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Editorials

• Did you miss the latest rants from our regular ZONE editors? Visit the Editorial Archives to catch up.
• NEW Paul McGoldrick uncovers some truthiness, and Lee Goldberg gets SERIOUS in this week's editorials; comments welcomed on the new EN-Genius Blog.
• NEW What's a "Norton" amplifier? A "transconductance" amp? Dear Dennis continues his explanation in this month's installment.
• RECENT Dennis Feucht looks at a new text on control theory for embedded systems.
• RECENT Martyn Green explains how one Korean company is successfully implementing subscription video on demand.
• RECENT Dennis Feucht repairs compact fluorescents in this month's Design Den.
• RECENT Lee Goldberg explains how CES is inching toward a greener future in his Conference Report.
• RECENT Let the eagle soar! The Austrian eagle, that is, according to this month's sleuthing into the world of chip art by our friends at Chipworks!
• RECENT The good folks at JibJab deliver a 2-minute lampoon of the year that was - look back at 2006 on our Humor Page o' the Week!
• RECENT Bring your seats upright and stow that tray table: contributor Andy Turudic's frequent flyer woes start at the terminal, not in the air, in his recent column.

Conference Reports & Updates

• Telecom Industry on The Mend In Chicago: Report from Supercomm 2004
  (Lee Goldberg...June 28 2004)
• Consumer Electronics Stake Holders Inch Towards A Green Future At CES
  (Lee Goldberg...January 22, 2007)

Chip Tags

• NEW A new installment in the ongoing art gallery of microscopic chip art brought to you by Chipworks and analogZONE. Here's the featured artwork for December 2006.
  • November 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006

Surveys, Polls & Contests

• A while back, we asked readers to share their personal war stories, lab mishaps and oops-did-we-really-do-that episodes. Alex, who works for an instrumentation company in the UK, was the lucky winner. We'll bring this feature back periodically, so be sure to hang onto those technical faux pas - they could be prize-winning material here on analogZONE.

Humor

• What sparks the twisted synapses of the brains behind analogZONE after a long week of engineering insight? The latest picks for Page o' the Week may give us a clue.
  • NEW Past year just a blur? The gang at JibJab refresh our memories in fine style.
  • Tired of coding that "work" stuff? Why not craft your own string using the Code of the Geeks?
  • No room in your cubicle for the "real thing?" Carve a virtual Hallowe'en pumpkin and e-mail it to friends here.
  • We love the Flying Spaghetti Monster...but even we aren't strong enough in the faith to build its church... in Lego! Be sure to take the "guided tour."
  • If only our webmaster had trademarked this technique when she had the chance! See what's been Overhead in the Office!
  • Generate Morse Code and mazes, plus Romance Novel Covers and Wanted Posters featuring friends, family and co-workers - there's creative fun for everyone at glassgiant.com!
  • In honor of the season, a compendium of Santa humor, and a link to NORAD's spiffy system for tracking the jolly old elf in his travels.
  • Finally, a drug we can all use...or can we? Ask if Panexa is right for you!
  • Have some image-generating fun with Montage-a-Google!
  • What happens when self-confessed geeks with time on their hands encounter one too many dead links? Visit Area 404 for a sampling!
  • Our webmaster went cross-eyed - not from coding, but from this page of optical illusions. But divine intervention by the Flying Spaghetti Monster prevented permanent damage...and was delicious, too!
  • Lee suggests a visit to Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie, where "How to Buy a Computer" will have you howling! (If you have trouble with the site plug-ins, as we did, you can also find them at Ampcast.)
  • Paul thinks we all need a dose of Bill & Ben, while it's a decidedly retro cell phone that takes Lee's fancy.
  • Darn it - depressingly commercial as it may be, we at analogZONE have wasted a great deal of time on stumping Darth Vader's mind-reading act. (But if you give it a whirl, don't try "chicken gizzards," "harpsichord" or "naked mole rat." We've been there and done that, and this guy learns fast!)
  • Every year we trade our pocket protectors for paintball and puns, in the April 1st foolZONE! If you missed it, go here to visit analogZONE's 2006 nod to the silly side of our industry!
  • Does your newborn, perhaps, possess "The Knack?" Listen here to the WAV file and find out! (If you liked this, there's more of the same engineering fun at this site!)
  • analogZONE staff don't miss the poorly-translated product manuals of the past, but they get a good laugh out of today's instruction sheets posted at Engrish.com, as well as just about everything else on that site.

Dennis' Design Den

• NEW Don't let those compact fluorescents pollute the environment or gather dust - step into the DesignDen and repair them!
• Maintain and configure your lab to function at its most effective.
• If you've finished Part One of the project to build a digital panel meter, it's time to move on to the analog subsystem in Part Two!
• Time for some springtime fun - build your own rocket launch controller! here's Part One and Part Two!
• Learn digital storage oscilloscope principles while building your own waveform recorder.
• Need line conditioning? Whip up a homegrown unit in no time.
• Build your own PWM generator!
• Every DIY dyno needs data acquisition and control firmware: this installment shows you how!
• This installment adds sine converter and board layout to the build-your-own sweeping function generator project.
• More electronics and firmware for the build-your-own-dyno project.
• Add power supply, output amplifier, and V/I converter circuits to the sweeping function generator project.
• Build your own dyno generator.
• Build a sweeping function generator!
• Build a DIY Dynamometer! Part I and Part II.

Dear Dennis

analogZONE's Doctor is IN! Dennis Feucht offers his expertise in response to your queries:

• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006
• August 2006
• July 2006
• June 2006
• April-May 2006
• March 2006
• February 2006

Columns & Book Reviews

• NEW Dennis Feucht looks at a new text on control theory for embedded systems.
• Despite some "Chinglish," a new text on digital power electronics and applications is a worthy addition to your library.
• The "idea per dollar ratio" makes a new overview of power electronics a good buy.
• A new book on power electronics design makes for a good general overview.
• A text outlining issues of electronic security proves a mixed bag.
• A distinctly impractical text on sound system engineering earns a thumbs-down.
• The third edition of a fundamental text on electronic circuits is a mixed bag.
• Dennis Feucht applauds a comprehensive text on control theory.
• The graphics drive the text in a new treatise on power electronics and motor drives.
• While Unified Modeling Language (UML) may not soon displace SPICE, a recent publication will give busy engineers the passing exposure and understanding they need.
• A new text on switch-mode power converters has "plenty of trees but too little forest."
• A multi-national overview of wireless networks gets past a lumbering start to unfurl plenty of well-explained, useful engineering knowledge.
• A spot of tea would go well with the review of Programmable Logic Controllers.
• A new tome on switching power is a worthy supplement to the classic Fundamentals of Power Electronics.
• A fun but serious text provides a useful roadmap for prospective embedded engineers.
• Dennis Feucht broadens his perspective as he reviews a text on customizable embedded processors.
• A new text on antenna design and theory sparks Dennis Feucht's interest.
• Dennis Feucht looks at a new text on switched capacitor circuits.
• Paul McGoldrick considers a UK GCSE text on general electronics but finds it both wanting and "wobbly."
• Dennis Feucht reviews a text on small antenna design and leaves with a favorable impression.
• A 1984 IEEE centenary text looks back on a century of engineering progress in ways which remain timely today.
• Paul McGoldrick says that a recent textbook on "intuitive" analog circuit design is anything but practical.
• A new work on Edison's combination of entrepreneurship and invention holds useful insights for the modern engineer.
• A new reference book on "Mechatronics" proves a mixed bag.
• "Light but broad coverage" is how a new text on electric motors is characterized.
• If Electrical Engineering 101 is everything the typical student doesn't know upon graduation, Dennis Feucht is in mourning!
• Dennis Feucht evaluates whether a recent release on mechanical components earns a place in his reference library.
• Dennis Feucht reviews an essential new reference on wideband amplifiers.
• Dennis Feucht looks at the world of Mechatronics.
• Paul McGoldrick finds plusses and minuses in his review of Newnes' Guide to Digital TV.
• Lee Goldberg interviews HP Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Ken Larson.
  

Observations on the 802.11n Standards Debate

• TGn Sync Revisited: Another Perspective on 802.11n
  (Li...Atheros Communications...November 8, 2004)
• TGn Sync Improves Throughput and Applications for 802.11
  (Bahr, Choi & Ye...Atheros Communications...September 13, 2004)
• The WWiSE Proposal For The 802.11n Standard
  (Zyren...Conexant Systems, Inc....September 20, 2004)
  

networkZONE Standards Point & Counterpoint

• National Semi makes a persuasive case for a wired rather than wireless future in their guest column.
• Cypress' President calls for new paradigms in mixed-signal design.
• IDT disputes readers' assertions from a previous editorial.

analogZONE Webmaster's Corner

analogZONE's webmaster is a graduate of Stephens College (Columbia, MO) and holds a certificate in Marketing Communications from San Jose State University. Since her escape from academia she's worked in marketing for the past 20 years, in venues as diverse as nonprofit public art and even casino marketing, but her heart belongs to high tech -- particularly audio/video & test equipment, and of course semiconductors. Please share with her your marcom war stories - she promises tea, sympathy, and maybe a future column in the analogZONE newsletter built around your challenge du jour. Contact her at tech@analogzone.com

• In Like a Lion - March Delivers a Whirlwind of Lessons in Marketing (April 5, 2004)
• The Language of Euphemism (April 26, 2004)
• Empire Redux: End of an Era (May 30, 2005)
• Everything New is New Again (January 30, 2006)
• NEW The Internet, The Community, and the Internet Community (May 8, 2006)

Andy Turudic

Andy Turudic earned his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Windsor, ON, Canada in 1980. He has held a number of design and architectural positions in telecom companies and was the co-initiator and sponsor of 10-Gbit/s SONET development at Bellcore (Telcordia). Andy has eclectic interests ranging from lion-taming to blacksmithing, and enjoys hangar flying with Lee Goldberg. (The views and opinions expressed herein - crafted in his own spare time to inspire lateral thinking - are not those of his employer or any affiliates, and on occasion, may not even be his own...to create alternate perspective or attain the equivalent of balancing a ball on his nose.) He can be reached at andyturudic@yahoo.com

• Matrix Management Creates Columbia Demise And So Much More (September 1, 2003)
• The Accidentally-Successful Terrorist (September 22, 2003)
• Guochanhua Masters (October 20, 2003)
• The Road to Electric Vehicles (November 10, 2003)
• Got Your Xmas Lights Up Yet? (December 1, 2003)
• Secretive Clauses (December 22, 2003)
• Farced Flight (December 22, 2003)
• Blurred Vision (January 26, 2004)
• Elements of Noise (February 23, 2004)
• Lost In Space (May 31, 2004)
• Getting the Finger (September 13, 2004)
• Scare America (October 25, 2004)
• An Open E-Mail To (and response from) Senator Barbara Mikulski (January 24, 2005)
• Against the Grain (January 31, 2005)
• In Like a Lion (April 11, 2005)
• The Hijacked Explorer, Part I (May 30, 2005)
• RECENT The Hijacked Explorer, Part II (June 6, 2005)
• NEW Terminal Illness (July 25, 2005)

Brian McGinty

Brian McGinty writes extensively about science, electronics and computer related topics. His future plans include dissecting consumer electronics on the work bench, covering broader industry trends, and traveling the world to fight injustice wherever he finds it, as long as it doesn't cost anything and he isn't inconvenienced in any way.

• The Plants in my Aquarium are Dying (June 17, 2002)
• Wind Energy: With a Tax Break Like This, Why Don't You Just Shoot Me Instead? (July 15, 2002)
• Electronics on the Internet: All Action, No Talk? (August 26, 2002)
• Nobody Loves a Transformer: Part One - Wire (September 30, 2002)
• Nobody Loves A Transformer, Part 2: Wire Again (October 28, 2002)

Dave Bell

Dave Bell is an environmental writer based in Maryland. In addition to his work for various sections of analogZONE, he has published six books and numerous feature articles on subjects ranging from Chesapeake Bay ecology to the environmental impacts of transportation. A master mariner, Dave literally has sailed the "seven seas" on sailing ships, tugboats, and research vessels.

Books include: "The Celestial Navigation Mystery Solved" (Landfall Navigation); "Awesome Chesapeake" and "Chesapeake Bay Walk" (both with Tidewater Publishers); and "Dockmanship" (Cornell Maritime Press.)

• Europe Toughens Stand Against E-Waste (May 6, 2002)
• EPA to Lower Recycling Barriers (June 3, 2002)
• Recycled Cathode Ray Tubes Get Put to Work (June 24, 2002)
• New Bill Would Establish National Computer Recycling Program (July 24, 2002)
• Solar Home Competition to Showcase Latest Technology (September 4, 2002)
• Solar Decathlon Brings Out the Best in Us (October 28, 2002)
• Vote the O-Scale (November 11, 2002)

DeAnne DeWitt

• Permanent Pinkslips (July 22, 2002)

Marytn Green

Martyn Green is a freelance writer, with a background in the feature film industry and as a combat cameraman; has lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore; and now, simply "based in Asia", writes for a number of international broadcast magazines, as well as professional and consumer video and audio magazines in Britain, Australia, and America. Martyn can be contacted at MediaMan@netvigator.com.

• TSUNAMI! TSUNAMI! (May 2, 2005)
• The Day After Christmas: Covering The Tsunami Aftermath (May 30, 2005)
• Weighing Up The Costs And Rewards (October 24, 2005)
• Decisions, Decisions: Facing The Technological Challenges Of Mobile TV: Part 1 (March 13, 2006)
• Decisions, Decisions: Facing The Technological Challenges Of Mobile TV: Part 2 (May 8, 2006)
• New Formats in ENG: Part 1 (December 4, 2006)
• New Formats in ENG: Part 2 (March 5, 2007)
• NEW Korean IPTV: A profile of Hanaro Media SVOD Service (August 20, 2007)

Scott Brylow

Scott Brylow is a principal at Inventivity.com, working to improve technology and engineering organizations. He has over 15 years of advanced technology implementation and management experience, including plenty of time in start-up environments. Early in his career he worked on the camera for NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission. He currently resides in London with his wife and two children.

• The Day We All Became Collectors (December 8, 2003)

Tets Maniwa

Tets Maniwa is the principal of TM Enterprises..

• NEW EDAC CEO panel (March 7, 2005)

"Doctor Protocol" and - "Ms. Information"

Dr. Protocol is a shadowy figure who uses his powers to make networks safe for children and small, fluffy animals. But don't let his good looks fool you. His checkered career includes stints as an electrical engineer, a PR flack, a falafel peddler, a spacecraft handler, a novelist, and a parrot smuggler. When he's not working undercover assignments or foiling plans for world domination, he works with his handlers, John Goldberg and John Clemenceau, at their secretive R&D firm, AcmeVaporWare. www.acmevaporware.com. Dr. Protocol is all guts and glory, but finds time for a few hobbies, including pottery, gardening, hand-spinning his own organic optical fiber, and interplanetary solar wind surfing.

Well known wherever the huddled geeks gather, Ms. Information is Dr. Protocol's smarter kid sister as well as the voice of common sense and good taste at analogZONE. Rumored to have the ability to travel faster than the speed of light, she is helped in part by the power of unsuspecting e-mail forwarders. Her jaunty fashion sense and inestimable charisma is only matched by her razor sharp wit and steel trap mind. The positions she'll admit to holding, at least in polite society, include technical writer, information architect, dot com launcher, trade show bon vivant, and memetic designer. She can be bribed with cognac which is old enough to vote and gift certificates to the better millinery houses.

Your questions for the Doctor and Ms. Information are welcomed, and may be sent to: lgoldberg@green-electronics.com


• The Optical Internet (May 20, 2002)
• 802.11g Wireless LAN (July 1, 2002)
• Quantum Computing (February 3, 2003)