Jonathan Kirwan wrote:
>
> On Tue, 01 Jul 2003 13:03:19 GMT, Jack Crenshaw
> <> wrote:
<snip>
> >Hello. Re the term, phantom bit: I've been using that term since I can
> >remember -- and that's a looooonnnngggg time.
>
> I think my first exposure to hidden-bit as a term dates to about
> 1974. But I could be off, by a year, either way.
>
> >Then again, I still sometimes catch myself saying "cycles" or
> >"kilocycles," or "B+".
>
> Hehe. Now those terms aren't so "hidden" to me. I learned my
> early electronics on tube design manuals. One sticking point I
> remember bugging me for a long time was exactly, "How do they
> size those darned grid leak resistors?" I just couldn't figure
> out where they got the current from which to figure their
> magnitude. So even B+ is old hat to me.
Then you definitely ain't one of the young punks, are you? <g>
Re grid leak: I think it must be pretty much trial and error. No doubt
_SOMEONE_ has a theory for it, but I would think the grid current must
vary
a lot from tube to tube.
FWIW, I sit here surrounded by old Heathkit tube electronics. I collect
them.
Once I started buying them, I realized I couldn't just drive down to the
local
drugstore and test the tubes. Had to buy a tube tester, VTVM, and all
the other
accoutrements to be able to work on them.
> >Maybe someone objected to the implied occult nature of the term,
> >"phantom"?
>
> Oh, geez. I've never known a geek to care about such things. I
> suppose they must exist, somwhere. I've just never met one
> willing to let me know they thought like that. But that's an
> interesting thought. It would fit the weird times in the US we
> live in, with about 30% aligning themselves as fundamentalists.
>
> Nah... it just can't be.
I agree; I was mostly kidding about the PC aspects. One never knows,
tho.
FYI, I have been known to be called a "fundie" on talk.origins and
others
of those insightful and respectful sites. I'm not, but they are not
noted
for their discernment or subtleties of observation.
One of my favorite atheists is Stan Kelly-Bootle of "Devil's DP
Dictionary"
fame. Among others of his many myriad talents, he's one of the world's
leading
experts on matters religious. He and I have had some most stimulating
and
rewarding discussions, on the rare occasions when we get together. The
trick
is a little thing called mutual respect. Most modern denizens of the
'net
don't get the notion of respecting a person's opinion, even while
disagreeing
with it.
> Oh, there was no question. I've a kindred interest in physics
> and engineering, I imagine. I'm currently struggling through
> Robert Gilmore's books, one on lie groups and algebras and the
> other on catastrophe theory for engineers as well as polytropes,
> packing spheres, and other delights. There were some nice
> insights in your book, which helped wind me on just enough of a
> different path to stretch me without losing me.
Glad to help.
> By the way!! I completely agree with you about MathCad! What a
> piece of *&!@&$^%$^ it is, now. I went through several
> iterations, loved at first the slant or approach in using it,
> but absolutely hate it now because, frankly, I can't run it for
> more than an hour before I don't have any memory left and it
> crashes out.
Don't get me started on Mathcad!
As some old-time readers might know, I used to recommend Mathcad to
everyone.
In my conference papers, I'd say, "If you are doing engineering and
don't have
Mathcad, you're limiting your career." After Version 7 came out, I had
to say,
"Don't buy Mathcad at any price; it's broken." Here at home I've stuck
at
Version 6. Even 6 has its problems -- 5 was more stable -- but it's the
oldest
I could get (from RecycledSoftware, a great source). The main reason I
talked
my company into getting Matlab was as a refuge from Mathcad.
Having said that, truth in advertising also requires me to say that I
use it
almost every day. The reason is simple: It's the only game in town.
It's the only
Windows program that lets you write both math equations and text, lets
you generate
graphics, and also does symbolic algebra, in a WYSIWYG interface. Pity
it's so
unstable.
Come to that, my relationship with Mathcad is very consistent, and much
the same as
my relationship with Microsoft Office and Windows. I use it every day,
and curse it
every day. I've learned to save early and often. Even that doesn't
always help, but
it's the best policy. I had one case where saving broke the file, but
the Mathcad
support people (who can be really nice, sometimes) managed to restore
it.
I stay in pretty constant contact with the Mathcad people. As near as I
can tell, they
are trying hard to get the thing under control. Their goal is to get the
program to
such a point that it's reasonable to use as an Enterprise-level utility,
and a means
of sharing data across organizations. I'm also on their power users'
group, and
theoretically supposed to be telling them where things aren't working.
Even so, when I report problems, which is often, the two most common
responses I get
are:
1) It's not a bug, it's a feature, and
2) Sorry, we can't reproduce that problem.
I think Mathsoft went through a period where all the original authors
were replaced
by maintenance programmers -- programmers with more confidence than
ability. They
seemingly had no qualms about changing things around and redefining user
interfaces,
with little regard for what they might break. Mathsoft is trying to
turn things
around now, but it's not going to be easy. IMO.
> Reboot time every hour is not my idea of a good
> thing. And that's only if I don't type and change things too
> fast. When I work quick on it, I can go through what's left
> with Win98 on a 256Mb RAM machine in a half hour! No help from
> them and two versions later I've simply stopped using it. I
> don't even want to hear from them, again. Hopefully, I'll be
> able to find an old version somewhere. For now, I'm doing
> without.
See RecycledSoftware as mentioned above. BTW, have you _TOLD_ Mathsoft
how you feel?
Sometimes I think I'm the only one complaining.
I'm using Version 11 with all the upgrades, and it's still thoroughly
broken. Much less
stable than versions 7, 8, etc.
> Yes. But that's fine, I suspect. I've taught undergrad classes
> and most folks just go "barf" when confronted with learning
> floating point. In class evaluations, I think having to learn
> floating point was the bigger source of complaints about the
> classes. You probably addressed everything anyone "normal"
> could reasonably care about and more.
F.P. is going to be in my next book. I have a format called "short
float" which
uses a 24-bit form factor; 16-bit mantissa. I first used it back in '76
for an
embedded 8080 problem (Kalman filter on an 8080!). Used it again, 20
years later,
on a '486. Needless to say, it's not very accurate, but 16 bits is
about all we
can get out of an A/D converter anyway, so it's reasonable for embedded
use.
> >Wanna hear the funny part? After tinkering with it for awhile, I worked
> >out the rules for my imagined
> >format, that worked just fine. At work, I've got a Mathcad file that
> >takes the hex number, shifts it
> >two bits at a time, diddles the "phantom" bit, and produces the right
> >results. I can go from integer to
> >float and back nicely, using this cockamamie scheme.
>
> Hmm. Then you should be able to construct a function to map
> between these, proving the consistent results. I've a hard time
> believing there is one. But who knows? Maybe this is the
> beginning of a new facet of mathematics, like the investigation
> into fractals or something!
Grin! I don't know about that, but there is indeed a connection. I
suppose that,
with enough effort, I could work out a scheme for using base 16, and
still get the
same bit patterns. Epicycles upon epicycles, don'cha know.
> hehe. Best of luck. In the process, I did notice that you are
> entertaining thoughts on a revised "Let's build a compiler."
> Best of luck on that and if you feel the desire for unloading
> some of the work, I might could help a little. I've written a
> toy C compiler before, an assembler, several linkers, and a
> not-so-toy BASIC interpreter. I can, at least, be a little bit
> dangerous. Might be able to shoulder something, if it helps.
Thanks for the offer. I'm thinking that perhaps an open-source sort of
approach might
be useful. Several people have offered to help. My intent is to use
Delphi, and there
are lots of folks out there who know it better than I. Of course, I'll
still have to
do the prose, but help with the software is always welcome.
Jack
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