<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Apr 1, 2006, at 11:53 AM, dustin sedlacek wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><A href="http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/04/next-up-from-behringer-real-analog.html">http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/04/next-up-from-behringer-real-analog.html</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>One of the best ever electronics-related April Fool's jokes was perpetrated by a clever engineer at Signetics, the famous "Random-Access WOM", or Write Only Memory. As a joke, the engineer wrote up a phony spec and data sheet for the WOM chip and submitted it for the approval process at Signetics. It was promptly passed without question and actually made it into their next product catalog. This only came to the attention of higher-ups at Signetics after customers began requesting pricing and delivery info on the part.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A href="http://www.national.com/rap/Story/WOMorigin.html">http://www.national.com/rap/Story/WOMorigin.html</A> (Bob Pease's descrption)</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write_Only_Memory">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Write_Only_Memory</A> (Wikipedia article)</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Besides the very idea of Write Only Memory being patently ridiculous, the tongue-in-cheek data sheet included <FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;">diagrams of "bit capacity vs. Temp." and "Number of pins remaining vs. number of socket insertions", and "<A href="http://www.aqlinspectorsrule.com/manual/dictionary.htm"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">AQL</SPAN></FONT></A> vs. selling price". The mythical chip required a 6.3 VAC Vff (vacuum tube fil</SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;">ament) supply, a +10V Vcc (double the Vcc of standard TTL l</SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;">ogic of the day), and Vdd of 0V, ±2% (allowing your 0V ground to be off by as much as plus or minus 2%. Umm, lemme see... what's 2% of zero?).</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;">The data sheet also claims that "The static memory cells are operated dynamically to yield extremely low power dissipation, and proudly crows that "all inputs and outputs are directly TTL compatible when proper interfacing circuitry is employed".</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;">You may download the original Signetics 25120 Random-Access WOM data Sheet <A href="http://www.national.com/rap/files/datasheet.pdf"><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">here</SPAN></FONT></A>. Read it and weep.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.7px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>