has this screening technique he uses for job
>>> applicants. He shows them a diagram of two 1k resistors in series with
>>> 10V across them and asks them what the voltage where they join is. If
>>> they freak out, burst into tears or defenestrate themselves, he knows
>>> not to hire them. :-)
>>
>> Yes I did read that posting
>> Its hard, lemme see, e=m.c^12 likely does not help.
>> to make it easier for me I use volts, so if 3k3 + 4k7 in series gives 8 volts
>> then we know 3k3 gives 3.3 V across it and 4k7 4.7 volts across it
>> Best is to use trimpots to get the right value, no math needed...
>> And of course you need to bring the (multi?)meter impedance into play, especially for high
>> value resistors and moving coil meters from old boat anchors for example.
>> And there are LDRs and NTCs and PTCs, so we need to know all that
>> and the temperature and light intensity...
>> for the NTCs and PTCs we also need to know the current and time since switch on...
>> So no wonder if they defenestrate themselves.
>> An other issue maybe length contraction due to near light speed that may affect both measurement equipment and resistors.
>> And reading those colored bands around some resistors to get the value.
>> and wirewound, carbon composite, metal,
>> And then J.L. did not specify if it was DeeSee or AH!See
>> Imagine 2 1k resistors, one wire-wound, the other metal flim,
>> The wire-wound would work as inductor for RF, so would some small metal ones with some turns on it..
>> And then there are tolerances, simple maybe for 2 resistors from the same batch
>> but tolerances, sometimes a silver or gold band will give a clue
>> will change the outcome.
>> So as the saying goes: "Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated"
>> Opps, composite carbon reisors maye aso be sensitve to moisture? And maybe pressue?
>> Those would often go high in teefee sets...
>>
>> ...
> 
> Jan, you're massively over-complicating this! :-) The resistors in my
> example are both 1k so it's half the supply rail. But you knew that
> anyway.
> The answers you gave show that you know your subject. Unfortunately,
> as we know from what John's stated here before, the graduates he
> interviews have no idea what the fuck they're doing.

What we know is that John Larkin wants us to think this.

The graduate he interviewed probably saw it differently.

> The Chinese are going to kick our arses if they aren't already.

Probably not. They are no less infested with John Larkin types than we 
are, and when these creeps get into powerful positions in the Chinese 
Communist Party they can be unpleasant to any number of people.

> Oh - and carbon resistors are noisy. And I don't think you mentioned
> the source resistance of the supply. We could go on. And on. And
> on.... But that's not what John asked for. He only wanted a first
> approximation which would be 5 Volts. But that's too much for today's
> grads, it seems. :(

Ask the wrong question the wrong way and get answers that confirm your 
own prejudices.

-- 
Bill Sloman, Sydney