2006

Green Laws Unearth Trade Secrets

Drew Wilson

As Europe's environmental legislation spreads worldwide, electronics companies are increasingly concerned that third parties are gaining control of confidential product information. Particularly worrisome is the call for mandatory RoHS substance analysis by China's RoHS law.

Six-Axis Robots Palletize Carlsberg Beverages

Kevin Kozuszek

Significant reduction in downtime

Powering Passive OLED Displays in Handhelds

Joon Park

Organic light-emitting diodes are an emerging technology that is set to revolutionize displays, offering a number of advantages over LCDs

Digital Receiver Design: Basics of Software Radio

Roger H. Hosking

Digital receivers have revolutionized electronic systems for a variety of applications including communications, data acquisition, and signal processing.

Global Mobile TV: A Multi-standard Tutorial

Alon Ironi

Digital TV is expanding -- including portable wireless devices.

Put Freespire Linux to Work

A. Lizard

This free Linux distro, based on Linspire, offers a secure system with better-than-Windows multimedia capabilities. Here's how to get it configured.

Incident Response Tools: Security Triage and Treatment

John Sawyer

Incident-response tools are becoming increasingly important as new regulations and legislation stipulate disclosure after security breaches. These advancements in memory-dump analysis can help you find a wealth of evidence in both civil and criminal investigations.

Codec CRC-WVC Outperforms H.264 Video with Wavelets

Andr Vincent, Demin Wang and Liang Zhang

The structure and algorithms of a new wavelet-based video codec called CRC-WVC with compression efficiency that can perform better than H.264/MPEG-4, and with room for further improvements.

Ball Screw Technology Turns on Innovations

Kyle G. Fedorcha

How a proven approach adapts to meet changing requirements

Select the Right Power Supplies for Your Servers

David Gilbert

Learn to calculate power requirements. It can save time and money -- and boost the reliability of your servers.

Using Programmable Analog for High-power LED Color Mixing Applications

Gavin Hesse and Patrick Prendergast

Programmable analog circuitry adds analog functionality to reprogrammable digital electronics.

Tear Down: High-end Mouse Goes Where No Mouse Has Gone

A new set of innovations that were designed globally make this peripheral more useful than competitive products

Review: Iomega's New Generation Of 70-Gbyte Capacity

Marc Spiwak

With Iomega's new "REVolution" drive, you can back up an entire system on a single disk.

Enhancing Automotive Manufacturing with Robots

Kevin Kozuszek

The auto industry is the largest user of robots, which automate the production of various components and then help assemble them on the finished vehicle. See how two industry suppliers use robots to handle bumpers and make molds more efficiently.

Rootkit Detection: Finding the Enemy Within

Andrew Conry-Murray

They make up only a tiny percentage of malware, but rootkits help spyware and trojans avoid detection and removal. Find out how the security community is responding to rootkits and what new steps have been taken to prevent their installation.

Get Under the Hood of the New Mini-PCs

Ed Tittel

Intel's Core Duo processors enable small but potent systems that can handle all kinds of media—including movies, music, videos and TV

Running Windows (Alongside OS X) On Your Mac

Richard Hoffman

Need to run Windows apps, but want a Mac? Yes, you can have your cake and run it too.

Techniques for Power Supply Noise Measurements

Art Porter

Power supply noise has risen to a high level of concern in new digital designs. Here are techniques for measuring how high the noise level is.

Inside Linux: Three Desktops Put To The Test

Frank J. Ohlhorst

When considering a Linux desktop, you can face a dizzying array of choices

Building a Super-Fast 802.11n Wireless Network

Peter Hagopian

Even though this new network standard isn't finalized yet, you can start using it now. Here's how

Review: Sony Blu-ray Drive Burns All Discs

Marc Spiwak

If you're confused by the DVD format wars and are looking for a next-generation optical drive, Sony has an option.

Integrating an H.264 Video Encoder with Stretch's Processor

Joe Hanson

The VSS H.264 encoder SDK lets you easily integrate an encoder with your own custom video processing or other functions.

Turning SLED10 Linux Into a Practical User Desktop

A. Lizard

While the so-called "Vista Killer" may not be ready for prime time, your customers may want it anyway. Here's how to prepare yourself.

Strange Bedfellows: Linux and Windows

Frank J. Ohlhorst

While the very idea of Novell and Microsoft working together is almost inconceivable, the partnership certainly makes sense from a technical standpoint

Get 'Hands-On' With Alternative Keyboards

Lamont Wood

Three models promise greater comfort, easier learning, and faster typing. But how well do they actually work?

DSP Video Processing Without DSP Programming via Open Source APIs

Rishi Bhattacharya

GStreamer, a popular open source Linux multimedia framework that has become a standard in digital video development, can now be used to control the video encoding and decoding capabilities of a DSP.

Tips for Designing High-performance Amplifier Subsystems

Debbie Brandenburg

General guidelines in designing high-speed amplifiers

Image Processing Trends

David Vrhovnik

The field of image processing has changed dramatically over the last decade

Five Recovery Apps Bring Your PC Back From The Dead

Serdar Yegulalp

Sometimes "bare-metal" recovery is the only way to get things running again

The Ten Most Dangerous Things Users Do Online

Dark Reading Staff

Most users have no idea how dangerous their online behavior is

Operating System Options for Consumer Devices

John A. Carbone

The operating-system alternatives for consumer electronics are many and varied. Choosing the right one can be a key to the success of your design.

Utilizing Advanced FPGA Features

Roger Do

A vendor-independent design approach that allows design development independent of the target FPGA architecture can pay big dividends.

Seven Best Practices to Achieving Higher Levels of Compliance

Jim Brown

A recent study indicates an alarming number of these companies are still faced with low levels of compliance and high risk

Four GPS Devices That Will Drive You Sane

Rick Broida

It's official: The GPS floodgates are open

Secure Data with Simple Disk Mirroring

Andy McDonough

Add 1 TB of automated backup with RAID protection -- quickly and inexpensively

Virtualization Runs Into Some Potholes

Charles Babcock

Virtual servers are going strong, but virtualized applications still need some help

Turn an Old Laptop Into a Portable Network-Troubleshooting System

David S. Markowitz

Doing double-duty as an unofficial sys admin? Here's a new way to lighten your load

Quad-Core Processor Forecast

Alexander Wolfe

Dual-core processors are barely out of the starting gate, and already Intel and AMD are racing to see who can be first to market with quad-core CPUs.

How To Get Ready for Vista

Peter Hagopian

Microsoft's next-generation OS is heavy on RAM and graphics

Buildings With Brains

Michele Pepe

IP sets the stage for 'intelligent' structures, and VARs should be getting in on the action

Building A Viiv PC

Marc Spiwak

Intel's latest advertising campaign ensures that consumers will want to see the Viiv logo. But what does it take to build Viiv-compliant systems?

Using Audio for Flat-Panel TV Differentiation

Keith Cheney

Since the day that they first appeared in retail stores, flat panel televisions have garnered as much consumer and media fascination as perhaps any product in consumer electronics history

Migrating from 8-/16-bit to 32 bit

Kavitha Sundaram

Lessons learned the hard way

Three Steps to a More Secure Laptop

Lamont Wood

How to combine encryption, tracking software, and a "kill switch" to protect laptops and their critical data

5 Things to Know About 802.11n

Carmen Nobel

As wireless protocols go, 802.11n is everything an IT admin could want.

How to Design Fast Charging for High-capacity Batteries

George Paparrizos

Find out how to design chargers that handle higher capacity batteries without adding time to the equation.

The World Wide Web: Past, Present, And Future

George Jones

In just 15 years, the World Wide Web has gone through many iterations: document-sharing tool for researchers, key source of news and information, shopping mecca, multimedia playground, and incredibly popular means of socializing and self-expression.

BitArmor Encrypts & Classifies

Dave Raffo

Startup lays claim to combining encryption and classification to secure and manage data

Three Ps of Proper IT Disposal: Prevention, Protection, and Price

Kyle Marks

Ask your potential electronics recyclers seven simple questions to ensure they handle your e-waste properly. Why? Environmental violations can cost up to $15,000 per incident and $25,000 per day for non-compliance, and the average total cost of a "lost" hard drive can exceed $7 million when legal expenses and customer revenue impact is considered.

Open-Source Tool Gains Traction To Help Build User Interfaces

Charles Babcock

Eclipse, the open source programmer's workbench, is gaining use as a platform for building rich client, interactive end-user interfaces for distributed systems.

Hacking Home LANs

Kelly Jackson Higgins

How can you protect your home users, and ultimately your corporate network?

Build a Kitchen PC

George Jones

This system lets users access recipes, TV, the Internet, and media files—without a keyboard or mouse

The 0 in 2.0

Lincoln Spector

Meet the new web; same as the old web

Reading The Tea Leaves

Jill R. Aitoro

Trends that will shape the government IT market

The Harsh Reality of Data Loss

Don Lewis

There's no good news when data loss is involved--but that doesn't mean you can't protect yourself

Code In .Net, Run On J2EE

Mario Morejon

Mainsoft has one up on the competition: Its Visual MainWin For J2EE product suite makes the company the only place to go for all enterprise Java and .Net mix mode solutions.

Simplify Set-Top-Box Software Updates

Filip Vandenbussche

IPTV and VOD providers are eager to deploy the latest set-top-box (STB) features. Standardized, centralized, and efficient STB update systems will be crucial for effective management and ongoing competitiveness of video networks. Here are the challenges of updating STB software, and potential solutions.

11 New Tips for Boosting Windows XP Performance

Andy McDonough

Neither Vista nor XP SP3 will ship until next year. Here are nearly a dozen new ways to squeeze more speed and capacity from the current version of XP.

State of the Engineer: The Young and the Restless

David Roman and Junko Yoshida

The single, young, energetic, upwardly mobile engineer constantly angling for better pay and greener pastures was for decades a Silicon Valley stereotype. But that image no longer holds true

5 Ways to Lock up E-mail

Gregg Keizer

Beware! After the browser, your e-mail client is the most-used attack avenue for organized computer crooks, script kiddie hackers, and slimy spyware distributors.

Motion-Control Architectures

Chuck Lewin

It's not just improved motors and MOSFETs that matter; architectures play a key role in modern motion control

Label Discs With Linux and Windows Printers

A Lizard

Bypass cheap-looking paper and create professional-quality labels directly on your customers' CDs and DVDs

For System Recovery, DOS Is Still Boss

Eric A. Hall

Even with all its faults--and there are many, starting with a general industry lack of support--DOS is still the preferred operating environment for building a rescue CD to help bring up a crippled system

Five Ways To Button Up Internet Explorer

Gregg Keizer

Here are five tools for Internet Explorer that can help lock down a browser not famous for its security, and make online time at least somewhat safer

What Will You Need For Vista?

Peter Hagopian

Microsoft's next-generation desktop OS will need plenty of RAM and graphics. Here's what to include in your Vista upgrades and new builds

Virtualization With Dual-Core Systems

Carol Ann Muff

Get more processing power using the latest CPU technology

Building a Linux Audio Player

Peter Enseleit

Testing 16 applications can be music to your ears

Voting Software

Jack Ganssle

It's an election year, and the partisan bickering is underway

Now It's A Quad-Core War

Kristen Kenedy

The battle for quad-core market position has already begun for processor rivals Advanced Micro Devices and Intel.

Five Things You Must Know About VoIP

J. Nicholas Hoover

Ready to bring VoIP into your business? Getting pressure to implement it but trying to avoid it? Here's our five-point take on the state of the technology.

Recycle Old Hardware the "Green" Way

Lamont Wood

Old systems contain toxic components. Here's how to recycle or otherwise dispose of them without ruining the environment

Review: Archos 104

David Haskin

There's a lot to like with Archos' new low-end MP3 player, but it doesn't quite add up to a desirable device

Implementing an openIP Encryption Flow

Andrew Dauman

An open IP encryption environment that facilitates the use of protected IP throughout the design flow--from IP vendor to EDA vendor to silicon vendor

Build a 'Double-Powered' Gaming PC

Jason Compton

Good things come in pairs. To create the ultimate high-power system, throw in two of everything

Intel's Conroe vs. AMD's Dual-Core Athlon

Frank J. Ohlhorst

The sleeping giant of Intel has now arisen

Six Ways To Protect Your Wireless Network

Preston Galla

It doesn't take a whole lot of work -- or any extra money -- to make your network secure. Follow these steps, and you'll go a long way to keeping your network, PCs, and data safe

Linksys Wireless-G WVC200 PTZ Internet Camera with Audio

Kevin Elgan

This new Web-controlled wireless pan, tilt and zoom camera is great for personal and small business security

Malware Responses: What To Do Before, During, And After An Attack

Ross M. Greenberg

Don't let a malware attack ruin your business. A little planning and the right responses can make it a minor annoyance instead of a major catastrophe

5 Things To Know Before Installing Office 2007 Beta 2

Gregg Keizer

Here are five fine-print particulars you should think about before putting Office 2007 through its paces.\

Making the Switch from CRT to LCD Displays

Justin Korelc and Ed Tittel

Here's the lowdown on changing over from picture tube to liquid crystal display, and tools for making make the most of new LCDs

Using Supercapacitors to Extend Alkaline Battery Life in Portable Designs

Pierre Mars

Here's how to increase battery life in your design by using electrochemical double-layer capacitors

Six Things You Didn't Know About Linux: A Beginners' Guide

Alexander Wolfe

Everyone is talking about Linux these days. Should you be listening?

New C++ Datatypes Accelerate Algorithm Validation

Dylan McGrath

Mentor Graphics announces new bit-accurate C++ datatypes that accelerate algorithm validation by 10x

Convert a PC into a Low-Cost Cash Register

George Jones

Building a point-of-sale system that is affordable for small business owners, yet still provides full retail functionality

Head To Head: Novell SUSE Linux vs. Windows Vista

Edward F. Moltzen and Frank J. Ohlhorst

Are you ready for a Linux desktop as a replacement for Windows?

Build a PC-based Home Security System

George Jones

Create a low-cost do-it-yourself home security system that can be easily managed by a central PC

Implementing an Open IP Encryption Flow

Andrew Dauman

Open IP encryption flow will permit industry-wide interoperability, and they can be extended to cover a wide range of applications

Can Direct Current Power Data Centers?

Nicolas Mokhoff

Researchers will be using direct current technologies to power data centers and hopefully save billions of dollars a year in the energy costs of operating them.

Visual Studio 2005: Unstable and Highly Recommended

Scott Swigart

Visual Studio 2005 started shipping in November of last year. On behalf of Dr. Dobb's Journal, Scott Swigart sat down with some industry experts who use the product on a daily basis and get their impressions about product stability and usefulness. Rockford Lhotka, Billy Hollis, Bill Vaughn, and Kathleen Dollard took the time to chat with him on this topic.

CTIA 2006: Springtime For Cellular In Vegas

Ernest Lilley and Alex Pournelle

Alex Pournelle and Ernest Lilley traveled east and west, respectively, to see what's new at this Spring's Cellular Telephone and Internet Association (CTIA) event.

Testing Times

Richard Vaughan

Resolving temporal costs at the level of individual machine cycles

Power Management for Mobile Devices

Sabyasachi Dey

With the convergence of new computing, communication and entertainment applications on wireless handsets, power demands are increasing rapidly, yet the capacity of batteries cannot keep up.

Back to the Future with AJAX

Yoram Meriaz

AJAX is an amalgamation of technologies that give web applications the look-and-feel of desktop applications.

Tomorrow's Software Factory--Today

Matthew Heusser

If you read enough technology news, you are bound to run into the software factory. But just what is a software factory?