Shiny LED Panels Run Hot

LED panels are great for grow lamps and all sorts of other purposes, but they are liable to overheat if the back surface is bare aluminium. Simply painting the top of the panel could almost double its thermal capacity, allowing you to run it at much higher current.

Source: Brompton Technology

Animated LCD Name Tag

While we are on the subject of calculators, this one has been ever so slightly -- what is the word? -- doctored for use as an animated name plate. The perfect desk toy for a nutty scientist.

Chip Off The Old Block

Digikey have frequent competitions and giveaways advertised on their twitter feed, and this week I was a lucky winner. So what happens when you give your kid a Cui Inc. branded pen and some Digikey post-its to play with? She draws a calculator. :-)