Gateways Into Electronics by Peter Caroll Dunn provides a good introduction of electronics to undergraduate students interested in engineering. A recommended read at PC Fastlane, it is considered to be one of the best introductory books to electronics out there, though it isn’t very well known. The book has been praised by many for the detail it is able to provide while still maintaining clarity. Anyone with a bit of physics knowledge and basic calculus can learn from Dunn’s book. With more than 500 figures and a variety of examples and exercises, this book is also makes a good reference as well as learning tool.
Some of the topics in Gateways Into Electronics include circuit theory, linear systems, operational amplifiers, feedback systems, semiconductors, and digital circuits.
In a stunt fit for the likes of our own Logan Harrison, a woman decided to call the Apple Store to see if they would host her wedding reception. Why? It turns out she and her husband first met there.
Would I want a wedding Apple Store? Probably not. But I hope it works out for these two love birds.
As the new comes in, don’t forget the old. Here are a few of our most popular stories from years gone by. Some of our more seasoned readers may be familiar with them, while new readers may have never seen them before.
I am often asked by friends and colleagues for help with computer issues. Such problems may range from simple software errors to full-fledged computer meltdowns. Whenever asked what tech support service I recommend, I am usually unable to respond. I am able to give myself and friends all the computer help they need, but when it comes to sending your problems out to another place, where should one go? Sometimes there are people who are simply too rude or who I don’t know well enough to help. Sure, you can call up Geek Squad or find an ad for a local guy in the phone book, but I heard about an interesting new computer help service today called Fast-teks. Now I have someone to refer the annoying old lady by the water cooler at work to. Fast-teks will go out to any home or business and fix any computers. Their pricing is reasonable, and they have a fair number of locations around the U.S. I will still be handling my friends’ computer issues for some time, but if I ever run into anyone I can’t or don’t want to help, I’ll have the number for Fast-Teks ready.
This is a sponsored post meant to keep PC Fastlane alive. In order to keep our site ad-free, from time to time we must make posts promoting outside services or products.
You can do more than view the starry skies with Pentax’s new $50,000 150SDP telescope. Who knew a telescope could do so much?
Little information about this telescope is available. It is meant for professional star gazers with its array of advanced optics, which include a 1120mm tube length, 150mm aperture, 960 mm focal length, and four lenses buttered in an apochromatic refractor. At 176 pounds, this hunk of telescopic love isn’t as easy to move around as you would like, but is still portable and is setup for astro-imaging. Americans will be sad to hear that the 150SDP is unavailable in the States, but it can be found on numerous Japanese and English astronomy websites.
A conversation I recently had with a Dell user in a Portland Starbucks convinced me that PC users simply aren’t worth talking to. Read more about what caused me to think this way and the interesting conversation after the break.
PC Fastlane is happy to announce the addition of a new staff member: our new columnist, Logan Harrison. Logan wrote to PC Fastlane after the announcement of the need for staff members was made, and though he will not be writing about gadget or tech news, he will be doing something just as good. As a columnist, Logan will write a column every once and awhile under the new “Columns” section of the site. Though he has little past publication experience, he promises to provide a unique, interesting, and predictably opinionated and biased analysis of the tech world. Be on the lookout for his first column soon.
Logan describes himself as a “pretty cool guy” from Portland, Oregon. Besides technology, he enjoys other hobbies such as classical music and tennis.
Keep in mind two staff member positions are still available. Read more about applying here.
In light of a move by Nokia last year to offer unlimited music downloads with the purchase of a phone, Cupertino-based Apple is considering offering unlimited downloads from iTunes with the purchase of select iPod models.
It is currently unknown how much extra an iPod with the unlimited music would cost, or if the music would be DRM-free. Either way, I think it would be an excellent move by Apple to do this. Americans have always been attracted to the idea of unlimited, and it would cut down on P2P downloads. The only potential problems would be if Apple chose to set a time period, say a year like Nokia’s, on the service, or if they only offered in on the more expensive iPods. Many would be willing to pay to renew the service, but it would be a shame if service were unrenewable after a year or if you had to buy a $499 iPhone to get it.
Things are starting to get too big around here at PC Fastlane for me to manage. The time I can spend posting on the site has been reduced as of late due to my studies, and the site can’t grow without taking on some staff members.
As good as Japan’s gadgets and technology are, when it comes to good English translating they are sometimes a tad behind. I saw the sign above at a town near Lake Ashi while on a one-week trip to Japan a few months ago. Apparently Japan is home to a number of “smoked visitors.”
Please don’t get the feeling that I’m trying to poke fun at the Japanese. I’m sure if we translated all our signs into Japanese here in America, we would make similar silly mistakes.
PC Fastlane is a technology blog that keeps up-to-date with the latest happenings in the world of bits and bytes. The brain child of computer enthusiast Daniel Foster, the site has been around for more than two years and has been viewed by hundreds of thousands worldwide.
Read more about us here.
Gateways Into Electronics by Peter Caroll Dunn provides a good introduction of electronics to undergraduate students interested in engineering. A recommended read at PC Fastlane, it is considered to be one of the best introductory books to electronics out there, though it isn’t very well known. The book has been praised by many for the detail it is able to provide while still maintaining clarity. Anyone with a bit of physics knowledge and basic calculus can learn from Dunn’s book. With more than 500 figures and a variety of examples and exercises, this book is also makes a good reference as well as learning tool.
