John Gyorki ::
Editorial Director :: John has extensive experience in both design engineering and professional writing. He has contributed technical articles to magazines since 1962. Gyorki received a BSEE degree from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield Detroit, Michigan. During his 30-year career in engineering, he was employed as a design engineer, engineering manager, and VP of engineering within several companies.
John Gyorki
July 29th, 2008.
Because I received such an overwhelming number of e-mail responses on this subject in the May issue, I decided to write a second article. I invite you to read the first set of replies on the Design World website Insights blog.
Obviously, most people agreed with my opinion regarding the devastating loss of American jobs and the negative effect that “off-shoring” has on our economy. This included smart, prominent manufacturers who make US products, profitably! Only those who choose to off-shore our knowledgebase object to my opinion. In the hope of finding a government publication that supported my opinion, I consulted the Internet and read our president’s report on the status of the US economy for 2007 (called a 2008 report). I was surprised (and a little puzzled) to read that the president painted a very rosy picture of our economic status! He and his advisors did not own up to the fact that we were and still are on a steep path to recession, but rather, that our economy was “unsettled.” What a weasel word! The report went on to say that although unemployment was approaching 5%, it was not likely to reach it. At this writing, the number is 5.5% and climbing. It also claimed that the US was the largest exporter of goods and services of any country, but he did not immediately describe what these goods and services comprised. After a little more searching, I got the impression that he was equating those exported services with the jobs that we offshored — primarily software development to India and China. How can that be an export? Exports are supposed to bring in dollars, not pay them out in salaries to foreign companies. (more…)
John Gyorki
June 18th, 2008.
I have been a design engineer for many more years than my wife would like to admit. And during those years, I had fun designing new control systems, instruments, consumer products, and even a chemical process. At no time did I consider my job as being a problem that needed a solution, nor did I have a problem that needed a solution. When I created things, I used ordinary engineering tools, which consisted of pliers, screwdrivers, wrenches, soldering guns, oscilloscopes, digital signal analyzers, voltmeters, algebra, trigonometry, physics, and chemistry. You get the idea. I went to school and college to learn how to use these tools to design and make things. So where did the idea come from that I always had a problem that needed a solution? I think it started when my mother said, “Do your homework. Do your math problems.” There it is. Until then, I didn’t know math was a problem. I liked manipulating numbers, fitting them to equations, charts and graphs, and later, schematic diagrams. I liked designing circuits that eventually became radios, power controllers, vehicle computers, and more instruments. Where is the problem here that needs a solution? (more…)
John Gyorki
May 20th, 2008.
When I was much younger, I thought that criminals knew they were criminals, murderers knew they were murderers, thieves knew they were thieves, and they all knew they were bad — according to that “good versus bad” set of rules we are all born with. It was not until I read stories about Al Capone that I began to wonder if all outlaws honestly knew they were bad.
I have concluded that they are so grossly disillusioned and out of touch with reality that they do not know they are bad. In fact, most think they are good, even virtuous, and saintly, and the rest of society does not understand them or the good they do for us. Pick any name: Hitler, Tojo, Mussolini, Henry VIII, Nixon, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, Castro, and so forth. Thousands more have no names. The list has no end.
(more…)
John Gyorki
April 06th, 2008.
Extraordinary fear of terrorism in the US seems to have paralyzed our law enforcers’ sense of responsibility and what is best for its citizens to the point of compromising many of their rights and freedoms. For example, I have three hobbies and a university degree, all of which recently have come under suspicion for being criminal. Let me explain.
I have been an amateur photographer since I was ten years old. My uncle and I used to do photo shoots on weekends of nature scenes, people, buildings, statues, fountains, and many other objects. Once, I photographed a night scene of a petroleum refinery; its unusual lights and flames made a fantastic, prize-winning gallery picture. Not anymore. Now, I am harassed by the “law” when I take a picture in a public park! Because I carry a tripod and camera with a large lens, I am judged to be either a terrorist or a professional photographer breaking some law. You know what “they” do to terrorists. But as a perceived professional photographer, I am not allowed to take pictures of certain “copy-righted” buildings! That means the owners suspect I will get rich printing and selling pictures of their building (the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame comes to mind); they want the exclusive right to do so. How ignorant is that?
I also collect knives as a hobby. As a youngster, my father made sure I was always equipped with a sharp knife for hunting and fishing. I carried a pocket-knife until shortly after 9/11 when the airlines made a fuss over pocket-knives and fingernail clippers. So, I substituted my pocket knife for a small penknife on my keychain — until two years ago. I was called for jury duty and the penknife was taken from me before I could enter the courthouse!
How ignorant is that?
Thirdly, I was an amateur radio operator in the ‘50s. After a tornado struck our city, all communications were disabled; only the police and ham radio operators maintained communications. We helped rescue traffic and let people know their loved ones were safe. But what happened in New Orleans? The Feds would not let the ham radio operators help with emergency communications as they traditionally had for decades. Could it be that some of them were suspected of being terrorists or other kinds of criminals? Don’t they know that ham radio operators are among the pioneers who developed the radios and cell phones that we enjoy today?
How ignorant is that?
Now we come to the coup de grace. My degree is in engineering, and I just discovered that statistically, I could be a criminal because most terrorists have engineering degrees. The Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, UK, issued a report last year that says engineers are over-represented among violent Islamic radicals everywhere. Furthermore, they claim that among other factors, our “engineering mindset” of understanding complex problems and being able to solve them handily could contribute to making us criminals. The logic is as good as saying the sky is part of the ocean because both are blue!
Come on people, I am not responsible for your ignorance.
John Gyorki
Editorial Director
jgyorki@designworldonline.com
John Gyorki
March 25th, 2008.
I recently purchased a Hewlett Packard laptop computer to replace my 1.5 year-old Apple MacPro ($2500.00) after it developed an annoying screen flicker, which according to experts, would have cost about $800.00 to $1200.00 to repair. But, that’s another story.
My new HP Pavilion dv9000, an “Entertainment PC,” is outfitted with the Home Premium version of the Vista operating system and Office 2007. Now I have an opportunity to experience Vista’s really cool and not so cool features. Because of the many negative reports I heard about Vista when it first appeared, I was wondering if I should have opted for the XP operating system instead. But, I decided I can’t impede progress, and eventually, most of us will be using Vista and Office 2007, anyway.
Unfortunately, the computer comes with no manuals, so I decided to probe around the various onboard application programs to see what I could learn before visiting Border’s Books or Amazon.com. First, Office 2007 apparently comes in a variety of versions. Mine came withWord, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. After firing it up, I was immediately surprised byWord’s new toolbars. The familiar dropdown boxes of yesteryear are replaced with a wide ribbon across the top of the screen. It took some getting used to, but after a couple of days and a little customization, I fully embraced it. And I soon discovered that customization is the key to the whole Vista OS software.We are allowed to change many more attributes to suit our specific ways of working than I can count in an hour. But, even after all of this experimenting, I did have to buy several textbooks on Vista OS, Office 2007, andWord 2007 to really get up to speed.
The big difference between Vista OS and XP, I think, is the extent to which Microsoft incorporated safeguards to protect Vista OS from what is called “malware” attacks. Although Service Pack 2 for XP considerably helped diminish much vulnerability, even more was accomplished in Vista. It appears that many additional steps are needed to install application software, connect to the Internet, set up e-mail, and generally program the computer to fit your working style, but I suspect the problems I encountered are related to the safeguards. Also, one book I read claims that Microsoft has enforced more rigid rules for third party software/peripheral developers to follow, so your computer is all that less open to criminal attacks. In the spirit of security, I highly recommend reading “Windows Vista Security,” by Roger A. Grimes and Jesper M. Johansson, aWiley Publication, and get a thorough grounding on the subject.
I think those who have a negative attitude about Vista OS did not take the time to learn enough about the system’s details before deciding not to purchase it or experiment with its options. Although my personal, home computer system experience was acceptable, I think Microsoft will have a much tougher time selling Vista to large corporations— enterprise systems. I say this because a software security expert I talked to claims Vista OS is not compatible with many other megabuck-application software systems currently in use. Many large firms and their system administrators do not have the time or money to convert to Vista just because it is new and contains more safeguards.
Tell us about your experience with the Vista OS and Office 2007. If you have no experience with it “try it, you’ll like it.”
