An hour after I got up, I heard a distant siren, like those in the movies about the Blitz. Other than a potential post-Xmas sale at Aventura Mall, I’ve no idea the significance of this alert. There was a noon siren when I was growing up, which nobody ever explained since there were no factories or jobs in town. This being Florida, it could be, like those who run the railway, just people making noise at 6:30 in the morning.Today I investigate op-amps, in particular, the 741. I want to know how works and how it is used. That’s it. I don’t want to know how it is built or the tons of junk information I will get on-line. You watch, I’ll get countless sites that tell me it “reacts” and “responds” and “inverts” and goes on about all the inputs and outputs, but every one will avoid telling me what it does or how to make it useful. Then, once I learn how the hard way, they’ll all line up and ask, “Oh, well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?” See, I may not know electronics, but I know a pack of idiots when I meet them.
Later, two hours into the search. The entire Internet findings carefully avoid any clear statement about how the thing works. What exactly is “a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input”? As usual, I will now search British club sites hoping to find my quarry as a byproduct of some other topic. All electronics authors to date have been half or complete losers.
Some headway so far. I’ve learned the op-amp “amplifies a weak signal”, but no information on what that signal could be. Smoke? Traffic? Radio? It must be a huge secret, but I’ll guess voltage. Ah, by examining formulas from some guy V. Ryan, who cannot bring himself to just say it, the culprit must be voltage. Ryan explains this, but immediately gives an example of a “comparator” instead of an op-amp. Real brains, that cookie.
Ah, found something by looking for “voltage” in Australia. Go to Talking Electronics. It’s a blog and hard to find things, but if you’re really interested you’ll follow up. I picked up two 741 chips from the Shack, they’re not expensive.
I very rarely memorize the names of band members unless I have another reason than music. Hey, they’re supposed to be a band, not a collection of soloists. But take that Heidi Newfield, the singer from Trick Pony in today’s picture. I just don’t find her too attractive and for that matter, I don’t think she is all that talented or sexy. But there she is, broadcasting from the Islands wearing a bikini made for a woman half her age. Something does not add up.
So I checked things out as can only be done in this wired up world. How is somebody like that selling millions? I still don’t know, since all her Internet postings have been whitewashed. For example, Wiki says, “By age 13, she had decided to pursue a career in country music.” Like it was some option she picked from the job board in the grade eight home room. There it was, right between orthodontist and liberal arts.
So, I still don’t believe the hype. Call me suspicious, but consider how many other women I’ve met that had an unexplained ten-year gap in their lives. Unless things are different in California, people have to eat and pay the rent somehow. I’m not denying her success; I’m just not certain where to place the credit. I’m hoping it was rich parents.
