Among the odd ways that electronics are changing our lives, here are two: Blackberrys are causing parents to behave like children; and musically-challenged individuals are creating "songs" that are listened to by millions.
The Blackberry issue was publicly discussed in a free blog by Wall Street Journal writer Katherine Rosman earlier this week. Rosman wrote: "As hand-held email devices proliferate, they are having an unexpected impact on family dynamics: Parents and their children are swapping roles. Like a bunch of teenagers, some parents are routinely lying to their kids, sneaking around the house to covertly check their emails and disobeying house rules established to minimize compulsive typing. The refusal of parents to follow a few simple rules is pushing some children to the brink." Read the original blog at http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116553463083344032.html?mod=technorati.
As for the musically-challenged who make popular music: Increasingly, creative individuals have been using video editing software to create "songs" that get listened to by millions on youtube.com. Norwegian Lasse Gjertsen, for example, has has been viewed 1.8 million times on youtube.com, playing his piano-and-drum music. What's amazing, though, is that Gjertsen admits he can play neither the piano nor drums. He simply records himself playing a note at a time, transfers the sounds to audio files, then edits it all to create music.The kicker is that Gjertsen's video is funny, and his music is catchy. See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo
A massive engineering effort has produced a lightweight, high-strength body structure that will let Cadillac enter the compact luxury market segment this year.
If you design mechatronic systems and want to learn more about using microcontrollers (MCUs) in your applications, listen to our Design News radio program on Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.
Engineers who have equipped cars with cameras and collected millions of miles of data on crashes say that the key to distraction is visual, not cognitive.
Thanks to embedded electronics, medical devices are getting smaller and smarter than ever. Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators are now able to call physicians. MRIs, CT scanners, and ultrasound machines are gaining mobility. And the venerable Band-Aid may soon be able to detect illnesses ranging from fevers to heart arrhythmias. On February 21, join Design News senior editor Charles Murray for a wide-ranging discussion, "Embedded Angles for Medical Products," which will explore the latest developments in medical electronics. The discussion will examine advances in medical device technology and offer an inside look at the embedded electronics behind it.
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