Archive for September 2010

Microdata: HTML5’s Best-Kept Secret?

Have you never heard of the new microdata specification included in HTML5. I once read about it, but almost forgot it. But the Microdata: HTML5’s Best-Kept Secret article made me to remember this topic again. Similar to outside efforts like Microformats, HTML5’s microdata offers a way of extend HTML by adding custom vocabularies to your

TDR kit built

My Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR) circuit has been available as kit made by Far Circuits. The kit consists only of circuit board and components needed to build the circuit in a small plastic bag (you need to download the building instructions). The original circuit design is from my web page and Far Circuits added 5V

Producing Open Source Software

Producing Open Source Software book tells how to run a Successful free software project. This book is about t the human side of open source development. It describes how successful projects operate, the expectations of users and developers, and the culture of free software. The book is released under an open copyright: it is available

LED lamp lifetime

LED light manufacturers are often claiming 50,000 hours or more for lighting lifetime. Unfortunately many times those lifetime expectations are not met. Usually the makers of those high those lifetime promises forget to include the lifetime and reliability of all components, and the real-world thermal conditions the LEDs are subjected too. Just a few years

Audio equipment design analysis

I really like those electronics manufacturers that have the schematics of their devices on their data-sheets or manuals down-loadable from their site. Those schematics can aid in deciding if the equipment is well built, help in repair, designing possible modification and can be aid when you need to make your own designs that have similar

EXIF data

Your photo files actually contain hidden information. EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image File Format, and is a standard for storing interchange information in image files, especially those using JPEG compression. Most digital cameras now use the EXIF format to ecord of the settings a camera used to take a photo or video. This information is

HDMI copy protection broken

HDMI uses copy protection system called HDCP. The system is meant to stop HDCP-encrypted content from being played on devices that do not support HDCP or which have been modified to copy HDCP content. Manufacturers who want to make a device that supports HDCP must obtain a license from Intel subsidiary Digital Content Protection, pay

HTML5 music video

The Wilderness Downtown is an interactive film by Chris Milk. This masterpiece music video film is built using HTML5 technologies (unfortunately at the moment works only with Google Chrome browser). The music video tooks the user back to their childhood on an interactive journey set to the backdrop of We Used to Wait by the

Weekend Projects

Weekend Project: Make a Simple Laser Communicator – Secretly shoot your voice across the room in stealth mode on the beam of a laser! Looks like an interesting project. Weekend Project: Make a Talking Booby Trap – Having trouble with people snatching your stuff? Here is an inexpensive, sneaky gizmo you can make to keep

Ground currents: Open neutral

I received this kind of mail some time ago (part of the mail posted here with the permission from the writer): “His cable stopped working so he called the cable company. The cable guy unhooked the coaxial from the main box. After he unhooked the coax he struck it on the side of the amplifier