IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2015 - 4

BacK StorY_
editor in chief

Susan Hassler, s.hassler@ieee.org
executive editor

Glenn Zorpette, g.zorpette@ieee.org
editorial director, digital

Harry Goldstein, h.goldstein@ieee.org
managing editor

Elizabeth A. Bretz, e.bretz@ieee.org
senior art director

Mark Montgomery, m.montgomery@ieee.org
senior editors

Stephen Cass (Resources), cass.s@ieee.org
Erico Guizzo (Digital), e.guizzo@ieee.org
Jean Kumagai, j.kumagai@ieee.org
Samuel K. Moore (News), s.k.moore@ieee.org
Tekla S. Perry, t.perry@ieee.org
Philip E. Ross, p.ross@ieee.org
David Schneider, d.a.schneider@ieee.org
deputy art director

Brandon Palacio, b.palacio@ieee.org
Randi Klett, randi.klett@ieee.org
Erik Vrielink, e.vrielink@ieee.org

photography director

associate art director
associate editors

Rachel Courtland, r.courtland@ieee.org
Celia Gorman (Multimedia), celia.gorman@ieee.org
Eliza Strickland, e.strickland@ieee.org
assistant editor Willie D. Jones, w.jones@ieee.org
senior copy editor Joseph N. Levine, j.levine@ieee.org
copy editor Michele Kogon, m.kogon@ieee.org
editorial researcher Alan Gardner, a.gardner@ieee.org
executive producer, spectrum radio
assistant producer, spectrum radio

For Want of a Nail

f.ferorelli@ieee.org
administrative assistants

Ramona Foster, r.foster@ieee.org
Nancy T. Hantman, n.hantman@ieee.org

or ev en the simplest story there are many things

contributing editors

Evan Ackerman, Mark Anderson, John Blau, Robert N.
Charette, Peter Fairley, Tam Harbert, Mark Harris, David
Kushner, Robert W. Lucky, Paul McFedries, Prachi Patel,
Richard Stevenson, Lawrence Ulrich, Paul Wallich

that can threaten a deadline. For IEEE Spectrum's DIY and
home‑brew Hands On column, to that list must be added
all the problems that can crop up in making electrons flow
just so. Usually, these problems add zest to an article. But
sometimes, it's just a cascade of failure.
In building the Membership Card-a kit that replicates
the classic Cosmac Elf microcomputer-for this issue, it all
began with a momentary lapse of concentration by Senior Editor
Stephen Cass. He wired one component in backward. "It was
classic Murphy's Law," says Cass. Then he damaged the traces on
the printed circuit board while trying to extract the component.
But surely Lee Hart, the kit maker, could send replacement parts?
Unfortunately, Hart was visiting family during the holiday season.
But maybe his friend could FedEx parts from his unbuilt kit....
"The package arrived at my building on the Friday morning of
the New Year's Day long weekend," Cass says. "In running down
to the courier, I locked myself out of my apartment without my
wallet. My wife was out of town. After 4 hours I got back in, only
to discover I needed a part not in the package." Ultimately, he was
able to salvage the last component from the damaged board and
complete the kit-just hours before hopping on a plane to cover the
2015 Consumer Electronics Show. n

Mar 2015

north aMerican

SPectrUM.ieee.orG

Peter Tuohy
Roy Carubia
senior electronic layout specialist Bonnie Nani
director, periodicals production services
editorial & Web production manager
spectrum online
product manager, digital

Shannan Brown
Jacqueline L. Parker
Michael Spector

Web production coordinator

multimedia production specialist
editorial advisory board

Susan Hassler, Chair; Gerard A. Alphonse, Jason Cong*,
Sudhir Dixit, Limor Fried, Robert Hebner, Joseph J. Helble,
Chenming Hu*, Grant Jacoby, Norberto Lerendegui, John P.
Lewis, Steve Mann, Jacob Østergaard, Umit Ozguner, Thrasos
Pappas, John Rogers, Jonathan Rothberg, Umar Saif, Takao
Someya, Jeffrey M. Voas, Kazuo Yano, Larry Zhang*, Yu Zheng,
Kun Zhou, Edward Zyszkowski
* Chinese-language edition
editorial / advertising correspondence

IEEE Spectrum
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New York, NY 10016-5997
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tel: +1 212 419 7555 fax: +1 212 419 7570
bureau

Palo Alto, Calif.; Tekla S. Perry +1 650 752 6661

advertising department +1 212 705 8939
responsibility for the substance of articles rests upon
the authors, not IEEE, its organizational units, or its members.
Articles do not represent official positions of IEEE. Reader
comments will be posted online, or published in print as space
allows, and may be excerpted for publication. The publisher
reserves the right to reject any advertising.

03.15

citing articles in ieee spectrum IEEE Spectrum publishes an international and a North American edition, as
indicated at the bottom of each page. Both have the same editorial content, but because of differences in advertising, page
numbers may differ. In citations, you should include the issue designation. For example, And Now This... is in IEEE Spectrum,
Vol. 52, no. 3 (INT), March 2015, p. 60, or in IEEE Spectrum, Vol. 52, no. 3 (NA), March 2015, p. 76.

Sharon Basco
Francesco Ferorelli,

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photograph by

Annie Leist

http://SPectrUM.ieee.orG

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum - North American - March 2015