UnaVitaDaGiullare {LostInJapan}

Date: lunedì, 02 luglio 2007
In:

Why I Became an Engineer.
Some years ago my son was tasked with a high school assignment to build a circuit to re-encode a bank of switches. The teacher expected a simple diode-based design, but I suggested tossing an embedded computer in, so if the problem changed the solution would be trivial. Also, of course, the thought of tweaking the instructor was appealing. When Graham got the thing working, the flash of excitement in his eye was a tremendous reward. He built the project, he wrote a little code. And it worked. That's exactly why I became an engineer. Engineering is the art of solving problems. "In order to make a machine that does X, I have to figure out how to design some hardware and firmware that does Y." Puzzling out these solutions is both an intellectual challenge and a game. Am I smart enough to do this? What will I have to invent? Problem solving is its own reward. But it's not enough, for me at least. I want to make something that works. Not push paper, not write proposals, not document someone else's creation, though all of those tasks are an inescapable and wearisome part of this profession. But I want the thrill of seeing the motor turn, the LEDs blink, or a message marqueeing across the display. No doubt that "I made that work" satisfaction is rooted somewhere in the same brain center that rewards gamblers and addicts. A lot of developers work on large projects that take years of effort. More power to them, but I could never do that. I want to see something work, relatively soon. Invent solutions, see them implemented, and move on to the next project. You can have those big government projects that consume entire careers; the thought of being caught in that mill horrifies me. Thankfully others are more patient and will see these efforts through. I sort of fell into the embedded space as it didn't exist in the late 60s when I was in high school. An obsessive interest in electronics morphed into ham radio, but the important thing to me was always building something. First, learn the material, absolutely. But do start with just an infancy of knowledge and build a small project to get feedback, for fun, and to get a visceral learning that does not come from books. Later I learned about programming (rather, became consumed with it), and when the first microprocessors came out was accidentally and fortuitously positioned with the right skills and interests. To me, embedded is the best of all engineering fields. One person can design circuits. Write code. Often figure out the science, or at least its application. And then make something that works. In the olden days some companies didn't let engineers work on the hardware. Technicians soldered, scoped and instrumented under the direction of an engineer. Screw that - half the fun is working with the hardware! The irony now is that hardware can be so hard to manipulate - I have a sub-inch-square chip on my desk with 1500 balls on it - that the required special equipment becomes a barrier to that intimate physical manipulation of a circuit that can be so satisfying. If that sounds like some sort of foreplay, well, perhaps there is a connection between those two parts of the brain, too. What about you? Why did you become an engineer?

Jack Ganssle

Jack G. Ganssle is a lecturer and consultant on embedded development issues. He conducts seminars on embedded systems and helps companies with their embedded challenges. Contact him at jack@ganssle.com. His website is www.ganssle.com. And he's one of us, a lost engineer soul.

7LostNana ha perso dolcemente l'equilibrio nel suo delirio esistenziale alle 16:14
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SempreCarnevale

Si perchè, un giorno, il re decise di chiamare a corte il suo giullare preferito. "Caro giullare, sai dirmi l'età delle mie tre figlie tenendo in considerazione che la moltiplicazione dell'età delle tre ha come risultato trentasei e che invece la somma è pari al numero delle finestre del palazzo che abbiamo di fronte?". Il giullare replicò : "Sire la soluzione è alla mia portata, ho solo necessità di un'altro piccolo aiutino". Il re, allora, aggiunse : "La più grande ha gli occhi azzurri".

Just...Me!

I'm the past and the future
I'm the black and the white
summer and winter
haru to aki
Nero preannuncio di tornado
Arcobaleno nella pioggia

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Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
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Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
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Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
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When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

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Loose lips sunk ships
I'm getting to grips with what you said
No it's not in my head
I can't awaken the dead
Day after day
Why don't we talk about it
Why do you always doubt that there can be a better way
It doesn't make me wanna stay
You say we're fatally flawed
When I'm easily bored
Is that OK
Write me off your list
Make this the last kiss
I'll walk away
Why don't we talk about it
I'm only here don't shout
If you give 'em time, you'll forget
Let's pretend we never met

Why don't we break up
There's nothing left to say
I've got my eyes shut
Praying they won't stray
And when I'm sexed up
That's what makes the difference today
I hope you blow away

Screw you
I didn't like your taste
Anyway I chose you
And that's all gone to waste
It's Saturday
I'll go out and find another you

Why don't we
Why don't we break up
There's nothing left to say
I've got my eyes shut
Praying they won't stray
Oh we're not sexed up
That's what makes the difference today
I hope you blow away
I hope you blow away
I hope you blow away

(¯°·.~ReAd~.·°¯)

°·IT·°
ya
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ya
°·Angels and Demons·°
ya
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ya
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ya
NADO ga arimasu!

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[Day selection] Scissor sisters "Intermission"

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~~Enjoy life, every second, as it comes, because life is a gift.~~

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~~Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.~~

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