Gotta love rippin off free samples!

[Papabravo]

We all agree that the system benefits engineers and hobbyists and the companies are free to set their own policies. The OP is being roundly criticized for the intent demonstrated by the title of his initial post. He is hoist by his own petard. You don't need samples of a 7805 -- you know how they work -- why not buy some once in a while, or are you just too cheap.

 

[HarveyH42]

This trend of abusing manufacturer's free-sample policies. bothers me in so many ways. I can understand a student working on course or personal projects and wanting some new, exotic, and usually expensive parts. After graduation, perhaps he actually might be in a position to return the favor.

Posts like this thread a troubling, because the OP is bragging about taking advantage of the policy intended for person able to make large purchases. He attempts to encourage others to take maximum advantage of the policy, and recruit others to participate. Finally, he is also seeking other companies, in which he can also abuse.

The free-sample policy has be around forever, it's good business, and most likely won't end. The people who actually devolop products for mass production aren't going to order 1,000 part lots, and get stuck with something they can't use, or have to re-design the product to make it work.

There will always be people who take advantage of the good intentions of of others, but threads like this that encourage such behavior are very upsetting to me. It's one thing for an individual with a serious interest in specific parts, browsing the manufacturer's website, and find there are free samples availiable, and another thing to just be hunting for hand-outs. I guess this is the point in life, when a man starts to feel his age. I was brought up differently. I learned to work for everything I needed or wanted. Now days, seems like work is only a last resort. It's not just electronic parts, it's prety much anything and everything.

Personally, I'd prefer this to be a BANNED topic, like cellphone jamming, cable TV decoders, and such...

 

[3v0]

I agree with Harvey.

This sort of thing also makes this forum look bad/stupid. Our posts are indexed and archived by other sites including Google. They will be around for a long time...

 

[Hank Fletcher]

hoist by his own petard

There's an expression you don't hear every day. Is there another Shakespeare fan in the forum? Take the etymology too literally, though:

Middle French, from peter, to break wind, from pet expulsion of intestinal gas, from Latin peditum, from neuter of peditus, past participle of pedere, to break wind; akin to Greek bdein to break wind. (Merriam-Webster)

and I guess that'd be like farting in your own elevator?

 

[Hero999]

I agree, let's ban this topic!

 

[Krumlink]

If i do sample, I sample microcontrollers. I buy everything else. To sample everything (7805?CMON) is not very smart, especially if you get 10 of each thing...

 

[Papabravo]

There's an expression you don't hear every day. Is there another Shakespeare fan in the forum? Take the etymology too literally, though:

and I guess that'd be like farting in your own elevator?

You have no idea how long I've been waiting for an opportunity to use said expression. This was a beaut -- couldn't pass it up.

 

[Glyph]

Fairchild semiconductor used to be VERY generous with their free samples and one could even get those giant $400 IGBT modules off of them this way delivered right to a residential address.

I guess too many people abused this policy too much that fairchild clamped down and now only provide samples to corporate customers. Even university students and instructors are denied samples.

So this a clear example of how abusing the free sample policy ruins it for everyone.

 

[picbits]

I've just received samples of Microcontrollers from Microchip.

I doubt I'd use any of the line I've ordered as these will be used for bootloader development boards but the final products will use the cheapest uChip products I can get away with.

As an example I sampled some 18F452s a couple of years ago and now have a product out in the market which will use the 18F1220/1320 in place of the '452.

For my 3 sample 18F452s, I have bought many hundreds of the 18F1320.

Even though I use their sample facility sparingly I still feel guilty each time I get my samples through.

 

[Robot builder 101]

Wow sounds like some of us are having a mental breakdown...

 

[Papabravo]

Wow sounds like some of us are having a mental breakdown...

Unnd....sometimes, my dear a zigar ist chust a zigar.

 

[Hank Fletcher]

Wow sounds like some of us are having a mental breakdown...

By "us" are you referring to yourself, Krumlink, and Souperman? You're all the same person, and if you don't know that then you do have a problem. BTW, stop referring to your alter-egos in the third person (e.g. responding to your own threads), it's not healthy.

 

[Krumlink]

I do not know who Robotbuilder 101 and Souperman are in person. I do not know how you came to that conclusion, but that is false information. I am honestly telling the truth. I just found this forum about a week ago, on my own, via google search. Please dont relate me to them, because I am not Robotbuilder or Souperman.

 

[HarveyH42]

By "us" are you referring to yourself, Krumlink, and Souperman? You're all the same person, and if you don't know that then you do have a problem. BTW, stop referring to your alter-egos in the third person (e.g. responding to your own threads), it's not healthy.

I would never had said it myself, but have noticed some similarities in the trio's posts. I figured Souperman just changed his name to Robotbuilder, since that seemed to be his current interest. Think it's their location, Michigan, that kind of ties it.

 

[Krumlink]

Im guilty of multiple accounts through location?

 

[Hank Fletcher]

For starters, I want you to know that I'm not trying to bait you, or otherwise cyberbully you, for any reason. I genuinely have your best interests at heart. So from now on, you're Krumlink - kudos to you for turning over a new leaf. And this is an internet forum - who's to say you can't maintain as much anonymity as you desire?

I'm trying to give you an out here. You don't need "do-overs," all you need is to learn to live with consequence. It's tough, real hard sometimes, but ultimately it's easier to grow from your mistakes, rather than to salt the earth so to speak and start anew everytime something goes wonky. Aim for perfection, but don't expect it, in anything you do. Michael Jordan had some great things to say about making mistakes, along the lines of if he hadn't taken a chance and made all the errors in his career, he'd never have become perhaps the greatest ball player to have ever lived.

You have to keep your momentum up in the things you love doing most - it's the best way to guarantee that you'll be able to do things you love for the rest of your life. So keep your mistakes close, they're your best teachers, and the easiest way to look retrospectively and say, "Wow, I've grown." Let the fire of your ambition burn, and in time experience will allow you to hone that energy to fuel amazing ideas.

 

[Krumlink]

Submission!

Yup you got me red handed. I made the other profile because I had a red square as souperman Then I made Robotbuilder (Crafy eh). I then ran into the mistake of being a jerk and taking too many free samples and gloating about it. I then tried to cover my tracks with Krumlink, which will be my final character.

 

[Hank Fletcher]

I think to be fair (and maybe just to feed your curiousity), you deserve to know what gave you away. Of course, I'm telling you this hoping you understand that you really, really don't have to jump from handle to handle. I'm glad you recanted, 'cause it'd be a shame to let the progress and reference in your alter-egos' various projects go by the wayside. You see why you can't do this? You'd spend so much energy trying to be someone you're not that you wouldn't have any energy left to be anybody at all!

Anyway, let's look at the clues:
1. The Handle. All began with capital letters, with more similarity between the first two handles than with Krumlink, although this may be in part due to the inherent shortness of the last handle. Krumlink is obviously a name you've chosen either consciously or subconsciously based on your frustrations with the forum in your other two incarnations.

2. The Avatar. There's a link of military-themed avatars, and while this isn't the case for Robot builder, the military connection was evident by way of the tank included on your short-lived website (incidentally, bring the website back, but with more content than fishing for freebies). Also, Robot builder and Souperman included avatars with faces, which suggests a self-awareness and perhaps even narcissism.

3. The Signature. No doubt missing in the second handle to distance yourself from the criticism drawn by Souperman's gratuitous signature. It's made a comeback with Krumlink (let's hope it stays to only a couple lines!), but there are also other similarities: the use of the imperative, and referencing other threads on the forum.

4. The Location. Already mentioned, and I would've thought the easiest to fake, so I can't figure out why you didn't.

5. The Rebuttals. I can't quite nail it down, but for some reason the rebuttals (your alter-egos' posts in reference to each other) were the thing that gelled it all more than anything else. It was just too introverted to be realistic, I guess, and anyone who's tried to write a piece of fiction knows how hard it is to write for two different characters.

6. The Join Dates. The actiivity of a new handle and consequent inactivity of an old handle was a dead give-away. You tried to mask it with the rebuttals, but let's face it, how long could anyone keep that up?

7. The Content. Who involves himself in a forum to talk about anything other than the things they're most interested in? Trouble is, most people aren't interested in very much - they have their thing and they stick to it. You can't hide from that kind of personality.

8. The Repeat. What's the best way to catch a killer? Get him to kill again.

Welcome to the forum, Rob Linkman.

 

[Krumlink]

Lol about the avatar, I liked the sonic boom

Are you a CSI detective?

About the other profile, I forgot the password so I was dead right there

Lol as for location, I did have it as USA, but that was kinda stupid so It then was MI, which I diddnt think about

The rebuttals backfired

The joindates: I love this forum!

THe content::Lol I sux

I dont have alter egos, but I was tring to mask my self. ( am normal, as far as im concerned, but as for my peers at school, lol)

LOL SRY FOR CONFUSION! WONT HAPPEN AGAIN!

(congrats hank, go join CSI)

 

[Krumlink]

Lol changed avatar accordingly...

BUWHAHAHH DOCTOR EVIL!!!

(im gonna go lie down, long day)