Volumes & issues:
Volume 4, Issue 4
28 February 2009
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- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 2 –2
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0422
- Type: Article
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- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 5 –5
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0423
- Type: Article
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(10 pages) - Author(s): L. Wiegler
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 16 –16
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0400
- Type: Article
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One of Barack Obama's first actions as incoming US President could allow California to set its own limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied California's request for a waiver exempting it from the US Clean Air Act, which mandates limits on air pollution levels but currently not greenhouse gas emissions. The Clean Air Act specifically allows California to apply for a waiver once it determines that its individual standards are as protective of health and safety as federal standards. California was permitted this option because its more stringent air pollution regulations pre-dated the creation of the legislation. According to California Air Resources Board (CARB), the so-called Pavley Waiver would mean reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While the initial focus was on cleaning up light-duty vehicles, there is now a larger effort to cut emissions from all sources. - Author(s): P. Dempsey
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 17 –17
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0424
- Type: Article
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The paper discusses the International Solid State Circuits Conference of 2009 and gives a brief overview of its technical content. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 18 –19
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0401
- Type: Article
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- Author(s): G. Neish and L. Collins
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 20 –20
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0425
- Type: Article
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- Author(s): P. Bizony
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 22 –25
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0402
- Type: Article
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It seems that engineering has always been an emotionally rewarding trade. Studies shows that many practitioners obstinately avoided promotion, even surrendering the possibility of higher salaries, in order "to stay entrenched in the actual work of engineering rather than moving into supervisory positions". It's not the money but the trade itself that brings satisfaction. The article also cites that certain engineers reached positions of power and influence in commerce and politics, there was a tendency for some of them to believe that, if only a better 'technical process' could be invented for society as a whole, then everyone might be happier thus leaving them unsatisfied. - Author(s): A. Spurling
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 26 –28
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0403
- Type: Article
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The article discusses how to overcome stress and stay happy. Happiness percentage depends on what we do about it. Keeping an open mind and being relaxed will help us to have the potential, the chance, the lucky break. According to a research, frame of mind - a 'glass-half-full' or a 'glass-half-empty' mentality can put a spring or a stoop in our step. The research shows that positive thinking helps. The ability to cope with stressful situations can be improved by seeing the funny side of whatever happens. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 30 –31
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0426
- Type: Article
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If you plan to keep moving to stave off the cold, here are some mobile goodies to keep you company. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 32 –33
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0404
- Type: Article
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Microsoft is tuning up the successor to the disappointing Windows Vista operating system. But will Windows 7 restore confidence in a company besieged by strong competition? Windows Vista was released to manufacture last January 2007 with a great deal of fanfare and anticipation but after its release, it was criticised for being resource heavy. The higher requirements of some of the premium features of Windows Vista were not available on many machines. Therefore, with Windows 7, rather than concentrate on introducing a radically different user interface, the developers have focused on tidying up the features that were originally introduced with Windows Vista. - Author(s): C. Edwards
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 34 –37
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0405
- Type: Article
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In this paper, military users are turning to formally proven software to save operating systems from themselves. - Author(s): L. Collins
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 38 –39
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0406
- Type: Article
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For those amateur photographers who'd prefer their memories to be sharp as well as happy, image processing is coming to the rescue. - Author(s): P. Bizony
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 40 –43
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0407
- Type: Article
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The interface between humans and machines is changing. From merely being tools that we manipulate with buttons and switches, our computers, PDAs and electronic toys will become socially responsive entities. The advent of machines with 'personality' began with a spectrum of modest innovations, from cars that welcome their owners with pretty lights and soothing sounds, through mobile phones that predict what their users want to text, or the seductive voices of satnavs guiding gullible drivers into muddy fields and axle-snapping ditches. Many devices today can learn the vocal and textual patterns of their owners, and the time is fast approaching when we will talk to machines almost as naturally as we talk to each other. However, there's more to our conversational style than words alone. A vast amount of human signalling is non-verbal. The expressions on our faces and our physical gestures convey a great deal of information, especially about our emotional states. If machines are really going to take part in such complex exchanges, embodiment will be a key contributor. In other words, they'll have to look and behave less like machines and more like us. Welcome to the era of the 'socially interactive' robot, both as virtual screen interface and real-world physical object. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 44 –47
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0408
- Type: Article
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The consensus in the civil UAV fraternity is that the only limitation to their use is in designers' imaginations. And, unusually perhaps for an emerging market, there are equal opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We won't be seeing civil UAVs above our towns and cities for a few years yet, however, because, at least in terms of their control systems, the prevailing issues between the military and civil sectors are very different. And in the civil sector they all come back to one thing - safety. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 48 –51
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0409
- Type: Article
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The Three Gorges Project (TGP) in China is now the largest capacity hydroelectric plant in the world. It has an installed capacity of 18,200 MW, with each generator rated at 700 MW. The second largest is Brazil's 12,600 MW Itaipu plant. There are also plans to install six more turbines in an underground power house by 2012, giving it a capacity of 22,500 MW. The energy from the TGP will be a great boon to Chinese industry and domestic consumers, but the biggest benefit will be the lives saved by flood control. - Author(s): P. Neroth
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 52 –55
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0410
- Type: Article
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What is happiness? One thing is for sure, it certainly is not complete plenitude. Imagine a world where there was no shortage of energy: where you could drive as far and as fast as you wanted at no cost, and could use as many appliances as you asked for and for as long as you wished. The total empowerment that would arise from that would be sickening. - Author(s): M. Courtney
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 56 –58
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0411
- Type: Article
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This paper finds that ongoing questions about the security of open source software may be unfounded, but users require better proof and assurance. - Author(s): G. Cluley and J. Hayes
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 59 –59
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0427
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- Author(s): M. Courtney
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 60 –61
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0412
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Two years ago the typical IT professional was under the cosh, but technological developments across ten key areas of the IT function mean that things just keep getting better. - Author(s): J.P. Conti
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 62 –64
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0413
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Almost at the exact point in the world map where South America dips its tail into the freezing waters that join the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, one company is defying the laws of logistics by manufacturing a range of consumer electronics products at a place that's closer to Antarctica than it is to Buenos Aires, the nearest capital city and major centre of consumption in Argentina. La ciudad del fin del mundo - the city at the end of the world may well be a motto that has served Ushuaia well to attract a growing number of tourists over the years. It is also a statement of fact: no other city (with the exception of the small town of Puerto Williams, located on the other side of the Beagle Channel) exists at a more southerly latitude than Ushuaia. The paper reports how Newsan, the company that has taken the production of consumer lectronics - quite literally - further than anaybody else - on the southern most factory in the world. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 65 –65
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0414
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The paper is discussing, Hannover Messe 2009, an industrial trade fair held in Hannover, Germany featuring Robotation Academy, mobile robots, flying UAVs, wireless ballet. - Author(s): S. Osagie
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 66 –67
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0415
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It is hard to talk to manufacturers without getting embroiled in a discussion on lean techniques. Lean is not a panacea, but one of a suite of tools that companies can use to improve performance. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 68 –69
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0416
- Type: Article
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The use of virtual reality to assist in designing manufacturing processes is growing. The author visits Airbus in Cheshire to find out how they are using such a system to make the wings for the Airbus A350 XWB. - Author(s): M. Williamson
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 70 –73
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0417
- Type: Article
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Developing countries would benefit from lower-cost Internet connections.A report by the World Bank, entitled 'Global Economic Prospects 2008: Technology Diffusion in the Developing World', says that "Internet services have not spread uniformly across the developing world. Although Internet penetration has risen by 41 percent in sub-Saharan Africa from 1999 to 2005, the region still has the lowest penetration of any developing region in the world.". - Author(s): C. Edwards
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 74 –75
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0418
- Type: Article
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The European Union (EU) and manufacturers are now working to find ways to cut that constant electrical drain and give consumers the option to feel better about having an always- on Internet connection. Energy efficiency has become a big issue for service providers, particularly in the EU. This is reason why the Home Gateway Initiative puts together specifications for the equipment. The specifications cover the network interfaces that home gateways should support and the services they are expected to handle, such as audio content and IPTV. This paper discusses in detail the possible solution to the energy problem concerning the use of Internet. - Author(s): C. Edwards
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 76 –79
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0419
- Type: Article
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A growing body of employment advisers reckons it's time for workers to get happy. Does happiness translate to a more productive workforce? Intuitively, you would expect it to, although in many industries fear remains an equally powerful motivator, particularly when recessions hit and the economy joins in. Recent research suggests that the power of fear is over-stated and the worst thing that companies can do for employee morale long-term. The paper presents steps to make a happy work. - Author(s): W. Altman
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 80 –81
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0420
- Type: Article
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If you are even only a bit curious about the tensions and egos in the boardroom of a great company - Hewlett-Packard (HP), in this case and about the adventures of a successful venture capital entrepreneur, Tom Perkins' 'Valley Boy' offers a fascinating behind the scenes glimpse at an exciting period of technological and corporate change. The author isn't only an "on and off' director of HP but a high flier in venture capital, crazy about fast cars, builder of a clipper ship, and, after a long and happy marriage, he was briefly wed to the romantic novelist Danielle Steele. - Author(s): J. Wright
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 82 –83
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0421
- Type: Article
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Confidence is as much a management skill as the ability to deliver a budget on time, manage a production critical path or appoint the right sales team. All too often, it is assumed that being good at confident communication in the meeting room or while making a presentation is an innate skill. The article discusses some questions and the relevant solutions pertaining to management, chairing meetings with confidence and preparing or giving public talks. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 92 –92
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0428
- Type: Article
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Dates for your diary. - Author(s): J. Pollard
- Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 93 –93
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0429
- Type: Article
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The author reflects on the sad life-journey of George Shillibeer, the inventor of the omnibus who ended up as an undertaker. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, p. 94 –95
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0430
- Type: Article
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E&T's take on the latest technology books. - Source: Engineering & Technology, Volume 4, Issue 4, page: 96 –96
- DOI: 10.1049/et.2009.0431
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Teenager Jack has engineers for parents. And twin geek sisters. As the only member of the family who doesn't live for technology, he tries hard to fit in.
Editorial
News
Analysis: California continues clean-car quest
Analysis: Chip business under pressure
Letters to the Editor
If you ask me
Can you help?
How full is your glass?
Gadgets
Lucky seven? [Windows® 7 Beta]
Separate lives [military computing]
Recapture the moment [electronics imaging]
Real-life robot roomies
It is a bird, is it a plane? [unmanned aerial vehicles]
Taming the Yangtze [hydroelectric power]
Fuelled by the feel good factor
Open source = open invitation?
Viewpoint
Reasons to be cheerful
Way down south [consumer electronics industry]
Hannover Messe 2009
Lean everywhere [lean manufacturing]
Virtually there [aerospace manufacturing]
Connecting the other three billion [Internet connection]
Tackling the cupboard monsters [energy efficiency for the Internet]
The pursuit of happiness [human resource management]
Into the valley [book review]
Crowd pleasing
Events
The eccentric engineer
Book reviews
Jack's blog
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