Paradigm shifts are frequently driven by new ways of thinking as well as new technologies...

A combination of both has recently led me to a paradigm shift of an oft-heard phrase “Kids keep you young”. This is, in fact, completely wrong... the new paradigm is that kids actually make you feel very old! Let me explain. Two recent events have produced this inevitable conclusion - my 15 year-old son has taken over my crown as the undisputed head of household technology and my 12 year old daughter has left me stuck for words with her questions over an old (not so old in my humble opinion!) rotary-dial analogue telephone. “What is the curly wire for Dad?... How did you walk around with it? Did you wind it up before dialling?...Weren’t buttons invented then?”.., and finally, the crushing blow... “Why didn’t you just use your mobile?”!! Well, in the spirit of enabling innovation, driving paradigm shifts and building the technology to enable future generations to confuse and frustrate their elders, we have focused on some new technologies in this edition. Read here first about our exclusive IDF converter that enables PCB design tools to connect with the increasingly popular, and free of charge, Google SketchUp 3D modelling package (page 6). We review the trends in M2M (page 12), lenticular lenses (page 16) and the Engineering Renaissance (page 28). We also introduce the latest technologies in some of our regular features including Product News, Electronics Extras and, in this edition, a Design Review “mbed Sound Idea” (page 25).