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Electronics for beginners: choosing a brain

I work with high schoolers and their teachers, and I often come across questions about how to get started with physical computing. This post is meant to compare some of the most well-known platforms. To begin, understand that the space is broadly separated into microcontrollers and single-board computers, with different strengths and weaknesses. Microcontrollers (MCUs) Microcontrollers are basic, general-purpose processors with limited capabilities compared to single board computers (SBCs). They offer slower processing speeds, smaller storage capacity, and fewer communication options. Unlike SBCs, which run full operating systems, microcontrollers typically execute only one program at a time. Despite these limitations, microcontrollers have several advantages. They are generally more affordable than SBCs, and their simpler architecture makes it easier to understand and control their behavior. Additionally, microcontrollers can begin executing their programs almost immediately after pow
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E-books and e-readers

It's been ages since I've posted, but I thought I'd record my recent experience with e-books and e-readers. As context, I've recently dusted off my original Nook e-reader , and have been trying to get as much of my e-book library on to it as possible. At the same time, I've been researching new e-readers because there have been a number of technology improvements since the release of the first edition Nook. E-books My e-book purchases have come from a number of retailers: Pragmatic Programmers Manning Publications O'Reilly Books Barnes & Noble Nook store Google Play books Amazon Kindle books Of course, the name of the game with e-books these days is DRM: some distributors apply strong DRM, some weak DRM, and some none. Both Kindle and Nook e-books are useless except within their ecosystem. Kindle books can be downloaded with a "Download & transfer via USB" option, but the AZW3 file is encrypted to a specific device. I
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Buzzing XBees

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It's been a while since I've written, but I just have to share my experiences with this. I recently bought a pair of XBee Series 2 radios  along with  XBee Explorer break-out boards . I first heard about these radios in general back in school when I was working with CU's  RECUV  group, and then again in Tom Igoe's excellent book Making Things Talk , and I've been itching to try them out ever since. They're a bit like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, but seem to lend themselves better to microprocessor projects, generally use less power, and have some unique features that are great for sensor networks. I understand they're also being used for modern home automation products. However, getting these things configured and tested wasn't exactly a walk in the park! As it turns out, I probably should've gotten the Series 1 radios, as they use the simpler 802.15.4 protocol. Series 2 uses the Zigbee protocol, which allows for more advanced network topologies but is als
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My Robot Friend

It's been a bit since I've posted, but fear not! Things are going well, and some exciting things are taking shape! Work is as exciting as ever. There are new challenges almost every day it seems, yet nothing that seems to be impossible. Our systems environment is ever-changing, and the causes and motivations are numerous, but it's all in a day's work. I've also taken it upon myself to start implementing measurable quality metrics in my work, and that has been an interesting journey. I'm starting to learn a number of tools and techniques for automated building, testing, and deployment, and those are skills that should serve me anywhere on any project. Outside work, I got the itch to do some engineering mentoring, and so I got a hold of my local high school. They don't currently have any programs like the old "computer club" that I attended when I was there (it was really just 3 or 4 of us that would hang around in the computer lab after school).
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Ten Years Ago, Today

I was in the 10th grade. The morning started off as any other, with my morning bike to school. My first class was Spanish. There were rumors of confused news reports about a small plane accidentally glancing off of the World Trade Center, but our teacher would allow no distractions. Our class plowed through the planned material. But when I arrived at 2nd period chemistry, it was clear that this was no normal day, no small news story, and no accident. Our chemistry teacher didn't say much, and didn't attempt to teach class. We listened to the radio reports from shocked and confused journalists in New York. We heard that commercial airliners had been hijacked and crashed into the towers and the Pentagon; that both towers had just fallen; that the streets of Manhattan were rivers of dust and ash; that tens of thousands were injured, trapped, or dead. It took time for the magnitude of the reports to crystallize in my head. This had happened on American soil? The shock was profo
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Google Map Maker

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For those that don't know, Google Maps just opened up the Google Map Maker web application to allow normal users to enter data into Google Maps. After a review process, those edits can be published into the public Google Maps for the world to see. I was pretty excited when I learned about it in April, and I've been pretty active. Recently I received an e-mail from the Google Map Maker Community Team. Because I'm "one of the top mappers in the United States," they offered to send me a free t-shirt, and invited me to the Google Geo User Summit in Mountain View. I had to regretfully decline the offer to attend the summit, but the t-shirt is pretty awesome. From July 2011 My friends and I were trying to figure out what the map on the front is showing. At first glance, it looks like a map of the world's lights at night , but some major countries, like the US, Canada, UK, France, and Russia are not lit up. So what do the white areas represent? My speculatio
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Graduation Videos

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Check these out! Courtesy of Munchkin, thanks friend!
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