The World Changed 60 Years Ago Yesterday...

On December 23rd, 1947 in a room inside Bell Labs William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain demonstrated the first transistor to some of their colleagues (they'd win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956). Normally Dauber's World is all for joking and complaining, but on this, the 60th anniversary of the invention of the transistor, Dauber's World would like to pause and think about this remarkable device. Few inventions have so completely revolutionized life in the way the transistor has, while being almost completely anonymous. Penicillin, the light bulb (electricity), the telephone, the airplane, radio/TV, steam engines and some might argue even the printing press were all revolutionary inventions that changed people's lives. However they all did in in a way that is very familiar to us all. Most life-changing inventions are things that we can see, touch and interact with on a daily basis. We all pick up telephones, or ingest Penicillin. The transistor isn't like that. It's a building block in much the same way an atom/molecule is the building block for a chemist a transistor is the building block for the information age. The internet, cell phones, HD TV, and anything with a computer is made possible because of transistors. We use transistors so often in the course of our daily lives that most people have no concept of how ingrained they are. We'd be virtually helpless without them. Almost all technology in existence today is touched by a transistor.

If you're a little geeky (and Dauber's World certainly is, being a EE @ heart) look at this web page on Intel's 45-nm process (nm being 10^-9 m). The Quad Core processors that started shipping in January have over 800 million transistors in them and some chips from other companies have over a billion!

Dauber's World wonders if another invention ever led to as much direct change on the World and fostered so much follow-up innovation as the transistor. Jack Kilby's (of TI) and Robert Noyce's (of Intel) of the integrated circuit (essentially a planar form of the transistor) in 1958 was the key break through that took the transistor to the next level, but it all started 60 years ago yesterday (on Festivus, as if there was any question as to the miraculous nature of the day) in a room in Bell Labs.

Happy Festivus!

Well, it's that time of year and Dauber's World wants to wish you and your loved ones a happy Festivus (official site here). Festivus, if you're not a Seinfeld fan, is a holiday invented by the Seinfeld team. It was the central theme of the episode called "The Strike" which aired a little over 10 years ago (12/18/97).

The best aspects of Festivus (in the humble opinion of Dauber's World) are the airing of grievances and the aluminum pole. In many holiday gathering that Dauber's World has witnessed there's almost always an airing of grievances anyways. Why not just make it official and part of the holiday fun? In the episode Frank Costanza announces that he's going to tell everyone how they've disappointed him over the past year. What better way to close out the year than by telling people how they've let you down? It's a form of therapy really. The aluminum pole is also a stroke of genius. So much of the holiday season seems to be commercial. Nothing is less commercial than an aluminum pole. It also has Frank points out) a high strength-to-weight ratio.

The funny thing about Festivus is how quickly it's caught on. Not only are there online Festivus cards that you can send to people, the two sages from Vermont even made a Festivus-themed ice cream (here's a petition to bring it back).

Well, Dauber's World wants to take this time to thank you (the loyal reader) for reading this blog and encouraging Dauber's World to write more. Hopefully you've been amused reading this in 2007 and you'll continue to read this blog going forward. Have a safe and healthy holidays to you and your loved ones. Happy Festivus!

The Zipper Rule

Sitting in traffic is, for many people, one of the more aggravating parts of their day-to-day lives. It will probably not come as a surprise to you (the loyal reader) that Dauber's World is no exception. Patience is a virtue that must have been handed out in school on a day that Dauber's World was sick. Some traffic just can't be avoided -- crossing the Bay Bridge to go into San Francisco for instance. It doesn't make sitting in traffic enjoyable, but at least it is understandable. There's really nothing you can do about it -- the traffic has to back up someplace. If it didn't back up at the toll plaza it would back up as the traffic got into the city.

What is particularly aggravating are traffic jams that would seem to be completely avoidable. Rubber necking is obviously near the top of the list. Dauber's World is sure that many others have blogged on this already, so it's not worth further mention here (as this blog attempts to be somewhat original).

Equally as frustrating (but discussed far less) are traffic jams caused by merges where drivers don't follow the "Zipper Rule". Dauber's World is reasonably certain that everyone driving an automobile today is familiar with the zipper (unless they're Amish, and the Amish don't drive cars). In addition to being a useful feature on many items that people purchase on a daily basis zippers are reminders of how to easily merge two "streams" into one. As the name would imply, the Zipper Rule simply stipulates that when two streams of cars merge they alternate who gets let into the resulting traffic stream. Dauber's World is perpetually stunned by people who try to buck this trend and attempt to squeeze in one spot ahead of their turn -- like they're going to get where they're going SOOOO much faster than everyone else (perhaps they should also try honking while doing this -- that's sure to reduce their overall travel time). Obviously a single person refusing to follow the Zipper Rule has a largely negligible effect on the overall traffic flow. However if a certain percentage of the car-driving population chooses to ignore the rule (or even considers not abiding by it at that critical moment where the Zipper Rule says it's the other cars turn) the result can be a completely avoidable backup.

Fucking Austria!

The next time you hear someone shout that remember that they may not be cursing Austria. They may be trying to tell you their favorite city in Austria -- Fucking (pronounced "fooking"). Much to the chagrin of the small town of Fucking, street sign theft is quite high. Subsequently they had to invest significant funds to anchor the sign in a block of concrete to make it difficult to steal. Here's a wikipedia link to info about the city.

Alas the US has no equally amusing named city. However, if someone ever tell you to go to hell, it's good to know that that's it's not to far from Detroit.

Whole Lotta Love?

The Official Rock Band of Dauber's World is, without a doubt Led Zeppelin. Zep is as close to rock perfection as this planet is ever going to hear. Last week's reunion concert (see reviews) was one of those rare moments where they lived up to the hype. Despite Robert Plant pushing 60 and Jimmy Page showing off his white hair Zep brought the house down (see a clip here of Dauber's World's favorite song: Black Dog). What was even more special about this reunion concert was that there was only one of them. This was their first concert since 1980 -- the band disbanded after famed drummer (and the inspiration for the Muppets character Animal) -- John Bonham died after swallowing his own vomit. Bonham's son Jason was the drummer for the band's reunion concert last week (fittingly older than his father was when he died).

Dauber's World could go on an on about Zep and pray that they'd go on tour so Dauber's World could actually see them perform live, but that can wait for another day.

Last night while waiting to fly back to the official home of Dauber's World CNN started to discuss the reviews of a major British rock band's reunion concert. They promised interviews with fans and the like. Imagine the surprise when Dauber's World learned that the British Band in question was none other than the Spice Girls. The SPICE GIRLS! Dauber's World didn't realize that that the Spice Girls broke up. It was largely assumed that people stopped listening to their music because they're devoid of any form of musical talent. Yet CNN was interviewing person after person who was excited about the fact that the Spice Girls were having not one, not two, but 17 concerts in London alone. 17! Is this World related in any way to Dauber's World? There was so much demand for the first show that the Spice Girls sold it out in 39 seconds. This is the same group that wrote the "hit" song "Wannabe" . How could there possibly be so much demand? If those fans had any sense to them they'd be clamoring for one more chance to see Page, Plant and Jones perform on stage. Where's the love?

Dauber's World Offers Up More Holiday Gift Ideas

Since it's that time of year Dauber's World is trying you help you, the loyal reader get that special something for that special someone. And how better to show that you care about a special man in your life than to give him something to protect what is (almost certainly) most special to him? The Nutty Buddy is a new athletic cup that claims to do a better job of protecting the wearer's you-know-whats. Dauber's World can say from personal experience with a lacrosse ball that a direct hit to the traditional cup is not a pleasant experience. The issue has to do with distributing the force of the hit (not to be too graphic).

More amusing though than this product itself are the videos on You Tube demonstrating that it works. Here's a video of inventor/owner of the nutty buddy Mark Littell demonstrating it by taking a pitching machine and firing it at himself. At least he's willing to show that he's a believer in his invention.

This isn't nearly as funny, however, as the video of Jason who decides to do his own "Nutty Buddy Challenge". Jason isn't quite as smart as Mark and doesn't do a very good job lining up the pitching machine. As a result he takes a number of shots to his stomach and inner thigh. What's funniest about the video is that it sounds like the person who keeps feeding the machine/taking the video is his girlfriend who laughs hysterically every time he takes a shot. Schadenfreude anyone? Dauber's World wonders if it wouldn't be such a bad idea for the Nutty Buddy to fail for Jason. It's unclear whether he should be "selected" to pass on his genes to future generations.

Colonials #1

With all of Dauber's World's sports teams failing to deliver in 2007 imagine the surprise when Dauber's World learned that the official high school of Dauber's World -- Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ for short) was named the top high school in America by US News and World Report. In fact here's an article about TJ .

In all honesty ranking high schools in order really does seem pretty silly. Does it really matter who is #1 and who is #37? Is it possible that some utility can be gained from looking at what makes a good school. It does seem a little absurd though to be so specific in ranking something that subjectively, and for what exactly? In ranking universities ostensibly you're helping prospective students, but high schools are a bit less mobile. Unless you live in Fairfax, Loudon, Prince William or Arlington counties (and Fairfax is the main feeder county by far) you can't go to TJ. Most all of the schools (if not every one on that list) are schools where you need live nearby to go to them. So what really is the point of explicitly ranking the schools other than an attempt to sell magazines?

Interestingly US News isn't the only publication looking into America's High Schools these days. The Wall Street Journal looked into how high schools fared in getting their students into the Ivy's. TJ makes this list too, but a bit farther down the list. Dauber's World has issues with the methodology that the Journal used. Lots of Ivys have legacies that make it MUCH easier for students to get in (if you have a parent that went to the school and gave money you're in -- look no further than our current president for proof. Incidentally does anyone realize how hard it is to have a C average at Yale?). Dauber's World is guessing that many of the Northeastern private schools have a number of legacies. Also looking at a single year isn't really a good measure for a high school's ability to get their students into the Ivys. What would have been more interesting would have been an average over the last decade or so.

In any event, not that this really helps Dauber's World in any way now, but thanks for making that diploma worth a little more.