Blogs
Designing just for fun
December 20, 2012 3:58 pm | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | CommentsI'm in the process of designing and building a 10 MHz time/frequency receiver to pick up the WWV signal and to see if I can accurately reproduce the signal frequency for general lab calibration purposes. Yes, there are better ways to get accurate frequency calibration.
Working as a software developer
December 17, 2012 8:26 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsFor most of my career I have been focused on management improvement – helping organizations improve results. Technology plays a big role in that and along the way I found myself becoming a programer for a while; and then....
Apple iPad shipments to reach 100 million in 2013?
December 14, 2012 4:29 pm | by David Hsieh, DisplaySearch | CommentsIn 2012, Apple’s iPad continues to dominate tablet PC panel production. According to our Quarterly Large Area TFT Panel Shipment Report, panel makers including Samsung, LG Display, Sharp and Innolux will ship 70 million 9.7” iPad panels in 2012. Of those, 23 million will be iPad 2 XGA panels and 47 million will be new iPad QXGA panels....
Exploring the potential of watch crystals
December 14, 2012 9:14 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | CommentsWatch crystals are amazing devices. Typical 32KHz clock crystals are very stable in frequency if you can keep them close to their turnover temperature. If you can hold the crystal to within 1 degC of the turnover temperature, it is +/-.04 ppm from the frequency at turnover.
Continuously falling notebook PC panel prices
December 10, 2012 1:04 pm | by David Hsieh, DisplaySearch | CommentsTrends in TFT LCD panel prices are very different for the three main applications. TV panel prices have been increasing for 3 quarters, and are becoming the main source of profit for panel makers; monitor panel prices are stagnant, as panel production has been falling due to weak demand....
More Beagle CAD Paws
December 6, 2012 4:30 pm | by Screaming Circuits | CommentsContinuing on from my last post... As I said, I do everything I can to avoid re-using the package footprint when adding the the parts library in Eagle CAD. The schematic symbol can be a different story though. It still...
UN looks for an Internet "fix"
December 6, 2012 3:45 pm | by M. Simon | CommentsQuite a few of the member states (colloquially known as "Dictators 'R Us") of the UN want to change the rules of the game. The Internet Game. They want to be able to shut down Internet traffic at will. And they want to do it legally. Whatever that means in the context of nations. Anyway, here is what they ( the miscreants) are proposing.
Cancer Risks From Our Food
December 3, 2012 2:38 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsRandall Munroe illustrates RA Fisher’s point that you must think to draw reasonable conclusions from data. Click the image to see the full xkcd comic. Pretty much everything you eat is associated with cancer. Don’t worry about it. by Sarah … Continue reading →
Beagle CAD paw prints
November 30, 2012 1:03 pm | by Screaming Circuits | CommentsUnfortunately, I can't generically hand out Eagle CAD QFN footprints without knowing the specific part, but I can illustrate the areas I initially had difficulty with. All of the traps that used to get me seem blindingly obvious now, but...
“Sustainability” is inherently unsustainable
November 29, 2012 9:50 am | by M. Simon | CommentsI recently came across a site (no link will be provided for reasons that will be obvious shortly) that proposed that engineers design products for sustainability (how long is that?). They also propose going one better for really advanced products. Those would be products that pose no risk to society.
The ESD Habbit or an unexpected shock
November 29, 2012 12:34 am | by Screaming Circuits | CommentsExcitement is building here. In a little over two weeks from today, The Hobbit movie will be released to theaters. I'm sure everyone reading here knows the story, but in case you don't I'll spoil it for you. It's a...
Long lines on a PCB
November 28, 2012 12:17 pm | by M. Simon | CommentsOn a list I belong to (which prefers to remain anonymous), there has been a long discussion on how to terminate lines on a PCB that uses parts with fast rise times. Of course, circumstances vary and it depends on the rise time, but for rise times on the order of one nanosecond (TTL, AHC, LVC, etc), a resistor from 22 to 50 ohms in series with the source seems to work well.
Something Completely Different
November 28, 2012 7:48 am | by Screaming Circuits | CommentsHere's something you don't see every day. We, at Screaming Circuits, have had folks jump on a commercial airplane and fly here from another state to pick up boards we've assembled for them, but we've never had a personal helicopter...
Mobile computing will still be gasping for air time at CES
November 26, 2012 9:47 am | by Noam Kedem, Leyden Energy | CommentsThe world is going untethered, with computing no longer tied to the home or office. Business is getting behind this ina big way: according to Cisco, over a third of the U.S. workforce is now completely mobile, and Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) programs are taking off. Both consumer and business mobility depend on the developing cloud....
Drug Company Funding Taints Published Medical Research
November 26, 2012 7:15 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsScience provide the opportunity for us to achieve great benefits for society. However, especially in medical research money can make what are already very difficult judgments even less reliable. Add that to a very poor understanding of science in those … Continue reading →
