Archive:Stories: Difference between revisions

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+{{cquote|As a teenager and high school student of electronics, I was provided the opportunity to repair traffic signals in my home town of Quincy, IL. Traffic signals provided the inspiration to continue studying electronics at Black Hawk College in Moline, IL and Bradley University in Peoria. Upon graduation from Bradley, I found employment with Motorola but, as was common in the 1970's, within a couple years the factory was purchased by Mitsushita Electric Co. and subsequently closed. I eventually returned to Black Hawk College where I would work for 35 years as a broadcast engineer, professor and chairman of the Electronics department.
+I've recently retired from college teaching however, prior to retirement Wikipedia became an integral contributor to my daily lecture routine. Before leaving the office and heading down the hallway to lecture, I habitually consulted Wiki for supplemental lecture items such as, "Who was Fahrenheit?" as it's often the subtle personal items that can make a lecture entertaining. I'm now employed part-time repairing computers and again, Wikipedia has become essential to my daily routine as you are the first place I look for answers to daily technical challenges. Google first, then Wiki is an exercise I practice a dozen times daily for rapid and detailed information about technical items.
+But, there's something that I've always hoped Wikipedia could provide. Someday when you, Wikipedia, run out of things to do, consider starting Wiki-Works or Wiki-Mation where science items are demonstrated using motion animation as nothing improves learning and retention like a good demonstration. Imagine "Seeing" into an electric circuit where electrons can be viewed travelling through a circuit and collecting across the plates of a capacitor or flowing through the internal junctions of semiconductors. Deriving mathematical equations from an electric circuit or fluid-power system is relatively easy once the current flow path is known. But more importantly, developing the "Mind's eye" of an engineer or scientist takes years of traditional classroom study but, could be reduced to minutes with the assistance of quality animation. Botany, biology, meteorology, chemistry, and all of engineering - a source of animation demonstrations would be a huge benefit to educators of all sciences. Should you decide to pursue a project of this type and would like a little assistance, please let me know as retirement is driving me insane.
+Thanks a bunch for helping me with all my interests. }}
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 {{cquote|By the time I was in middle school, perhaps, the Iowa Basic Skills tests were administered such that answers went on to answer sheets that computers could read. I reflected, at the time, on what a great savings in time that must have been for the school and wondered vaguely where all that would go as I got older. Then there were the moonshots and 20 years later crunky PCs became available to us. But never did I imagine the home or office PC as it is today and the hundreds and thousands of hours I would be saving on personal and academic research, international banking from my own PC etc. and I certainly never imagine that an idea like Wikipedia would become the giant in my life that I has become. Google and Wikipedia. WOW! }}