Are youngers being more stupid?

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
www.hifisonix.com
Joined 2003
Paid Member
Back in the early 80s IC quality was so bad that when I worked in the Texas Instruments Industrial Controls Division, we had Genrad IC testers at incoming and tested every single IC we received. I remember reports of 28% failure rates, which translates to 280,000ppm failure rate.

Huge amount of effort in the 80'd and 90's to get quality up - almost all of it driven by Automotive and then high volume consumer goods. TV's for example were a big problem for Philips back then because volumes took off and if you had a warranty call out, all profits gone. In Auto, nothing like a Merc parked up on the side of the highway because a device in the ECU has popped due of a semi-supplier quality issue. I've been in one or two of those supplier meetings. Ugleee.


When I left my former employer, the small signal discretes division was shipping 70 billion devices a year (don't ask me where it went) and they had the #1 market share slot at about 30%. We very, very rarely had a failure that could be traced back to the factory, and then most of it was a device the wrong way round in the tape or the tape was broken etc.
 
In the last couple-few years, I cant even sleep w/o socks on. Hands? Now I know what the Eagles meant when they said "Given to a man with hands as cold as ice"...

I also have issues with cold hands and especially feet as I get older. You could always try taking some Ginkgo Biloba as it improves circulation to the extremities.

/threadjack

Take care,
Doug
 
Wash my hands w/o waiting for the hot water to get there, or handle something out of the freezer - it takes a while for them to come back

If I wash my hands in cold water I get an instant chill in the middle of my back, yet taking a shower in cold water doesn't bother me....my body's thermostat is all out of whack and is getting worse each year. Hot sweaty feet have been with me for all of my life though.

try taking some Ginkgo Biloba as it improves circulation to the extremities.

I tried it a few years ago, didn't help, maybe I'll try it again.

Back in the early 80s IC quality was so bad....we had Genrad IC testers at incoming and tested every single IC we received. I remember reports of 28% failure rates

We had a large incoming inspection department testing samples of every component that came into the building. If the sample lot didn't meet a certain threshold further testing, or lot rejection was ordered. Most of the semiconductors used in our radio equipment were made by our own semiconductor division, so some of that testing was done on their end.

Much of the radio equipment made in the 80's was modular. We made all of the hybrid modules in house. "IC's" and RF devices were usually bought as bare die, and packaged for module use in house. We had rooms full of Teradyne, LTX, and Fairchild test systems for testing the completed modules before they went into radios. From what I gathered as a "Mr. Fixit" for all of those test systems was that tantalum capacitors and SMD inductors were the biggest offenders on the bad parts list.
 
I thought it was Cold as Ice...

That's the name of a song by Foreigner from the late 70's I believe.

Foreigner - Cold As Ice (Official Lyric Video) - YouTube

I also have issues with cold hands...Take care, Doug

I just put two and two together and remembered that I looked at some of your synthesizer stuff years ago.

I have restarted the synthesizer project that I abandoned in the early 70's with a few major deviations. For now I have a modular synth made from a couple Behringer synths, a bunch of Eurorack modules, a MFOS analog system and some DIY modules and synths. I have also started on a vacuum tube analog synth of my own design.

There is a short and often stale thread about such stuff here:

Modular Synth build
 
You could always try taking some Ginkgo Biloba as it improves circulation to the extremities.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. Managed to get in a couple miles today between afternoon downpours. Shopping day in a wet soggy climate, used the PAPR hood / respirator masks; if I can, I like to give the blood a good stir in fresh air outdoors after going out into pandemic-land. Skipped the thrift store fun stop on the way home as an unnecessary luxury...

My engineering career started in 100K ECL component qualification. Measuring rise times and propagation delays of OR and AND gates using oscilloscopes with "sampling heads". D|I|G|I|T|A|L too had a Teradyne or Genrad tester for the 10k stuff in incoming, where I believe they tested every part. I remember the component engineers had the power to remove a vendor from the "QVL" if they didnt cooperate with test data requests and attention to issues found at incoming inspection. They'd threaten it too.

Smelly feet at work? There was an era in my life when I had to sterilize those suckers with 90% alcohol - or this other green rubbing alcohol that had some additive (all I can remember is the little without/with microscope inset "Germs still there / "Germs gone! ") if I could find the stuff. Became a morning routine like brushing my teeth. Doctor wanted me to soak them in Balnetar - instead, I DIY'd my own solution, which I finally quit several years ago. No issues since, for whatever reason.
 
Last edited:
Sweaty feet are not good enough.

Tell that to the kid who was forced to sit in the rear corner of the classroom near an open window at school due to the smell, me. It was the 1960's in Miami Florida before air conditioning. My clothes would be wet from sweat just from sitting in the class room at school and my feet would be itchy and stinky.

My feet would get all cracked on the bottom to the point where they bled. The stuff the doctor told me to smear on my feet helped with the cracking, but made the stink worse. Miraculously this all got better during the summer break from school when I didn't wear shoes all day and spent a lot of time in the lake staying cool.

Today, at 68 years old I am the only person I know whose feet can smell without ever wearing shoes or flip flops, and the cracking problem still exists. Both usually stay below the problem level today though. I did have to clean my feet and spray my shoes every time I went to the gym before the virus came.

People at church think it's weird that I wear flip flops in the snow during winter, but those who sit near me understand.

Smelly feet at work? There was an era in my life when I had to sterilize those suckers with 90% alcohol

I still use hydrogen peroxide and scrub my feet with a ScotchBrite pad. That seems to kill the bacteria that cause the stink.....for a while. For dirty nasty, mow the 1 acre lawn barefoot kinda feet, I occasionally use an abrasive bleach based bathroom cleaner like soft scrub on my feet.

or this other green rubbing alcohol that had some additive

There was some green stuff at Walmart a while back that had wintergreen oil in it. I tried that too. It's better at cleaning the bathroom sink than cleaning feet though.
 
Killed fungus in one day

I have never had an issue with fungus or athletes foot, just a lot of sweat, and the related stinkyness.

I stop feet cracking with a 12 volt rotary sander.

I try to walk a few miles per week barefoot on asphalt. That is usually enough to keep the cracking under control. If I need to help it I have some sandpaper sticks and a cheese grater like thing my wife got somewhere.

I did my usual 1.25 mile loop on the paved walking trail barefoot and shirtless today despite it being 35 degrees F. The sun was shining and the wind had finally died off. Yesterday it was snowing. Sunday and Monday it was very windy with random rain showers.
 
One summer many years ago, I had a terrible problem with athlete's foot. Tinactin had absolutely no effect whatsoever. It just kept getting worse.

I got fed up and soaked my feet in bleach. It burned and stung, but I had no more athlete's foot that year.

You have to make sure your shoes and socks are clean too. All white athletic socks were always washed in bleach.
 
Account Closed
Joined 2018
Yes, I've always washed my whites in bleach - keeps them white.
Jeez, I sound like a housewife doing a Clorox bleach commercial!


One thing, I cannot wear anything dyed black.... T shirts, socks, anything like that.
Black T shirts/sweatshirts, cause my armpits to sting from irritation when I sweat.
Apparently, the black dye (india ink?) is the problem.


How the hell did we get from discussing stupid kids to smelly feet?
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.