Category: Everything

Time for a new power tool

My old and my new power tool.

About 9 1/2 years, two moves and renovating one kitchen – this is how long I was able to enjoy my power tool “Alpha Tools BAS 14,4-1” from Bauhaus. I guess that’s even more than I could have expected from such a no-name – oh, sorry, let’s call it no-brand tool. But now the battery… Continue reading Time for a new power tool

Dark Samsung?

Ever seen a seemingly ok, quite new 24″ Syncmaster SA300 LCD monitor from Samsung – which refuses to show an image, but can display its own system messages? Try a firmware update! I found this solution in the PC Help Forum. A firmware update for a computer monitor you wonder? Yes! Obviously you need a… Continue reading Dark Samsung?

Resistance is futile

Detailed view of drawers with 37mm x 17mm labels.

…at least if you don’t know which resistors you have in stock and where they are. For a long time we kept resistors in their original cardboard boxes In our student labs – futily trying at least to sort the boxes according to decades of reistance values. Looking at a standard assortment cabinet we had… Continue reading Resistance is futile

Good and bad wires

A close-up of the tips of the pins. The order is the same as in the pictures above: worst solder joint to the left, good solder joint in the middle and crimped connector to the right.

I am a big fan of solderless breadboards and we use these also for our students at Uppsala University. For quite a while I have been using solid-core wire for my connections, but then I discovered the more flexible breadboard wires which have become popular in the Arduino community. Can there be quality? These stranded… Continue reading Good and bad wires

Hacking an AVR programmer

MK-USBISP-V3.00 programmer in aluminum shell on eBay.

(see also my recent appendix to this topic: Hacking an AVR programmer II – especially if you have an ATmega88-based programmer!) On eBay I recently purchased a set of cute small USB AVR programmers which I intend to use in the course 1TE663 Microcontroller Programming at Uppsala University. After waiting for one month for the… Continue reading Hacking an AVR programmer

Magic lights in Uppsala

23rd UNT fireworks in Uppsala

Today the art festival “all lights on Uppsala” ended and Christmas season officially started with the 23rd annual fireworks by the local newspaper UNT. During the festival, the artists and the city officials wanted to emphasize why LEDs will be the light source of the future. At one of the installations the efficiency of the… Continue reading Magic lights in Uppsala

City of Stralsund flogs unique library collection

Money has to be saved everywhere these days, but should a public entity be allowed to flog the family silver? The city of Stralsund, UNESCO world heritage site, has recently silently and covertly sold off a unique library collection. An online petition was started with the aim to revoke this action: https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/rettet-die-stralsunder-archivbibliothek

buying electronics on ebay

Based on my experience buying electronic components on ebay I decided to maintain a personal white-list and black-list of ebay sellers.