Electrical Engineering

jippie

06:34

good morning guys

Kortuk

07:52

@jippie Sorry i missed this, Morning mate!

@jippie I hope I did not offend with my comments on your post. I think you would do a great job but I wanted to ask what others were going to wonder but possibly not ask.

jippie

@Kortuk not at all, (I think) I understand perfectly well what you were trying to accomplish

@Kortuk Was in the shower for a few minutes and I decided to ask you if you were 'sleeping on the job' here ;o) But unfortunately for me you woke up :o(

I'm off to work.

Enjoy! @all

clabacchio

08:20

Morning!!! @Kortuk @jippie

Kortuk

@clabacchio Morning mate!

Kortuk

08:51

So, what is everyone up to?

@clabacchio and for some reason I thought you were doing your masters this whole time!

Not your Ph.D.

@jippie you are hard at work writing comments and stuff I see.

Kortuk

09:13

sure, all afk

allo @jmort253 and @rfusca either of you still up?

clabacchio

@Kortuk it's the masters indeed

Kortuk

@clabacchio Ohh, then you are not a doctor yet!

clabacchio

didn't receive your notification until now

Kortuk

@clabacchio :)

clabacchio

@Kortuk yes I am :)

Kortuk

09:18

@clabacchio Here you finish your Ph.D. to become a doctor.

Is it different? I feel like there is something different we are not communicating well.

clabacchio

@Kortuk no I'm just distracted

now I'm doctor in engineering

Kortuk

@clabacchio With a masters?

@clabacchio This is a difference from US.

clabacchio

not even engineer, because you have to pass the state exam

Kortuk

Doctor of Engineering

The Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng. or D.Engr. or Eng.D. or Dr.Eng. or Dr.-Ing.) is an academic degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and research in engineering or applied sciences. In most of the countries it is the terminal research doctorate degree in engineering or applied science. It is awarded by many American universities including UC Berkeley, Texas A&M, and Southern Methodist University. It is equivalent to a PhD degree in engineering/applied sciences. To be admitted as a doctoral student, one must hold a Master's degree (rarely a Bachelor's degree) in engineering or relate...

@clabacchio ohh, that is called a PE here, I have passed the written exam you take to qualify starting your training but I have to have years experience and then take the final exam.

This is something we will have to discuss in detail

I need to get back to work. I am back on night shifts again.

away I go.

clabacchio

@Kortuk anyway I don't care much, I can say that I have 5k rep on stackexchange

bye!!!

Kortuk

09:22

@clabacchio Ha. I just like understanding these differences, it helps greatly when you talk to someone from Europe about what you do.

clabacchio

@Kortuk you'll never understand us :P

you know, old traditions and so..

Kortuk

@clabacchio Allo! My name is Max.

clabacchio

@Kortuk allo?

Engineer's degree

An engineer's degree is an advanced academic degree in engineering that is conferred in Europe, some countries of Latin America, and a few institutions in the United States. In Europe, the engineer degree is ranked at the same academic level as a master's degree, and is often known literally as an "engineer diploma" (abbreviated Dipl.-Ing. or DI). In some countries of Latin America and the United States, the engineer's degree can be studied after the completion of a master's degree and is usually considered higher than the master's degree but below the doctorate in engineering (abbreviate...

Kortuk

@clabacchio interesting.

so, not running in the election @clabacchio?

Dean

09:48

@kortuk i decided against running :/

well actually i forgot :/

Kortuk

10:49

@Dean Ha, you still have time.

Dean

11:01

@Kortuk how long?

until 2pm so basically 2hrs from now??

thats 2pm BST

Kortuk

11:36

@Dean 8 hours left

Dean

ahh cool will write something in a bit.

Kortuk

@Dean Ha, I want to see how many we get today. I cannot promise I will be posting on your message then, it depends on if I have time and your post is up before I sleep.

clabacchio

@Kortuk I could run, but I don't know how present I can be, since this summer I'll be quite busy

Kortuk

@clabacchio your call.

clabacchio

@Kortuk what do you mean?

Kortuk

11:50

@clabacchio it is your decision if you think you can handle it, I just thought you might.

clabacchio

@Kortuk I really appreciate that!

But...if I think that I may be available in a couple of months, I'm still eligible?

I mean, what's the required time to guarantee?

Kortuk

@clabacchio you have always been active in chat with discussing the moderation issues.

clabacchio

@Kortuk I can give it a shot actually :)

Kortuk

@clabacchio I would say 30 minutes a day dependably is enough with occasional spikes, in the 1-2 hour range, but easily handed off, not requiring one person

@clabacchio As with Jippie the European time zone will help.

clabacchio

12:09

@Kortuk Let's try it! I'm really curious about the moderator's experience

W5VO

13:52

morning all

Kortuk

@W5VO Morning mate.

@clabacchio Will try to post a blurb for you.

W5VO

14:06

@Kortuk so what was the final straw with tony?

Kortuk

@W5VO writing bad answers is not a suspension worthy offense. Making directed abusive comments are.

rfusca

somebody get banned?

David Kessner

Hello all.

Kortuk

@rfusca 1 year suspension as of now.

@DavidKessner Morning mate!

rfusca

@Kortuk wow, a year....who? what user?

nvm, found em

Kortuk

14:13

@rfusca Was about to say, bet that takes no work.

David Kessner

@rfusca But I want to know...

rfusca

@Kortuk what warranted a whole year?

David Kessner

nvm, I found em too.

Kortuk

14:58

haha

@rfusca Umm, I am not sure what level this can be publicly discussed. The explanation I already gave was to explain site policy, but we can discuss it in teachers lounge.

David Kessner

@Kortuk I just assumed that it was because he's Canadian. :)

Kortuk

@DavidKessner ha.

Kortuk

17:13

@clabacchio got to post my feedback for you.

sorry to say @jippie you got some stiff competition last minute

rfusca

@kortuk you guys may have a real election on your hands with the candidates that tossed in their hat

clabacchio

@Kortuk thanks for the nice post!

@rfusca I'm having lots of fun these days

Kortuk

@rfusca haha

rfusca

@clabacchio nice

clabacchio

17:38

@rfusca sorry I was meaning with the new camera

I'm trying some old lenses

50 and 100 primes

old and full manual ones

rfusca

niiiiiiiice

100mm prime, very nice

@kortuk olin has this...'thing' about big images - electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/36342/… - i think he's using some browser from 1992 that doesn't scale images correctly

W5VO

@rfusca Actually, the image was fairly large

rfusca

@W5VO ya, i see the original, it doesn't look that big to me

on photo, he went off on some rant one day about big images...it was kinda funny

W5VO

funny... considering that I would imagine you would often want the full resolution image

he does have an old computer running windows 2000, maybe IE6

rfusca

@W5VO nod ya, but honestly, it turned out he was using some insanely old browser that didn't scale like everybody else

so it would look normal to everybody and massive to him

W5VO

17:46

I wouldn't doubt that

rfusca

nod

W5VO

We need to start a "Buy Olin a new computer" fund

clabacchio

@W5VO right!

rfusca

lol

i'm sure its stubbornness more than funds

W5VO

and damn... it wouldn't take much, probably $500

@rfusca all but certain of that as well

but he did mention he has a lot of software that he doesn't want to reload. I can appreciate that

rfusca

17:48

@W5VO nod for sure

and probably couldn't reload because of the age difference

W5VO

or lost the box+serial number, or the company has gone out of business

Kortuk

he said it was for stubborness

and that he has all that

W5VO

@rfusca in my "copious free time" I have some minolta MT lenses I think I'm going to try to convert to a Sony Alpha mount

Kortuk

@W5VO yes, you have tons of it, just a Ph.D. student with a kid and possibly moderator duties, you have tons of it

rfusca

lol

W5VO

17:54

@Kortuk 2 kids

Kortuk

@W5VO Sorry, I somehow keep missingthat

W5VO

@Kortuk it's ok, they both (sorta) sleep at night

Kortuk

:)

Sorry, I am afk. I want to stay till time to vote, but I cannot.

jippie

@Kortuk yeah. Think I might step back, no way I'm even slightest competition for these other guys.

Kortuk

@jippie dont step back, you never know.

You never know how peoples ballots go, I doubt many could guess mine.

jippie

18:07

@Kortuk I think I can guess yours ...

@Kortuk ... in at most 16 tries.

Kortuk

haha

There is an order, you pick a first second and third choice

jippie

yup

so if I counted correctly, then you have 16 ways of voting

I have to dive into my basement, need to find the contract to proove I own my house

hope to be back quickly ...

Kortuk

@jippie haha

I hope 2 of the three I vote for win big time, but I am very happy to say we are currently overflowing with people I want.

jippie

@Kortuk yeah the bank doesn't believe my green'ish eyes

Kortuk

I am not picking the 3 acceptable ones but the 3 best of the good ones.

@jippie haha

clabacchio

18:10

Hi guys

jippie

i'm out

hi @clabacchio

Kortuk

@clabacchio Hello

clabacchio

@jippie jippie prove that you're good so I can leave the load on you

jippie

congrats man

clabacchio

sorry guys gotta go

@jippie thaanks!

Kortuk

18:15

@jippie Night mate.

@clabacchio Night.

@JonL Allo mate.

Jon L

@Kortuk, good day.

Moderator elections... exciting :D

Kortuk

@JonL Very Very.

I shared my views, I get to see how much they matter on the election and I get to see what the community views as important in a moderator.

Jon L

@Kortuk Does voting begin immediately after nomination phase?

Kortuk

@JonL Yes

We will currently not need a primary.

Jon L

@Kortuk quick question: who gets to vote? anyone with an account? Or only users above a certain rep# ?

Kortuk

18:20

@JonL I believe it will be anyone with at least 150 rep.

@JonL You get a first pick second pick and third pick

Jon L

@Kortuk cool. I missed out on the last election when I just started on this site. It'll be interesting to see how they unfold

Kortuk

the algorithm works in such a way that if your first pick wins on the first cycle, ie. is the most popular vote(there is some complexity, but this is a decent simplification) then your second vote will count a large amount.

Jon L

@Kortuk Is there a FAQ outlining this info?

Kortuk

@JonL I was looking for it, the voting system is very interesting and they release all the ballots at the end in a raw format(anonymity is guaranteed though, the voters are just numbers in order of a randomly generated order I believe.).

@JonL This is the method used for determining winners from ballots.

Counting Single Transferable Votes

The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system based on proportional representation and preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most-preferred candidate. After candidates have been either elected (winners) by reaching quota or eliminated (losers), surplus votes are transferred from winners to remaining candidates (hopefuls) according to the surplus ballots' ordered preferences. The system minimizes "wasted" votes, provides approximately proportional representation, and enables votes to be explicitly cast for individual candidates rath...

meek STV method.

jippie

why "night" @Kortuk?

Kortuk

18:29

@jippie I thought you said you were leaving

I need to sleep though, So I should go

jippie

I said I had to dive into my basement to chech my adminsitration, and of course that is totally 100% in order, so I was able to open a box and fetch the documents from it

@Kortuk ahhh

Kortuk

I am going to be really annoyed if someone whom knows would receive some amount of reprieve attempts to post their nomination 1 minute before to dodge that.

jippie

@Kortuk oh wel sleep tight then

@Kortuk now in english please?

Kortuk

@jippie historically you occasionally have someone whom really is not a great application for moderator on their own knows they will receive very negative comments, they then wait until the nomination is a minute or so from ending and hit submit, they show up for votes but dont receive the public reprieve those whom apply at the beginning have a chance to receive if they have issues, which I did as nicely as possible, mostly just asking them what they mean.

make sense?

jippie

@Kortuk google'ing for 'reprieve'

Kortuk

18:35

@jippie Ha. negative feedback is a good definition.

I think

jippie

@Kortuk ah that makes sense

Kortuk

In a week I get teh fun of training two new moderators and showing them the fun tools

and in about a year they will know them mostly. :)

Jon L

@Kortuk, this weighting system is... interesting and a bit confusing

jippie

@Kortuk in that case you just ban them from the site a day before nominations end

Jon L

would you happen to know what the "Quota" value means?

(votes - excess) / (seats + 1)

what is excess?

Kortuk

18:38

@JonL Quota is related to what is needed to be a win.

So excess is the number of votes excess the candidate needs. I ended up with quite a few extra last time and so anyone whom voted for me got a lot of their vote for others.

67

Q: How are moderator election votes counted, in plain English?

The election page sidebar states that Stack Exchange elections use the Meek STV vote-counting method: After 4 days, the final voting results will be freely downloadable from this page forever, and we will calculate the 3 winners using OpenSTV with the Meek STV method. How does it work? I su...

Jon L

@Kortuk perfect....

I'll give that a read during my lunch break :D

Kortuk

:)

Jon L

@Kortuk, how many seats are open for this round? Just 1?

Kortuk

@JonL 2!

Wish 3

now that I see the canidates.

Jon L

Ok

Kortuk

18:45

hell, 6.

I could do with that, although we might over moderate.

Jon L

@Kortuk if it were just 1 it wouldn't really make sense to do such a system...

jippie

@Kortuk I'd say 8,149!

Jon L

which was what I was thinking when reading this

Kortuk

@JonL it still can, then if teh vote is heavily split up it selects the most popular using peoples second and third vote and requires a 50% match. It works very well. Saves situations where the third choice is selected because the first and second split their supporters.

Jon L

@Kortuk, I see

Kortuk

18:47

if the community mostly agrees on two moderators and a section agrees on a different this system can make it both harder or easier to elect the third person.

jippie

ooh I rank #9 in the montly rep league, well above the other nominees ;o)

Jon L

@Kortuk, pretty neat

Kortuk

@jippie Put it in there, feel free to pretty up your post, it is all that shows up on the election page.

@JonL Very, I loved learning about it when I ran last year.

Jon L

@Kortuk, reminds me a bit about game theory

Kortuk

ha.

I was nervous last year when I ran and I am almost as nervous this year.

Is exciting.

hopefully we will elect more moderators next year for load issues.

Jon L

18:50

@Kortuk I think its pretty cool that it's iterative

Kortuk

@JonL Yes, you can still get the raw votes from last election and see how it ran.

You can donate a little to get teh openSTV software for your computer to run your own validation(5$), they release the data in an importable way(simple human readable text format).

Kortuk

19:15

off i go

I thought dean would be our number 5 candidate, but I guess not.

David Kessner

@Kortuk Ah, so we're voting on 2 people. I was wondering...

Kortuk

@DavidKessner It says so on the page

David Kessner

@Kortuk And you expect me to READ?!?! :)

But seriously, I missed that little part on the right hand side of the page. Oops.

Kortuk

that is not as easy to read as I wanted

but I am too lazy to make a better zoomed in one

@DavidKessner :)

@DavidKessner Next election I will make sure is not on my vacation and I will lead more directed discussion and training on the system.

Honestly though, dont have too much fun. Sad you did not run either, but that would only further muddy the waters of my 3 votes.

rfusca

19:33

I wish the company would just setup a webcam and pay me the 2 grand its gonna cost to fly me out there lol

Jon L

20:02

Woo it's voting time!

jippie

i'm off to bed

enjoy!

David Kessner

22:21

Well I voted.

Jon L

22:37

@DavidKessner Reluctantly?

David Kessner

@JonL No. Just hoping everyone else votes.

Jon L

@DavidKessner Got it. I'm not good at interpreting tone on the interwebz sometimes

David Kessner

@JonL No prob. I completely understand.

Transcript for

Electrical Engineering