Many parents face ordeals related to their children wandering around the house at night.  A young mother in Tennessee recently experienced a harrowing night when she woke up to find her 4-year-old son missing only to learn that the boy had stolen a beer, gotten drunk, ransacked a neighbor’s Christmas presents (donning one which was a little brown dress), and was brought home by police.  Luckily, most parents don’t have to worry about more than a living room covered in soap after their child’s wanderings, but it’s still a scary issue nonetheless.

Electrical noise from all types of sources can cause severe problems in electronic circuits, so designers spend much time wrestling with ways to reduce or eliminate it. In audio equipment, low-frequency noise can easily couple with sensitive circuits to distort signals. In many measurement systems, ground-loop noise causes problems that sometimes prove almost impossible to overcome.

Proximity sensors come in many shaper and forms. HoloTouch has technology for a hands-free holographic switch and Silicon Labs just introduced two infrared proximity sensors.

Many semiconductor companies tout their smart battery-charger ICs that adjust charging levels, monitor cut-off points, charge different types of cell chemistries, and so on.  Those capabilities help charge batteries efficiently, but often the "smarts" don't visibly help the user.

I began to use Molex connectors in the early '70's when I designed and built electronic equipment. The connectors and pins came in small blister packs sold at Scotty's Radio and TV in Blacksburg, VA, a short drive from my apartment. At one point I used so many Molex connectors I bought a complete kit that provided an assortment of connector types and a crimp tool. The kit disappeared long ago, probably lent and forgotten.

The folks at Waldom Electronics worked with Molex to create a new line of Molex Kits, such as those shown in the photos here.