This page will probably always be under construction, but as long as it is in good company, (with the things below, done right?) I guess I can handle it....

The United Kingdom

has now a total ban on handguns.

This ensures that one can only be shot by

police, military and criminals.

The reason for this lame move is a terrible mass murder where one person killed 17 (I will remember) small school kids and their teacher. Someone so sick will need a lot of therapy. Too bad that the politicians in the UK seem to have listened to the Clintons and Sarah Brady so the rest of the nation, the law abiding part, is deprived the sports of shooting (an Olympic sport for one) and hunting. From what I understand, Australia is next in line to be disarmed. I thought this was a benefit one only could enjoy in a totalitarian dictature.

In the meantime Mr. Clinton has managed to stain more than the Presidency by the lack of control of his own 'skin pistol'. If he think Sarah Brady is competent to determine if, when and how We The People can have guns, maybe he should have his bimbos, interns and other victims of his lude conduct approved in advance by Hillary.

A few "school shootings" later, the latest (Aug 13, 1999) master stroke is by another very sick fanatic that started firing a machine gum into a child care center in Los Angeles a few days ago. One little kid seriously injured, doing better now, and several people lightly injured. The madman shot them up because they are Jewish. He then killed a U. S. Mailman of Philippine decent.

The event has got overwhelming coverage in the news. On the same day, also in Los Angeles, a family of six (non Jewish) were attacked by a jealous man. Four male members were shot and killed. One woman was kidnapped and raped. This crime barely got any coverage. The murderer was later found and killed by police.

Why the difference in news media coverage? Go figure.

On top of this the anti-gun Mafia started babbling (again) about more laws restricting gun ownership. Sure would have made the difference here! The madman attacking the Jewish child care center was a convicted felon. and as such it is against the law for him to possess a firearm. On top of this: it is illegal to discharge firearms within city limits. It is probably illegal to shoot at kids too. I guess he did not care to obey the law. So how would more laws have made a difference? Somehow the news media and their intense reporting on this one case forget to mention this point.

The media have got a lot of help from LA Police Chief Bernard Parks, a spineless figure, a political appointee, who is all for gun control. A lot of the LAPD officers cannot stand this character and have quit the force.

The news media also think that all rifles are "high power" rifles and all semi-automatic rifles are "Fully Automatic Assault Rifles." The politicians do not seem any better informed. Now these "experts" are to decide what is a "Junk Gun" and what is not. They have already decided that "cheap" handguns are "Junk Guns." Good, maybe we also can get rid of cheap cars, cheap lawn mowers, cheap gardeners, cheap tires, cheap liquor, cheap home electronics, cheap "Junk Food", cheap TV shows, cheap movies (The Blair Witch Project? Nah, it was good!), cheap computers and software, cheap employers and employees, cheap buildings, cheap armatures.

It seems to me that we should get rid of all cheap products! Maybe we just should get rid of cheap politicians? Let us call them "Junk Politicians." Why limit ourselves to just guns?

August 24, 1999: Congratulations to ourselves! The California Legislature has just submitted a new law against "Junk Guns". Former Treasurer, now Governor, Gray Davis will sign the bill into law. What else can you expect from a Democrat and a Bean Counter?

"Junk Guns" is one way the Anti-Gun Mafia is nibbling away on the freedom of the American People. They have been talking about "Junk Guns" for so long that they start to believe themselves. Now they have outlawed them.

The problem is that we will have a bunch of self proclaimed "gun experts" politicians who cannot tell a revolver from a pistol, who believe that a regular semi-automatic pistol is a fully automatic one (they would not know the difference. Neither do they know that automatic weapons has been illegal since the 30's.) They are the ones to characterize "Junk Guns!" Poor quality or a low cost of purchase had nothing to do with the shootings the Anti Gun Mafia. A gun that goes off when you pull the trigger is not a poor quality gun. A gun that does not go off when you pull the trigger may be a poor quality gun. It may also be a defect good quality gun, an unloaded gun, a gun on 'safe', an un-cocked gun.

What we really need to get rid of is the cheap politician that goes off by themselves, writing cheap laws.

Well, at least this is a democracy and we can vote them out of office at the next election.

We all admire people who do things right. And the things they do right. Consider this little 15 x 10 cm tape recorder. The NAGRA SN, designed, built and sold by Kudelski in Switzerland:

It has broadcast quality sound. From what I have heard, all the radio companies in the world were lined up outside the door, waiting for their NAGRA. The larger models usually. When Mr. Kudelski is ready and the recorder works as designed, out the door it goes. I guess he has no stockholders to keep happy with a glamorous "Bottom Line" every quarter. Instead he just do things right, and has a reputation par none. They have a homepage too by the way. You can probably find it searching on Nagra or Kudelski.

 These are two stainless steel wires, as seen through a microscope. They are 0.25 mm (10 mils) thick. The one on the left is from a spring in a relay. These springs had problems; they broke after some 20,000 cycles and the relay failed. You can see that the manufacturer of the wire had problems with the lubrication in the drawing process.

As an employee, on my own time, and on my own phone, I contacted the Sandvik Steel Mill in Sweden and they sent me a sample (20 kg, a lifetime supply!) of their stainless steel wire:

As you can see, on the picture to the right, they do not have the lubrication problem. The bright streaks are lights from a window reflecting in the wire.

I gave the pictures, an explanation and the wire to the Manufacturing Manager, who had the responsibility for to see to that things got done right. I told him all he had to do to do was to give the wire to the people winding the springs and say: "use this wire instead!"

He was not interested. I guess his mind was on his upcoming retirement. Sweet dreams Mr. Johnson! The relay manufacturer is still just one of many. They do not make the best relays in the world, but by paying attention to detail they could have. I hope their share holders are happy with their investment. They usually do not know what goes on. I got laid off. That was just as well. It is not the kind of operation that will get the best of me.

Back to something done right:

A beautifully made Periodic Table on the Web! Try out:

One of my pet peeves is the awful concrete barracks that some California high tech companies believe will attract the best engineers. No windows, re-circulated air, 85°F (29°C) in the summer. When the Government Center in Oklahoma City collapsed after a bomb attack, the architect who had designed it was interviewed on Public Radio:

"Was security not a concern in the design of this building?" "Yes, but the first thing to leave out would have been the windows, and I doubt that the Government Workers would like to work in offices without windows."

I warmed my heart to hear. The High Technology companies here are so concerned about the safety of their engineers that they sacrifice the windows in their buildings! Only the CEO and the bean counter get exposed to the wrath of terrorists by means of the windows in their offices. That is courage!

Above is pictured the then new building General Radio put up ~1960 and 'the typical engineers office'. Notice how the brave soul has to sit right inside the window. A possible victim of torpedo attacks from the lakeside.

(Reproduced without permission from "The General Radio Experimenter" March 1960 issue, pp 3 - 4.)

Is it maybe a coincidence that GR put out the greatest instruments for decades? They do a whole lot better than some companies (in concrete bunkers) I could name, but will not name.

While we dwell on the subject of concrete bunkers, is it a new prison they are building here in Ventura?

Looks like the ideal work place for us Engineers! It must be a combined prison and high security RF house…

Let us go closer and look at the sign:

Oh! How could I be so wrong! It is the future (concrete) home of a "Manufacturer of Fine Framed Art".

(Some sinners God punish immediately!)

Both my parents were art painters, and they sure never made much money on it. Maybe their "mistake" was that they never realized that Fine Art can be manufactured? Or can it? I don't think so, and I have never met an artist that thought so either.

The phenomena above proves the saying that "nobody ever got poor from underestimating the taste of the American people". I am afraid it is just as true for other nations and people, only the pickings are vast here compared to, for example, Sweden. A give away is the statement "framed art". At least the frame is worth a few cents for the frame…

If I had been responsible for the architecture of this awful concrete monster, I would have insisted on not having my name advertised. Maybe johnson & muller are not their real names? Hope they are proud of it, although I think the picture above of the premises in which pictures ("Fine Art") is going to be manufactured speaks for itself. I would call the building "Artswich."

And now a thing done right (for a change), a program called "PUFF":

The cover to the manual and a simulation run in PUFF

A bike made right:

Brough Superior SS100 with the Matchless 1000 cc engine. "The Rolls Royce of Motorcycles" as they were called. Each one ordered individually over a lunch with Mr. George Brough. Lawrence of Arabia had at least six such lunches, and killed himself in an accident on his sixth bike. Mine is one of about137 ever built, certainly something done right, and about the 19th from the last. It is still in parts, as I dis-assembled it 26 years ago. It was too valuable to use for to drive to work, and with some 70 horse powers and brakes of 1939 vintage, too dangerous as well. One of these days I will restore it, or my sons will have to take over the project... By the way, the only part missing in one of many moves is the clutch package. Anybody knows where to get one for a Norton gearbox, let me know! For the daily motorcycle needs I have a BMW R60 from 1967. A good old "safe" motorcycle!

The BMW R-60 from 1967. Still going strong. Definitely something done right!

Something even stronger, a claim so fantastic that it would be funny, was it not for being a pathetic one!

Of course amplifiers need at least as much power supplied as they deliver out. They cannot generate power. The maximum efficiency for a regular audio amplifier is actually 2/3, meaning that a 400 W amplifier needs at least 600 W in. Dissipating 200 W of heat. Requiring 42 Amps at 14.4 V. The gizmo below claims to deliver 400 W with 14.4 V and 5 A supply, => 72 W, making 48 W the maximum possible output. I do not think it delivers even half as much. But I like the backwards 'N' in "INDICATOR" and "LITE" for 'light' on the front of the box!

My designs all have to obey the laws of physics, but not so the masterpiece made by "American Hi-Fi". For the totally demented user, brains rattled by "boom-boom noise/music" in their cars, the box clarifies that 200 + 200 = 400 Watts. Turn the box around and read the "specifications":

So, why did I spend a few dollars for one? I had one, years ago, that I was going to use for small 400 Hz motors, requiring 90° phase. 10 W or so. While working for Browne Medical the janitor decided that he needed the amplifier more than I, so it 'disappeared'. It had two power amplifier chips, and worked fine for the purpose. I came across this one on a close out sale, so I bought it. Seems like things has gone downhill lately. This one has only one, smaller, amplifier in it!

Maximum output 400W and the consumption from the 14.4 V battery is max 5 A! I hope the Nobel committee has heard about it! Cold Fusion faints in comparison, the solution to this worlds energy problems has been found! The designers at "American Hi-Fi" have a trip to Stockholm coming up! Since the ceremonies are held in December, they need all the power they can muster to keep warm…

Something else, not so good:

The bridge that used to connect the island Tjörn to the mainland, just north of Göteborg. In the right picture, Torbjörn "Tobbe" Lundberg is refreshing a dry throat and enjoys the setting sun in one fell swoop. C:a 1966.

Imagine what would happen if a passing ship was off course a bit! A few years after I took this picture it happened. Just after midnight, in winter time. It was foggy, and the water temperature of course at the freezing point. A gaping hole was left in the middle of the bridge and the motorists did not see the danger, plunging into the water. The crew on the ship tried to warn them with emergency flares, to no effect.

A new bridge, suspension type, with a higher span, was built in record time.

Monument in a forest

 My friend "Gånge" Rolf who lives in Hällestad, Sweden, showed me this monument. It is located right out in a forest, not even a road or a house nearby. Rolf told me: here is where a farmer and his son said goodbye a bit more than 100 years ago. At that time things were not too good in Sweden, and a lot of people emigrated (legally) to the United States. This was especially true for the second son of farmers. Usually the oldest son took over the farm, and the rest of the kids had to find some other outcome. At the spot marked above the farmer and his son took farewell and they never heard from each other again. The farmer later erected the monument. I often wonder what happened to his son, and I think I can understand how difficult it must have been for the farmer never to see or hear from his son again.

I think the farmer did the right thing.

"One thing I know that will never die: judgement over dead man".

From the Icelandic Saga Havamal , about AD 900.

Another thing done (or made) right is the little scale my friend Munken gave me.

His paternal grandfather was an MD and traveled in the wilderness in northern Sweden after dogs in a sleigh! This is the scale he used for to measure up medicines to his patients. The masses ("weights") are very accurate and made of silver! The whole thing can be taken apart, folded up, and fitted in the wooden box.

This scale is sensitive enough to detect 5 mg (1/5680 oz).

Santa Barbara is one of those places where the cops have nothing to do, but still take themselves very seriously. Officer M. McNeiley, badge number 13928 (or is it 1392?) is one good example. Exercising one of his past times he is driving his police car at barely 55 mph on the 101 FWY. Much below the legal, and normal, speed. Behind him are a lot of cars, afraid of passing him. Well, I was on my way to work and did not have time for games like this, so I passed. Officer M. McNeiley, badge number 13928 (or is it 1392?) did not hesitate to uphold the law! He pulled me over for driving without a front license plate. While he was writing my ticket I saw 6 cars without front plates in the oncoming traffic. It seems like about 1 : 20 of the cars here do not have a front plate. Later I have even seen a couple of Government vehicles without front plates. So the Traffic Court must be busy from morning to evening with the cases brought in by Officer M. McNeiley, badge number 13928 (or is it 1392?). Or can it be that he singled me out for passing him?

Then there is a Traffic Court in the Court house. Do not expect to find parking anywhere near when you have to appear! If you find one, there is probably a hard to see sign so you will get a ticket anyway. Santa Barbara is full of police, or whatever they are, in little three wheel vehicles buzzing up and down the streets handing out parking tickets. While you are inside the Traffic Court, your car is getting ticketed! You have to sit through a long video in Spanish (?!) and English about your rights and everything. Since driving without a front plate is a serious crime, strictly and sternly enforced in Santa Barbara, you better listen up. Actually, if you "appear not to pay attention to the video" they will toss out your case and you will have to waste another day on coming back!

This is a long story, but in short: Santa Barbara is not worth it! Your little shopping trip, weekend lunch, or just plain visit may be a very expensive to you, as well as very time consuming. If you do not show up in their court for the "appearance" they will issue a warrant for your arrest! My advice is to avoid this hole on the map. Keep legal speed, do not even change lane on the 101 Freeway until you are outside Santa Barbara County! It reaches from just south of Carpinteria to about Gaviota Pass to the north. Some 50 miles. Have your lunch and do your shopping in Ventura to the south or in Lompoc or Solvang to the north instead. You will get enough of a look at SB as you pass it by on the 101 Freeway. There are a lot of restaurants in SB, but they are overpriced, as is everything else there and usually staffed with incompetent nuts. There are just as good ones in Ventura, Solvang and Lompoc.

Recently the religious freaks in Kansas voted to not include the theories of Cosmology and Evolution in the curricula. The reaction from the rest of the world will of course be that students with "scientific education" from Kansas will have to prove that they know anything if they apply to an institution outside Kansas. Likewise, a business possibly considering establishing a branch in Kansas will think twice about it. Or decide against it.

Lately there was a very good editorial in SCIENCE. Read it and weep for the kids in Kansas:

I could not have put it better myself. Where is Clinton when we need him? Where are all the gun-expert politicians who claim to want to "save our kids?" Not a word from them.