Made by Monkeys Editor Karen Field made a recent trip to China and discovered the most entertaining part of pirate software is on the packaging.

The new kid on the blog, An Engineer in Wonderland, had a great week and this blogger discussed everything from electrical wiring in the home, to humane way of disposing of slimy bugs in your back garden.

Gadget Freak also turned into a domestic god(dess) this week, giving you seven gadgets that are essential for piece of mind in your home.

Never failing to deliver, David Manners' blog, Mannerisms, presented the ten worst symptoms of big company disease, as well as talking about "patent trolls" causing havoc in the semiconductor industry. Don’t forget you can sign up for the Mannerisms’ eNewsletter here.

1. Hint: If you want to use pirate software, use spellcheck (Made by Monkeys)

On a trip to Shanghai to research an article on "fakes," I walked into the Xiangyang Market. Thirty minutes later and after some fierce haggling, I walked out with copies of Adobe Acrobat 3D, SolidWorks 2006, AutoCAD 2007, and PTC Wildfire. Total price: $22.00. Oh yeah, and I did snag a six season set of The Sopranos for $19.00.

2. Ten worst symptoms of big company disease (Mannerisms)

Tsuyoshi Kawanishi, legendary former CEO of Toshiba Semiconductor, quotes, in his book Chip Management, ten symptoms of Big Company Disease, as compiled by Professor Yoshiya Teramoto of Meiji Gakuin University.

3. Trolls trying to hold chip industry to ransom (Mannerisms)

IP is becoming a joke in the semiconductor industry with ‘patent trolls’ trying to gouge royalties by claiming the infringement of dubiously relevant patents.

4. Domestic wiring madness? (An Engineer in Wonderland)

Years of experience, and quite probably many tragedies, have made the UK wiring regulations what they are - good, sensible rules - albeit written in a somewhat impenetrable form.

5. Seven gadgets your home must have (Gadget Freak)

In an age where the high street is saturated with expensive gadgets that bombard every consumer that wanders down it, clever electrical engineers know there’s always a better and cheaper way to make your home a better and safer place to live, rest and play in. Here, Gadget Freak presents seven DIY designs that your home can’t be without.

6. Shake-to-charge flashlight is a fake (Made by Monkeys)

Craig Johnson, who runs the website www.ledmuseum.org, where he posts some highly entertaining product reviews, had a few choice words to say about this Chinese-made flashlight advertised as "no battery needed."

 7. Slug-O-Cutor (An Engineer in Wonderland)

Like many people last year, I had a slug infestation. As I am not keen on the lingering death induced by slug pellets, or their effect on the food chain, an electronic slug-o-cutor had to be the answer.

8. Meet Andrew’s blast from the past (Gadget Freak)

Back to the future. Sometimes the best way to take a step forward is to take a step back in time. So Andrew Smith designed a fully-functional toy oscilloscope, made out of parts he found in his junk box, such as the EF91, EF80 and EF184 valves. The whole system runs from a single regulated 12.6V DC supply, which can be derived from a “wall-wart” PSU. Doc Brown would be proud.

9. Kit cars and Thomas & Betts (An Engineer in Wonderland)

Not long ago I was finishing off rewiring a kit car. The job started when the original Renault 4 wiring loom melted following a fault in the headlight. Not all circuits in the original car have fuses - thank you Mr Renault.

10. Xbox faults cost Microsoft (Made by Monkeys)

The Register reports that Microsoft is taking a $1bn hit to fix Xbox 360's, due to residual hardware faults [aka the Red ring of Xbox death] that are resulting in a high number of repairs.