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Russell McMahon | 1 Nov 01:03
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Re: [EE] Amplified diode regulator

> A linear pass regulator is very likely a better solution. 
> They are cheap and their performance will be in a 
> different league.

Probably. But there are several shunt regulator diodes 
around that are ultra cheap because they are used in 
zillions. The LM385 is cheapish and the lower spec TL431 is 
about the cheapest IC you can buy, ($US0.40/1 down to under 
$US0.08/large_volume).

FWIW the lovely CD40106 is just dearer at high volume and at 
under $US0.015 a Schmitt inverter may be the best value IC 
ever known.  Not so good as a voltage regulator though :-)

        Russell

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Sean Schouten | 1 Nov 01:36
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Re: [EE] 1080p Televisions interfacing to PCs

On 11/1/07, Jake Anderson <jake <at> vapourforge.com> wrote:
>
> The biggest problem i have seen is most TV's lie about their
> capabilites. Their EDID data is generally just plain wrong (my screen
> has the EDID data from a 17" lcd in it). You need to see if the tv will
> allow you to drive the display pixel for pixel. IE so you can nativley
> address any pixel on the screen. Most TV's these days seem to only
> accept a few "standard" resolutions then scale those to match the
> display. Meaning they are useless for displaying text on and any sort of
> HD input becomes blury.
>

Composite on 'full-HD' or 'true-HD' televisions also scale down- then up,
even though the input signal is actual HD. Oh, did I mention that I hate the
typical mr-salesman that can't get his facts straight? I mean; who in hell
mistakes 1024*786 for being a HD-resolution when your speciality is selling
HD-televisions?
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piclist | 1 Nov 01:41

RE: [OT] Hiring

Is this why they need a software guy?  ;)

-----Original Message-----
From: piclist-bounces <at> mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces <at> mit.edu] On Behalf
Of William Couture
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 2:20 PM
To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
Subject: Re: [OT] Hiring

On Oct 31, 2007 2:00 PM, David VanHorn <microbrix <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> My company is hiring, at the moment looking for a software guy and a
> mechanical guy.  Details will be on the site ASAP, www.mfintel.com

Website requires flash.  If you reach their non-flash page, all links
are
broken.

Bill

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Sean Schouten | 1 Nov 01:45
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Re: [OT] Saudi king gets galactic welcome

On 10/31/07, Vitaliy <spam <at> maksimov.org> wrote:
>
> David VanHorn wrote:
> >I wonder if he found their lack of faith to be disturbing....
>
> :)
>
> I started laughing my head off when I heard the tunes and imagined the
> situation (not a safe thing while driving). Does anybody have a video?
>
>
Found the vid, it took me 40 seconds!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD38SQ8srXw

Sean.
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Russell McMahon | 1 Nov 01:49
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Re: [EE] flash endurance

>>> They have requirements from some customers that in order
>> to get into them, it has to have at least a 20 year 
>> retention.

>> Grief, what sort of equipment is it?

>  ummm....bout all I can say is its a DSP centric 
> processing board....multiple high end DSP's.
>  You know how some certain three letter gov't groups 
> are....

Ah` ! - It must be the NS@!!!#!!

                            Russenl

[[ Just possibly an original joke :-) ]] 

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Xiaofan Chen | 1 Nov 02:31
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Re: [PIC] PIC24 On the Radar Screen of Cortex M3 MCU Vendors

On 10/31/07, Xiaofan Chen <xiaofanc <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> Interestingly they also list PIC24 along with Renesas M16C and H8S
> for code density and speed comparison. Of course in their benchmark,
> STM32 beat all three. Interestingly PIC24 beats M16C and H8S by
> a big margin and lose not too much to STM32.
>
> The PIC24 is cheap, good performance (up to 40MIPS, lose out
> to STM32 -->up to 72MHz or 80MIPS??). Harold is asking for
> more performance from PIC24 or its successor. It is very
> interesting to see what is the response from Microchip. Rumor
> is that they will develop PIC32, a 32bit PIC.

If they want to develop a 32bit MUC, I think they have sevearl choices.

1) Using an existing 32bit MCU core like those from ARM, espeiclaly the
new Cortex M3 where not many vendors are supporting it (Luminary,
ST now. TI is said to develop some new ones). Or they can use
MIPS since it just announced the new Core targeted toward 32bit MCU
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=E0BXFAWUYKDL4QSNDLSCKHA?articleID=202800129

2). Use the existing PIC24 and then extend it to PIC32.

3) Combined 1) and 2) just like Atmel with ARM and AVR32. Take note
Atmel is not backing Cortex M3 but choose to use Arm7/Arm9/AVR32.

I will tend to guess Microchip will go route 1.

Xiaofan
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David VanHorn | 1 Nov 02:41
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Re: [OT] Hiring

On 10/31/07, William Couture <bcouture <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 31, 2007 2:00 PM, David VanHorn <microbrix <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> > My company is hiring, at the moment looking for a software guy and a
> > mechanical guy.  Details will be on the site ASAP, www.mfintel.com
>
> Website requires flash.  If you reach their non-flash page, all links are
> broken.

Yeah, its not a feature I like much.. We have a web guy who's supposed
to fix it.
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M. Adam Davis | 1 Nov 03:07
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Re: [EE] 1080p Televisions interfacing to PCs

Firstly - there are four different methods (common) to transfer HD
video across a cable -

VGA (DB-15 - analog RGB with clock and some data)
Component video (YCbCr - three signals - analog)
HDMI (Digital with sound)
DVI (Has both digital and analog(RGB) signals, though not all cards
support both modes)

There is one content protection standard - HDCP - which encrypts
digital video from 'protected' sources so it can't be copied from the
cable.  It only works on digital signals, so DVI and HDMI can support
HDCP.  Not all DVI or HDMI sources or displays support HDCP.

Some signal sources (say, Windows Vista with an HDCP video card, or a
HD-DVD player or Blue-Ray player) have HDCP signals and will NOT
output HD resolution data unless they are connected to an HDCP
compliant monitor.  They downgrade the signal if:

1) the user selects an anlog output (DB-15, DVI analog, Component)
or
2) the user selects a digital output to a monitor or device that does
not support HDCP

So.

Under the following circumstances you _SHOULD_ be able to use the full
resolution of whatever monitor you attach to whatever device (as long
as the device supports the monitor's resolution):
1) If you never view protected content (so far only HDDVD, Blue-Ray,
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Russell McMahon | 1 Nov 03:08
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[OT]:: And the sun comes up like thunder

I expect to be visiting Qingdao, in China North of Shanghai, 
on business for a few days from about November 12th. I don't 
know exactly when or how I'll arrive and leave yet but 
probably but not certainly via  Shanghai both ways. 
Depending on circumstances I may (or may not) get a chance 
to look around a day or so either side of this period. I'd 
be interested in any (polite & sensible :-) ) suggestions of 
sites or sights to see while I'm there. Either Qingdao, 
Shanghai or China related or anything from industries, 
scenery, food, notable customs or whatever.  I will have a 
camera or 3* with me, but will quite probably get to take 
far fewer than my usual complement of photos). I've been to 
Taiwan several times but never to mainland China, so I have 
a general experience of Chinese culture. My vocab is about 2 
words (Nihau, XieXie). Maybe I could add a very few more 
words to that.

            R

KM 5D or 7D DSLR (choose 1)
Xacti (palm sized, movie capable)
A2??? (less obtrusive than xD - quality goodish) 

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Xiaofan Chen | 1 Nov 03:07
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Re: [OT] Hiring

On 11/1/07, William Couture <bcouture <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 31, 2007 2:00 PM, David VanHorn <microbrix <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> > My company is hiring, at the moment looking for a software guy and a
> > mechanical guy.  Details will be on the site ASAP, www.mfintel.com
>
> Website requires flash.  If you reach their non-flash page, all links are
> broken.
>
Most browsers will support Flash nowadays even under Linux and
FreeBSD (using linux-firefox).

By the way, I like this page since it lists the key engineers in the page.
Not many companies will do that.
http://www.mfintel.com/people.php

Xiaofan
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Gmane