Coming up with Engineering Solutions that Matter

I had a conversation with my brother a while back where I was trying to pick his brain on how someone could figure out a problem(s) to solve using engineering techniques. My brother was a pretty solid candidate to pick since he's an engineer, (yes this is a family of engineering kids, parents sought their fortunes elsewhere).

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Designing a Smart House

So I have been tasked with coming up with a smart house idea that is to be used to demonstrate the awesomeness of the Arduino to high school students.

The basic premise is that the house is supposed to be automated. It's supposed to have lights that turn on automatically when one walks into a room, lights that dim when the TV is on, an automated door that opens when it senses that someone is approaching, some kind of alarm system. So I have to figure out the logistics of how all these things work and how they can be managed by an Arduino.

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Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini (And Try not to Brick it while you're at it)

So recently, I decided that I wanted to root a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, because what is Android without root access, right?

My first attempt at rooting the S4 mini ended with me bricking the phone! Not a very good experience I tell you. Luckily, I was able to get it back up and running. But that is a story for another day.

For my second attempt at rooting the S4 mini, I decided to take as much precaution as possible and actually take my time.

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