Category: Electronics

Digital Book World Conference and Consumer Electronics Show Past and Present

A number of conferences dealing with electronic technology occur on a regular basis. Two of these are the Digital Book World Conference and the Consumer Electronics Show.

The Digital Book World Conference, a conference on publishing and digital change, is for all book-publishing professionals. This includes senior management, editors, agents, marketers, digital strategists, and others. It is unique in that it helps publishers address business challenges created by digital change.

The first annual Digital Book World Conference took place in New York City January 26-27, 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers. Planners of the conference conceived the idea in June, put together the Conference Council in July, and drafted the initial program in August. They geared panels and talks towards the changing digital book business. It had three main themes: Evolving the Business Model, EBooks: Opportunity or Threat, and Marketing in the Digital Age. Topics discussed included management of digital rights, pricing of eBooks, and timing of eBook releases. The goal was to provide an outstanding program with expert speakers for attendees to takeaway practical ideas, and to include sponsors and exhibitors capable of offering appropriate tools for implementing the strategies individuals learned about at the conference.

Attendees were professionals from five continents representing more than 240 publishing companies including Amazon.com Digital, Barnes&Noble.com, Crown Publishing Group, Google, HarperCollins, Macmillan, National Geographic Society, Oxford University Press, Princeton University Press, Random House, as well as many others. Individuals from all areas of book acquisition, production, and distribution were present at the conference. Among them were CEOS, Senior Agents, Directors of Marketing & Sales, Editorial Directors, Directors of Strategic Partnerships, and Directors of Digital Assets.

The second annual conference, Digital Book World 2011, coming up January 24-26, will again be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in New York City. The theme this year is Managing Risks; Seizing Opportunities. On Monday, January 24, conference attendees can participate in three-hour workshops in the areas of eBook Design and Production, Content Strategy and Transmedia Development, and Direct-to-Consumer Marketing and Sales.

Planning for this years conference is well ahead of last years schedule. As they plan for the upcoming conference organizers need to predict what the relevant digital change questions will be and what will be relevant to the target audience of book-publishing professionals in January 2011.

The Conference Council, a group of about 30 made up of CEOs, representatives from large and small publishing houses, retailers, digital strategists, retailers, and independent leaders, will plan the programs and choose speakers who will address the relevant issues and problems that trade publishers are facing as they move into digital publishing. Not only is the technology of e-readers progressing rapidly, but e-Ink technology is improving alongside it opening new horizons for digital reading. According to the review “What’s Next in e-Ink Technology”, the new generation color E Ink products are certainly crisper and offer better resolution and color reproduction that anything else seen to date and we expect to see electronic ink begin to compete with LCD displays (Digital Book Readers).

Another conference, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is held each year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) puts on this technology-related trade show, which is not open to the public. Attendees must have a professional affiliation with consumer electronics. The CEA reinvests all profits from the show. They go towards such things as industry promotion and services, technical training and education, development of engineering standards, and legislative advocacy.

Originally, in 1967, CES was held in New York. Then in 1978, it started being held twice a year. In 1998 the show once again changed and went back to the once a year format. The CES gained popularity in 2004 after Comdex was cancelled.

The 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, held January 7-10, had an attendance of more than 120,000. The most impressive e-book readers at the show were Skiff Reader and Plastic Logic Que proReader touchscreen devices with integrated 3G. Also at that show, several companies announced 3D-compatible HDTVs and four companies announced standalone 3D Blu-ray players. Intel demonstrated a new Wireless Display technology (WiDi), and Motorola introduced the new Backflip Smartphone.

The next CES, January 6-9, 2011, will have more than 300 conference sessions covering every aspect of the consumer electronics industry. The full conference lineup will be available October 1, 2010.

Flybarless Rotor Heads – The Ins And Outs

What was the flybar for anyway? The flybar performs three basic functions stabilization, amplificationof cyclic input, and resistance to pitch up in forward flight.

Stabilization: While hovering a wind gust may try and move (tilt) the main rotor. The flybar will be differently (less) affected, and the linkage system will adjust the pitch on the blades to resist the change.
Amplification of cyclic input: When the swashplate tilts and moves the flybar, aerodynamic forcesimposed by the flybar paddles change the spinning plane of the flybar, and again through a series oflinkages this then changes the pitch on the main rotor blades. This means the servos work less hard toachieve a cyclic input.
Resistance to pitch up in forward flight: In fast forward flight the blade advancing into the airflowcreates more lift than the blade retreating in the airflow. This causes a pitch up motion of the helicopter.The flybar again tries keeping in its own plane of rotation, and through the linkage system adjusts thepitch on the main blades to resist this change.

So the electronic components of the system take over these tasks from the flybarSo why ditch the flybar and change to a flybarless head setup?Flybarless helicopters have arguably better all round aerobatic performance. But they are also great forscale models, aerial photography platforms, etc
Advantages include:

Less rotating mass
Lower drag
Combination of longer flight time and better 3D performance
Less mechanical complexity
Infinitely tunable flight characteristics, including improved stability if desired
Looks cool!

What is required:

The Flybarless Head Itself It is ideal to purchase a custom designed flybarless head for your size of helicopter rather than try and modify an existing setup. There are several reasons for this:

The geometry of the head is important
You are purchasing a product that is known to work

Flybarless Electronics You require a system to take over the role of the flybar. There are two and three axis units on the market. For general flying a two axis unit (meaning you still require your own tail gyro) works very well. For 3D flying there are advantages of three axis units, however the two axis ones still hold their own.A two axis unit essentially contains two heading hold gyros (left/right and fore/aft cyclic). A three axis unit adds a tail rotor gyro also. Much like the way a traditional tail rotor heading hold gyro works, the cyclic gyros have the ability to stabilize the rotor head from wind gusts, etc.It is possible to fly a flybarless helicopter without electronic stabilization. However, the task is much easier with the help of an electronics package. You would not fly your helicopter without a tail gyro, would you?
Servo Selection Fast digital servos are preferable. But again, depending on your flying style,any reasonable servo will allow you to experience the flybarless feel.

In Flight: Flybarless helis can be set up to behave in an almost unlimited number of ways. With a flybar,it was time consuming (and expensive) to try a variety of flybar lengths, different paddles, and flybarweights. With the electronic flybar it is simply a matter of changing some of the programmableparameters in the unit itself and you have a whole new feel to the helicopter.There are some further flight differences with a flybarless heli. The cyclic controls now command acyclic rate from the rotor head. So if the helicopter is on the ground and even a small cyclic command isheld, the cyclic servos may move hard over to try and achieve the commanded cyclic rate. So it isimportant not to add cyclic control until the helicopter has lifted off.Autorotation performance is overall improved, but somewhat of a different technique is required torealize this increase in performance.

Basic Laws Of Electronics

Thanks to the physical laws of electronics, circuit analysis is very procedural. This is the second entry in a tutorial in basic electronics. The first entry covered basic electronic concepts such as voltage, current, and power. This session will cover Ohm’s Law, and Kirchhoff’s Laws of voltage and current. These are the fundamental laws needed for circuit analysis and design.

Resistors and Ohm’s Law
Georg Simon Ohm was a German physicist that in 1826 experimentally determined most basic laws that relate to voltage and current for a resistor.

Ohm’s law basically states that the resistance of a component (commonly a resistor) is equal to the voltage dropped over the resistor divided by the current going through it.

This law makes it relatively easy to find one of three values: voltage across a resistance, the resistance value itself, or the current flowing through the resistance (as long as the other two values are known).

Nodes, Branches, and Loops
These three concepts must be understood for basic circuit analysis. They help determine if components are in series or parallel and if the components share the same current or have the same voltage drops.

A branch represents a single circuit component such as a resistor or voltage source.

A node is a point where two or more branches connect.

A loop is any closed path in a circuit.

Elements are in series if they exclusively share a single node. Elements that are in series share the same current.

Elements are in parallel if they are connected to the same two nodes. Elements in parallel have the same voltage across them.

Kirchhoff’s Laws
The first of Kirchhoff’s Laws is Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL). This law states that the sum of all current entering a node or enclosed area of a circuit is equal to zero. Simply put, current entering a node or area equals the current leaving the node or area.

The second of Kirchhoff’s Laws is Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL). This law states that the sum of all voltages around a closed path or loop is equal to zero. Simply put, the sum of voltage drops equals the sum of voltage rises.

This is found by following the loop in one direction (the direction does not matter). If the positive terminal is hit first, the voltage is added. If the negative terminal is hit first, the voltage is subtracted. Together these values will equal zero.

Once all of the voltages are found, we can start the loop anywhere we want. I find it convenient to start at the negative terminal of a main voltage source. Since we hit a negative terminal first, we subtract it. Now we simply finish the loop and add the voltages together.

This law comes in very handy for analysis.

Basic DC Analysis
By combining Kirchhoff’s voltage and current laws, basic DC circuits are relatively easy to analyze. Knowing that all voltages in a loop add up to zero and all currents entering a node, minus currents leaving a node also equals zero, most current and voltage values can be easily obtained.

If a loop contains one voltage source and multiple resistances, voltage division (eq. 1) should be used to find the value of voltage drops across the known resistances. Once the voltage across the known resistance is found, Ohm’s law (eq. 2) can be used to determine the current flowing through the resistance.

Eq.1 Voltage Division:
((voltage source in volts) (resistor of interest in ohms))/(sum of resistance in loop)

Eq.2 Ohm’s Law:
(voltage across a resistance) = (known resistance)(current flowing through resistance)

Keep in mind that resistors in series can be added to give total resistance between two nodes. The total resistance between two nodes that have resistors in parallel is found using eq. 3 below.

Eq. 3 Equivalent Resistance (Req) of Resistors in parallel:
Req = ((resistance in branch 1)(resistance in branch 2)) / (sum of resistances in both branches)

There is much more to be said about DC circuit analysis but most would go beyond the scope of this article. The purpose of this article is to give a basic understanding of the laws and concepts of basic electronics.

Other concepts that make DC circuit analysis easier are current division, mesh analysis, and nodal analysis. These techniques use the rules behind KVL, KCL, and Ohm’s Law but would require a visual example for thorough explanation.

I hope that this short tutorial has been helpful to anyone who is new to the world of electronics either as a hobbyist or as a technician trying to learn electronics repair.

Learn Interesting Facts About Electronic Thermometers

When it comes to speaking with regards to exactly how the technology is advancing daily an excellent example to discuss are the digital thermometers. They are the newest sort of thermometers which have a display which is digital and this particular screen lets you know the exact body temperature. They need batteries to remain functional but thus could very well be taken just about anywhere. You are able to pick the sort of digital thermometersyou want and you can choose exactly how you need the temperature to get calculated, in Fahrenheit or Celsius. In certain thermometers you may also find both the calculating options which usually makes it extremely hassle-free.

There are numerous forms of digital thermometers for various types of applications. Many of these gadgets tend to be resistant to water and even resistant to explosions. Regardless of what the situation is they’re always helpful.

Given beneath is a set of capabilities of these kind of thermometers

1. These types of thermometers could be utilized inside the mouth or underneath the arm. These can also be utilized in the anus . To make certain that this process is not painful, the thermometer has a tip that is soft and flexible.

2. There are digital thermometers which have the service that keep making a continuous beeping sound so thatthe user knows that it really is functioning properly.

3. As soon as the examination is completed, the thermometer makes a special sound to know that this job is finished.

4. It’s possible to keep an eye on previous measurements because the thermometers have that service.

5. If you have overlooked to shut off the thermometer it’s got an in built procedure that powers it off when you finish specific amount of idle time.

6. The thermometer offers an built-in light for the display screen.

7. The entire body of the thermometer isn’t manufactured from cyrstal glass and hence is very safe.

You will find fundamentally 3 types of digital thermometers. Here’s some brief information regarding it.

1. The very first kind of digital thermometer is one that is used to gauge the heat range belonging to the area as well as the level of moisture current. These are very important gadgets that may be found in a compound laboratory. It is referred to as a hydro thermometer.

2. The following type is recognized as the clinical thermometer. As the title suggests it is employed by physicians to examine the body temperature. Mentionened above previously earlier you can locate one in either one or both computing options.

3. Though a little more difficult versus rest, the ear thermometers are also very easily the fastest too. You may need to read to use it before trying it out. The thermometer has to be placed in one’s ear and it will instantly tell the temperature via the screen offered on it.

Such thermometers are not just futuristic but furthermore can not be broken. You don’t need to learn to check out the mercury level because of this brilliant technology. There isn’t any chance of errors too.

Campaign Walk List Mechanism The Electronic Form

A campaign walk list is a significant part of a political candidacy. As the election is fast approaching, hundreds and thousands of incumbent as well as aspiring politicians are in a progression to getting the priority number amid countless political software, digital printing, and multimedia shops in hopes of securing all the best materials likely that could perhaps ensure success for them. There’s one software you can’t afford to miss out, though – the automatic version of the political walk list process. That’s right; it’s not just any tool. There’s actually a total major process involved with it, which makes it more unique, and very priceless. Here is a comparison of the manual and the electronic versions to give you an insight as to the differences and similarities among the two.

First of all, let’s take a look at the campaign walk list process. It is basically the mechanism of acquiring a list of voter names, collecting volunteers for the walk, sending out volunteers to walk house-to-house amidst the many voters on the list, asking specific questions, gathering of data, and analysis. A very exhausting procedure, pretty much, which could take a few days, or weeks, in the making. The volunteer sign-up alone could take a couple of days in order to accomplish the line-up for the designed walk. You couldn’t truly go ahead with the venture if you don’t have enough manpower, could you? Then information collection and gathering could also expend a massive amount of time, since you need to collect the questionnaire one by one, and group the results on a table appropriately after that.

The automated campaign walk list, on the other hand, is an accurate simulation of the above process, only more excellent. Well, better in terms of operation, organization, and time management. Of all the steps covered in the walk list mechanism, the software doesn’t serve in the aspects of securing a voter name list and gathering volunteers, so it mainly comes in once those two stages are finished. Assuming that there are adequate volunteers already, each of them can log-on to the employment using their mobile phones. That’s when they will know who their assigned voters are, which are basically merely the nearest twenty voters on a certain volunteer’s position. Once with target, the volunteer can proceed to the house, click on the dot on the screen to draw forth voter information, inclusive of a platform where questions are indexed, and where the user can transcribe in answers as well.

Now, the electronic campaign walk list perfroms way better in data gathering. Once the volunteers are complete with the question and answer portion, they can straightaway send back the report via their mobile phones, which will provide back the data to the headquarters. Here, there’s no need to gather the questionnaires one by one. The software will do all the organizational work for you, including a table of classification, which you will only need to look at to be able to perform an evaluation. A hassle-free business. It’s somewhat evident how the automatic version performs way better in time management and organization, so it would be a truly wise move to lay out in such a beneficial application. It may not guarantee political victory, but it can definitely reduce a good amount of your workload for you.