Thanks to all (Personification of gadgets and thingamabobs)

[Lauren Merritt <laurenm -at- ISE-TLX -dot- COM>]

Thanks for the many excellent responses to my question on personification (anthropomorphism).

Several respondents made good cases in favor of personification, and I do see that in some cases it's the clearest way to convey certain concepts if used gracefully. Several others gave great input on ways to avoid it, and I'll draw on them in future projects. In this case, I intend to apply Ken Hogue's suggestion, which is:

"To fire the triac pulse at the proper time, the ASP driver must be synchronized with the power phase at each lamp block."

For those interested in my reasons, I'll give a little more background than in my original posting.

The ASP driver is a piece of hardware used in controlling large electronic signs. Switches on the ASP driver allow a technician to resolve timing issues in sending data to the sign, and these timing issues stem from the fact that the signs must operate with three-phase electrical service. The switches do not determine which phase powers a certain block of lamps, but they allow a technician to synchronize the ASP driver with the current that lights the lamps. (Thanks Ken; I very literally couldn't have said it better myself.)

In other words, the ASP driver thingamabob's gotta know where all the wires go.

Thanks again for the many responses. I haven't really summarized here because the majority of respondents copied to the list. If anyone wants all the info in one place, though, please let me know.

Lauren Merritt


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000