It's been a while since my first (and so far only) reading list (2016) [1], but this decade shall not end without another one. Rules for the 2019 reading list: The content must have been interesting throughout the year; sources with only a few notable publications of an otherwise unremarkable output don't qualifyI overcame my … Continue reading 2019 reading list
Category: off topic
A differential amplifier built with a current mirror
Update October 2020: check out this new, improved design. I've wondered for a long time how differential amplifiers are actually realised on the transistor level. Not having received a formal electronics engineering education nor being part of an assorted online community, that question lingered for quite a while unanswered - until yesterday. The ideal differential … Continue reading A differential amplifier built with a current mirror
A better switching amplifier
Last year I wrote about A switching amplifier electronic design which can drive large power loads with high efficiency and tolerable distortion. The operational principle for this is that a pre-stage converts the input signal into a series of pulses which rapidly switch the end-stage on and off - that is a power-efficient mode of … Continue reading A better switching amplifier
About focus
There are three conceptual combinations of temporality, significance and impact which require our attention: urgency (I either deal with it now or not at all), importance (I can deal with it later, but I can’t afford to ignore it) and opportunity (I may safely ignore it, but there are significant benefits if I don't). While … Continue reading About focus
Off topic: the odds of being hit by space debris
ESA says [1] it's 106 times more likely to be hit by a lightning twice in the same year that to be hit by Tiangong 1's debris. There are 2 recorded incidents [2] of space debris that caused harm to people, the earliest recorded in 1979. According to [3], chances of being struck by lighting in … Continue reading Off topic: the odds of being hit by space debris