Five Advantages of Advantech AVS Video-Wall Controllers

I volunteer to work at a friend’s tradeshow exhibit each year in what is the biggest make-or-break expo of his industry. He manages a magazine-format technology publication that is distributed both in print and online. My friend has decorated his exhibit with the same static banner displays for years now, and the blunt truth is…

Do Consumer Devices Make the Grade in Law Enforcement?

In previous blogs we talked about the transition from a manual ticket-writing process to an automated (e-citation) process and the huge time and money savings that occurs when this task is automated.  We also touched briefly on the devices in the patrol car that are used to collect data.  I think it’s worth spending a…

The Cloud Made Simple

It’s hard to master big concepts like Cloud Computing with head down and full focus on the nuts-and-bolts components upon which such grand-but-figurative infrastructures depend. I’m a literal sort working with literal components for whom thoughts of figurative infrastructures can be distracting. The Cloud, Big Data, The Internet of Things? Huge, empowering concepts, no doubt,…

A Success Story: Advantech’s TPC-1571H

Having posted several articles recently that feature various aspects of Advantech industrial monitors, it seems appropriate to share details of a specific installation, this one involving electric generator systems for which Advantech’s TPC-1571H Touch Panel Computer was chosen as the optimum solution. The key criteria for this installation included a guarantee of system stability and…

A Stitch in Time Saves Lives

Have you ever thought about the amount of time and paper we’ve saved with the electronic age?  I remember the days of the fax machine when I had to go through so many steps to get information to someone.  Type it up, print it out, fax it over.  Then came email … attaching files to…

Mini-ITX Boards for video gaming? Yeah, that’s cool.

My friend the chemistry teacher texted me the other day to share what he considered groundbreaking news: A leading producer of consumer-grade computer components had just introduced a Mini-ITX motherboard specifically designed to meet his grandest video-gamer ambitions. That was indeed big news for the video-gamer community and, while I was genuinely pleased that this…

For the Love of Football!

Football season is about halfway over and my favorite team is not doing as bad as they usually do. Maybe there is hope their losing curse/streak is almost over.  No I am not going to tell you which team it is, but I will give you a hint. Fans of my team will always be…

Good Advice from Zebra for Securing IoT-Connected Card Printers

With more than 10 billion devices now connected to the Internet – up from a mere 200 million in the year 2000 – projected to exceed 50 billion “things” by 2020 as the Internet of Things transitions to the “Internet of Everything,” cyber-security challenges are increasing exponentially. For those who commit fully, the benefits of the…

Catching Up with Advantech on YouTube

It wasn’t long ago that I disdained YouTube as the place people went to catch up on the latest in amateur videos featuring cat antics, bad rap and, well, worse. Shows what little I know. Now, I count online videos among my go-to sources for information on the latest in tech. L-Tron even has a…