The Art of Electronics

Informally it is called “the bible of electronics”. “The art of electronics” is widely recognized as the authoritative text and reference on electronic circuit design. The book has revolutionized the way of teaching electronics. It is co-authored by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill. Its first edition was released in 1982 while the revised edition came in 1989. The first edition sold over 125,000 copies worldwide and was translated into eight languages.An ideal first textbook and an indispensable reference on electronics for engineers, scientists, professional, amateur, and for all those who works with electronic circuits.With more than 1000 pages, this book covers all the areas of electronic circuit design, both analog and digital, from basic DC voltage, current, and resistance, to active filters and oscillators, to digital electronics, including microprocessors and digital bus interfacing. The book also discusses the often-neglected areas, such as high-speed design techniques, low-power applications, and high-frequency. Though the text is information dense but the intimate tone used makes it easily readable and more accessible.The USP of this book is its collection of useful example circuits. Along with some examples of good circuits it has some bad ideas too; to disuss what makes the good designs good and the bad ones bad.Reviews of the book"This is a delightful book ... an excellent teaching text as well as a lab reference. The circuits actually work, the schematics are readable, and there is even a section on how to draw good schematics. I recently observed a graduate student in physics unfamiliar with op-amps start to build a haywired mess of a circuit. He then took home The Art of Electronics for one night, and the next day the mess was taken apart, to be replaced by a correctly designed working circuit." -- Review of Scientific Instruments"Full of clever circuits and sharp insights, but with a surprising minimum of mathematics.... This scheme of making maximum use of the insights of simple approximations described in words, and introducing more formal design only after understanding has gained real headway, is the pedagogical core of this original treatment.... The depth is genuine, as is the richness of examples, data and apt tricks." -- Scientific American

Tips of Cooking Meat In The Microwave

Summer is here and if you are anything like me, you dont want to turn on your oven or stove unless absolutely necessary. I do most of my cooking in the microwave during the summer months. It helps keep my home cooler and cuts down on my cooling bill. I have found that many people dont like to cook meat in the microwave. I was once one of those people. Chicken would come out like rubber and I always worried that ground beef didnt cook thoroughly. I have since found that the trick is to use the right cooking utensils. There has also been some hype about how its not safe to use plastic to cook meat or anything else in the microwave. This is only half true. Certain types of plastic have chemicals that are activated with the extreme heat of the microwave and these chemicals can get into your food. For more details visit Hence, the key to cooking in your microwave is, once again, to use the correct cooking utensils. Basically, use containers that are specifically designed for cooking in the microwave. My preference in microwave cooking is Tupperware. Their cookware is specifically designed for the microwave so you dont have to worry about the chemicals. Their Oval Cooker is designed to retain the moisture of your meat so that your meat doesnt come out dry and rubbery. It also has a colander so you can brown your meat and let the grease drip to the bottom. That makes it easy to dispose of the grease drippings or use them for gravy. Tupperware also backs it cooker with a lifetime warranty so if it breaks I can just replace it with a new one, which seems like a good investment to me. So the instructions I am providing below apply to the Tupperware Oval Cooker. If you feel confident using a different type of microwave cooker, of course, try that, but please make sure you follow the guidelines I stated above. Cooking Ground Beef Place the ground beef with your favorite seasoning in the colander of the cooker. Cover and cook for 6 minutes per pound. Let sit a few minutes then remove from the microwave. By using the colander all the grease will drain to the bottom of the cooker. Cooking a Whole Chicken If using the Oval Cooker you will need to use the extender piece for your average size chicken. Then place the chicken in the cooker. Pour about half a cup of water on the bottom of the cooker. Sprinkle your chicken with your favorites seasonings. Place the cover on the cooker and cook for 6 minutes per pound. I think you will be surprised at how moist your chicken comes out. Cooking Cut Up Chicken After cutting up your chicken use the same instructions for cooking a whole chicken. Determine by how high the chicken stacks if you will need to use the extender or not. Cooking Chicken Pieces You can use the colander to cook chicken pieces. Cut the chicken into bit size pieces. I usually use chicken breast cutlets for this. Place the cutup chicken pieces in the colander. Season with your favorite seasonings. Place the cover on the cooker and microwave for 6 minutes per pound. Cooking Pork I have not yet tried cooking pork in the microwave. Pork is tricky and my family doesnt eat pork so that is one reason I have never tried cooking it in the microwave. However, there are plenty of beef and chicken recipes out there, so I hope the above suggestions will help you keep your kitchen cooler during the hot summer months.

Beatles for Dummies"

By: Sarah Anne Polsinelli
When someone says "The Beatles", what images come to mind? I see a black and white picture of four guys onstage, sporting mop-top haircuts and grey collarless suits. To many people, that's what The Beatles are - a black and white TV image of their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.In the spirit of unbiased journalism and avoiding clichés, I will not tell you that The Beatles were the greatest and most influential rock band ever. Nor will I tell you that their talents have been unrivalled for 35 years, since their breakup in 1970. I prefer facts, so here's one: The Beatles are the best-selling group of all time, with worldwide sales exceeding 1.3 billion records Here's another one: During the record-breaking week of April 4, 1964, singles by The Beatles were in the Billboard's top five positions in the singles chart -"Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me". The following week, 14 of their songs were in the Billboard Hot 100.Beatlemania exploded in America in February, 1964, just months after President Kennedy's assassination, when John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arrived at New York's JFK airport. They were greeted by thousands of screaming teen girls, and the foursome had no idea that they were there for them. They appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show later that week to an audience of 73 million people, still one of the highest-rated programs of all time.Within the first few months of Beatlemania in 1964, United Artists quickly produced A Hard Day's Night to capitalize on their infectious popularity. The comedy starred all four Beatles, and is an exaggerated version of 36 hours in the life of The Beatles. It was a massive hit and was followed by Help! the next year, which was produced in colour, but not nearly as "colourful" as the first.They toured for only a few years, recording their albums in the interim. To escape the throng of hysterical young girls that followed them around, they were forced to sneak out of bathroom windows and swiftly duck into limousines. Many of their concerts were even drowned out by the high-pitched shrieks and squeals of girls.In a March 1966 interview with The London Standard, John Lennon said, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first? Rock ‘n' roll or Christianity".Naturally, this upset a lot of people, despite the fact that Lennon's tongue-in-cheek remark had been quoted out of context. Lennon was making a social commentary about an overall decline of Christian faith, but nonetheless radio stations in the South and Midwestern US banned their music. The Vatican denounced Lennon's words and South Africa banned Beatles music from the radio. The media circus surrounding the event and the stress from touring led to the band's decision to quit performing live, and in August 1966 they put their final "official" live concert.They spent the rest of their career as a band, writing and recording music, taking the best elements of rock, pop, folk and psychedelia and making it their own. On June 2, 1967, they released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the first popular concept album. This was the album that raised their reputations as musical innovators and was a big catalyst, starting the art rock movement while remaining incredibly popular.But the feelings of success from the album quickly turned to sorrow when long-time manager Brian Epstein died on August 27, 1967. He was the proverbial glue that held them together. There are many different rumours pertaining to the breakup of the band, but this was the key event that eventually led to their demise.While recording Abbey Road together in 1969, it became more apparent that the band were pursuing their own individual interests (Let It Be was an abandoned album that was recorded earlier in the year, but was compiled and released by their record company in 1970). McCartney tried to take over for Epstein, first by involving the group with the film The Magical Mystery Tour. The film captured their psychedelic period, but was a drastic flop.While Lennon was busy in love with artist Yoko Ono, and McCartney was off talking to the press and ceremoniously leading the group, George Harrison was pursuing his own style of artistry. Lennon and McCartney were the principal songwriters and Harrison, eager to burst free of his two-song-per-album limitation, released the first solo effort from a Beatles band member in 1968, with the film soundtrack Wonderwall Music.There was also a terrible business decision that would plague them for many years. Apple Corps. was originally set out as a company that would give grants to the poets, songwriters and fashion designers of the late 1960s - in other words, hippies. But what began as a vehicle for tax evasion soon became a financial disaster. Apple was losing money and The Beatles were publicly mocked for their bad business sense. Their public money squabbles soon sent them on a downward spiral.New manager Allen Klein was hired in 1970 to restructure the company, but McCartney disliked him and had wanted to hire his lawyer father-in-law instead. John's insistence on collaborating with Yoko sparked tensions within the group. They officially broke up in 1970, before the release of their final album, Let It Be.Each member pursued careers as independent artists. John Lennon proved his talent as an independent artist with albums such as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, but his career ended abruptly the evening of December 8, 1980 when he was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building.Lennon's assassination marked the end of Paul McCartney's new band, The Wings, as well. Formed with wife Linda (and six other members) in 1971, they had toured for almost 10 years, with some hit singles and profitable albums, until Lennon's assassination caused them to stop touring and breakup thereafter. McCartney remains the most successful popular music composer and recording artist ever with sales of 100 million singles worldwide. "Yesterday" (from the 1965 Help! album) is the world's most popular song with over 6 million airplays in the US alone.One of George Harrison's most notable post-breakup achievements was releasing two very successful albums with The Travelling Wilbury's, which included members such as Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison. He pursued a solo career until he died of brain cancer in November 2001.Last and least (in the public eye, anyway), Ringo Starr, nicknamed for having always worn lots of rings on his fingers, released a successful self-titled album in 1973, after producing two back-to-back number one hits. He dabbled in television and films, and later formed The All Star Band.No band has ever come close to mimicking The Beatles' overall success and popularity. The Beatles gave us more than 22 number one singles, and a dozen albums that spanned and exemplified a decade rich with historical achievements. But most importantly, what we got was a "Revolution" (Well, you know).

Your Booklet Content Can Persuade Your Readers to Buy
(Thu Jan 22nd, 2009, by Janice Jenkins)

Yes, selling and marketing are not only designated to brochures, flyers and postcards. Your booklet printing can also be an integral part of your marketing campaign, and can do very well in influencing your readers to buy from you.Printing booklets is almost the same as printing your custom brochures and catalogs. They have the same amount of pages (which is many compared to a one-page flyer), and you can list as many products and services as you want. The only difference is that your booklet printing can also serve as information guide to update your readers of what is going on with your business. Not only that, printing booklets can also be a means for you to spread valuable information that your target readers can use in their daily routine.And just like brochures, your custom booklets should be able to attract your target readers for it to become effective. Without readers to look inside its pages, your booklet printing might as well be just another stack of paper that should be trashed immediately.So what do you do to attract as many target readers as you can handle? You need to beef up on the content and images when printing booklets.Informative and visually appealing. Booklets are not made of content alone. In order for you to attract the eyes of your readers, you need to add pizzazz to your project with colors and images. However, what is appealing depends also on the person reading your color booklets. So be sure to create a marketing ad that can encompass most if not all reader preferences. One basic rule to guide you – be sure to have a clean and uncluttered look to your booklet printing. How you print your booklet is a reflection of how you operate your business and the way you deal with your clients.Simplicity always wins over complexity. A simple and clean design always gets positive points when it comes to attracting readers to your print ad. Even if you are a graphic design company or an artist showcasing your talent, a complex design can only distract your audience to what is more important, which is your message.Just remember the KISS principle – “keep it simple and sweet”. If your elements do not have a purpose and can only clutter your overall appearance then better forget them. You need to focus on what is important. Highlighting your message is more important than having an attractive design that does not mean anything.Consistency. Not only should you beef up on your content and add appeal through your color and images, more importantly, all of your elements should be consistent to your overall look and feel. Consistency to one theme or idea throughout your many pages should be a priority when designing your booklet printing. Everything in your print ad should have one purpose – to emphasize your message.Relevance and fresh information. Finally, remember that not only are you providing your readers with your product and service list, you are also giving information that they can use in their life. What good would that information is if it is already obsolete? Review and update your content as well as your images so you will not appear inefficient and inept in running your business.For comments and inquiries about the article visit: Printing Booklets