Reputable Radio Reification

[display_podcast] We're showcasing other podcasts this week and asking more about you, our listener! Please take the survey on our episode page!

• New (or previously unannounced) Podcasts:
  • Engineer Vs Designer, a podcast about 3D printing, CAD and the conflict between engineers and designers. They have a competition in process to win a MakerBot Replicator.
  • IEEE Spectrum Podcast -- Host Steven Cherry talks to industry veterans in 10-15 minute clips about all manner of industry topics.
  • Story Collider -- A mashup of science and comedy, this podcast has a different person talking each show about funny stories involving science.
  • We'll add a section on the website for other podcasts we like
• HAXLR8R is rolling! And we helped inform one of the participants! Tom from Boulder ElectroRide was accepted and is now writing about his experience on a new blog. Star Simpson, another member of the HAXLR8R program, is keeping a journal of her travels as well. Both are super interesting!
• So glad that there are hardware startups...and people are starting to notice!
• Lattice has a new logo...and it could mess up your ability to spot one of their parts until you learn the new logo. If you need to spot old logos, check out this site.
• Dave's video about the anti static bag myth was passed down the chain by Element14 and they should be using the correct bags now.
• BoredAtWork writes on the EEVBlog Forum about the silliness of pricing when it's just a software upgrade, but Chris and Dave understand the reality behind it. You need margin in order to work on next generation stuff!
• Chris Anderson wrote a series on "Maker Businesses" and makes a similar point. You need to charge 2.4x your costs in order to maintain business! (i.e. $10 in parts means you have to charge $24).
• Business Week writes about the true cost of low cost products: managers beholden to shareholders chasing the rock bottom prices will not have time and resources to focus on a good product.
• Chris uses Dropbox  to maintain CAD files across computers/platforms.
• New web-based SPICE program available for the NerdKits guys. It's called Circuit Lab and has some great features!
• This Week In Nerd History
  • In 1977, the first Freon-cooled Cray-1 supercomputer, costing $19,000,000, was shipped to Los Alamos Laboratories, NM. It was 133 MegaFlops. The A4 processor in an iPhone is 34 MegaFlops!
• Chip of the Week
  • Dave likes the LT3600, a 15V, 1.5A Synchronous, Rail-to-Rail, Single Resistor, Step-Down Regulator (whew!)

Thanks to kafkan for the radio tower picture

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