#10,000

This thing in the picture behind the men is a "10,000-transistor multidimentional [sic] pulse height analyzer." Being as my background in nuclear physics pretty much consists of being able to spell "nuclear physics," I refer you to the caption that accompanies the picture, taken in March of 1964:

Fission studies owed much of their success to sophisticated new equipment for detection and analysis of nuclear fragments. In their Bldg. 70 laboratory, nuclear chemists John Rasmussen (left), Stanley Thompson and Harry Bowman share honors with their 10,000-transistor multidimentional pulse height analyzer.

Why a picture of this? Because some time today, if current visiting patterns hold true, the 10,000th visitor will arrive in this particular sector of the blogosphere, and I was looking for something associated with "10,000" that also evoked something of my sense of both me and my blog: it's almost as old as I am, for one thing; and there's something quaint about transistors nowadays, isn't there, something that fits my sense of whatever it is I'm doing here: behind the trends of the better-stronger-faster sites out there but which still (mostly) accomplishes what I hope to accomplish when I post something. There's also the not-entirely-insignificant fact that I've posted a picture of a technology I have not the faintest comprehension of using a technology I have only the faintest comprehension of.

Anyway.

I know I say this every time I post something acknowledging one of these milestones, but the very fact that the milestones occur in the first place confirms it as truth: I would have stopped doing this long ago if I hadn't had visitors who kept on returning and leaving comments and linking to things I've posted, all of which in turn causes me to visit their sites and link to them and leads me to post more stuff. It's a most delightful vicious cycle. It's been fun for me, but as with most fun things, it's more fun if others feel they get something out of it as well.

So: once again, Thank you. I promise the next post will be far less milestone-ish.