Contact Us    1-800-249-1612  
     


Newsletter Issue # 23

Real Time Automation's - Best Darn Newsletter 


IN THIS ISSUE
Joy
Network Test
Fun Facts and Trivia


STEAL OF THE MONTH...
Get a free RTA whoopie cushion this month only!

Take our quick, 3 question survey by April 24th to claim your steal of the month!

rtaautomation.com/steal


SIDE BLOGS
March 2015
AHR Expo 2015
March 2015
BACnet Data Representation
February 2015
Custom OEM Solutions
February 2015
IA, BA, Star Trek



 

AUTOMATION INSERT

Practical tips and information for young engineers. This issue, featuring:

- Going Tribal on Causality: The Importance of Accurate Thinking

- Network Test Answers

 





Joy


A Column of personal opinion by John Rinaldi, Founder and Owner of Real Time Automation.

I have a tiny pile of money that I play with (lose) in the stock market. It’s a very infrequent hobby for me.

So last week I picked up The Education of a Value Investor, which I thought might be an investment book. But I didn’t find any advice on stock picking. Nothing on mutual fund investing. Nothing even on buy or sell signals. None of that.

Instead I found JOY. A prescription for living a life of joy and happiness.

Warren Buffet, the legendary 84 year old investor, is quoted extensively. “I know people who have a lot of money and they get testimonial dinners and they get hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don’t care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster. That’s the ultimate test of how well you’ve lived your life.”

That’s really hard to accept when you’re young and full of testosterone. As newly minted engineers, we imagine ourselves as inventors, company presidents or principal engineers with ego walls full of awards. We imagine the large bank balances, the expensive vacations, the big home in the suburbs, the fast cars and all the rest.

Some of us never get past that Outer Scorecard – what others think of us, how much money we have, what we’ve accomplished, the house we live in. The list goes on.

Age, at least for me, seems to have lifted that fog. As I get older I’ve come to realize how much more important it is and how much more rewarding it is to just be the best me I can be. That Inner Scorecard – being the good friend, the authentic, interested listener, being of service to others – is not only less stressful, it’s a much more joyful way to live.

That’s exactly the life transition that Guy Spier, the author of the book, describes. He began his career on the street, Wall Street. There’s no place in the world more focused on the Outer Scorecard. It’s a place where who you know, how much you have, and how smart you are is more important than anything else. It’s a place where compromising your integrity and values is the norm.

The book is about how Spier transforms himself from a Gordon Gecko wannabe to a spiritual, authentic, caring man who values friendship and love over everything else in life. He doesn’t specifically detail the values and principles he came to embrace, but I’ve cataloged twenty-seven of them, including:

· Be Grateful. When you practice gratitude, you find things to be grateful about. And that is the seed for endless joy.

· Be of service to others, especially those who can’t do anything for you.

· Be Authentic. Be the real you and it will draw people to you.

· Find heroes and model them. Adopt their best attributes.

· Take care of details. All business and personal success is related to taking care of the details.

· Take Responsibility. Whatever happens, be responsible.

Behavior determines outcomes in life, and your behavior is defined by whether you pursue the Inner or Outer Scorecard. I’ll admit that for a lot of my life I’ve been about that Outer Scorecard. I am thankful that with age, that haze has lifted, and I can focus on being authentic, being a great friend, being of service and being grateful.

- John

 

Trivia

· What 40-day period precedes Easter?

· What is the name for a female rabbit?

· Which country brought the tradition of Easter Eggs to the US?

· Who sang the original version of Peter Cottontail?

· According to superstition, what brings good luck on Easter?

 

 

Answers located on bottom of page.

Network Test

 

 

Test your knowledge about Industrial networks and controls. Answers located in our Automation Insert.

1. TCP offers which benefit(s) over UDP?

A. Delivery in 30 minutes or less
B. Retries on lost packets
C. Error correction


2. UDP offers which benefit(s) over TCP?

A. Guaranteed arrival order
B. No lunch breaks
C. Lower overhead


3.Which of the following protocols use UDP as a transport layer?

A. DNS
B. SNMP
C. POP3
D. HTTP
E. DHCP


4. Which of the following automatically assigns IP addresses to Ethernet devices?

A. SNMP
B. DHCP
C. RSVP
D. EtherNet/IP


5. Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP directly support which data types?

A. Coil/Float
B. Coil/Register
C. Coil/String
D. Coil/Float/String/Register


6. Certification is required for which industrial application layer protocols?

A. Modbus RTU
B. EtherNet/IP
C. BACnet
D. Profinet IO
E. Modbus TCP
F. CAN


7. What is ARP?

A. The sound a seal makes
B. Translator of IP Addresses to Ethernet MAC addresses
C. Delivers IP Addresses to nodes on power up
D. Standard Protocol for receiving e-mail


8. EtherNet/IP requires what lower level protocol(s)?

A. TCP
B. UDP
C. Both


9. What physical layer communication standard is used by Profibus DP?

A. Ethernet
B. RS232
C. RS485 Enhanced
D. CAN


10. Which of the following identifies a wireless network?

A. MAC address
B. Host ID
C. SSID
D. DSSS


11. What is the maximum size of an individual packet on a CAN network (DeviceNet/CANopen)?

A. 1518 bytes
B. 8 bytes
C. 253 bytes


12. How is data represented in a Profibus/Profinet IO device?

A. Registers/Coils
B. Objects/Instances/Attributes
C. Slots/Modules/Channels
D. Raw Data Bytes


13. RTA is your best supplier for gateways and Industrial Networking Technology?

A. True (continue to get this great newsletter)
B. False (lifetime banishment)


(answers located in Automation Insert)

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014 Hunger Task Force Fundrasier Wrap-Up!

Thank you so much to all of our customers who purchased a gateway between November 24th - December 23rd and helped support our cause. The Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee was experiencing a huge shortage of milk, which typically cannot be donated due to its perishable nature. With your help, and a little planning, we were able to help them purchase an entire truckload of milk! Check it out:

Fun Facts

·The practice of dying eggs can be traced back to early Greek and Syrian Christians.

·Eggs are the most popular symbol featured on Hallmarks Easter Cards.

·Easter and Passover account for close to 15 percent of annual floral purchases made throughout the year.

·There is a Polynesian island in the Pacific Ocean called "Easter Island." The island is most known for its monumental human figured statues called moai.

·Approximately 76% of people eat chocolate bunnies ears first.

·Eggs contain almost every nutrient known to be essential for humans.

 

 

  Trivia Answers: Lent; A doe; Germany; Gene Autry; Wearing new clothing
   

Need help? Call our Expert Support Team: 1-800-249-1612