Here’s some live oak trees in the same park I saw the big spider. They are covered with bryophytes, a term I learned walking in the Hoh rainforest. It rains around 15 feet per year up there, and that is a place you should visit. Get off the highway, that area's been logged. Drive into the interior and see the non-tropical growth. It will look like today’s photo without the sunshine.
I did something that was unthinkable six months ago. I dated a fat girl. No, no, that’s a joke, let’s stick within the realm of the possible. I bought $30 worth of integrated circuits. There was a time in short-term memory when such a luxury was unknown. Let’s just say I came into some unexpected money this week. Watch here for some results of experiments I’m doing with a neat chip called a “ring counter”.I’m at the stage where I can recognize the construction of many of the toys on the market, such as the gadget that answers questions, or the electronic dice. I don’t mean use them, anybody can do that. I mean understanding which chip is in the toy and how it is connected. If you see anything electronic that slows down a flashing light, that’s likely a 4046B.
Since I know that written instructions are always too easy or not clear enough, I’ll give a brief description of the 4046B. It is also called a “voltage controlled oscillator” which means as the voltage to the chip gets lower, it begins to flash off and on at a slower rate. The easiest way to have a voltage diminish slowly is using a RC, or resistor-capacitor, circuit. And anyone can build one of those.
What I’m noticing as well is that these toys begin to have a boring similarity after a short time. Most are nothing more than the simplest application of flashing lights that can be accomplished by a single chip. Look inside, you’ll find one chip. I say to that chip what I’d like to have said to my lawyer, “You had ONE job.”
It is only a matter of time until I figure out a less obvious toy. I’m serious about the lack of imagination used for the existing ones. Caution, imagination is limited by an understanding of the chip. Each model has an accompanying datasheet, usually available on-line. These are difficult reading until you figure out which portions are relevant to you. Start easy by looking up the NTE3079. All this “chip” does is display the numbers 0 – 9, but there is a lot of technology involved, including another chip required to make this one work. And that second chip is not decimal, it is binary coded.
(If you do view the above datasheet, note how the diagram is "sideways", as described in an earlier post. This "chip" is very familiar to most people, yet the fact that you never heard of it before, or knew what it was called says a lot. And the Internet isn't very good for anything unless you already know what it is called.)
Trivia. People whose diet includes vinegar, usually two teaspoons per day, very rarely ever get food poisoning. In particular, apple cider vinegar. I understand that the term food poisoning has a huge list of causes, so I’m intrigued how one liquid could banish them all. Yeah, I hear the joke. They don’t get sick because apple cider vinegar is bad enough on its own. That’s mean, have you ever tried a “tea” made from vinegar and honey. Not bad.
Now here’s one of those situations where I can’t say much, but here goes. I’ve just got the inside news that a huge consortium is about to buy out a certain failing US distributorship. They intend to revamp the management to conform with the Japanese business model. That means total employee loyalty in return for a job for life. I have to smile at anyone who would want a “job for life” but to each their own. The stock will probably explode and I can’t even afford a board-lot.
Return Home
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
