Category Archives: CLEARANCE ITEMS

Anti-static electronic component storage bins!

ESD Protection Bins

ESD Protection Bins

Great deal alert! We’re parting with some of our static dissipative stacking bins – taking them out of service in our warehouse. There’s still plenty of life available in these bins so grab them while you can at 60% off the price of new bins.

The bins are perfect for storing all your sensitive electronic components and supplies. Also ideal for a warehouse environment where you need some ESD protection.

Here are the larger size bins: Large Anti-Static Stacking Bin

And here are the medium size bins: Medium Anti-Static Stacking Bin

The price on these bins when new are $26 for the medium size and over $30 for the large size. Both sizes are stackable with an open hopper on the front side for easy access to the contents of the storage bin. Limited availability – only about 200 left.


Take better pictures with your cellphone camera

Whether you have an iPhone, Android or any other phone with a camera, here are our top 3 tips for getting better pictures with every shot.

1 – Composition:
Even with an entry level camera phone, remember the basic rules of composition when taking cell phone pictures. The rules of thirds is important: don’t place the subject of your photo in the middle of the frame. Place your subject in about 1/3 of the way into the frame. Also, if you are photographing people, line up your shot so that their eyes are about 1/3 from the top of the frame.

Another tip for composing great photos is to declutter your background. Taking a picture of your new car? Be sure your garbage can is put away. Compose your backgrounds to tell a story. A day at the beach can be told in pictures with the sun, sand and surf behind your subject. If you can, change your perspective – always shooting from a standing position will never get you the best angle for the best possible picture.

2- Blurry pictures:
The most common problem with digital pictures is that the camera is not held steady which often produces a blurry pic. Brace your arm on a table or against a wall. If there is no table or wall in site, tighten your arms against your body and hold your breath as you take the photo. Release your breath as you take the photo.

3 – Lighting:
Poor lighting can produce blurry pictures, poor color and shadows. Whether you have a flash or not on your camera phone, be sure to compose your pictures to get the best light possible. Stay away from bright sunlight – that will create pictures with harsh shadows. Instead, compose your pictures in the shade. While this will result in a darker photo, you will have a more even tone without the harsh shadows caused by direct sunlight.

If you are indoors, try to keep curtains open and the lights on – but keep your subject from being right under bright lights. It is better if the light is all around the room rather than right over your subject.

With these tips and some practice, you will be able to take great photos on your camera phone.

Wire Bending Radius Guide

At West Florida Components, we get asked very often about wire bending radius. It is important to have guidelines when working with wire or cable in your projects, particularly projects that involve curves, ductwork and buildings. There are a few rules of thumb that come into play when you think about the bending radius of wire and cable. Following these rules will ensure that your wire and cable projects go off without a hitch!

Here is a chart to use: https://www.westfloridacomponents.com/wire-bending-radius.html

Go Invisible: How to protect your privacy on Facebook

There have been a lot of news reports and discussions surrounding Facebook’s privacy policies. Of course, if you are worried about web privacy, canceling your Facebook account is an option, but since many other sites have joined the Facebook Connect network and are utilizing the site’s tools, you will need a Facebook account to be able to use these sites in the future. Plus, not everyone wants to give up their ability to connect with long lost high school buddies or share their latest baby pics with family and friends.

So what to do?

Fortunately, those that have pushed back at Facebook in the past on privacy issues have forced Facebook to provide tools to make you as stealthy as you’d like to be on the site without being completely invisible to those on your ‘friends’ list.

Here’s a guide for making yourself very close to invisible:

While logged into Facebook:

  1. Select the ‘Account’ tab at the top right corner of the screen
  2. Select ‘Privacy Settings’
  3. In the ‘Connecting on Facebook’ section, select ‘View Settings’ – amend these settings to whatever your comfort level is. If you are not interested in letting new people find you on Facebook, then you should change all these settings to ‘Friends Only’. Know that you will not show up in Facebook searches and no one new can add you as a friend.
  4. Be sure that you have chosen the ‘Friends Only’ settings in the ‘Sharing on Facebook’ section – click ‘Apply’
  5. Select ‘Customize Settings’
  6. Be sure that all the drop-downs are ‘Friends Only’
  7. Disable the option for ‘Include me in “People Here Now” after I check in
    8. Select ‘Edit album privacy’ and change all the settings to your meet your comfort level. You can customize them to even be invisible or visible to certain people by selecting the ‘customize’ option
  8. Back on the main privacy settings page, ‘Choose Your Privacy Settings’, select ‘edit your settings’ in the ‘Apps and Websites’ section in the bottom left corner of the screen
  9. Edit the settings for each of the options (on the ‘Instant Personalization’ page, disable the option to see information)

Many of the options listed above are explained in detail by Facebook. However, their goal is to make their site very accessible for both their users and the advertisers that pay to get your information through applications and widgets so they encourage you to share all information by making the defaults very liberal. By limiting the information that Facebook is eager to provide to other users, the search engines and advertisers, you are gaining greater control over who sees your private data. For a regular everyday user that just wants to connect with family and friends, taking these steps returns Facebook much closer to its original purpose.

Android smartphone sales up a whopping 886%

Research firm, Canalys, reports that Android platform smartphone sales increased an amazing 886% in the 2nd quarter.

An even bigger accomplishment is the fact that Android based phones now account for 34% of the market – topping all other platforms including Apple’s popular iPhone platform.

The press release from Canalys also reports that Android devices combined reached almost 475,000 units in Q2 2010 from no presence in the country a year ago. The Google-backed Android is available in phones from HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG, among others.

In total, the US market for smartphones is the largest established market in the world, and it still continues to show rapid growth. In the 2nd quarter of 2010, there were 14.7 million smart phone units shipped.

Deal Alert! 50W Solar Panels Prices Slashed!

Don’t you wish you could save some money heating your house? Here’s a super deal you won’t want to pass up.

If you’ve been waiting to start building a solar energy system, you’re in luck. We are offering our 50W Mono-Crystalline Solar Panels at a outrageously low price of $299.99. We only have 6 4 left, so don’t delay! We expect the 50W solar panels to sell out quickly at this price. We’re trying to get more, but we can not be sure we will be able to.

Multiple 50W Solar panels can be connected in series for more voltage, or in parallel for more current. Use these to in part to build complete on grid and off grid solar power generating systems. Excellent for use with deep cycle battery banks and solar charge controller regulator.

Added benefit: Our solar panels are made of Monocrystalline silicon. Mono-crystalline has been proven to be the best and most efficient raw material used in PV cells. Use Mono-Crystalline panels to capture the most energy from solar power.

Solar energy is a small investment that delivers big benefits. Once you are harnessing the power of the sun’s rays, you’ll wonder why you waited so long!