Its been over a year since I last updated this web site. Since the last update many things have happened both personally and professionally. Let me begin with the updating all of you on my professional status.

Few of the people who have benefited most from my prior works ever stepped up to assist after the death of my wife. This caused me additional personal harm and grief since I had stopped working to take care of my wife during her final months of this life.

As a result my future plans have changed to include new supporters and to end relationships with people and companies whom I thought would be supportive given my efforts to help them, That simply wasn't the case. So here is the status of existing books and educational products.

Embedded Systems, Desktop Communication - is now available exclusively through Saelig Distributing in New York. All remaining copies and current CD content is available from that company exclusively. 

The Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express is also available through Saelig and is now the only sanctioned source for any PSoC products from Timelines. There is not, nor ever will be any relationship with Cypress Semiconductor ever again. The difference in ethical and moral values of Cypress and myself are so great there can never be any relationship there again. Having said that however, I can say that the SoCSicle is still available with existing projects and new projects being added on a quarterly basis.

Mixed Signal Projects and Support - I am pleased to announce the a new partnership will soon be announced with another microcontroller company offering 32 bit mixed signal products competitive to the Cypress product line. All of the projects owned by Timelines will be ported to the new processor line within the next few months, including capacitive sensing projects and wireless. How to port existing PSoC projects will be covered in detail and the conversion will be easy to understand and perform within a few hours. This will allow my customers access to similar technology at the same or slightly lower price point then existing PSoC units. This is being done solely for existing customers who have purchased my PSoC books. Since there are still some inventory of these books, new customers will be able to obtain this documentation by purchasing an existing PSoC book. Details will be available by August 15th, 2010.

Two New books are in Development with a new Publisher --

I have changed publishers. Two new titles are currently in development under contract. My new publisher is Jones & Bartlett, a large technical book publisher on the east coast. Each working title and abbreviated summary follow:

Embedded Renewable Energy Projects - This book covers the design and implementation considerations for developing off-the-grid circuits. Power, renewable energy sources,  circuit design considerations, charge circuits, back up power, component selection, and an actual project will be included.

Embedded Wireless Projects - This book covers current embedded wireless technologies, topologies, and design considerations. Mixing embedded wireless technologies is also covered as are embedded wireless projects.

Both these books are currently in development and will be available soon.

Current Articles and Projects CD -  I have had many requests for an article and projects CD that include the robotics projects, Circuit Cellar articles and projects, and Electronic Design articles and projects. A compilation of all my articles and projects is being put together and will be available September 15th. A bundle that includes all prior articles on the TRS-80, Early IBM PC, Midnight Engineering articles, Circuit Cellar articles and Projects, plus books and current accompanying projects will be available October 1st. Some of these articles date back to 1981 and cover topics such as C, Unix, Linux, C++, Windows, Windows NT, 2000, XP, FreeBSD, and may other topics. Included with this bundle will be lab notes that have never before been released. The total for this bundle will be reasonably priced and personally signed.

Dead Projects -
A number of projects have been altered to a point where they are dead. The first and biggest of these are the Propeller projects and book. When I signed on to write a book on the Propeller, the company wanted to commercialize the product to compete with other mainstream products. After the economic downturn it was decided to not commercialize the product instead remaining in the educational and hobbyists markets. After careful evaluation, I decided to not pursue this book further since the return in the effort for me simply wasn't there.

Personal State of Affairs -

I am preparing to publish my personal memoirs from the time of my late wife's death until now. As you may be aware two chemical companies, Rohm & Haas, and Modine, dumped millions of gallons of carcinogens into the ground water that exposed residents through existing wells. A number of cancers and other autoimmune diseases may have been caused as a result. These companies have chosen to ignore being neighborly in contributing to bring in a safe water supply. While it remains to be proven in a courtroom as to the actual liability of these companies, if any, the perception of poison water by people reading and viewing the news relating to this issue is very real. The people in this area don't seem to care that they and their children may be exposed to these chemicals and are debating the facts instead of making these companies step up and do what is right. Should these companies be given a good citizen award for their dumping and failing to properly compensate the affected residents for loss of property value. Should they be immune from contributing to bringing a safe water supply in to the affected areas in exchange for their irresponsible behavior? What is the reason the local political members refuse to acknowledge the facts and take action, and why are there no lawyers willing to fight for proper compensation locally.
In fact one lawyer owns a number of homes in the affected area and has done nothing to protect his own interests.

I am also locked into a battle with JP Morgan Chase over a worthless piece of property they bought from a company who hand-changed a mortgage after it was signed. And now they don't want to respond to the claims my lawyer has made in court. Only in Illinois can these companies get away with outright fraud and not be penalized, getting continuance after continuance at my expense while the court system does nothing to penalize these people and a lame duck attorney general office who isn't interested in justice. Illinois should be known as "The State of Extortion" on it's welcome signs. More on this including scanned copies of the before and after mortgage signed by my late wife.

New Site Look Coming Soon!

Stay tuned for a brand new web site look coming in the next few weeks. Along with the new look will be new information, easier access to product updates, product purchases, and resources for subscribers. So stay tuned.

A Heart Felt Thank You -

And finally, I would like to extend a heart felt thank you to those of you who have remained supportive of me these past few years. Taking care of a spouse you love and is dying is not an easy task. Widowhood is very unique and the grief process for this type of loss is incomprehensive able unless you have personally experienced it. This type of loss is akin to an amputation, losing a limb which a long time loving spouse really is. Somewhere through the years of a happy marriage the two become one, and when one is lost to death, it is like the loss of a limb.

Taking care of a loving spouse who is dying is the most difficult task in the world. But if things are done right, nothing is left unsaid, and when death finally comes, love has been fulfilled to the most complete level this life will allow. But the aftermath for the surviving spouse is the greatest loss one can ever experience in this life. It takes a long time to overcome the feelings of loss and life is never the same again. We never replace those we have loved and loss, we simply integrate them into our lives and go on. And we go on as new people, better for the love we have given and received, forever different as a result of our loved ones.

And, as time goes on, the wheels of life once again turn faster until we merge back into the lane of the living. So many things are needed and important during this time and only those who have walked the path truly understand. So I want to take time to thank those of you who have helped me out these past 19 months. You will never know how grateful I am for your friendship and love. Notes, cards, and donations helped me get through some very dark times.

Thank You and God Bless,

Oliver

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Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express Addendum CD is now Available

Several months ago we announced the availability of the addendum CD that covered PSoC Express 3.0.

Within a few days of announcing that CD, Cypress released PSoC Designer 5.0 which includes the PSoC Express project support as a System Level project. While there are some minor differences in how compilers are selected, developing a PSoC Express 3 project and PSoC Designer 5.0 System Level project are identical.

Because of these similarities, we decided to add PSoC Designer 5 support by testing the projects in PSoC Designer 5. That task came with it's own set of problems because some drivers in PSoC Designer 5 require a component to be removed and re-inserted for proper code generation.

Despite this issue, we went ahead and added support for PSoC Designer 5 in the current projects. You simply need to read the project and save it under a new name, then build the project as usual.

The Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express Addendum includes material on the following new subjects:

• New Features in PSoC Express 3 & PSoC Designer 5 System View

• Configuration and use of I2C Monitor Mode using the I2C Bridge

• Live monitor mode and recording running program data to an Excel Spreadsheet file

• Proximity detection using Capacitive Sensing

• Using the CapSense Tuner

• Creating and Adding Started Projects

All of the new material uses the SoCSicle Development board from Timelines Industries. More information and ordering information for the SoCSicle will be available here in the next few days. We will be announcing the addition of a new distributor here in the next few days as well. The Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express addendum is a supplement to the existing book, adding slightly over 100 pages in material. It is available for $19.95 USD and that price includes shipping worldwide. References to the book are made where needed and all projects support the SoCSicle Development board.

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November 9th, 2008

A Personal Note

My wife Susan and I have been together for over 20 years. In January 2007 she was diagnosed with Multiple-Myeloma, bone marrow cancer. Since that time she has undergone one full treatment regiment which consisted of radiation, chemotherapy, and a stem cell transplant. She returned to work early in 2008 and was getting back to a normal routine. In early August 2008 she decided to stop by the hospital one Saturday morning to get something for what we thought was a sinus infection. She spent six days in the hospital with pneumonia and we learned that her cancer was back.

Since that time she has been in the hospital a total of four times and is currently hospitalized after suffering respiratory distress last week. As her health and quality of life has declined, I have assumed a bigger role in taking care of her. The future of Sue's health is clearly in God's hands and these have been difficult times. My schedule has been fluid and I have dealt with constant interruptions that simply can't be helped.

I am now focusing back on the business and current projects, which include a new book and other exciting projects. Until I get full control of my schedule once again, please bear with me if it takes a day or two to respond to an inquiry or email.

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August 29th, 2008

The Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express - UPDATE!

Timelines Industries is pleased to announce the release of additional content for "The Beginners Guide to PSoC Express".  Four additional chapters have been added that cover the following topics:

• PSoC Express 3.0 Enhancements
• Proximity Detection with Capacitive Sensing
• Debugging and Monitoring Programs and Variables in Real-Time
• Creating and adding Started Projects

Effective September 1st, 2008 all new books shipped will include this additional content and associated projects. The accompanying CD has been updated with project support for PSoC Express 2.2 and 3.0/ Support for PSoC designer 5 will be available in the near future.

To celebrate the release of this additional content, Circuit Cellar magazine will provide a sample chapter of the book in their September email newsletter. If your a Circuit Cellar subscriber, then you will receive links to the specials. If you are not a Circuit Cellar subscriber, you can visit www.circuitcellar.com for information in how to subscribe.

If you have already purchased "The Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express from Timelines Industries, you can purchase the additional content for $14.95 plus shipping. If you obtained your copy of the book from Cypress Semiconductor you can obtain an upgrade for $29.95 plus shipping. Those who obtained their copy of the book from Cypress do not have the original content CD and that is why the price is different.

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August 6th, 2008

Article on Embedded C Standards and their affect in Visual Tools published in Electronic Design

Electronic Design has published an article written by Oliver Bailey that discusses the affect Visual Tools have when used in conjunction with ANSI C compilers. The basis of this article was an experience discovered when an update to the PSoC Express design tool caused a working project with no errors to fail on startup. The article discusses some of the gaps created when using ANSI compliant compilers with Visual Tools that have no standards.

Read the article...

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July 7th, 2008

Update on Existing Products and New/Updated Product List

PSoC Book -
We have had numerous reports in recent weeks of issues with the projects from the book working with PSoC Express 3.0 express pack 5a. We have also had some people email nasty and rude comments because the projects from the book no longer behave as designed.

Our customers are very important to us and to that extent, we make every effort to keep the projects synchronized with new product releases. That is why we distribute the version of PSoC Express the book was written with on CD. If you did not receive a CD with your book, then you did not obtain the book from Timelines Industries or purchase the book from the Cypress web store. Those who did not receive the CD with the book can purchase the CD with the instructions inside the first page. Those who did receive a CD and have found the CD to be unreadable, please send us the CD and we will exchange it for a new one.

Today we began including a new CD that contains projects from PSoC Express 2.2 and the initial PSoC Express 3.0 release from 2007. We update content annually for books in publication. PSoC Express has undergone numerous functional changes in the past year. Version 3 was completely rewritten in a new language and a new compiler was introduced in express pack 5 from a completely different compiler vendor.

To remedy this situation permanently, we will be shifting support for the projects exclusively to the SoCSicle in the next couple months. Because the CY8C24894 does not have the same resources as some of the other parts used, there may be some projects that don't get converted. In those cases, we will list the affected projects.

Propeller Book -
The Propeller book is once again moving forward. The expected completion date is August 2008. Look for more information in the Propeller blog as work progresses.

The book covers interfacing different sensors to the Propeller to build a weather station. The prototype I am building will be available on the web, but getting that to happen has been quite a challenge. Initially using the PINK board, weather data was going to be made available along with a current photo of the station. Well, the PINK board I have is an older release and I don't have the developers software license to customize the page software. So I have changed the web interface to a different board since Internet interfacing is not really a part for the subject matter anyway. I had originally intended to offer the completed weather station as a kit and have since decided to offer the step-by-step instructions on building the components and let the users build a completed weather station of their own design instead. All of the sensor interfaces will use objects available in the Propeller object repository. That book will be available exclusively through Parallax.

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March 28th, 2008

Timelines Introduces Motor & Robot Controller Board

Timelines Industries is pleased to announce the MoBot™ (Motor & Robot) Controller board. The MoBot is designed to compliment the Timelines SoCSicle, and uSicle product lines by offering a cost effective solution for educators, hobbyists, and developers in developing motor and robot control subsystems across multiple microcontroller or mixed-signal controller platforms.

MoBot compliment the SoCSicle and uSicle boards through the offering of a 3-Axis Accelerometer, Dual H-Bridge Motor Controls, RS232 Transceiver, Voltage Regulation, I2C Bus, and External Sensor Headers.

View Datasheet...

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February 1st, 2008

SoCSicle Boards Now Available

Timelines Industries is proud to announce the availability of the SoCSicle Development Board. The SoCSicle is based on the Cypress PSoC CY24894 USB part and contains Analog and Digital capabilities in addition to a full speed USB interface. The SoCSicle is supported by both the PSoC Express and PSoC Designer development environments. 

View Datasheet..

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June 1st, 2007

"The Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express" is now available.

Timelines Industries is proud to introduce "The Beginner's Guide to PSoC Express" is now available. This book is focused on the visual design environment of PSoC Express and how to effectively use this tool from a beginner's perspective. All basic functions of PSoC Express are covered including "If then", "If then Else" statements, Variables, State Machines, Set Point Region and Hysterisis, I2C Communications, USB Serial Bridge, CapSense, and Wireless USB with associated projects.

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