Google announced on Tuesday a new feature of the Android operating system called Android @ Home. This framework and associated functions promise to transform an Android device into a home automation controller that connects and directs all of the devices and appliances in the user’s home: gaming consoles, lighting, appliances, irrigations systems and anything else →
Prosessori magazine just published my article on Android mobile operating system in it’s newest 05/2011 issue. The article is written in Finnish and now available only on printed magazine (later available on-line for subscribers). The Android links to products and resources mentioned on the article are available on-line on Prosessori web pages, check them out. →
Game developer David Braben creates a USB stick PC for $25 article tells about an interesting project from Raspberry Pi Foundation. The idea is to a manufacture a very low cost PC that can be given to kids for free and courses built up around their use. Braben has developed a tiny USB stick PC →
UT81B from Uni-Trend is a scopemeter. It is a multimeter with some basic oscilloscope functions. This multimeter can measure what you expect from a normal multimeter: DC V up to 1000V, AC up to 750V, resistance up to 40Mohm, frequency up to 10MHz, capacitance 100uF, AC/DC current 10A (and of course it has also a →
Quick edit mode allows one to use the mouse to select text, cut, copy and paste in command shell. This is very useful. Something I have used to do on Linux shell and wondered why I can’t do the same easily on Windows command shell. This mode is not enabled by default in Windos, although →
You wouldn’t write your username and passwords on a postcard and mail it for the world to see, so why are you doing it online? Every time you log in to any service that uses a plain HTTP connection that’s essentially what you’re doing. There is a better way, the secure version of HTTP—HTTPS. HTTPS →
A location-based services (LBS) are a hot topic among mobile services developers. A location-based service (LBS) is an information or entertainment service, accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the geographical position of the mobile device. Modern smart-phones have abilities to locate the position of the →
Testing audio-noise-reduction circuits, PLLs (phase-locked loops), and audio-frequency filters may require a noisy sine wave. Generate noisy sine waves with a sound card article tells that using a typical computer sound card, free software, and an external amplifier circuit, you can create a noisy sine wave. So a sound card, software, and an amplifier circuit →
Audiophiles seem to revel in minor controversies – vinyl vs CD’s, tubes versus solid state, capacitor, wires, magic dots… and negative feedback. At one extreme (“objectivists” and engineers), the position is that “feedback makes amplifiers perfect”. At the other extreme (“subjectivists”) usually claim that “feedback is a menacing succubus that sucks the life out of →
Using existing triac controllers and wiring offers a number of challenges for LED lighting. To maximize the success and adoption of solid-state lighting for retrofit lamps, the LED lamps should be capable of dimming when used with existing controllers and wiring. Lighting designs with flicker-free LED dimming article explores the typical TRIAC dimmer, some of →