Transistors, How do they work ?
Transistors are one of modern society's most important inventions and are used both for amplification of electrical signals and as switches. This explains how this miracle technology works.
Technology
I Still Refuse to Have Internet
I still refuse to have internet at my apartment. While a few years ago, I did break down and buy a very basic $45 a month smartphone, it does not have ability to sync with my laptop. And I’m quite fine with that fact.
For one, having the Internet would be an additional cost, something that my budget would struggle to include with such a priority placed on saving money towards my retirement and eventually affording land, an off-grid cabin, and hobby farm. The most basic plans would set me back $45 a month, plus taxes and fees, which would bring me up to over $60 a month — there simply is not $700-$800 extra a year burning a hole in my pocket.
But more fundamentally, I don’t like the idea of having the Internet to play with at home. I like the exercise of either walking down to the Town Park or library, and I like keeping the Internet to a set part of my life — with time and boundaries. Granted, having a smartphone with Facebook and WordPress kind of breaks down the boundaries, but I phone is somewhat more limited then a full-time laptop.
If it was free I probably would use the Internet at home, but if I have pay a whole bunch of money, absolutely no. I doubt I would ever subscribe to an internet service.
The SUMIF and VLOOKUP functions in your friendly local spreadsheet can make you look a lot smarter and more productive then you really are
The SUMIF and VLOOKUP functions in your friendly local spreadsheet can make you look a lot smarter and more productive then you really are.
Most commercial news is pornographic
Most commercial news is pornographic.
NPR
Like many parts of modern life, tractors have gone high-tech, often running on advanced computer systems.
But some manufacturers are tight-lipped about how these electronics work, making it difficult or nearly impossible for farmers and independent repair shops to diagnose and fix problems with the equipment.
An agreement by John Deere may finally give farmers a greater hand in repairing the company's products.
The American Farm Bureau Federation announced Sunday that it had reached a memorandum of understanding with John Deere promising farmers and independent repair shops information they would need to service the company's equipment.
Wiper malware is popping up everywhere – Ars Technica
NPR
A sprawling congressional report accuses several little-known financial technology companies, or fintechs, of reaping "billions in fees from taxpayers while becoming easy targets for those who sought to defraud the PPP," or Paycheck Protection Program.
PPP provided more than 11 million potentially forgivable low-interest loans to small businesses to help them keep employees on the payroll as COVID-19 shutdowns decimated profits. Congress hastily rolled out the program in spring 2020, eventually racking up a price tag of nearly $800 billion.
Fintechs – a nebulous term broadly defined as businesses that use technology to improve or automate financial services – told Congress they could issue PPP loans to struggling small businesses faster than traditional banks – and they did. Fintechs also reached more independent contractors, as well as businesses run by women and people of color, than long-established banks did. They were lauded for those efforts.
But that speed and reach came at an expense, says Samuel Kruger, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Texas at Austin.