West Florida Components

Ready to do some circuit work? Have any new projects that you need perf boards for? We received a shipment of copper plated circuit boards that are ‘nearly perfect’ - that is to say that they are identical to the regular perf boards that we normally stock except that they were poorly scored and separated by the manufacturer resulting in some unusable mounting holes.

We’re selling them in batches of 10 for $5.00. That’s only $0.50 for each perf board. It’s a great deal and they won’t last at that price.

Yes, it’s true. Proteus Biomedical has announced that they will be launching a innovative product that imbeds microchips in pills so that patients can be monitored by their health care professionals and even their families.

The purpose of the monitoring is to be sure that patients are taking their medications properly and on time and to also monitor a range of additional patient information including respiration rate, heart rate, temperature, sleep patterns and physical activity. It is estimated that up to 50% of all patients take their medication improperly so this will assist health care professionals and family member with the patient’s drug regimen.

The sensors are about the size of a grain of sand. The sensor-enabled tablets are called Helius. The Helius can be taken with pills or incorporated into medications by the drug manufacturers. Once ingested, the sensors are activated by stomach acid. Each sensor contains a very small amount of copper and magnesium which react with stomach acid to create the power necessary to generate a digital signal. Through an adhesive patch on the skin, the digital signal is read and and the data transmitted through the patient’s cell phone.

Don’t look for the microchipped pill just yet. Proteus Biomedical will be introducing their new product in the UK first.

Breadboards are a simple solution for circuit building, especially when you need to prototype or test a circuit. Constructed of plastic, a solderless breadboard contains hundreds of spring-loaded connection sockets (also called tie points) which connect the leads for through-hole electronic components and 22 AWG wire to form an electronic circuit. One key feature of breadboards is that they require no solder to connect your components making testing or prototyping a circuit very quick and painless.

How do breadboards work?

A breadboard is constructed on hundreds of holes arranged in vertical and horizontal rows. The outer rows which run lengthwise across the circuit board are generally reserved for the circuit’s power supply. The interior rows of holes are where the electronic components are inserted. Each row of holes forms a node; that is, any components that reside on the same node will be connected when they are inserted into a hole in that same row, or node. This is because under each row is a copper plate that connects the holes to each other.

Robert Noyce is being honored by Google for his contributions to the electronic components industry on what would have been his 84th birthday. To commemorate his birthday, Google’s homepage has a doodle which etches the Google logo onto a microchip, a technology that Noyce is credited with co-inventing.

Known as the Mayor of Silicon Valley, Robert Noyce was the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel and is credited along with Jack Kilby with the invention of the integrated circuit. He earned his nickname for the work he did as a mentor to youths aspiring to succeed in Silicon Valley and in fact was a mentor to Apple founder, Steve Jobs. Jobs was one of many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs mentored by Noyce.

The holder of 15 patents related to the electronic components industry, Noyce was a major contributor to the industry and it is fitting that Google chose to honor him and his achievements.

The other day, we compared some of the physical characteristics of the Apple iPad against the recently released Kindle Fire.

Today, we will look at some of the other features and give you our overall impression.

Content available:
Both the iPad and the Kindle Fire can access movies, music, games, books and other reading material. The only difference is that the Kindle Fire uses Amazon to download the material and the Apple iPad uses Apple’s iTunes software. Amazon has sweetened the deal a by bundling all of its services and making them available to Fire users.

The real difference (for now) are the number of apps available to each device. With such a large jump on the competition, the iPad currently has many more apps available to it’s customers. It remains to be seen how many apps will be written for the Kindle Fire since developers are already stretched writing them for Apple products, Android, RIM, etc.

The downside of Amazon’s Fire is that there is no way to use alternative music apps such as Spotify or Pandora on the device. Amazon is, of course, pushing their own music services.

Point goes to: iPad

Web browsing and email:
Both the iPad and the Fire can access the web and email. They each use their own browsers. If you are familiar with any Apple products, you will immediately feel at home when you start up your Safari on iPad for the first time, however Amazon’s Silk browser is very easy to navigate.

Point goes to: tie

Flash:
Here’s where the Kindle Fire has a slight edge. It supports flash technology right out of the box, unlike the iPad.

Point goes to: Kindle Fire

USB:
This is something that has been missing from the iPad all along - a USB port. The Kindle comes not with a standard USB port but a micro-USB - still incredibly handy for backing up or transferring data.

Point goes to: Kindle Fire

Price:
The Kindle Fire is priced at $199 and the Apple iPad (entry level) at $499. Do we have to say anything else?

Point goes to: Kindle Fire

After reviewing all the specs and features of both products, we don’t have a clear winner! Many here at West Florida Components are Apple loyalists and would choose the iPad over any competition but there were a few that admitted that the Kindle Fire had some appeal and wouldn’t mind owning one.

Maybe the answer is to get one of each?

We know there are tons of great deals out there today on Cyber Monday but we wanted to pass this one on to all our customers:

Get 8GB 204 Pin DDR3 1333 RAM Laptop Memory by G.SKILL for $24.99 including shipping!

If you have a laptop running 2 - 4GB of RAM right now, you can really give your notebook computer a major boost in performance.

Important: This will work only if you are currently running the 64-bit OS version of Windows - don’t waste your time if you are only running a 32-bit version. It won’t help you at all.

So how do you get this amazing deal? Go to newegg.com and search for F3-10600CL9D-8GBSQ. The item also qualifies for free shipping so the total is $24.99. This is a great deal!

The iPad has been around a couple of years and has set the standard for tablet computers. Very often “iPad” has been synonymous for “tablet” the way that people use the word “Kleenex” for “tissues.” There has been just no competition.

We decided to compare the newest Kindle Fire from Amazon head to head with the iPad to see which was was preferred here at West Florida Components. Today’s comparison will look strictly at the physical aspects of both tablets.

Screen Size:
The Kindle Fire has a 7″ screen compared to the iPad’s 9.7″ display. While nearly 3 inches seems like it would be a lot, we streamed the same movie simultaneously, and the tablets were equally viewable at that size.

Point goes to: Tie

Tablet size:
The overall size of the Kindle Fire (7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″) vs the iPad (9.5″ x 7.31″ x 0.34″) was even easier to judge. The Kindle Fire is less bulky to handle and small enough to slip into most ladies’ purses.

Point goes to: Kindle

Weight:
The Kindle Fire weighs in at just under one pound while the iPad is about 21.5 ounces making the iPad about 45% heavier than the Fire. The Fire was a bit more comfortable to handle with just one hand. The lone critic here of the Kindle’s size pointed out that the heavier iPad felt more substantial.

Point goes to: Kindle

Next we will compare some of the other features of both the iPad and the Kindle Fire and you’ll see which tablet wound up on the top of our ‘must have’ list.

Solar energy is an exciting field for both scientific study and home and office use, representing the modern drive to find clean, sustainable ways to power everyday life while protecting the planet for generations to come. Solar energy is created by the sun, which plays host to constant explosions of heat and energy. This energy radiates light that eventually reaches Earth, where water, land, and the clouds in the atmosphere absorb a portion.

This light manifests as heat and helps to regulate the planet’s water cycles, including rainfall. Solar energy is converted into food for trees and plants via photosynthesis, and in turn provides the Earth with oxygen and the natural materials necessary for human habitation.

With the many intrinsic and ancient benefits of solar energy we’ve enjoyed over the centuries, it is perhaps unsurprising that modern man has taken it upon himself to truly harness the potential of this natural power source. Solar power is fast becoming a popular way for businesses and homeowners to cut down on energy costs while making a commitment to the health of the environment.

Solar power itself can take many forms, operating for instance through the means of solar panels, which convert radiation from the sun to practical electric energy suitable for a variety of uses, and can store this energy in batteries.

Other common applications for solar power include pumps, switches, and fans for various industrial purposes, greenhouse and other thermal agricultural uses, and special technologies employed in space, such as those used to operate satellites.

Taking advantage of natural solar energy is not only an efficient way to power machines, houses, and more, but is cost-effective as well. Many entrepreneurs and environmentally savvy homeowners find that using solar power greatly diminishes their average monthly electricity expenditures, adding a welcome benefit to the clean and green energy source.

As oil prices fluctuate, and we become more aware of our impact on the global ecosystem, it is becoming imperative that we search for and use renewable sources of energy, and seek to live in a sustainable fashion, so that future generations can enjoy a happy and healthy planet. The use of solar energy through solar power panels and other technologies is an important step in reducing your overall energy footprint, and can give you — and your wallet — a sincere sense of peace and well being.

If you’ve ever had an EEG, you’ll remember all the preparation that was required to get you hooked up properly to the monitoring device. There was sticky gel and tape and those pesky electrodes. According to the journal “Science”, researchers have developed a patch which bends, wrinkles and stretches like skin. The patch would be applied to the body like a temporary tattoo and would contain the electronic components necessary for sensing, communications and relaying information from the body to a monitoring device.

In addition to the ease of applying these patches, another major benefit is that any testing could be conducted in a more natural and less stressful environment since results could be transmitted wirelessly to the monitoring equipment.

Not only could the patches contain the electronic components for medical monitoring, they could also be used with patients that have muscular or neurological disorders, such as ALS. The patch could facilitate communication with computers. In addition, the researchers have shown that when placed on the throat, the patch can detect muscle movement.

The patch is constructed in the shape of tiny wires called filamentary serpentine. This configuration allows them to be bent, twisted, scrunched and stretched while maintaining functionality and contact with the skin.

Photo courtesy of smartplanet.com

Anyone who is trying to sell a house knows that some improvements like adding a new bathroom or a complete kitchen renovation may increase the value of a home however most people might not consider that an investment in solar panels or other renewable energy sources may be another positive investment in their home.

According to a study that was recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), solar photovoltaic (PV) panels added on average between 3 percent and 4 percent to the value of a home. This study, which examined homes in California, suggests that homeowners might fully recover their costs of purchasing and installing solar panels when they sell their home. Since solar panels require very little maintenance and are becoming increasingly more affordable to buy and install, this is another way to increase the resale value and marketability of your home. Some of the most common installations in homes are for water heaters, pool heaters and outdoor lighting. As the technology improves and the cost of solar panels continues to drop, more and more homeowners (and potential buyers!) will be looking for solar energy systems for their homes.

Photo courtesy of http://diy-energysolarpanels.com/