Monthly Archives: January 2013

Xerox still cranking out the Patents

Posted on January 18, 2013 by robertwilkie

Evenwith GlassDoor having Xerox ranked at the bottom for employee satisfaction, and A bunch of the engineering work moving to HCL, Xerox still managed to pull of some impressive numbers in patent filings. http://www.rbj.net/article.asp?aID=193745

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Good Intro into the Basics of LED strips

Posted on January 18, 2013 by robertwilkie

Good article about the differences in LED light strips, and how to use them (and what to look for).  This maybe a good one to look over before adding LED’s to your car or under cabinets. http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Definitive-Guide-to-LED-Accent-Lighting/

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Phonejack Thermometers

Posted on January 18, 2013 by robertwilkie

Nice write-up on making some Thermometers that you can run off of existing phone lines.  Why would you do this, well record what room is in what temp.  Re-use phone lines (who uses POTS anymore anyways?).  Of course the controller … Continue reading →

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Hacker says SmartGrid full of holes

Posted on January 18, 2013 by robertwilkie

The”hacker” claims and it sounds like demo’ed messing around wit hSilver Springs Networks equipment.    Embedded systems as a whole have a ways to go for security.  But new stuff (such as SmartGrid) which, in theory have new arch.  Should know … Continue reading →

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Xerox in Hot Water with Lawsuit

Posted on January 18, 2013 by robertwilkie

Sum of the story is an employee of Xerox (ACS end by the sounds of it) found Xerox was overbimking certain medical bills to the State of CA.  She brought it up to management, and turns out its been going … Continue reading →

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Drunk guy drives tank thru house

Posted on January 18, 2013 by robertwilkie

Only in Russia would you beable to have a tank and drive it drunk… http://gizmodo.com/5976633/a-drunk-guy-drove-a-tank-inside-a-house  

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Java on its way down?

Posted on January 17, 2013 by robertwilkie

Interesting article.  It shows that the trend is Java is falling from grace.  And points out that since Oracle buying out Java, its hasn’t put much into it to keep it going.  The one saving grace for Java is IBM … Continue reading →

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Router Circle Jig with PVC and wood

Posted on January 17, 2013 by robertwilkie

I have been tempted to build a jig to make circles for some time, but most of the jigs I have looked at are…well…time consuming to build.  This doesn’t look too bad to make. http://imgur.com/a/oKtdl  

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Crowdsource solar installs

Posted on January 16, 2013 by robertwilkie

If I read the article right, the company is going to use the money to install solar panels on buildings, then give revenue from those panels back to the investors…sounds interesting http://inhabitat.com/the-people-have-spoken-solar-mosaic-funds-3-projects-in-1-day-through-crowd-funding/

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CNC remote shutdown with Camera

Posted on January 16, 2013 by robertwilkie

Nice setup where the author has a camera and a remote trigger to shut the CNC down if needed when it goes haywire (or something not right).  http://www.plastibots.com/?p=2549

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