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Google Glass meets “smart” health

June 18, 2013 | by Stephanie Carmichael, Contributor | Comments

Google Glass is a huge step forward, but trendy eyewear isn’t everything. Sometimes, you gotta think about health. “Smart” eyewear has just collided with smart vision correction — and no, I’m not talking about the prescription-based versions of Google Glass that are in development.

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The Army’s version of Facebook

June 18, 2013 1:57 pm | by Stephanie Carmichael, Contributor | Comments

Facebook. We use it every day to stay connected with family and friends and, well, to snoop on people and thumb through their photos. Since we’re essentially chronicling our lives, few of us probably consider it a good way to stay safe in the digital age. The U.S. Army might disagree. It’s borrowing the concept of a Facebook "timeline"....

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How I learned to stop worrying and love “killer robots”

June 18, 2013 1:19 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Comments

Unmanned weapons systems (aka, "killer robots") have the power to reduce collateral damage and save lives, and we should support and encourage their development, not preemptively ban them and set disproportionately high ethical standards as a function of their deployment.

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What feature or trend will become hot technology in automotive infotainment the next year? (Part II)

June 13, 2013 3:37 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Comments

What feature or trend will become hot technology in automotive infotainment the next year? Tullio Cettolin: Consumers love the world of apps and instant Internet connectivity, and now they want it in their cars, too. Maybe they want to listen to their favorite Hawaiian music station via Tune-In during their daily commute on the U.S. continent.

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What feature or trend will become hot technology in automotive infotainment the next year?

June 13, 2013 3:35 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Managing Editor | Comments

What feature or trend will become hot technology in automotive infotainment the next year? The next wave of innovation in automotive infotainment will center around connectivity and personalization. As more cars are enable to connect to cloud based applications via the internet, more features will be added allowing passengers to engage with their social network, update location and access specific content.

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What's next for near field communications? Engineers speak out

June 13, 2013 3:23 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Managing Editor | Comments

Here at ECN we're always looking for the "next big thing" and this month we're focusing on near-field communications. NFC only seems to be increasing in popularity and usage across the electronics board, but we want to know what's happening in your labs and on your benches.

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10 Years of Speedy Prototypes

June 11, 2013 5:30 pm | by Screaming Circuits | Comments

SN74LS90 years and we're having a party - a party for engineers. Good food & drink, factory tours, door prizes, presentations... You just need to RSVP to: rsvp@screamingcircuits.com or call us at 503-266-9100. July 18, 2013, 3:00pm to 7:00pm. 1140...

Top 6 mobile apps for engineers

June 11, 2013 3:44 pm | by Brian Spero, www.moneycrashers.com | Comments

Engineers of every discipline face new challenges in the modern workplace, whether by keeping pace with rapidly developing technology, or accessing essential software while working in the field. Besides calling on knowledge and experience to get the job done, engineers rely on a host of resources and tools that, thanks to the development of mobile applications, are becoming increasingly accessible from handheld devices.

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The everyday usefulness of the problem statement

June 10, 2013 1:32 pm | by Alan Nicol, Executive Member, AlanNicolSolutions | Comments

Last week, I wrote about how our continuous improvement and process improvement tools and methods can be used any time and discussed the Parameter Diagram or P-diagram as an example. Let’s continue that thread and look at the ubiquitous usefulness of the problem statement.

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Is this the connected home’s wave of the future?

June 10, 2013 12:44 pm | by Chris Warner, Executive Editor | Comments

Here’s some news that will make couch potatoes everywhere rejoice: Computer scientists at the University of Washington have come up with a sensorless and cameraless way to detect human movements, allowing for gesture control of their electronics and household appliances.

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10 Years of Screaming at Circuits

June 10, 2013 11:53 am | by Screaming Circuits | Comments

ladies and gentlemen and engineers of all ages... Screaming Circuits, A Milwaukee Electronics company, is celebrating ten years of specializing in speedy prototype assembly.In honor of your great support, we're having a party! Come and see where it all happens....

Introduction to Fractional Factorial Designed Experiments

June 10, 2013 11:41 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | Comments

Scientific inquiry is aided by sensible application of statistical tools. I grew up around the best minds in applied statistics. My father was an eminent applied statistican, and George Box (the person in the video) was often around our house … Continue reading →

DIY hot-air iron

June 5, 2013 10:20 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | Comments

A while back, I wrote a column on fine-pitch soldering. Several commenters noted that a hot-air soldering iron was the hand tool of choice when it came to fine pitch soldering by hand. So I decided to look up the tools and found that they were out of my price range. I still wanted one.

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Top 10 must-read posts from May

June 4, 2013 12:04 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Managing Editor | Comments

Here’s a rundown of the most read, most popular, most awesome articles on the web. Take a look at what you missed the first time around or check up on an old favorite to see the conversation in the comments. Keep checking out the Lead at www.ecnmag.com....

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Rice's breakthrough in carbon nanotubes

June 3, 2013 9:49 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | Comments

Rice University has been making considerable progress in devising methods to manufacture carbon nanotubes (CNT) for use as electrical conductors. The breakthrough came in 2003.Rice’s breakthrough stems from the fact that the researchers are using a wet method to produce the CNT thread.

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Appropriate Technology Health Care Solution Could Save 72,000 Lives a Year

June 3, 2013 4:58 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | Comments

We need more medical solutions that serve the majority of humanity instead of just the rich. Some medical research is innately costly and therefore require large costs to pay back the investment. But too little concern is shown for solutions … Continue reading →

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