 Time for business to take responsibility for unemployment
by Asher Bohbot, EOH
An astounding 5-million South Africans are currently unemployed, and even more concerning is the fact that our youth comprises 75% of this figure. Although government's role is to create the environment and incentives for businesses to thrive, job creation is primarily the responsibility of the business sector... ( more) |
 In conversation with Dr. Sandile Malinga, SANSA
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
SA is committed to take off in space. We have a long history in space-related activities, but until the formation of the SA Space Agency (SANSA) these activities were fragmented with periods of high levels of activity followed by a slump in activity, followed by another flare up... ( more) |
Convoluted software licensing software soon to be extinct?
Information from MIP Holdings
Software licensing models have evolved to keep pace with technological advances, yet licensing structures are still as complicated and convoluted as ever, and many companies and consumers remain mystified as to how to go about implementing them to comply with all the rules and regulations... ( more)
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Biometrics is booming - but is your solution really secure?
by Kobus Le Roux, Jasco Security Solutions
Biometric access control technology has experienced phenomenal growth in adoption in South Africa over the past few years, with an estimated 80% of all access control solutions using fingerprint readers and other biometrics to enhance security... ( more) |
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Panel discussion on biometrics - the ins and outs
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
In this virtual panel discussion we explore the state of the art and use of biometric technology such as fingerprint, iris control, face and voice recognition. We approached several experts in this field to demystify biometrics - which has the reputation of being something akin to black magic... ( more) |
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EngineerIT INBOX
The letters page addresses sustainability and quality of the electronics engineering industry; "Education is everyone's business" and a plea for mentors to assist electronics students... (more)
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Q&A: Ask an expert
Answers by Kevin Klaff, Actum Electronics
Q: What is ESD? A: Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is the sudden flow of electricity between two objects caused by contact. One of the causes for ESD is static electricity. The threat of ESD looms everywhere in electronic work areas - floors, chairs, work surfaces, packaging materials, plastics and papers... ( more) |
Security in cloud-based productivity services
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
The ability for companies to control and customise security features in cloud-based services, such as email, calendars, content management, collaboration and unified communications, is becoming an essential for virtually every company. Hans van de Groenedaal reviews a Microsoft 365 White Paper... ( more) |
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TETRA changing the world of PMR
by Gerbrand Steyn, Saab Grintek
Terrestrial trunked radio (TETRA) replaces old analogue radio communication systems that no longer meet professional radio communication needs. With the introduction of TETRA, today's professional organisations can source their radio network from many vendors...
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A primer on test automation in Agile projects
Information from HP
What is the one aim of Agile, without which a project becomes little better off than it would've been with traditional Waterfall? Where sequential methods leave application validation to a mass effort at the end stages of the project, Agile concentrates teams on developing potentially releasable code for each sprint... ( more) |
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Lonmin uses biometrics to secure SCADA access
Information from Invensys
While on-line hacking is always a threat (viz. the Stuxnet virus of 2010), in-house threats are also ever-present as is the operation of systems by unqualified or unauthorised personnel. Lonmin has taken steps to mitigate these risks... ( more)
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Large displays for control rooms and commercial applications
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
Large video displays have become commonplace both in control room and commercial applications. The development of the flat display screen has made all this possible. The requirements of control rooms and that of a commercial video display are identical - both require high definition, and true colour temperature... (more)
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Process Expo 2013 - a show with a purpose
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
Every alternate year, for the past 20 years the Process Expo has showcased the latest developments and products in the field of process control and automation technology. As said two years ago in EngineerIT, the stands are organised in such a way that visitors should get to see each and every one... ( more) |
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Systems information modelling
Information from I&E Systems
Systems engineers are required to deal with ever-increasing degrees of complexity to design, build and operate modern systems. The process they follow is often based on tradition and is incapable of meeting current expectations. Errors in system documentation result in many problems... ( more)
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Manufacturing execution systems for sustainability
Information from Rockwell Automation
This article demonstrates how MES can help meet the challenges of sustainable production in addition to conventional uses. The methodology for extending the scope of MES to achieve energy efficiency and other sustainability goals is explained, using standardised practices and actual installations... ( more)
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Economical processes deriving from accurate and robust metrology
by Heinz Häfelfinger, Endress+Hauser, Switzerland
The oil and gas industry sometimes still tends to prefer mechanical turbine flowmeters or PD meters over their more modern Coriolis counterparts. However, this preference is unfounded... ( more)
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Virtual reference for electromagnetic flowmeters
by Jörg Holtmann, Krohne
In certain applications, the conventional grounding of electromagnetic flow meters can pose problems. This article illustrates the problem and sheds light on a possible solution which is also suitable for problematic applications and media... ( more)
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| FPGAs a boon for designers of advanced security systems
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
As electronics equipment extends its reach into more and more safety-critical applications, the potential cost of failures of these systems has increased dramatically. In light of this, we review a Microsemi White Paper on breakthrough capabilities for advanced security, high reliability and low power FPGA applications... (more)
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| A low cost receiver for spacecraft operations
by K J Parkinson et al, University of New South Wales, Australia
The Namuru field programmable gate array (FPGA) GNSS receiver has continued to develop at University of New South Wales, Australia (UNSW) as research has progressed. A low cost receiver based on the new V3 Namuru platform has been developed for space operations... (more)
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Amateur Radio - the moving circle of spectrum allocations
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
In the early days of of radio communication all efforts were on long wave and medium wavelengths, but as Marconi and other early experimenters realised, there were commercial opportunities, and they started making efforts to move other casual experimenters - the radio amateurs - to shorter wavelengths, which they considered to be of no commercial interest... (more)
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Telecoms developments in Africa
Compiled by Matthew White
- Econet's Liquid Telecom buys Rwandatel
- Namibia gets low-cost satellite internet access
- Consortium set up to roll out LTE 4G across Kenya
- Vodacom launches M-Pesa in Mozambique
- Smartphone revolution sparked by falling costs
- Licence snag holds up Gambian voice services via ACE
- Sony unveils expansion plans for Africa
- Nigeria "needs one million cyber security experts"
- Tanzania borrows US$403-million for next phase of ICT backbone... (more)
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Gadgets4Geeks
- Compact, but with a full size keyboard
- Wireless and rechargeable desktop in a single hand
- All in one desktop... (more)
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