When a Tweeter becomes a Twiddler
Effectively Managing the Time Spent on your Social Media Marketing Campaign
We have all experienced that moment where we open our email again even though we just minimized it and there was nothing new.  Or we have refreshed our facebook/twitter to see if anything new has popped up.  Or we’ve closed a browser and out of habit opened it up again even though there is no need.  Or you end up staring aimlessly at your monitor wondering “what can I do?”
You have become a twiddler – …

I had the opportunity to sit down with Eric Austin, an Electrical Engineer with Skyworks Solutions, Inc this past week.  He is an avid photographer, cyclist, musician  and HAM Radio enthusiast.  We had a great time, and I would love to take a minute or so to tell you a little more about him.  This is the story behind Eric’s Resume.
Eric grew up in Swampscott, MA – 25 minutes or so north of Boston.  As a boy scout he became fascinated with Ham Radios, went on to get licensed, and …

The printed circuit board (PCB) industry is vital to manufacturers of computing components, automotive parts, cellular phones, flat-screen television displays and other devices considered essential to our modern lifestyles.
In addition to a large number of PCB enterprises in Taiwan, many PCB operations are located in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.
Among them are leading PCB makers earning hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues and employing thousands of workers.
They also spend huge sums on environmental protection, including the disposal of manufacturing wastes from production processes and everyday operations.
The major pollution …

Paving Roads with Old Circuit Boards
With an eye to recycling, circuit boards are being used in asphalt
By Mark Fischetti
Millions of printed circuit boards from discarded electronics are tossed into landfills every year. In addition to the volume of waste, the material can leach chemicals into the soil. As an alternative, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China are finding various ways to reuse the panels, including as an additive in asphalt.
Xu Zhenming and his colleagues stripped the boards of all components, pulverized the remains into a powder and …

HotPCB is being represented at the Cirexx Booth (2246) at IMS 2009.  Be sure to stop by!  We would love to meet with you and explore content creation partnerships, meet designers who wish to be featured, and learn more about what’s going on in the industry.
Liam’s Cell: (413) 824-1987
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Today is an exciting day for HotPCB.com!  Today marks the first significant promotion of HotPCB.  We were fortunate enough to be contacted by Andy Shaughnessy, Editor of PCB Design 007, and asked to be a guest on the Shaughnessy Report, a weekly audio interview he conducts.   It was a great experience working with Andy, and you can find all of his interviews here. The title of the HotPCB interview is “Grad Brings Fresh Viewpoint to Industry”.  Be sure to check it out!

A San Francisco Native, but Southern California raised, John Cardone has experienced the westernmost land of Promise that so many of us only dream about.   Such a geographic setting is perfect for a man who is passionate about natural beauty, backpacking, and trekking into the wilderness alone to enjoy the quiet that only solitude can provide.  Living now in Grenada, CA (less than 40 miles from the California/Oregon border), he and his wife, Darla, operate Forward Farms breeding and raising registered Dutch Warmblood (KWPN) horses.  They also raise registered, grass …

This is an article designed to be a guide for how to maximize your time at a trade show.  Read the Introductory article here. Since IMS 2009 (International Microwave Symposium) is the next significant conference I will be a part of, it will be the example used throughout these short articles.
For the attendee, there are three distinct aspects of the Symposium that ought to be taken advantage of.  The first is Networking, the second Vendor Qualification, and the third Education.   This first short installment is designed to give you some …

At HotPCB we’re really to serve those who are involved in the PCB industry, particularly Designers.  In my time talking with various people, I have come to realize that a section dedicated to featuring designers would be a great addition.  The goal is to weekly feature a designer, and to develop an archive of Biographies.
Designers have started contacting me concerning this project, and the enthusiasm is contagious.  Many have asked me to describe how it will work, what type of biographies we are looking for, how it will help them, …

Altium Goes for the Masses
Breaking the EDA Mold… Again

by Kevin Morris, FPGA and Structured ASIC Journal

This week, Altium is introducing a new model for the purchase of electronic design tools, in an attempt to create a grass-roots revolution that will change the nature of the electronic design automation (EDA) market.  For the past several years, Altium has been marching to a different drummer – focusing on an integrated desktop design tool suite that spans the gamut of electronic design from system-level specification to board and …