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Great start to another semester

I've made it through the first week of this spring semester, and I'm no worse for the wear. I'm really enjoying my classes so far. I'm taking the second semester of Humanities for Engineers, which is going to be divided into two "landscapes" for the semester. For the first part, we'll be covering some of the classics: the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aneid. That should be interesting. The math class I'm taking is probability. The professor's accent is very thick Asian, but he's a great teacher, and I think I'll enjoy the class. I have three computer science courses. The class on game programming will be much less pure entertainment than it sounds like; it's focused on designing and prototyping educational games. We're using a program called AgentSheets to do our games, and it's pretty awful to install and limited in it's uses. However, it is good for getting something working quickly, and it's simple enough that anyone ca...
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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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Hit the Ground Running

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My time between finishing school and starting work was relaxing, but too short, of course. I did keep myself busy with projects, planning for our first camping trip of the season, and preparing for work. I was able to get some stepping motors to ressurrect the Wesley clock. I finished all of the software last summer, but still haven't gotten around to building the darn thing! I started work the week before Memorial Day, so it was a fairly relaxing time to come in. So far I like the people, and the work is interesting. My co-workers are a pretty tight-knit group and have some nice traditions. "The Phat Club" is an agreement among about a dozen people to bring in breakfast for everyone else once a week on a rotating basis. Every day at a certain time, everyone who isn't busy with something will take a short walk down to the "snack room" to stretch our legs and shoot the breeze. Some of us even took an afternoon off to see a Rockies game. That was a lot of fu...
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