For years, interaction with the internet worked through a universal browser. Lately, every service, gadget or whatnot wants you to download...

For years, interaction with the internet worked through a universal browser. Lately, every service, gadget or whatnot wants you to download their special-purpose app. Why?? What's the deal? It seems like a huge step backwards to me. Jeroen Belleman

"Penn?s [transgender bully] Lia Thomas loses to trans Yale swimmer" nbcnews.com Idiots. When a transgender bully wins the race, the 2nd...

"Penn?s [transgender bully] Lia Thomas loses to trans Yale swimmer" nbcnews.com Idiots. When a transgender bully wins the race, the 2nd place finisher (a girl) should "identify" as the winner.

I got some Aluminium wire by mistake. It's difficult to solder. Perhaps it's made for crimp connectors. In the long run, do Aluminium wire...

I got some Aluminium wire by mistake. It's difficult to solder. Perhaps it's made for crimp connectors. In the long run, do Aluminium wire break easier than Copper wire?

Gentlemen, in pursuance of what is turning out to be a jinxed project (installing a dashcam) I'm attempting to drop 14.5V (the normal battery...

Gentlemen, in pursuance of what is turning out to be a jinxed project (installing a dashcam) I'm attempting to drop 14.5V (the normal battery voltage whilst the engine is running) to 5V for the camera. The camera draws at most 300mA so the regulator (an L7805CV) shouldn't find that task too much of a struggle, since it only has to disspate just under 3 Watts by my reckoning. I'd have ...

This may eventually turn out to be on-topic. If we could design high temperature super-conductors by making them with correctly spaced stripes,...

This may eventually turn out to be on-topic. If we could design high temperature super-conductors by making them with correctly spaced stripes, electronic design would have interesting new components to play with. https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/119/1/e2109406119.full.pdf -- Bill Sloman

I have been tasked with designing a piezoelectric actuator driver at its resonant frequency. This is to replace an arrangement where the sine...

I have been tasked with designing a piezoelectric actuator driver at its resonant frequency. This is to replace an arrangement where the sine wave source is a function generator chip (the obsolete XR-2206) that must be individually tweaked on a unit, by unit basis, to match the crystal?s resonant frequency. The crystal is used as an actuator to vibrate a mirror used in a laser syste

A minor thing, but a big time/back ache saver when you can't get right over the stencil to crank the alignment micrometer adjustments...

A minor thing, but a big time/back ache saver when you can't get right over the stencil to crank the alignment micrometer adjustments just so: https://i.imgur.com/JJGdc5L.jpg This is a 1.6x3.2mm 4-resistor network. -- Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Hi all I have played around with IR beams, and I wonder how to receive the signal. I just want to know whether my beam is broken. The system...

Hi all I have played around with IR beams, and I wonder how to receive the signal. I just want to know whether my beam is broken. The system will at the end work in a dark space. If blocked it will block almost completely. I tried with a phototransistor and a photodiode. I am using 890nm. There is app 50 cm / 2 feet between transmitter (always on) and receiver. My question is on the rec...

Feedthrough caps have gotten stupid expensive, like $15 per pin. There are D sub connectors with built-in capacitance of up to about 47 nF,...

Feedthrough caps have gotten stupid expensive, like $15 per pin. There are D sub connectors with built-in capacitance of up to about 47 nF, and I seem to recall seeing ferrite plates whose holes matched the D-sub pattern, but can't find them. A 9-pin one would be great. What do you folks use for EMI filtering on connectors? Cheers Phil Hobbs -- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal...

Nothing could be simpler, an antenna, a coil and a 1N4148 diode but I'm seeing some schematics that have 2 diodes with one replacing the coil and...

Nothing could be simpler, an antenna, a coil and a 1N4148 diode but I'm seeing some schematics that have 2 diodes with one replacing the coil and the cathode connecting to the antenna. Now that I'm old and stupid can someone tell me what that diode is doing please? Thanks.