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The phone is hanging out the window! Must be time for another show!
- Would you watch someone’s 24/7 stream? Not sure how useful it would be.
- Dave could have used a design review for his USB PSU!
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL0KnXDPbe8[/tube] - Design reviews are a tough thing to walk into (and out of).
- We just found out that the Woz is trying to become an Australian citizen! Dave has re-dubbed him, “Tha Wozzah”
- Check out this cool Tesla Coil subduing machine from Electronic Tonic
- Freescale will no longer be developing 8 bit micros.
- The MBA Playbook is getting more attention, including blogs on the Harvard Business Review!
- Are distributors getting more important? Chris argues the opposite (which is partially why he started ChipReport.tv
- Perhaps this is also the future of work, having a truly flexible workforce? Chris talked about being a “free agent” on The Engineering Commons.
- There’s a future in robots…what does our audience think about it? Do you see yourself programming ever?
- Cool robot that drops off WiFi extension boxes as it moves! Dave reckons he could build something similar.
- Why not look at existing electronics in class? Kent Lundberg is doing exactly that in the classes he’s teaching!
- Nominate/Vote for The Amp Hour for best “science” podcast!
- Vote for Dave for a shot at “The Streamys”. Could finally get him back to the US!
If you’re so inclined, we’d really appreciate the love on those two contests. Thanks for listening and thanks for caring!
Where did that little Freescale piece originate from? It’s got spelling mistakes throughout the whole thing and all the blogs have copied it verbatim.
They’re interesting comments but there’s not much conviction behind them.
Freescale’s s08, rs08, 16bit, and 32bit Coldfire range aren’t excatly new. The majority of those are on at least second masks. If there’s anything behind the “can’t see us doing any more serious product development” comment, it’s probably because that range is already baked.
Although ARM is not new to Freescale it is relatively new to their microcontroller range. Freescale has done the pin compatibility dance before with coldfires08. Its usually for only a few families. It’s not like you can get a replacement part for every part in the s08 or s12 range For a move to ARM to be attractive, you’d have to already be using the right part in the right family. And then you have to think about tools.
And regarding the light rtos and other software tools – free sells silicon. But they probably won’t do it.
And that 30cents a part, if it’s close to the mark, I suspect will be at ~10000 off.
I’m keen on the Kinetis range especially for speed and peripherals but I won’t wilfully disregard other solutions if they make more sense. Square pegs for square holes.
I have to disagree that the distributor is dead.
The analogy I use is the supermarket chains (Walmart in the US, Woolworths in Australia). The distributor/supermarket controls the relationship with the customer. Becuase they control the relationship, they eventually dictate the rules to the manufacturers.
How does it get to this? Becuase the manufacturers just don’t have the coverage to deal with every customer. The distributors carry multiple lines of products and when they are not talking about resistors, they can be talking capacitors or tools etc etc.
The manufacturer can’t handle the logistics for so many customers (who wnats to deal with someone buying just 5 op amps?) so he gives this up to the distributor.
I’ve seen in my area (Sydney) the increased dialog I get with RS and Farnell. Whilst I also get newsletters from the semiconductor manufacturers, their communication is hit and miss – If I am in the market for their chip it misses the bin. otherewise – delete. Whereas the distributors always have something that catches my eye.
The prices from distributors are much keener these days, and I find that the distributors will be carrying parts that the manufacturers (if they sell direct) are usually on back order with minimum quantities.
Poor Dave. I have a 20/10Mbit internet connection for ~10$ a month , no strings attached(no 2 years contract or anything), they also offer 80/25Mbit for ~20$, it’s coming in on fiber optics to the building… I never thought my country is that advanced in internet connection compared other ones…. (Thats in hungary)
Similar in Poland. Got 30/3 for $17. Fastest my isp offers is 120/10 for $30 and 150/10 for $40.
As an European I simply dont understand all the excitement about NBN. I dont even know what a download cap is. WTF is wrong with you – you build fiber network and then limit how much one can download? even inside said network? This is counter intuitive, almost looks like board of directors is full of incumbent telecom execs trying to kill the competition.
About the Mayan calendar, maybe not the end of the world but possible the end of the USA. For the uninformed people, The Federal Reserve Act expires in December 21. 2012.
If you are going to conspiracy post crazyness, at least source it.
Just type in the search engine: “federal reserve act expires december 21. 2012.” or something similar to that.
And yes, if you are American you should be afraid. Inflation is coming:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary/20120913a.htm
Yes, its surprising how difficult it is for some people to use google.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/is-the-federal-reserve-act-going-to-expire.htm
No. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913–which established the Federal Reserve as the central bank of the United States–has been amended or altered by the Congress numerous times over the years, but the act has never included an “expiration date” or repeal date. As stated in the law itself, the Federal Reserve Act can only be repealed, amended, or altered by the Congress.
what the hell just happened? Did you let Martha Steward write you new layout?
Fonts are terrible + cant see number of comments on main page