article thumbnail

When They Electrified Christmas

Cars That Think

In much of the world, December is a month of twinkling lights. Whether for religious or secular celebrations, the variety and functionality of lights have exploded in recent years, abetted by cheap and colorful LEDs and compact electronics. But decorative lights aren't new. attention of the New York Times.

Light 145
article thumbnail

Build a Passive Radar With Software-Defined Radio

Cars That Think

Normally, when it comes to radio-related projects, my home of New York City is a terrible place to be. The biggest leap forward happened in 2012 when it was discovered that USB stick TV tuners using the RTL2832U demodulator chip could be tapped to make very cheap but effective SDR receivers.

Building 100
article thumbnail

January’s Secret: It’s the Best Month

Baua Electric

Along with its little sibling, February, January belongs to the year’s slowest period for tourism in many cities, including New York. Tiffany Townsend, a spokeswoman for New York City Tourism + Conventions , said the sparse crowds make the city more navigable. And there are great deals.”

article thumbnail

Discover Le Havre, Where Impressionism Was Born

Baua Electric

With its white walls, steel frame and floor-to-ceiling glass facade that gives a view out to the sea, the museum allows visitors to revel in the light — luminous and somber — produced by the fickle weather of Normandy. The light was just coming up from the sea. Rebuilt after World War II Le Havre is not an ancient city like Paris.

article thumbnail

The Soviet-Era, Z80-based Galaksija Dared to Be Different

Cars That Think

Two EPROMs (recognizable by the window that allows their silicon to be exposed to ultraviolet light for data erasure) store the operating system, while a third EPROM stores graphical character data. Like many makers, I use a cheap and cheerful TL866-based ROM programmer.

DIY 98
article thumbnail

IEEE Spectrum’s Top Telecom Stories of 2023

Cars That Think

This Mirror Reverses How Light Travels in Time Nature Physics In an esoteric bit of research this year, a group of researchers based at universities in New York City discovered how to pass a signal through something called a “time interface”—the result being that the entire signal acted like it was moving back in time.

Google 95
article thumbnail

EV Chargers for All!

Cars That Think

Therefore, it is not surprising that homeowners (with an median household income of $82,210, according to NMHC data) make up nearly nine out of 10 sales of all new U.S. light-duty vehicle sales. Atom Power says its smart circuit breaker will make charging electric cars as cheap and easy as using Wi-Fi.