Author: Sean

GF Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies

Gluten Free Double Chocolate Cookies

These cookies have been a win with my wife, Melissa, and at company parties. The recipe is a modification of one found in The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook: Breakfasts, Entrees, and More by Elana Amsterdam.

Ingredients:

  • 5.5 cups blanched almond flour
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp coconut flour
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot starch/flour
  • 0.5 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup (16 tbsp) unsalted butter
  • 1.5 cups maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1.75 cups (1 bag) 60% cacao chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 °F.
  2. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, and cocoa powder.
  4. In a medium bowl, combine the syrup, vanilla extract, and butter. Heat to melt the butter and whisk to combine.
  5. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.
  6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  7. Using a scooper, place the dough around an inch apart onto the parchment lined baking sheets.
    1. A smaller scooper, such as the Norpro Stainless Steel Scoop, 35 mm (1 Tablespoon), makes close to 100 cookies.
    2. A larger scooper, such as the Norpro Stainless Steel Scoop, 56 mm (4 Tablespoon), makes around 24 cookies.
  8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops look dry and start to crack.
  9. Remove sheets from oven.
  10. Transfer parchment with cookies onto cooling racks.
  11. Let cool for 20 minutes, then serve.

 

eBook Publishing

I put together a standard operating procedure (SOP) that I used to produce ebook versions of books that existed in print and PDF forms at my previous employer, including the one I wrote, Failure Analysis Techniques for Electronics. Luckily, I had the original Microsoft Word files for each book as a starting point.

SOP for creating eBook files from MS Word documents

  • Open/Edit Document in MS Word
    • Word .doc files have to be converted into HTML.
    • Please note that Word .docx files are much easier to convert since they are already in an XML file format, which is similar to HTML.
      • XML was designed to store and transport data, while HTML was designed to display data and its appearance.
  • Remove the page numbers from the Table of Contents by going to References, Insert Table of Contents, uncheck box for Show Page Numbers.
  • File, Save As, Web Page, Filtered, .HTM file. Change file name if you want. Click Save.
    • Images may be compressed and not look as nice with the default settings.
    • To improve image quality, but also increase file size, in the Save As dialog box, click on Tools (in bottom left), Web Options, Tab for Browsers, Check Box for Allow PNG as a graphics format, Tab for Pictures, Screen Size, Click on a larger resolution, Pixels Per Inch, Click on a larger value, Click OK, Click Save.
  • Open .HTM file in web browser and check for any issues.
  • If needed, edit .HTM file in MS Word, save changes.
  • Open Calibre eBook Management (Free software found at http://calibre-ebook.com/).
  • Drag and drop .htm file into main window of Calibre, where it creates new entry as a ZIP file.
    • Also can Click on Add Books, Add Books from a Single Directory, go to location of file and select it, Click OK.
  • Right click on new entry in Main Window, Edit Metadata, Edit Metadata Individually to add cover image, edit title, author, keywords, etc. Click OK when done.
  • Right click on entry, Convert Books, Convert Books Individually. Select ZIP as input format (should be only choice). Select EPUB as output format. Click OK. Wait for Jobs animated icon on bottom right of Calibre to stop. Jobs: 1 should stop as say Jobs: 0.
  • Double click on number for the new entry and eBook viewer should open up. Check for any issues by clicking on the eBook navigation, font size, and other control buttons.
    • If issues are found, edit the original HTM and import file again into Calibre.
    • If no issues are found, the EPUB file should work on any device/program that reads EPUBs such as Apple iBooks and the Barnes and Noble Nook.
  • To create a file to read on an Amazon Kindle, right click on entry, Convert Books, Convert Books Individually. Select EPUB as input format. Select MOBI as output format. Click OK. Wait for Jobs animated icon on bottom right of Calibre to stop. Jobs: 1 should stop as say Jobs: 0.
  • The files are located in My Documents/Calibre Library or you can right click on an entry and Save to Disk in a different location.

Known Issues:

  • The MOBI file has a second set of Table of Contents at the end of the file, see Calibre’s FAQ for more information on this issue.
    • If you use Amazon’s Kindle Previewer software to convert the EPUB file to MOBI, then the second Table of Contents won’t show up.
  • The HTML code produced by MS Word is not at all elegant, but it seems to work fine.
  • DRM is not encoded in these files, so they are not copy protected.
  • Please note that when dealing with tables, it would be best to convert the tables to images in the original MS Word document.

eBook Stores and Resources

Helpful Independent Articles, Books, and Resources

Serenity Caldwell’s Presentation at Çingleton 2012

It’s a few years old now, but this video has a very useful overview of the issues involved in eBook production. Caution though, there is some language used that may be an issue in some offices, so I recommend using headphones.

Spectroscopic Analysis

EM_Spectrum3-new
Image by NASA [Public domain]

Spectroscopy is but one type of analysis I regularly perform. Below is a description of several of the techniques and the information each technique provides.

Spectroscopy involves the measurements of quantities as a function of frequencies or wavelengths, including how energy interacts with matter. These interactions provide information as to the identity and quantity of the composition of the matter.

Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS or EDX)

EDS is used to evaluate the elemental composition of materials within a scanning electron microscope (SEM), exciting the sample with X-rays, and then measuring the energy levels of X-rays emitted, which are specific to each element.

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy

FTIR spectroscopy is a technique in which infrared energy is used to excite fundamental vibrational and associated rotational-vibrational modes of molecules in the mid-infrared, approximately 4000 to 400 cm-1. These vibrational modes correspond to molecular structures. Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) is a technique used with FTIR, which allows liquid and solid samples to be studied directly without further preparation. In ATR-FTIR, an infrared beam is directed through an optically dense crystal at a certain angle and internally reflects through the crystal, producing evanescent waves. When the crystal is pressed against an infrared active material, the infrared radiation from the evanescent waves penetrates typically 1 to 4 micrometers into the sample.

Ultraviolet/Visible (UV/Vis) Spectroscopy

UV/Vis is used to measure electronic transitions of molecules in the ultraviolet to visible spectrum, approximately 180 to 800 nm. These transitions correspond to chemical structures which determine to amount of light energy absorbed, transmitted, and reflected, and can be used to characterize certain compounds and optical properties of materials.

X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectrometry

X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) is used to identify composition and plating thickness for elements ranging from titanium (Ti, element 22) to uranium (U, element 92). By bombarding a sample with high energy X-rays, secondary (or fluorescent) X-rays can be emitted which are characteristic of the atoms present in the sample.

Lehigh Nano for Business 2010 Conference

Lehigh-Nano-Health-Safety-2010 On May 26, 2010, I attended the Lehigh Nanotech Network’s Nano for Business 2010 Conference. I was invited to speak as a panelist on the “Health and Safety” panel.

In the picture to the left, I’m on the panel with Frank E. Ehrenfeld III, Laboratory Director, nanoTEM and IATL, ASTM D56.03 and Mike McGuiness, Principal, Haskill Toxicology Laboratories, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. I’m in the middle.

More information about the conference can be found here.

Electronics Manufacturing Articles

1280px-Computer_Circuit_Board_MOD_45153621

Photo: Harland Quarrington/MOD [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons, © Crown copyright 2012

One of my company newsletter articles in EMPFasis, a monthly Navy deliverable from the Electronics Manufacturing Productivity Facility or EMPF, was reprinted in the April 2010 issue of “Printed Circuit Design & Fab / Circuits Assembly”.

Other articles that I wrote have covered: