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Coal Company Eats Its Own
 Remember when all base load generation power plants in the U.S. were built, owned, and operated by public utilities? POWERnews reports that day has long past as shown by the recent announcement that U.S. coal giant Peabody Energy is starting construction on its $2.9 billion, 1,600 MW Prairie State generating project in Illinois this fall.
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Power to the People
 People want and need electrical power delivered to their doorstep, but no one wants another power line built near their home. T&D World says the solution may be to replace conventional transmission and distribution lines with high-temperature superconducting cables that can carry three to five times more current than conventional power lines of the same diameter.
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Make the Right Connection
 This EngineerLive article provides guidelines for specifying electrical connectors.
Particular emphasis is placed on environmental factors such as
mechanical vibration and shock, electromagnetic interference, corrosive
conditions, humidity, and temperature. Also considered are temperature,
degree, and type of operator interactions, safety standards, and
required isolation from sterilization processes. [A quick registration may be required to access
originating article.]
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HDMI Will Simplify Your Life
 USB has made interconnections among PCs and peripherals simpler, and
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) promises to do the same for
TV connections. Hardware Secrets says that HDMI is better for three reasons: First, HDMI supports higher resolutions; second, HDMI connects both audio and video; and third, HDMI connectors are compact.
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Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
Are You Using UL-Recognized Components?
End-product manufacturers that sell products in North America favor UL-Recognized components as a way to streamline their product's certification process and speed-to-market.
UL Marks are readily accepted by: OEMs, retailers, consumers, and other U.S. and Canadian third-party certification organizations.
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Extech Instruments Corp.
Passive Component LCR Meter
Measures Capacitance and Inductance to 0.7% and Resistance to 0.5%
• Simultaneous 20,000/10,000 count display of the primary parameter (L, C, or R) with the secondary parameter of Q (quality), D (dissipation), or R (resistance)
• Test frequencies of 120 Hz and 1 kHz
• Set Hi/Lo limits using absolute values or percentage limits
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Amphenol TCS
High-Reliability, High-Speed Mezzanine Interconnect
Handling data rates up to 12.5 Gbps, NeXLev®
is the solution to meet increasing bandwidth demands in mezzanine
applications. NeXLev is optimized for manufacturability with uniform
solder joint formation and excellent wafer retention for optimized SMT
process yields. Request a NeXLev design kit.
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ept, Inc.
Power Connectors for AdvancedTCA Systems
 ept now offers power connectors in press-fit technology for AdvancedTCA backplanes and carrier boards. These connectors are specified for the use in zone 1, as described in the PICMG specification ATCA 3.0 R2.0. Read more.
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Viagra on RFID
 It can be tough to sort out competing vendor claims about the merits of various RFID technologies. There is nothing like a good case study to shed some light on a subject, and this RFID Update article does just that by recounting 14 months of Pfizer experience with RFID tagging of Viagra.
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Twelve Steps to Sensors
 Sensors magazine says the first of twelve steps to selecting the right sensor is establishing measurement span requirements. Some key questions to ask
are what requirements affect the overall measurement range or span,
what role does sensor response time and product speed play, and what
are the size, shape, and weight options.
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Inside the MEMS Ivory Towers
 Anyone interested in MEMS technology needs to know which educational
institutions are best for research, education, facilities, and
technology commercialization. Small Times magazine's third-annual rankings yield this information and other data based on survey results. Find out the Top 10 in each category along with descriptions of the winners.
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Cyborg Insects
 This item is interesting, and scary. The Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to insert microelectromechanical systems
inside insects during early stages of their metamorphosis. The military
would control and monitor individual bugs on the battlefield. Signal magazine says that flying insects such as butterflies, moths, and dragonflies are of particular interest.
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Procom Industries LLC
HD 171 MAGNETIC LOCKING DEVICE ( Div 1. Class 2)
Procom Industries
introduces new explosion-proof electromagnetic locking devices that
will secure a door with 1200 lbs. holding force. They offer continuous
monitoring capability for open/closed status or attempted unauthorized
entry. The fail-safe magnets will securely lock fire exit doors, yet
will depower when signaled by a door control unit.
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CWIEME Ltd.
Motor Manufacturing Chicago Exhibition
The largest gathering in the Americas of Motor Manufacturing
& Repair Equipment, Components and Materials — Chicago CWIEME
2008. You will see more manufacturers and supplies in three days than
you would see all year, and you can educate yourself at the new
walk-in, walk-out Inductica Conference.
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BTC Electronic Components
Largest Inventory of Hermetically Sealed Connectors
BTC specializes in hermetically sealed,
harsh environment connectors including circular, QPL bayonet, or
threaded coupling, rectangular, and european qualified. We can build
over 750,000 connectors from stock. BTC can locate hard to find
connectors and provide crosses for over 3,000,000 parts. Let BTC help
you find the right connector for your application.
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Concord Electronics Corporation
PC Screw Terminals
PC Screw Terminals from Concord Electronics
have small footprints and low profiles that permit their use in areas
that are typically too small to accommodate the larger conventional
connectors such as terminal boards, terminal strips, barrier blocks,
and screw type edge connectors.
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Dice
Re-Engineer Your Career
DiceEngineering.com
offers thousands of high quality engineering jobs at top technology and
engineering companies — jobs for Electrical Test Engineers, Board Level
Designers, and Electronic Technicians.
At DiceEngineering.com, you can:
• Find jobs in your area of expertise
• Post your resume and let employers find you
Search now.
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Engineers Making More Money
 Not so long ago, few engineers could expect to make over $100,000 a year. Control
magazine's annual salary survey shows that this has changed (nearly
doubled in just over two years) as about 28% of respondents reported
annual earnings above $100,000.
Other good news is that companies are doing more hiring, making fewer
layoffs, and handing out more promotions, raises, bonuses, and
vacations.
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Engineers Make the Best Packages
Grocery store buying decisions often are made based on the
appearance, quality, and ease-of-use of packaging. Engineers in general and the
packaging machines that they make and apply in particular play a critical role.
Control Design magazine advises
consumer product engineers (and execs) not to 'cheap out' on
packaging lest they lose sales.
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