Lego Holiday Ornament page shows how to build a set of fun holiday items with Lego. The first object you will tackle is an ornament for your tree. The project web page contains model file for free Lego Digital Designer 4.0 software. Geek Christmas Ornaments: Part 9 web page shows how to make keyboard circuitry →
Ethernet link speeds of 100 megabits per second or even 1 Gbit/s per second are typical in today’s LANs. When everything is wired to Ethernet LAN very many LAN connections are needed and they consume some power. And the faster the Ethernet connection is, typically more power it consumes. IEEE Spectrum Energy-Efficient Ethernet article tells →
Nokia, once a world leader, is losing popularity to rising stars like Google Android and Apple iOS. Android phones are selling more than Symbian phones. Google activates 300,000 phones every day and Nokia Symbian phones somewhat less. What has happened to the old clear smartphone OS leader Symbian. Why Symbian failed: developers, developers, developers article →
A working robotics prototype involves mechanical, electrical, and software design. Five golden rules for prototyping robotic systems article shares some lessons learned while designing an autonomous robotic helicopter.It shows that a well-thought-out plan for prototyping can significantly pay off in the long run and can be even more important in robotics applications than in other →
Many modern PCs still use the over 20 year old 15 pin analogue VGA connector to connect the display to PC. The VGA connector carries the video signal in RGB format, which is a bit outdated in the world where the graphics card and display devices are all digital. Most Windows PC builders have been →
Tyco Electronics has an interesting application note named Relay Contact Life. The Relay Contact Life document outlines the basics of relay contact selecting, properties of different contact material and strategies for protecting relay contacts. There is no such thing as a universal relay contact. Relay contacts are available in a variety of metals and alloys, →
A new ePanorama.net main index page is now on-line. The new index page tries to fit all the most often needed links in the one web browser screen without need to scroll the page. The new page contains a daily changing picture element. That picture element is often a photograph on more or less electronics →
RIAA Misfires, Grazes PCMag.com article points that the music industry has gone off the deep end. The RIAA and other music industry organizations have spent the better part of the decade fighting the digital transition, with only a shrinking business to show for. It’s time for these music execs to pull their collective heads out →
There are almost as many opinions on how to meter and monitor audio signals as there are audio engineers. There are several standards on audio signal level metering. PrimaLED has made a nice chart World audio level scales & calibration that compares them to each other (click picture to see it bigger size). It also →
The challenge of protecting today’s systems from transient threats is more complex than ever before. As semiconductor manufacturers introduce new wireline transmission devices built on smaller CMOS geometries, more circuit protection challenges are emerging. CommsDesign article System level transient voltage protection–Five in-depth answers to ESD questions gives answers to important questions that can ensure that →