Read the Columiba Investigation report (www.caib.us). Top management cannot be bothered to know how the work gets done - resulting in murder. We graduate less engineers every year for well over a decade. In PA, the title of Chief Engineer for PennDot has been replaced by Chief Manager so an engineer need not run the highway department. They cost too much.

A classic example of technical incompetence is widespread in the computer industry. For example, how many computer experts can tell us what the power supply does. It has many more functions that just provide DC power. If all outputs from a power supply are shorted together, then the power supply is damaged - right?

Wrong. As was common knowledge even 30 years ago, all outputs from a power supply can be shorted and the power supply is never damaged. A properly designed power supply cannot even damage computer components. But too many computer experts don't even know that basic requirement. We now call 'power users' the 'experts'. That is what has changed. Too little basic knowledge in the field because the bosses don't know how the work gets done.

No wonder so many software engineering jobs are now going to India. How many software 'experts' can do a simple logical minimizations (ie Karnaugh Map). How many even know what a syllogism and propositional logic are? Basic tools that may be found overseas where experts first have to learn the basics.

I was just talking to Comcast installers. Their bosses had sort of described how to ground the cable. No idea why. As a result, they were installing it wrong in some locations - AND some did not even bother making that National Electrical Code required connection. It comes from not understanding basic electrical principals - even with the bosses.

We don't need know how electricity works. TV works just fine? Same kind of reasoning used by Linda Ham, et al to murder seven Columbia astronauts. Same kind of reasoning that a dogged engineer named Richard Roche confronted, repeatedly and in frustration, to save the Columbia. Its called the MBA mentality.

I would imagine that Costco generator is overrated for the actual wattage it can put out. I had one, actually; I used it once, for a planned outage.

I measured the voltage with a multimeter, and tested the polarity with one of the standard testers, which was all the testing I know how to do. It seemed OK, so I plugged three big UPSes into it, which altogether probably sucked about 1500W for two hours.

A month later it was stolen. My stupidity for having it along a main road and not putting a lock on it. I kind of thought it would be OK for a while there because it was about 100 pounds.

I have discovered, over and over again, that the unemployable are amongst the most ingenious and hard-working people in the world. They'll drive through fences, steal 3-ton trucks full of gasoline, carry off 250# generators from chained and padlocked storage, smash a $600 vehicle window to steal $75.00 worth of CDs...

Thieving assholes will go to any lengths to keep from doing honest work and to stay fucked up for as long as possible...*any* lengths, except for getting an actual job.

Why would thieves steal thousand year art that had no real value but that was Iraq's national treasure? You can't cook with it. Can't sleep under it. Can't run the air conditioner with it. Yet they even dragged art so heavy as to damage the floor, busting the artwork in the process - only to steal. Tens of thousands of artifacts stolen only because it was someone elses?

Many thieves will say it was their right to steal it because the owner did not properly protect it. Well Rumsfeld said it was not stolen. Does a second lie negate the first? And we call it civilization.

Re: hmmm...my tin foil hat's power failed
 

Didn't Mrs. Elspode post this yesterday?

did she? i thought someone had emailed it to me. i was closing windows, and there it was on my desktop.......

let me just say OOOPS!