Tuesday, April 5, 2005

ioControl 6.1, ioManager 6.1, New Firmware Now Available and SNAP High-Density Digital Modules Now Shipping. New 6.1 versions of ioControl and ioManager software and the associated firmware are now available. In related news, SNAP high-density digital modules are now shipping from stock. ioControl 6.1 adds support for SNAP high-density input and output modules, which include the SNAP-IDC-32, SNAP-ODC-32-SRC, and SNAP-ODC-32-SNK. Because addressing and communicating with these new modules is different from addressing and communicating with standard SNAP modules, ioControl 6.1 includes a new group of commands just for SNAP high-density modules. Other improvements in ioControl 6.1 include a new "Copy To" feature, which makes it easy to copy configured analog or standard digital points to the same or a different I/O unit. ioManager 6.1 also adds support for SNAP high-density digital modules, including the ability to read and write to these modules while in Inspect mode. View the ioControl and ioManager 6.1 Release Notes (PDF, Form 1557). View the new SNAP High Density Modules page with comparison tables (Opto 22 Web site) . [OptoNews Feed] Here's the first RSS feed and blog from a supplier in the automation industry of which I'm aware. Not surprising that it's from Opto 22. They always are just a step ahead, it seems. And...OK, if they're not the first, then someone else send me a link (and I'll link back). This is a good fast way to disseminate some useful product and news information. By the way, I did not edit the product release. What you see is from Opto's news feed. Who's next? 9:25:09 PM    comment []

Child Car Seat Safety System Sometimes Fails, Study Says. DETROIT, April 4 - Four models of child car seats performed poorly in crash tests when used with a new federally required safety system, according to a study conducted by the publisher of Consumer Reports. By By JEREMY W. PETERS. [NYT > Business] I found this one interesting, not because I have children under 2, but because once upon a time in a career move almost as bad as getting into marketing I was quality assurance manager for an Evenflo plant. I've been involved in crash testing a bunch of car seats. It's an enlightening experience. I'm not shocked by the findings of this Consumer Reports testing although I don't have the highest regard for its overall methodology (I have other testing experience with CR where the project manager told a technical committee the results of the tests before any actual tests were done--soured me on them ever since). This report had some good and bad, but if you are in the market for one of these things, do check out crash test ratings. It's too important to just impulse buy. 6:17:43 PM    comment []

Study shows Microsoft, Linux costs neck-and-neck. Yankee Group analyst says application development and security are main cost factors, not the core functionality of the operating system. [Computerworld News] This study is called "independent" so one hopes that means it wasn't paid for by Microsoft. it is interesting in that it tries to delve into all sorts of costs and problems associated with each operating system. This makes it more realisitic. I've always thought that Microsoft is such a target for security problems was 1) lots of people hate it for being so big and 2) the potential payoff for evil hackers is huge given the potential "market." Evidently there are holes to be found in Linux, Firefox and other accessible products. This is probably welcome news to manufacturing IT and controls professionals since Microsoft dominates the space. Or is it? What is your experience? You can look for our software survey at Automation World coming soon. 6:07:46 PM    comment []