I guess we're safe for a while longer...

I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin <jjSNIPlarkin@highTHIS
landPLEASEtechnology.XXX> wrote (in <uimm21hjdjru0j5lt2e8r3ibh2dj43gcac@
4ax.com>) about 'I guess we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6
Mar 2005:
On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 18:49:29 +0000, John Woodgate
jmw@jmwa.demon.contraspam.yuk> wrote:

I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin <jjSNIPlarkin@highTHIS
landPLEASEtechnology.XXX> wrote (in <44hm21h6jf15ahbd1bd4djj7nupf2qhdjg@
4ax.com>) about 'I guess we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6
Mar 2005:
They had
something (can't remember the pronunciation) like a pithynomial or
something, a special class of polynomials that they figured was
efficient for solution-space searching and optimization, where the
goodness factor of any point in n-space was a Spice simulation result.

Plethynomial?

That sounds about right, but it doesn't google. I'll try to find out
more. Business failures are always fascinating.

A plethynomial is a polynomial in which many of the terms are
Click to expand...
significant. It certainly gels with a requirement for massive computing
power, but not with anything 'efficient', IMHO.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
 
I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin <jjSNIPlarkin@highTHIS
landPLEASEtechnology.XXX> wrote (in <k1om21p928nlicq25hth9oeg0g8vusph77@
4ax.com>) about 'I guess we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6
Mar 2005:
"Posynomial." Lots of google hits. Seems to be the rage.
Click to expand...
Indeed. The 'posy-' element is presumably Greek, but I can't see a
plausible meaning.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
 
Fred Bloggs wrote:
Rene Tschaggelar wrote:

Tim Wescott wrote:

Joerg wrote:

Hello Rene,

So apparently some coaching should be included in the prices.



That, and a few third party opinions. A lot of VC funded disasters
could have been avoided. It is amazing, before someone agrees to
even a minor surgery they usually obtain several expert opinions.
Same when they buy a house. But when it comes to sinking tons of
money into a start-up this diligence isn't always there.

Once I had dinner with the founder of a company whose core idea had
fizzled. I asked him why they had turned down an offer for help
years ago. He didn't really have an answer but it was too late
anyway. This had been a project that clearly would have made it big
time. Should have, could have. Very sad.

I recently read a book "A Good Hard Kick in the Ass: Basic Training
for Entrepreneurs" by Rob Adams, a VC group in Texas. He goes
through some of these questions, and explains why his group doesn't
invest unless the startup has done it's homework.



These homework are partially junk. Eg the biz plan. It
contains projected sales, meaning pure fiction.
This case I came across, they made some expensive devices,
in the 50k$ range each. Well, the potential customers
showed great interest. When they ask for a trial period,
say half a year, since it is very new technology and some
difficulties are to be expected in term of life time, service
intervalls and such, this appears to be reasonable. When
10 customers request for a trial period at the same time,
then you have half a million in the field running on a hefty
interest rate. They natually pay afterwards.
That apparently broke their neck. The employees and the lab
had to be paid at the same time.

It is more the unexpected that comes up suddenly that matter.
Well, insiders could anticipate unexpected turns.
But then it is the insiders of the business that are feared
most by startups.

Rene


A 6-month *free* trial on a high priced item from a start-up? That
sounds more like someone trying to incur favoritism than a business
plan. They *deserved* to go out of business. And if the product
attributes were not strong enough to dictate reasonable terms of sale
and trial, then they shouldn't have even started the thing in the first
place.
Click to expand...
As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry
 
On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 20:15:30 +0000, John Woodgate
<jmw@jmwa.demon.contraspam.yuk> wrote:

I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin <jjSNIPlarkin@highTHIS
landPLEASEtechnology.XXX> wrote (in <k1om21p928nlicq25hth9oeg0g8vusph77@
4ax.com>) about 'I guess we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6
Mar 2005:
"Posynomial." Lots of google hits. Seems to be the rage.

Indeed. The 'posy-' element is presumably Greek, but I can't see a
plausible meaning.
Click to expand...

Well, for what it's worth...

http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~wainwrig/ee227a/Scribe/lecture23_final.pdf

Seems to be a method for casting complex problems into a form where
the solution space is convex, so has no local maxima, so is easier to
solve. Or something. I'm not worried about my job.

We walked yesterday past the little cottage on Green Street where
Farnsworth invented television; there's a tiny brass plaque noting the
fact. We were also talking about magnetrons and the theosopy movement
in California post WWI, and the fact that a couple of weird academic
outcasts (the Varian brothers) invented the klystron, much to Terman's
displeasure. All around the subject: why do so many rebels and
amateurs invent so many things, and why do academics invent so few?

Gotta go spread another bag of redwood chips. The damned garden
job-jar is full, and there's no rain in sight.

John
 
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
<my_name@ieee.org> wrote:

As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry
Click to expand...
Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
 
Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:


As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry


Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
Click to expand...
Hi Spehro,

Hows this then: A company I worked for in MA attracted $12e6 in funding
from various large, dopey customers. Our CEO had grand plans for
producing gazillions of our expensive widget, and in 1999 saw a really
nice building up near Analog Devices. It was US$10e6, but had a hell
tenant in it who hadnt paid rent for 2 years or so, and was involved in
a lwasuit with the owner. So our CEO went and bought the mortgage,
assuming he could then kick out the recalcitrant tenant. Alas, it was
not to be - further lawsuits ensued (har har). Our burn rate was
$1e6/month, so it didnt take long to eat the remaining $2e6, at which
point purchasing stopped completely, dramatically slowing progress.
AFAIK they *still* havent got into the building. Hows that for stupid?

Cheers
Terry
 
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:52:29 +1300, Terry Given wrote:
Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.

Hows this then: A company I worked for in MA attracted $12e6 in funding
from various large, dopey customers. Our CEO had grand plans for
producing gazillions of our expensive widget, and in 1999 saw a really
nice building up near Analog Devices. It was US$10e6, but had a hell
tenant in it who hadnt paid rent for 2 years or so, and was involved in
a lwasuit with the owner. So our CEO went and bought the mortgage,
assuming he could then kick out the recalcitrant tenant. Alas, it was
not to be - further lawsuits ensued (har har). Our burn rate was
$1e6/month, so it didnt take long to eat the remaining $2e6, at which
point purchasing stopped completely, dramatically slowing progress.
AFAIK they *still* havent got into the building. Hows that for stupid?
Click to expand...
Makes me think of the Rodney Dangerfield character in "Back To School".
He's sitting in some business management, and the instructor is doing
some scenario where he's about to build a factory, and Dangerfield
interrupts: "Why build? Why not lease?" and explains the reasons - he's
been very successful for some years, and so knows stuff that professors
can't even imagine. ;-)

Cheers!
Rich
 
On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 11:32:04 -0800, John Larkin wrote:

On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 18:49:29 +0000, John Woodgate
jmw@jmwa.demon.contraspam.yuk> wrote:

I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin <jjSNIPlarkin@highTHIS
landPLEASEtechnology.XXX> wrote (in <44hm21h6jf15ahbd1bd4djj7nupf2qhdjg@
4ax.com>) about 'I guess we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6
Mar 2005:
They had
something (can't remember the pronunciation) like a pithynomial or
something, a special class of polynomials that they figured was
efficient for solution-space searching and optimization, where the
goodness factor of any point in n-space was a Spice simulation result.

Plethynomial?

That sounds about right, but it doesn't google. I'll try to find out
more. Business failures are always fascinating.

The word reminded me of "plethysmograph," which I remember having
Click to expand...
heard in connection with a medical instrument, but didn't remember
what it meant, so I looked it up - google won't define: it, but
the first three hits are for penile plethysmographs.

Apparently it has something to do with volume, although ISTR hearing
it about breathing.

So, something like a volumetric view of a polynomial, or some sort of
Newtons-method solution that looks like breathing? (or like a penis?)

Cheers!
Rich
 
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:52:29 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
<my_name@ieee.org> wrote:

Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:


As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry


Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

Hi Spehro,

Hows this then: A company I worked for in MA attracted $12e6 in funding
from various large, dopey customers. Our CEO had grand plans for
producing gazillions of our expensive widget, and in 1999 saw a really
nice building up near Analog Devices. It was US$10e6, but had a hell
tenant in it who hadnt paid rent for 2 years or so, and was involved in
a lwasuit with the owner. So our CEO went and bought the mortgage,
assuming he could then kick out the recalcitrant tenant. Alas, it was
not to be - further lawsuits ensued (har har). Our burn rate was
$1e6/month, so it didnt take long to eat the remaining $2e6, at which
point purchasing stopped completely, dramatically slowing progress.
AFAIK they *still* havent got into the building. Hows that for stupid?

Cheers
Terry
Click to expand...
Whoever attracted that $12e6 in funding is a valuable guy or gal.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
 
On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 19:04:50 -0500, Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:52:29 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:

Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:


As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry


Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

Hi Spehro,

Hows this then: A company I worked for in MA attracted $12e6 in funding
from various large, dopey customers. Our CEO had grand plans for
producing gazillions of our expensive widget, and in 1999 saw a really
nice building up near Analog Devices. It was US$10e6, but had a hell
tenant in it who hadnt paid rent for 2 years or so, and was involved in
a lwasuit with the owner. So our CEO went and bought the mortgage,
assuming he could then kick out the recalcitrant tenant. Alas, it was
not to be - further lawsuits ensued (har har). Our burn rate was
$1e6/month, so it didnt take long to eat the remaining $2e6, at which
point purchasing stopped completely, dramatically slowing progress.
AFAIK they *still* havent got into the building. Hows that for stupid?

Cheers
Terry

Whoever attracted that $12e6 in funding is a valuable guy or gal.

I wonder how many custom-designed microwave ovens could be got in China
Click to expand...
for that kind of money?

Thanks,
Rich
 
John Woodgate wrote:
I read in sci.electronics.design that Rich Grise <richgrise@example.net
wrote (in <pan.2005.03.06.22.59.30.876357@example.net>) about 'I guess
we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6 Mar 2005:


Makes me think of the Rodney Dangerfield character in "Back To School".
He's sitting in some business management, and the instructor is doing
some scenario where he's about to build a factory, and Dangerfield
interrupts: "Why build? Why not lease?" and explains the reasons - he's
been very successful for some years, and so knows stuff that professors
can't even imagine. ;-)


The thing about executive decisions is that the scene could just as well
have been written the other way round, based on 'Why lease? Why not
build?'. A building is an appreciating asset unless there is a war.
Click to expand...
In which case it becomes a target.

Cheers
Terry
 
Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:52:29 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:


Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:



As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry


Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

Hi Spehro,

Hows this then: A company I worked for in MA attracted $12e6 in funding

from various large, dopey customers. Our CEO had grand plans for

producing gazillions of our expensive widget, and in 1999 saw a really
nice building up near Analog Devices. It was US$10e6, but had a hell
tenant in it who hadnt paid rent for 2 years or so, and was involved in
a lwasuit with the owner. So our CEO went and bought the mortgage,
assuming he could then kick out the recalcitrant tenant. Alas, it was
not to be - further lawsuits ensued (har har). Our burn rate was
$1e6/month, so it didnt take long to eat the remaining $2e6, at which
point purchasing stopped completely, dramatically slowing progress.
AFAIK they *still* havent got into the building. Hows that for stupid?

Cheers
Terry


Whoever attracted that $12e6 in funding is a valuable guy or gal.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
Click to expand...
The product concept was good, the CEO certainly had the gift of the gab,
and that was only *some8 of the funding he secured. Funnily enough, not
long after the building scenario he had to go secure a whole bunch more
*grin*

Cheers
Terry
 
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 22:31:50 +1300, Terry Given wrote:

Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:52:29 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:


Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:



As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry


Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

Hi Spehro,

Hows this then: A company I worked for in MA attracted $12e6 in funding

from various large, dopey customers. Our CEO had grand plans for

producing gazillions of our expensive widget, and in 1999 saw a really
nice building up near Analog Devices. It was US$10e6, but had a hell
tenant in it who hadnt paid rent for 2 years or so, and was involved in
a lwasuit with the owner. So our CEO went and bought the mortgage,
assuming he could then kick out the recalcitrant tenant. Alas, it was
not to be - further lawsuits ensued (har har). Our burn rate was
$1e6/month, so it didnt take long to eat the remaining $2e6, at which
point purchasing stopped completely, dramatically slowing progress.
AFAIK they *still* havent got into the building. Hows that for stupid?

Cheers
Terry


Whoever attracted that $12e6 in funding is a valuable guy or gal.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

The product concept was good, the CEO certainly had the gift of the gab,
and that was only *some8 of the funding he secured. Funnily enough, not
long after the building scenario he had to go secure a whole bunch more
*grin*
Click to expand...
D'ya think this nimrod might be interested in ordering a few hundred
thousand or million left-handed microwave ovens and plopping them on the
stores?

Thanks,
Rich
 
Hello John,

I've seen a tendency for funded startups to try to do everything
themselves, like develop their own electronics and write software from
scratch, because they think the money supply is unlimited and that
they're the smartest people in the world anyhow. ...
Click to expand...
It's not just that they think they can do everything better. Often they
are simply unwilling or unable to look over the fence, and look far
enough. Once I asked a group of engineers why they were developing
something mechanical from scratch. "Well, it has to be a lot smaller
than the stuff you can buy at Grainger". So I mentioned that there are a
few suppliers of watch movements that make much smaller ones at very low
cost. Even with the whole movement around them they sell for under $5.
An eerie silence followed, all you could hear were a few whispered "ah"
and "uhm".

Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
 
Rich Grise wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 22:31:50 +1300, Terry Given wrote:


Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:52:29 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:



Spehro Pefhany wrote:


On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:40:45 +1300, the renowned Terry Given
my_name@ieee.org> wrote:




As a teenager I watched my uncle run my his & my fathers
hydraulics/pneumatics business into the ground. Selling $3000 hoists to
companies in Gisborne with free installation (2 guys, 3 days and 8 hours
drive each way). That sort of thing. Its what led me to formulate the
first of my rules for a successful business - avoid doing astonishingly
stupid things. The second rule - actually do that which you know full
well needs to be done.

Cheers
Terry


Come up with some good anecodotes and pad that to a couple hundred
pages and you've got a best-selling management book.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

Hi Spehro,

Hows this then: A company I worked for in MA attracted $12e6 in funding

from various large, dopey customers. Our CEO had grand plans for


producing gazillions of our expensive widget, and in 1999 saw a really
nice building up near Analog Devices. It was US$10e6, but had a hell
tenant in it who hadnt paid rent for 2 years or so, and was involved in
a lwasuit with the owner. So our CEO went and bought the mortgage,
assuming he could then kick out the recalcitrant tenant. Alas, it was
not to be - further lawsuits ensued (har har). Our burn rate was
$1e6/month, so it didnt take long to eat the remaining $2e6, at which
point purchasing stopped completely, dramatically slowing progress.
AFAIK they *still* havent got into the building. Hows that for stupid?

Cheers
Terry


Whoever attracted that $12e6 in funding is a valuable guy or gal.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

The product concept was good, the CEO certainly had the gift of the gab,
and that was only *some8 of the funding he secured. Funnily enough, not
long after the building scenario he had to go secure a whole bunch more
*grin*


D'ya think this nimrod might be interested in ordering a few hundred
thousand or million left-handed microwave ovens and plopping them on the
stores?

Thanks,
Rich
Click to expand...
only if they dont work. For our first R&D prototype, he ordered 50 sets
of metalwork, the drawings of which were only partially complete. It was
a 3' diameter 7' high stainless steel cylinder, containing a rack (holds
2,000 lbs) and, among other things, a 2'x4'x1" stainless steel back
plate. 50 sets, and *every* hole was in the wrong place. Last I heard,
an entire 40' shipping container was used to store the "scrap" material
this became.

Cheers
Terry
 
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 17:50:57 -0600, Rob Gaddi
<rgaddi@bcm.YUMMYSPAMtmc.edu> wrote:

John Larkin wrote:
On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 11:38:43 +1300, Terry Given <my_name@ieee.org
wrote:


Me, I'd love to work for a company that didnt do shit like that, but
rather concentrated on achieving engineering excellence. I havent found
one yet.....



http://www.highlandtechnology.com/


(the ever-modest) John


Keep joking about that and me and half this group's lurkers will start
dropping resumes on you.
Click to expand...
Well, that is one of the reasons I post here.

John
 
John Larkin wrote:
On Mon, 07 Mar 2005 17:50:57 -0600, Rob Gaddi
rgaddi@bcm.YUMMYSPAMtmc.edu> wrote:


John Larkin wrote:

On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 11:38:43 +1300, Terry Given <my_name@ieee.org
wrote:



Me, I'd love to work for a company that didnt do shit like that, but
rather concentrated on achieving engineering excellence. I havent found
one yet.....



http://www.highlandtechnology.com/


(the ever-modest) John


Keep joking about that and me and half this group's lurkers will start
dropping resumes on you.


Well, that is one of the reasons I post here.

John
Click to expand...
Its a bit tricky for us foreigners though. Although I have had one H1-B
visa already.....

which is a real shame John, because from what I have gleaned from your
postings, you do some extremely cool stuff, and I could learn an awful lot.

Regards,
Terry
 
I read in sci.electronics.design that Rich Grise <richgrise@example.net>
wrote (in <pan.2005.03.06.23.14.18.596079@example.net>) about 'I guess
we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6 Mar 2005:
On Sun, 06 Mar 2005 11:32:04 -0800, John Larkin wrote:

On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 18:49:29 +0000, John Woodgate
jmw@jmwa.demon.contraspam.yuk> wrote:

I read in sci.electronics.design that John Larkin <jjSNIPlarkin@highTHIS
landPLEASEtechnology.XXX> wrote (in <44hm21h6jf15ahbd1bd4djj7nupf2qhdjg@
4ax.com>) about 'I guess we're safe for a while longer...', on Sun, 6
Mar 2005:
They had
something (can't remember the pronunciation) like a pithynomial or
something, a special class of polynomials that they figured was
efficient for solution-space searching and optimization, where the
goodness factor of any point in n-space was a Spice simulation result.

Plethynomial?

That sounds about right, but it doesn't google. I'll try to find out
more. Business failures are always fascinating.

The word reminded me of "plethysmograph," which I remember having
heard in connection with a medical instrument, but didn't remember
what it meant, so I looked it up - google won't define: it, but
the first three hits are for penile plethysmographs.

Apparently it has something to do with volume, although ISTR hearing
it about breathing.

So, something like a volumetric view of a polynomial, or some sort of
Newtons-method solution that looks like breathing? (or like a penis?)
Click to expand...
The Greek 'plethos' means 'multitude', hence 'plethynomial' is s
polynomial in which many of the terms are significant, as opposed to
many polynomials whose higher ordered terms are negligible.

'Plethysmo-' defies my attempts to analyse it in Greek. Like
'posinomial' it may be an irregular coining.
--
Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
The good news is that nothing is compulsory.
The bad news is that everything is prohibited.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Also see http://www.isce.org.uk
 
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