Tools like National’s WebBENCH have allowed engineers to design power supplies without downloading any software for quite some time. Recently I got an account at Upverter.com. This web application is focused schematic capture with social sharing.

Just announced this week, Digi-Key is looking to enter this area with their new web based tool to share schematics, Scheme-It(sm).

I haven’t had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but I look forward to comparing to Upverter and Eagle version 6 soon.

What is more American than an Apple Pie?  Why, a Pie designed in California, made in China.  This is one pie I’d like to jailbreak.  Is applying too much heat to this pie considered an upgrade?  Okay, that’s all the lame puns I have for this laser cut pie.

Evil Mad Scientist Labratories provides a tutorial on how to bake a Mac Mini Style Apple pie, complete with Laser Cutting Instructions.  Yeah that’s right, a laser cut pie.

Now that’s an Apple Pie! – Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

Even knowing that the name Arduino was rooted in Italian, I have often wondered what it meant.  David Kushner of IEEE Spectrum has a great write-up on the beginnings of the Arduino project.

Great read.  The most surprising thing to me is that over 250,000 official boards have sold since 2005.  That isn’t counting clones and stand alones.  Wow!

The lead hardware designer of both the original ARM core and the BBC Micro Computer, Professor Steve Furber, is leading an effort to simulate the human brain with ARM cores.  Custom chips with 18 cores each will be used.  Check out the story at Electronics Weekly for more information:   One million ARM cores to simulate brain at Manchester – 7/8/2011 – Electronics Weekly.

A long time fan of the NASA Space program, the last shuttle going up is a little bit sad.  Artist Alberto Cuadra has put together this infographic about the shuttle.   Merde D’artiste: Bye bye Space Shuttle.

Diodes can be found at www.diodes.com.

Watch an episode of NCIS or CSI and you might get the impression that hacking electronic devices is a simple way to learn all you need to about a person. While these shows tend to gloss over the science of the forensic work, the truth is, most electronic devices only rely on obscurity to keep data safe. Here is an article from Cambridge researchers discussing how to read contents using lasers (but not feverish typing on a keyboard for software that is clearly graphical in nature.). That sound crazy right? Don’t forgot Princeton has guidelines on security based on the fact you can freeze RAM to extend its retention.

Techniques like these might not work much longer. This new SRAM chip from Maxim, the DS3660, isn’t big but it is continuously updating its cells to prevent a recoverable data pattern from being imprinted. Tamper-resistant features will work to keep the secrets of the chip safe, should someone try TV-style hacking techniques.

Additionally, it also includes cool features like a 64-bit unique serial number, a random-number generator, and a seconds counter all while supporting I2C communications.

Check with Maxim for more details. Don’t be surprised if samples are tough to come by….: http://www.maxim-ic.com/datasheet/index.mvp/id/6767

Over at Universe Today, there is a review of the book titled “NASA Space Shuttle Owner’s Workshop Manual.”  When I first started using the Internet (over dial-up at 28.8kps), I came across JPL’s website.  It lead me to the Operations Manual and Reference Guide for the Space Shuttle.  At the time I couldn’t believe such information was available to the public.  Then I realized, didn’t the public buy those machines in the first place?  It is a shame we are garaging them.

NASA Space Shuttle Owner’s Workshop Manual Book Review.

Apple’s latest magic trick was upgrading their previous A4 chip into a dual core variant, the A5.  This chip powers the recently announced iPad 2 and is likely to be in the upcoming summer release of the iPhone 5 (4s?)  The folks at Chipworks have done some reverse engineering (which may be using actual magic) to see what the inside of the A5 looks like… all 2.9Million gates of it.

Pricing is set at $6 in volumes of 500k, so for hobby work it may be a cost/time trade-off.

ST selling single-chip GPS IC. – 1/27/2011 – Electronics Weekly.