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Messages from 24600

Article: 24600
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 21:26:10 -0400
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
"E. Robert Tisdale" wrote:
> 
> rickman wrote:
> 
> > I am interviewing for jobs and I am finding more than one company
> > that wants me to sign a non-disclosure (ND).
> > This is disturbing to me since it puts me in a difficult position.
> > Let's say I sign a ND with company A
> > and take a job with company B who is a direct competitor.
> > I end up working on a project
> > similar to the one that company A told me about.
> > So because I interviewed with company A
> > I am now liable for a lawsuit?
> >
> > Is this what a lot of companies are doing now?
> > Are interviewees generally willing to sign such agreements?
> >
> > I had gotten to the point where I decided that
> > I would not "pee in a bottle" to conduct an interview.
> > I found that companies were using this as a way to reject applicants
> > without giving them a chance to object to the drug test results.
> > If you flunk the test because you ate a poppy seed roll that morning,
> > you just don't get an offer.  No offer, no challenges.
> >
> > Now they want you to sign away the right to work
> > on a competing product just to get an interview?
> 
> Nonsense!
> 
> Nobody is asking you to sign a non compete agreement
> before you interview or accept a job offer.
> They are asking you to promise to sign a non compete agreement
> if you are offered a job and accept that offer.
> Your prospective employer needs to be "up front" with you
> and tell you everything that is expected of you
> should you accept employment.
> No contract between you and a prospective employer
> would have any force in law unless they paid you.
> 
> If you feel queezy about signing a non compete agreement,
> look for work elsewhere.  Don't waste your time or theirs.

I don't know where you got your information. I have been asked to sign a
non-disclosure agreement for the interview process. One company
specifically said that they don't feel they can conduct a proper
interview without revealing sensitive information. I think that is
nonsense! This was stated as a precondition to the interview along with
completing an application. It did not even come out until I asked if
there was anything that I needed to sign. I have been through a few
interviews over the years.

I don't know that a non-disclosure would not be enforceable just because
I was not hired. I remember a story (of course I don't know for sure it
is true, but it was in the book "Fire in the Valley") that told of IBM
requiring Microsoft to sign that MS would not disclose any proprietary
info in their first meeting. Then when IBM was happy that MS had
something to offer, they had MS sign a ND for the second meeting where
IBM spilled thier beans. In neither case did the two companies have any
working agreements that required money to be given. The only requirement
for the ND contract to be enforceable in that regard is that each side
received "consideration". This can take many forms. 

But you are way off base telling me that you know what I was told and
that I don't. 


-- 

Rick Collins

rick.collins@XYarius.com

Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the XY
removed.



Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
Specializing in DSP and FPGA design

Arius
4 King Ave
Frederick, MD 21701-3110
301-682-7772 Voice
301-682-7666 FAX

Internet URL http://www.arius.com
Article: 24601
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Artur Leung <aleung@REMOVEsunflower.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 20:36:55 -0500
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Hi Herman,

     I thought that the NDA is required when you accept an offer to work for
that company, but I have never thought that an NDA is required, too, for an
interview, and I was never required to sign one.  The original poster, Mr.
Rickman, does raise a very good point.  The chance is relatively high that you
will be interviewing with several companies which are in the same field.  So
what if I refuse to sign the NDA?  Do I get a lower chance of being employed
by that company?  Would they stop the interview immediately?  I am interested
to know more.  8-)

Artur
8.14.2000

Herman wrote:

> Hi Mr Rickman,
>
> I won't sign it - I had the same problem recently.  During an interview,
> the company is interviewing you, not so much vice versa, so why would
> they want a ND?  You open yourself to unneccesary litigation by signing.

Article: 24602
Subject: Re: Help! Troubles using async FIFO cores in Virtex
From: Ray Andraka <ray@andraka.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 01:50:01 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
You might try using from:to constraints instead of period around the FIFO's
BRAM.  The period constraint seems to flow through from one side of the BRAM to
the other, which might make so that a timing problem isn't detected in the
timing analyzer.  I believe there is an Answers Database entry regarding this,
but I don't have the number.

Mikhail Matusov wrote:
> 
> I believe you are right and it is a timing problem. I set Read Enable of
> this FIFO to GND and it behaves much more reasonably now except for it is
> useless:)  Before I had a probe set right on the Block RAM Read Enable and I
> could not see there any unexpected reads but now I think that there are some
> glitches that confuse FIFO counters.
> 
> Yes I ran a simulation though not a full simulation. I simulated several
> reads and writes and it worked fine. Regarding timing constraints I have
> PERIOD type of constraints set for both read and write FIFO clocks. It is
> difficult to set other constraints as the FIFO datasheet does not have any
> timing specs. I could look up some data from the switching characteristics
> of the Virtex BLOCKRAM but it seems that the problem is not related to the
> BLOCKRAM itself... Clocks are not very fast BTW, one is 40MHz and another
> just 10MHz...
> 
> Thanks for the input.
> 
> /Mikhail
> 
> Austin Franklin <austin@d44arkroom.com> wrote in message
> news:01bfff3f$a5d6bf00$8c0af7a5@drt1...
> >
> > It sounds to me like a timing problem.  Is your design fully timespec'd,
> > and if so, when you route, does it make timing?  If your design is
> > timespec'd, then your timespecs might be wrong...
> >
> > Did you run a simulation?
> >

-- 
-Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930     Fax 401/884-7950
email ray@andraka.com  
http://www.andraka.com  or http://www.fpga-guru.com
Article: 24603
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 22:14:51 -0400
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
"E. Robert Tisdale" wrote:
> 
> rickman wrote:
> > I don't know where you got your information. I have been asked to sign a
> > non-disclosure agreement for the interview process. One company
> > specifically said that they don't feel they can conduct a proper
> > interview without revealing sensitive information. I think that is
> > nonsense! This was stated as a precondition to the interview along with
> > completing an application. It did not even come out until I asked if
> > there was anything that I needed to sign. I have been through a few
> > interviews over the years.
> >
> > I don't know that a non-disclosure would not be enforceable just because
> > I was not hired. I remember a story (of course I don't know for sure it
> > is true, but it was in the book "Fire in the Valley") that told of IBM
> > requiring Microsoft to sign that MS would not disclose any proprietary
> > info in their first meeting. Then when IBM was happy that MS had
> > something to offer, they had MS sign a ND for the second meeting where
> > IBM spilled thier beans. In neither case did the two companies have any
> > working agreements that required money to be given. The only requirement
> > for the ND contract to be enforceable in that regard is that each side
> > received "consideration". This can take many forms.
> >
> > But you are way off base telling me that you know what I was told and
> > that I don't.
> 
> A non disclosure agreement wouldn't prevent you
> from working for a competitor.
> You just agree not to disclose what you learn in the interview.
> If the agreement actually prevents you from going to work
> for a competitor, it is a non compete agreement.
> Have you read the agreement?  Can you post it here?
> If you need to retain a lawyer to tell you whether you are signing
> a non disclosure agreement or a non compete agreement,
> you shouldn't sign anything.  Just look for work elsewhere.

It could prevent me from working on the identical product for another
company. It would be impossible to "not disclose" information if the
product is the same and uses the same concepts. I have read about people
being sued by former employers for working on the same product for a
different company. The court in that case ruled that the new company
could not ask the employee to work on the same product, but the old
company could not require the employee to work elsewhere. The old
company was trying to enforce an agreement to prevent the employee from
working for *any* competitor. 

I will have one NDA in the morning by mail. I will scan it in (without
the company name) and post it on a web site if you are interested. The
other company does not sound like they are willing to even discuss the
matter. I am waiting to hear if they will send me a copy. 

While thinking about what an employer is worried about, it occured to me
that they might be seeing a lot of applicants from their competitors.
Perhaps they think that interviewees are being sent just to try to glean
sensitive info??? 


-- 

Rick Collins

rick.collins@XYarius.com

Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the XY
removed.



Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
Specializing in DSP and FPGA design

Arius
4 King Ave
Frederick, MD 21701-3110
301-682-7772 Voice
301-682-7666 FAX

Internet URL http://www.arius.com
Article: 24604
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: "Jeff Stout" <jeffstout@mylinuxisp.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 21:27:22 -0500
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
You and Mr. Tisdale are talking about two different animals.

A Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) simply says you won't
disclose any detail about their (IP) unless they disclose
it first.  Unless you plane to actually steel the idea or blab
to the press, you can usually sign a NDA without too much
worry.

You are confusing this with a Non Competition agreement
(NCA) which basically says you won't go to work for anybody
else, or use what you learned from the company to make
money at their expense.  I've read that US civil law takes a
hard line on NCA's and they are in general (but not totally)
not very enforceable.  In generally, the company must
give you something extra (money) for you to sign away
your future rights.

Jeff Stout



Article: 24605
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Rudolf <rudolfl@adcomtech.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 02:49:57 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Normally you have to sign a ND agreement AFTER you got the offer. Not
on thge interview stage. After all, what is it they tell applicants
that competitors should not know about?

Rudolf

In article <39988E05.562512B2@yahoo.com>,
  rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I am interviewing for jobs and I am finding more than one company that
> wants me to sign a non-disclosure (ND). This is disturbing to me since
> it puts me in a difficult position. Let's say I sign a ND with
company A
> and take a job with company B who is a direct competitor. I end up
> working on a project similar to the one that company A told me about.
So
> because I interviewed with company A I am now liable for a lawsuit?
>
> Is this what a lot of companies are doing now? Are interviewees
> generally willing to sign such agreements?
>
> I had gotten to the point where I decided that I would not "pee in a
> bottle" to conduct an interview. I found that companies were using
this
> as a way to reject applicants without giving them a chance to object
to
> the drug test results. If you flunk the test because you ate a poppy
> seed roll that morning, you just don't get an offer. No offer, no
> challenges.
>
> Now they want you to sign away the right to work on a competing
product
> just to get an interview?
>
> --
>
> Rick Collins
>
> rick.collins@XYarius.com
>
> Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the
XY
> removed.
>
> Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
> Specializing in DSP and FPGA design
>
> Arius
> 4 King Ave
> Frederick, MD 21701-3110
> 301-682-7772 Voice
> 301-682-7666 FAX
>
> Internet URL http://www.arius.com
>


Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Article: 24606
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 23:06:14 -0400
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Jeff Stout wrote:
> 
> You and Mr. Tisdale are talking about two different animals.
> 
> A Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) simply says you won't
> disclose any detail about their (IP) unless they disclose
> it first.  Unless you plane to actually steel the idea or blab
> to the press, you can usually sign a NDA without too much
> worry.
> 
> You are confusing this with a Non Competition agreement
> (NCA) which basically says you won't go to work for anybody
> else, or use what you learned from the company to make
> money at their expense.  I've read that US civil law takes a
> hard line on NCA's and they are in general (but not totally)
> not very enforceable.  In generally, the company must
> give you something extra (money) for you to sign away
> your future rights.
> 
> Jeff Stout

I am very aware of the difference. Mr Tisdale introduced the NCA into
the conversation because I indicated that the NDA might cost me a job if
it involved the same work on the same project for a different company.
In such a case it would be impossible for the employee to work without
"disclosing" information. At least it would leave both the employee and
the new company open to a law suit, even if it was ultimately settled in
their favor.


-- 

Rick Collins

rick.collins@XYarius.com

Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the XY
removed.



Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
Specializing in DSP and FPGA design

Arius
4 King Ave
Frederick, MD 21701-3110
301-682-7772 Voice
301-682-7666 FAX

Internet URL http://www.arius.com
Article: 24607
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: "Paul S. Martin" <psmartin@fuse.net>
Date: 14 Aug 2000 22:15:05 -0500
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Rickman,

If you read the detail of the NDA, they all usually contain the same
provisions.

You must keep information that is disclosed to you as Confidential for some
period of time.
UNLESS
a) It is or becomes publicly available
b) It is disclosed to you via another source and that source does not have
an NDA with the company
c) It is already known to you prior to signing the NDA

(b) is the best case for going to a competitor.  If you go to the competitor
and they are doing the same thing, you are safe as long as you don't
disclose information that they gave to you.  You would be in violation if
you said to your new employer "When I interviewed at company XYZ, they said
they were going to add feature ABC to their product that is coming out Q3 of
next year".  Just going to the competitor would not give the first company
cause to sue you.

Also, most NDA's have a provision that any conversations must be followed up
with a written document that describes what was confidential in the
conversation.

If you don't discuss anything you learned about a company during an
interview, you should be safe.




Article: 24608
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: "Neil Judell" <njudell@optimalsystemslab.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 04:07:23 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>

"Rudolf" <rudolfl@adcomtech.net> wrote in message
news:8nab4l$171$1@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Normally you have to sign a ND agreement AFTER you got the offer. Not
> on thge interview stage. After all, what is it they tell applicants
> that competitors should not know about?
>
> Rudolf
>
> In article <39988E05.562512B2@yahoo.com>,
>   rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > 301-682-7772 Voice
> > 301-682-7666 FAX
> >
> > Internet URL http://www.arius.com
> >
>
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.


In this country (US), a contract is not valid unless there is an exchange of
value.  If you don't get anything of value in exchange for the promise of
silence, then it isn't a contract.  The company would be VERY hard-pressed
to claim that a job interview has value.


Article: 24609
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: guymacon@deltanet.com (Guy Macon)
Date: 15 Aug 2000 05:32:44 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Jeff Stout wrote:
>
>
>You and Mr. Tisdale are talking about two different animals.
>
>A Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) simply says you won't
>disclose any detail about their (IP) unless they disclose
>it first.  Unless you plane to actually steel the idea or blab
>to the press, you can usually sign a NDA without too much
>worry.
>
>You are confusing this with a Non Competition agreement
>(NCA) which basically says you won't go to work for anybody
>else, or use what you learned from the company to make
>money at their expense.  I've read that US civil law takes a
>hard line on NCA's and they are in general (but not totally)
>not very enforceable.  In generally, the company must
>give you something extra (money) for you to sign away
>your future rights.
>
>Jeff Stout

I am with Jeff on this one.  I hire embedded systems programming
houses on a regular basis, and they all sign NDAs before I show
them what they are bidding on.  I haven't seen a vendor who had
a problem with this yet.  I essence, I am hiring a small company
instead of an individual...

Article: 24610
Subject: Re: clock skew problem please help!!
From: Peter Alfke <palfke@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 06:11:10 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
If you need to build a shift register, but your clock uncertainty is large, use

two flip-flops per bit and clock the even numbered flip-flops on the rising
edge, and the odd numbered ones on the falling edge.
That gives you a clock High or Low time tolerance against clock skew.
Very safe, but wasteful. But then FPGAs have lots of flip-flops...

Peter Alfke, Xilinx Applications
==========================================
Jasper Hendriks wrote:

> Hello,
>

Jasper Hendriks wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I having a problem with a signal which needs to be connected to d-flipflop
> clock input which is not a globally defined clock such as used with flex10k
> devices.
>
> The problem is very fundemental one:
> A change in a signal must occur after a clock change from low->high and not
> before it.
>
> I'm having this problem with a shift register:
> suppose we have:
>
> DFF1.clk= semiclk
> DFF2.clk= semiclk + delay1
>
> DFF1.q= DFF2.d (after delay2)
>
> I need to be sure that delay2 > delay1 + holdtime(DFF2)?
> How do I accomplish this? Can I assign a special status to my clk line which
> cant be a globally defined clock line?
>
> Regards,
>
> Jasper

Article: 24611
Subject: Re: what does 0.35 micron mean
From: Peter Alfke <palfke@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 06:18:59 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>


Patrick Schulz wrote:

> dPlease try to read any VLSI or ASIC book that you get.
>

This was a valid question that deserves more than a flip answer,
and "disk" (whoever you are): we can do without your vitriolic comments.

Let's all be nice here !

As usual, there is a short and a long answer:
Basically, the number describes the smallest dimension achieved on the
chip,
usually the gate length of the transistors.
0.35 microns is pretty old. We are now designing to 0.15 and even 0.13
micron
gate length. The shorter this value, the faster the transistors, and the
smaller
the chip, and the more logic can be crammed on the largest
manufacturable
chip, about an inch square.
But also the lower the supply voltage. By a quirk, the supply voltage (
in V )
is almost exactly the same number as the transistor gate length ( in
microns)
times ten.  So,  0.35 micron = 3.3 V, 0.25 micron = 2.5 V, etc.
Pretty scary proposition, as we are approaching 0.1 micron = 100
nanometers. A supply voltage of 1.0 V and 10 A of Icc will be a
challenge to board designers. Just think of the decoupling requirements
!

Metal width tends to be somewhat larger than the min gate length.
And metal pitch is usually twice the metal width.
At 0.2 micron horizontal width, and 1 micron vertical height, the metal
lines
are not the way you usually think of them, e.g. the way they are on a
pc-board...

It's all a matter of photolithography, using lots of optical trickery to
achieve
a resolution that is significantly smaller than the wavelength of the UV
light
being used. ( remember, the wavelength of visible light is between 0.4
to 0.8 micron !)
The industry wants to stay with optical methods as long as
possible, since X-rays or e-beam are far more expensive.

Peter Alfke, Xilinx Applications




Article: 24612
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Peter Alfke <palfke@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 06:39:55 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
I am not a lawyer, but I have, over the past 40 years, interviewed many
hundreds of candidates.
It would never occur to me to divulge secrets about my company's plans to
an applicant. You just assume that he will talk to the competition, and may
end up working there.
So you try to assess his/her skills.
There may be touchy cases, e.g. when a computer or semiconductor company
would interview people with telecom experiences. They might draw the
conclusion that Ithis company is interested in that market and has some
plans there. But that's the risk the employer runs.
But it would be irresponsible and dumb to divulge detailed product plans to
a non-committed applicant.

Peter Alfke



Article: 24613
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Dmitri Katchalov <dmitrik@my-deja.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 08:00:54 GMT
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
In article <3998b505$0$25442$45beb828@newscene.com>,
  "Paul S. Martin" <psmartin@fuse.net> wrote:
> Rickman,
>
> You must keep information that is disclosed to you as Confidential
> for some period of time.
> UNLESS
> a) It is or becomes publicly available
> b) It is disclosed to you via another source and that source does
> not have an NDA with the company
> c) It is already known to you prior to signing the NDA
>
> (b) is the best case for going to a competitor.  If you go to
> the competitor and they are doing the same thing, you are safe as
> long as you don't disclose information that they gave to you.
> You would be in violation if you said to your new employer "When
> I interviewed at company XYZ, they said they were going to add
> feature ABC to their product that is coming out Q3 of next year".
> Just going to the competitor would not give the first company
> cause to sue you.

And what if your new boss tells you "we are considering adding
feature ABC to our product. In your opinion, shall we do this?"
And how can you prove later on that your decision regarding
feature ABC was not influenced by the knowledge gained at your
recent job interview?

Dmitri


Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Article: 24614
Subject: About foundation 3.1
From: Vladislav Vasilenko <vlad@comsys.ntu-kpi.kiev.ua>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 11:21:47 +0300
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Hi all.
Which newer features of this  version (compare with f2.1) ? 
Best regrads, Vlad.
Article: 24615
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Jon Kirwan <jkirwan@easystreet.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 01:31:10 -0700
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
On 14 Aug 2000 22:15:05 -0500, "Paul S. Martin" <psmartin@fuse.net>
wrote:

>If you read the detail of the NDA, they all usually contain the same
>provisions.
>
>You must keep information that is disclosed to you as Confidential for some
>period of time.
>UNLESS
>a) It is or becomes publicly available
>b) It is disclosed to you via another source and that source does not have
>an NDA with the company
>c) It is already known to you prior to signing the NDA
>
>(b) is the best case for going to a competitor.  If you go to the competitor
>and they are doing the same thing, you are safe as long as you don't
>disclose information that they gave to you.  You would be in violation if
>you said to your new employer "When I interviewed at company XYZ, they said
>they were going to add feature ABC to their product that is coming out Q3 of
>next year".  Just going to the competitor would not give the first company
>cause to sue you.

This is all too complex just for an interview.

>Also, most NDA's have a provision that any conversations must be followed up
>with a written document that describes what was confidential in the
>conversation.
>
>If you don't discuss anything you learned about a company during an
>interview, you should be safe.

Yes, but you may be called to prove it.  This whole area becomes a
matter of perceptions.  And it can be very nasty.  No one needs this
kind of trouble in their lives, not even once.

But the bottom line is that I'd have to be paid real money to sign
anything.  No one has any business asking me to sign a legal document
that gives them something from me, without paying for it.  And an
interview is the wrong place to be signing legal documents.

They have every right to ask, of course.  And I have every right to
say no.  If that causes them problems, we've nothing more to talk
about.

Jon
Article: 24616
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Jon Kirwan <jkirwan@easystreet.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 01:33:56 -0700
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
On Tue, 15 Aug 2000 00:57:30 +0000, "E. Robert Tisdale"
<edwin@netwood.net> wrote:

>You just agree not to disclose what you learn in the interview.

Perhaps so.  But it can become a simple matter of perception, once you
sign something like that.  Very dangerous to do, in competitive
situations with only a few businesses at each others' throats.
Sometimes, just the perception that you may have said something you
shouldn't have is enough to waste a year of your life.

They should pay for that.  To sign, they pay.  Simple as that.

Jon
Article: 24617
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Jon Kirwan <jkirwan@easystreet.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 01:35:03 -0700
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
On Tue, 15 Aug 2000 06:39:55 GMT, Peter Alfke <palfke@earthlink.net>
wrote:

>I am not a lawyer, but I have, over the past 40 years, interviewed many
>hundreds of candidates.
>It would never occur to me to divulge secrets about my company's plans to
>an applicant. You just assume that he will talk to the competition, and may
>end up working there.
>So you try to assess his/her skills.
>There may be touchy cases, e.g. when a computer or semiconductor company
>would interview people with telecom experiences. They might draw the
>conclusion that Ithis company is interested in that market and has some
>plans there. But that's the risk the employer runs.
>But it would be irresponsible and dumb to divulge detailed product plans to
>a non-committed applicant.

Excellent!

Jon
Article: 24618
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: Jon Kirwan <jkirwan@easystreet.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 01:36:49 -0700
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
On Tue, 15 Aug 2000 04:07:23 GMT, "Neil Judell"
<njudell@optimalsystemslab.com> wrote:

>In this country (US), a contract is not valid unless there is an exchange of
>value.  If you don't get anything of value in exchange for the promise of
>silence, then it isn't a contract.  The company would be VERY hard-pressed
>to claim that a job interview has value.

I believe that is true.  Same is true of many non-competes, as well.
Some States specifically forbid most of them, as does Oregon here.

Jon
Article: 24619
Subject: Re: 8251 USART
From: Eduardo Augusto Bezerra <E.A.Bezerra@sussex.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 09:59:51 +0100
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>

Thank you all for the suggestions I've received.

Unfortunately, the verilog code (8251.v) sent in the last message to
this newsgroup is not synthesizable.

I've enquired some companies and the less expensive option I found it
was US$21,000 (if the core is to be used in a single project). As mine
is an academic project, there is no way we can afford to spend this
amount. The solution I found is not to use an 8251A, and instead,
I'm considering the use of the Serial UART core from
http://www.opencores.org/cores/uart/

It's not exactly what we need, and I'm still looking for other options.

Regards

Eduardo.


> "news.hinet.net" wrote:
> 
> this code from some HDL text book ....
> if you want to use , please tell Author (not me)
> 
> 
>      "Peter Alfke" <palfke@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>      news:398B90D3.A2B3CE81@earthlink.net...
>      Eduardo Augusto Bezerra wrote:
> 
>        Hi
> 
>        <Does anybody know the price of a synthesizable 8251A
>      core? I'm also
>        looking for a Manchester encoder/decoder. Is there a place
>      where I
>        can find these cores for free? I'll decide which FPGA to
>      use in my
>        design as soon as I find the cores. >
> 
> 
>      A Manchester encoder is trivial, essentially an XOR.
>      A Manchester decoder is described in the Xilinx XCell
>      magazine in 1995.
>      The design uses only three XC3000 or XC4000 or Spartan CLBs.
> 
>      http://www.xilinx.com/xcell/xl17/xl17-30.pdf
> 
>      Peter Alfke, Xilinx Applications
> 
>              Name: 8251.v
>    8251.v    Type: ACTIVE HDE Document
>                    (application/x-unknown-content-type-ACTIVE.HDE)
>          Encoding: quoted-printable

--
Eduardo Augusto Bezerra
Space Science Centre
School of Engineering and Information Technology
University of Sussex
Brighton, BN1 9QT
England, UK

Phones: +44 (0)1273 877086 or +44 (0)700 5568783
Fax: +44 (0)1273 678399
EIT II, room 4B11

*** UK ***
mailto:E.A.Bezerra@sussex.ac.uk - http://www.sussex.ac.uk/~tapu9
Space Group's web site: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/engg/research/space
*** Brasil ***
mailto:eduardob@inf.pucrs.br - http://www.inf.pucrs.br/~eduardob
GAPH's web site: http://www.inf.pucrs.br/~gaph
*** ACM ***
mailto:eduardob@acm.org
Article: 24620
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: p.kootsookos@remove.ieee.org
Date: 15 Aug 2000 09:41:13 +0000
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com> writes:

> I am interviewing for jobs and I am finding more than one company that
> wants me to sign a non-disclosure (ND). This is disturbing to me since
> it puts me in a difficult position. Let's say I sign a ND with company A
> and take a job with company B who is a direct competitor. I end up
> working on a project similar to the one that company A told me about. So
> because I interviewed with company A I am now liable for a lawsuit? 

I have been required to sign an NDA before at least one job interview
in the past.  At the time, the various job offers I had were quite
disparate, so the likelihood of there being a conflict was minimal.  I
signed it and, eventually, took the job.

There are at least two differences between my situation and yours:
1. I had no competing offers in the same industry and 2. I had a high
level of confidence in the company asking me to sign (I had some
history with them, though not as an employee).

Ciao,

Peter K.

-- 
Peter J. Kootsookos
Wb: www.clubi.ie/PeterK
Article: 24621
Subject: Re: Non-disclosures in job interviews
From: rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 06:33:47 -0400
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Guy Macon wrote:
> 
> Jeff Stout wrote:
> >
> >
> >You and Mr. Tisdale are talking about two different animals.
> >
> >A Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) simply says you won't
> >disclose any detail about their (IP) unless they disclose
> >it first.  Unless you plane to actually steel the idea or blab
> >to the press, you can usually sign a NDA without too much
> >worry.
> >
> >You are confusing this with a Non Competition agreement
> >(NCA) which basically says you won't go to work for anybody
> >else, or use what you learned from the company to make
> >money at their expense.  I've read that US civil law takes a
> >hard line on NCA's and they are in general (but not totally)
> >not very enforceable.  In generally, the company must
> >give you something extra (money) for you to sign away
> >your future rights.
> >
> >Jeff Stout
> 
> I am with Jeff on this one.  I hire embedded systems programming
> houses on a regular basis, and they all sign NDAs before I show
> them what they are bidding on.  I haven't seen a vendor who had
> a problem with this yet.  I essence, I am hiring a small company
> instead of an individual...

But how many times have you asked an interviewee to sign a NDA? I don't
see how it is at all similar since the interviewee will not need to see
any specs, or company plans or any financial data that is not available
to the stock holders. 


-- 

Rick Collins

rick.collins@XYarius.com

Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the XY
removed.



Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
Specializing in DSP and FPGA design

Arius
4 King Ave
Frederick, MD 21701-3110
301-682-7772 Voice
301-682-7666 FAX

Internet URL http://www.arius.com
Article: 24622
Subject: Re: 8251 USART
From: rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 06:42:07 -0400
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Eduardo Augusto Bezerra wrote:
> 
> Thank you all for the suggestions I've received.
> 
> Unfortunately, the verilog code (8251.v) sent in the last message to
> this newsgroup is not synthesizable.
> 
> I've enquired some companies and the less expensive option I found it
> was US$21,000 (if the core is to be used in a single project). As mine
> is an academic project, there is no way we can afford to spend this
> amount. The solution I found is not to use an 8251A, and instead,
> I'm considering the use of the Serial UART core from
> http://www.opencores.org/cores/uart/
> 
> It's not exactly what we need, and I'm still looking for other options.

What is not suitable about this core? Would a 16550 work better for you? 

The 8251 is a very old device and in not in much use anymore. The 16550
on the other hand is in every PC made. It is part of every modem and is
often used as a common interface for special boards for which a special
driver is not required. So it will be much easier to find. 


-- 

Rick Collins

rick.collins@XYarius.com

Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the XY
removed.



Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
Specializing in DSP and FPGA design

Arius
4 King Ave
Frederick, MD 21701-3110
301-682-7772 Voice
301-682-7666 FAX

Internet URL http://www.arius.com
Article: 24623
Subject: Re: what does 0.35 micron mean
From: rickman <spamgoeshere4@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 06:46:44 -0400
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
Peter Alfke wrote:
> It's all a matter of photolithography, using lots of optical trickery to
> achieve
> a resolution that is significantly smaller than the wavelength of the UV
> light
> being used. ( remember, the wavelength of visible light is between 0.4
> to 0.8 micron !)
> The industry wants to stay with optical methods as long as
> possible, since X-rays or e-beam are far more expensive.
> 
> Peter Alfke, Xilinx Applications

Any idea of how much further this can be pushed? I know that the
lithography people have seen a brickwall ahead ever since 1.0 um. But
certainly these optical "tricks" can not continue indefinitely. The last
I looked at it, they were moving the wavelength of the UV light to
shorter values. But I think this makes it harder to find resists and
masks that work with the shorter UV. At some point short UV becomes
"soft" X-rays.


-- 

Rick Collins

rick.collins@XYarius.com

Ignore the reply address. To email me use the above address with the XY
removed.



Arius - A Signal Processing Solutions Company
Specializing in DSP and FPGA design

Arius
4 King Ave
Frederick, MD 21701-3110
301-682-7772 Voice
301-682-7666 FAX

Internet URL http://www.arius.com
Article: 24624
Subject: Re: what does 0.35 micron mean
From: Patrick Schulz <schulz@rumms.uni-mannheim.de>
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 14:13:18 +0200
Links: << >>  << T >>  << A >>
rickman wrote:
> 
> Peter Alfke wrote:
> > It's all a matter of photolithography, using lots of optical trickery to
> > achieve
> > a resolution that is significantly smaller than the wavelength of the UV
> > light
> > being used. ( remember, the wavelength of visible light is between 0.4
> > to 0.8 micron !)
> > The industry wants to stay with optical methods as long as
> > possible, since X-rays or e-beam are far more expensive.
> >
> > Peter Alfke, Xilinx Applications
> 
> Any idea of how much further this can be pushed? I know that the
> lithography people have seen a brickwall ahead ever since 1.0 um. But
> certainly these optical "tricks" can not continue indefinitely. The last
> I looked at it, they were moving the wavelength of the UV light to
> shorter values. But I think this makes it harder to find resists and
> masks that work with the shorter UV. At some point short UV becomes
> "soft" X-rays.
> 
Rick,

I know of a alternative lithography method currently used in MPW runs, which is called Direct Slice
Writing (DSW). They use electron-beams to write patterns directly onto a wavers resist layer and can
achieve resolutions up to 0.07um. But of course that is too expensive for mass production. 
The lithography people say that wavelengths below 0.13um become unusable, because materials for
lenses and masks become completely absorbant at this wavelength. Therefore, feature sizes below
0.10um could not be managed by common lithographic methods. 

Patrick
-- 
Patrick Schulz (schulz@rumms.uni-mannheim.de, pschulz@ieee.org)
University of Mannheim - Dep. of Computer Architecture
68161 Mannheim - GERMANY / http://mufasa.informatik.uni-mannheim.de
Phone: +49-621-181-2720     Fax: +49-621-181-2713


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