A couple of years ago I wrote an editorial that addressed some of the worst habits of a very few of my colleagues in the technology media. At least one person was recognized in my description and it brought the wrath of a senior editor on me. I had hoped that the editorial would have persuaded some peers to find a way to change, but it apparently did not.

It is a significant part of an editorıs job to listen carefully in briefings with vendors, to ensure that you understand their roadmaps, the operation of the parts and the markets that are being addressed. As a result it is incumbent on editors to determine if the story is important -- or valid enough -- to pass on to you, the reader. When the criteria have been met we need to faithfully tell the stories about the technologies or products.

For Analog Avenue the criterion I have chosen for writing product reviews is a simple one: My belief that the products will make money for the vendor. I donıt care whether the product originates from California or Japan; I donıt take into account whether it is an $0.80 part or a $40.00 part. And, yes, there have been attempts -- probably some successful ones -- to get vaporware into print. But I probably spend 15 hours a week either in meetings with vendors -- the designers and the product marketers -- or on the telephone in briefings trying to ensure that what I bring you is as accurate as I can make it.

Of course there are mistakes made, of course there are products that donıt meet expectations. But by and large most of the vendors donıt disagree with my findings. However, imagine a manufacturerıs response to securing an editorıs time and committing resources to the presentation only to find, during the briefing, that the editor has fallen asleep, or that however great your story nothing ever seems to get into "print."

Having been present at such briefings, and having other stories related to me by PR people, is what led to my original editorial. At CICC recently (San Diego, May 15 - 19, 1999) the same editor was fast asleep at the back of one of the presentation theaters on two occasions that I saw. I find it rather humiliating to be thought of as being in the same profession.

Sleep apnea, which this man clearly has, allows the sufferer to fall asleep anywhere at any time. I would certainly not like to be in a car being driven by an untreated sufferer. Many of the sufferers of sleep apnea are built like a Dickensı character who would fall asleep in the Pickwick Club. Some are not.

I can understand the difficulty in getting a referral to a decent sleep disordersı clinic. But any sleep apnea sufferer needs to do so before he/she gets killed in a motor vehicle.

How do I know about apnea? Because I am a sufferer myself. During my diagnostic "sleep" nights hooked up to sensors galore (a really worthwhile amount of analog engineering could dramatically improve the equipment involved) it was found that I stopped breathing some hundreds of times an hour, when I was on my back, sometimes for more than twenty seconds. Apart from the possibility of an "event" taking place (as neurologists like to phrase it) during such moments, the apnea leaves you exhausted during the next day.

The fix for me was simple. I sleep with a CPAP (continuous, positive air-pressure) machine that feeds air through a mask into my nose. With the right pressure I cannot breathe through my mouth, and cannot stop breathing. An added advantage is that I no longer snore. Itıs a win-win situation.

Even if you cannot write an editorial about it, if you know someone who exhibits the obvious daytime symptoms make them get a referral to a sleep/wake disorders specialist even if their insurance company balks. It may seem like a joke to some, but oftentimes there is nothing funny about falling asleep on the job.

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