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Privacy Smart Watches

So, you're in the market for a "smart" watch that might do things like tell you where you are and what your heart rate is.  There are two issues with most smart watches that make them bad designs: lack on anonymity (privacy) and terrible battery life.  If you don't want to compromise on those two […]

H5P: Interactive content on Moodle

[this is a work in progress... I'll add more preview content and explanations of the usage of H5P material on Moodle.] The learning activities that one can use in Moodle are a little bland, a little 2010-ish.  We can now add "H5P" content and activities, which make content feel a lot more contemporary -- emoticons […]

LPC802 & LPC804 Microcontroller lessons

These are copies of the lessons and labs that I developed for the LPC802 and LPC804 microcontrollers by NXP. These are the "student" versions and contain blanks in certain places on purpose. Course Outline (EECS 3215 Winter 2020) Introduction to the design of embedded systems using both hardware and software. Topics include microcontrollers; their architecture, […]

I'm a new student. Which computer should I get?

To new students (and their parents) who are looking to get a computer for the upcoming university school year, here are some tips (via my Twitter thread) Update (Nov 2020) Thinking of getting a new Mac in 2020 or 2021?  Think again.  Details below. How much? Get what you can afford.  Most people will spend […]

Matlab: adding Arduino support

[this is a draft... it needs to be cleaned up.] I'm using MATLAB 2019b, whereas you are probably using something a little newer, like 2020b.  It shouldn't make much (if any) difference. Open up MATLAB and then go to Add-ons and check out the Hardware support packages. You'll be greeted with a list of all […]

JavaFX and IntelliJ

The following is a description of how I installed JavaFX SDK version 11 on Java SDK 14 with the IntelliJ IDE. Download the SDK and Link to IntelliJ The JavaFX toolkit (SDK) is an add-on for Java that makes it possible to create graphics.  It used to be included with the main Java SDK, but […]

Virtual Programming Lab

Virtual Programming Lab is a plugin for Moodle (eClass at YorkU) that permits interactive programming assignments to be made for students.   There are some really good examples at Smith College on how to set it up with Python and a few with Java and C. I've posted, on YouTube, an example of how to […]

Disassembling in MPLABX & MCUXpresso

[to be updated] When you write programs in languages like C or C++ the programs get converted by the compiler tools into commands that the computer can read and understand.  Just before the compiler tools do that they convert your work into a sequence of commands into a language called Assembler. Back in the day […]

Moodle Scheduler

There are plenty of reasons to schedule interactions with students.  Office hours are one reason, and student presentations are another.  The Moodle scheduler allows you to set up these meetings, as shown in the figure below. once the student has looked at the schedule, she can then select a time slot.  Once she has "booked […]

Moodle: Quiz Module

This is what the Quiz view looks like for students. multiple-choice... fill in the blank, with pre-defined answers.  Notice that you can drag and drop the answer blocks and that the block gets highlighted in yellow when it's over the right place... short answer, with no pre-defined solution.... summary of the quiz... confirm submission... The […]