Category Archives: Uncategorized

Laptop of Doom

Posted on March 10, 2011 by engineerzero

My nephew dropped his Toshiba laptop X number of times, X being a number larger than the number of times that you should drop a laptop. Anyhow, the screen started flickering whenever he tilted it, and then it blacked out … Continue reading →

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Autofade with Fritzing (A review)

Posted on March 8, 2011 by engineerzero

From Fritzing.org: Fritzing is essentially an Electronic Design Automation software with a low entry barrier, suited for the needs of designers and artists. It uses the metaphor of the breadboard, so that it is easy to transfer your hardware sketch … Continue reading →

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Autofade Lamp Test Circuit Upgrade

Posted on March 7, 2011 by engineerzero

On Saturday, I reported that I didn’t have enough current gain in my autofade lamp test circuit to get a flashlight lamp to glow. The solution was to insert a second transistor, so that the circuit looks like this now: … Continue reading →

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Upgrading Autofade Lamp Test Circuit

Posted on March 5, 2011 by engineerzero

Well, today was kind of discouraging. Here’s the new autofade lamp test circuit, upgraded: And here’s the key: A: I replaced the red LED with a flashlight lamp. The soldering operation was successful and the light is bright enough. B: … Continue reading →

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Upgrading Autofade Lamp Prototype

Posted on March 4, 2011 by engineerzero

Okay, now it’s time to upgrade the autofade lamp from test circuit to product prototype. And so today was a shopping day. First, I want to swap the 1000uF capacitor with a 3300uF to make the fade last longer. Next, … Continue reading →

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Autofade Table Lamp on Youtube

Posted on March 2, 2011 by engineerzero

Here’s the autofade table lamp video that I posted to Youtube. Values of the capacitor and resistors are subject to tweaking, of course.

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Autofade Table Lamp Test Circuit

Posted on March 2, 2011 by engineerzero

So, as you recall from my previous entry, I wanted to build an autofade table lamp based on this circuit diagram: This is how the test circuit looks in reality (the hand, by the way, is my nephew’s): (Note that … Continue reading →

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Autofade Table Lamp

Posted on March 1, 2011 by engineerzero

Years ago, my car had an interior light that would come on when the door was opened, then slowly fade away when the door was closed. I now need something like that for my apartment. The light switch next to … Continue reading →

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In Defense of Steve Jobs

Posted on February 25, 2011 by engineerzero

10 Unusual Things I Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs Why do I get the feeling that this alleged ‘tribute’ is actually a hit piece in disguise? Steve Jobs is dying and is rumored to have only weeks to live, and … Continue reading →

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High Moon

Posted on February 25, 2011 by engineerzero

Way back when, I wrote a science fiction novelette called “High Moon,” about teleoperated lunar mining robots in Wild Old West Cosplay. It appeared in the May 2005 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine, the longest-running print magazine … Continue reading →

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