Who? What? Why? Where? When? and How?


Getting your fax right W


Steve Rogerson’s round-up of last month’s news and events, including some that may have slipped under the radar


hile sitting in my office recently, I heard a strange sound coming from near my computer. At first, I thought it was the computer and it was breaking down. But on further investigation I found it was from a machine sitting below the computer, one that I hadn't looked at for a long time and I can't remember the last time it burst into life. I wasn't even sure it was still working, but yes it was and I have now received my first fax in years. Thank you Etas for reminding me of such ancient technology.


It is September and for those of you with kids that means back to school time and a bit of peace after the summer holidays. But where did you do your back-to-school shopping? I bet it wasn't with Intel. Well it might have been as the chip giant has been trying to convince people that they are the place to go if not for a new satchel but for


what to carry in it. Get the sick bag ready, because here is Intel's promotional blurb for this: "It's back to school time, which means new classes, new clubs, new teachers, new projects and, the most fun of all, new devices! Intel-powered devices, with their lightning-fast processing times, portability and versatility are perfect to help overachieving students be ready for their first day of school."


I need a bigger sick bag. In fact I did in August and missed a nice trip as a result. I and a number of other journalists were invited to Donnington Park race circuit to watch the final day of testing for Formula E and see a demonstration of Qualcomm's wireless electric vehicle charging technology. The problem was they treated us to dinner at a nearby posh hotel the night before and I ended up spending the day in the hotel room hugging the toilet. I


was the only one who was ill but then I was the only one who had the soup. I've had another email about the infamous circuit diagram tattooed on the arm of fellow journalist Alix Paultre from Power Systems Design. This one comes from Heath Hill of Heath Brothers Contracting, who said the AC-DC circuit was "too basic". But he said the idea of the tattoo was "awesome" and that he might do something like that himself. Looks like we might have started a trend. And Heath, if you do get the tattoo done, please send me a photo.


I have to admit I was a little confused at


the recent automotive roundtable in London organised by NXP Semiconductors. At one point Bart Jacobs, professor of computer security at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, said: "If some people choose to be a nudist, that should never be an argument to force other people to be nudists." We were talking about security in connected cars and I couldn't work out the connection. Maybe there wasn't one; it was a hot day, it could have been a request for volunteers. I kept my kit on, I hasten to add.


Embedded design expert reveals design tips in a new book W


ritten by Lucio Di Jasio, a PIC expert at Microchip Technology and the author of a number of


books on programming and developing embedded applications with PIC microcontrollers, ‘Graphics, Touch, Sound and USB: User Interface Design for Embedded Applications’ leads designers of all abilities through a series of hands-on projects to explore the full potential of rich multimedia user interfaces with 16- and 32-bit microcontrollers. The series of projects presented in the book gradually increases in complexity, enabling readers to learn how to design compelling user interfaces for their embedded applications by:


• Interfacing to TFT colour graphics displays


• Detecting and decoding touch screen inputs


• Adding sound to provide end-users with quality audible feedback • Handling multiple


fonts and images to maximize visual impact


• Storing and retrieving data from serial Flash devices and micro-SD cards The book also explains how to create HID-class custom devices and CDC-class


virtual serial ports which avoid the need to design drivers when adding Full Speed USB for connectivity to personal computers and other devices. All projects and examples described in the book are


based on the inexpensive development boards series known as Mikromedia (a product of MikroElektronika) and leverage the Microchip Libraries of Applications (MLA), a software framework that covers over 1000 microcontrollers models from 8,


There has been some mutual back slapping in Bavaria as this picture shows from a recent award giving by Ilse Aigner, Bavarian state minister for economic affairs, for the 50 most successful Bavarian companies over the past few years. The picture was sent to me by Matrix Technologies, whose CEO Eckhard Sperschneider is in there somewhere. However, I could only count 21 people, so where were the other 29? Hopefully drinking some nice Bavarian beer to celebrate their success.


50 September 2014 Components in Electronics


I have seen PR companies do a lot of strange things in my time in their bid to catch my eye, but never before dressing up as superheroes. These two have the secret identities of Jennifer Robson (left) and Nicola Little from Newcastle PR firm We Are Sparkle, and apparently they are happy because of the city's Go Digital programme of support for businesses. As to the costumes, I guess you'll have to ask them yourselves as they fly over.


www.cieonline.co.uk http://blog.flyingpic24.com/gtsu/


Customer service has a bad name, and often justifiably. How often do you sit frustrated at the telephone going through multiple menus as you try to get to talk to a human being, and when you do they just brush off your issue with comments such as "nobody else has complained" or "your warranty doesn't cover that"? Well, crowdfunding company Indiegogo obviously thinks the problem is in the name because it is now calling its customer service department the "customer happiness team". I don't think mobile phone companies would dare name their agents thus for fear of mass ridicule. Talking of mobile phone customer service, Vodafone is trying to reach new low levels. You know those little boxes you see when you order something online that says you have read and agreed to the terms and conditions? Most of us just tick them without ever reading. Well, Vodafone has gone a stage further, as I discovered when I tried to do an upgrade with them recently. They told me they would only send me a copy of the terms and conditions to read after I'd agreed them over the phone. At least they didn't send them to me by fax.


16 and 32-bit PIC architectures. According to Di Jasio, “I wrote this book in response to the hundreds of emails I received over the past five years from my readers and fellow embedded designers who were looking for a quick and effective introduction to the more advanced topics of user interface development and USB connectivity." Purchases of ‘Graphics, Touch, Sound and USB, User Interface Design for Embedded Applications’ by Lucio Di Jasio, can be made directly from the publisher web site: Lulu or via the retail/distribution network including Amazon. For more information go to:


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