tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69813087101201639812024-03-28T05:35:15.806-04:00Gordon's STEM BlogPerspectives on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Industries and EducationGordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.comBlogger689125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-79361469922656354572024-02-24T09:23:00.000-05:002024-02-24T09:23:28.906-05:00New Report: Talent Disrupted - College Graduates, Underemployment, and the Way Forward<p><span class="s1" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 16px;">The <a href="https://www.burningglassinstitute.org/"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">Burning Glass Institute</span></a> and the <a href="https://stradaeducation.org/organization/institute-for-the-future-of-work/"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">Strada Institute for the Future of Work</span></a> have released a new data-driven research report titled <a href="https://www.burningglassinstitute.org/research/underemployment"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">Talent Disrupted: Underemployment, College Graduates, and the Way Forward, 2024</span></a>. </span><span class="s3" style="background-color: white; color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: 16px;">The report highlights a concerning trend among bachelor's degree holders in the job market. Only about half secure college-level jobs within a year of graduation, with the rest working in positions that don't require a degree. Many remain underemployed even after ten years, indicating ongoing challenges in career advancement. </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s3" style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;">A recommended full read for </span><span class="s4" style="color: black; font-kerning: none;">students, families, policymakers, and educators, h</span><span class="s3" style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;">ere's a </span><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;">few key points from the report:</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="p2" style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s6" style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration-line: underline;">Mismatch of Skills and Job Requirements</span><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;">: The fact that only about half of</span><span class="s7" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-kerning: none;"> bachelor's </span><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;">degree holders secure employment in college-level jobs within a year of graduation suggests a mismatch between the skills they've acquired and the skills demanded by employers. This mismatch can contribute to underemployment, where individuals end up working in jobs that don't fully utilize their education and skills.</span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s8" style="color: black; font-kerning: none; text-decoration-line: underline;">Persistent Underemployment</span><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;">: It's concerning that a significant portion of graduates remain underemployed even a decade after graduation. This suggests that the issue of underemployment is not just a temporary hurdle for recent graduates but a long-term challenge that affects their career trajectories and earning potential.</span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s8" style="color: black; font-kerning: none; text-decoration-line: underline;">Impact on Career Progression and Earnings</span><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;">: Underemployment can have lasting consequences on individuals' career progression and earnings potential. Working in jobs that don't require a degree or make meaningful use of college-level skills can hinder opportunities for advancement and may result in lower wages compared to those in jobs that align with their education and training.</span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s8" style="color: black; font-kerning: none; text-decoration-line: underline;">Implications for Higher Education</span><span class="s5" style="font-kerning: none;">: These findings also raise questions about the effectiveness of higher education in preparing graduates for the workforce. It highlights the importance of ensuring that educational programs align with the evolving needs of the labor market and that graduates possess the skills and competencies required for success in their chosen fields.</span></p></blockquote><p></p><p class="p1" style="color: #0c0c0c; font-family: Arial; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s3" style="background-color: white; font-kerning: none;">Addressing underemployment among college graduates requires ongoing collaboration between educational institutions, employers, policymakers, and other stakeholders. This involves aligning curriculum with industry needs, providing career counseling and work-based learning opportunities, and promoting lifelong learning. By working together, we can better prepare graduates for success in the workforce.</span></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-38680268268534602962023-10-31T09:41:00.001-04:002023-10-31T20:03:08.334-04:00Pricing Up a New Maxed Out MacBook Pro Max<p><span style="font-family: arial;">I typically buy a new personal laptop computer every 5-6 years. I was a diehard Windows person until <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista" target="_blank">Windows Vista</a> came along when I crossed over to the Mac world. I've been a Mac person ever since.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Because I keep my computers for a long time, when I buy I always load up on hardware. I typically go for the fastest processor, most memory and the largest storage drive. Today I decided to price up a new loaded <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro" target="_blank">MackBook M3 Max</a> and was blown away by the price - $7200!</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ARvFHVgfOgw" width="320" youtube-src-id="ARvFHVgfOgw"></iframe></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Pondering, I decided to skip the $19 <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MM6F3AM/A/polishing-cloth" target="_blank">Apple Polishing Cloth</a>. I can always pick one up later.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Granted, maxed out the configuration is for high end niche users and not users like me. M</span><span style="font-family: arial;">y 14 inch M1 Pro is only two years old with 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD so..... I'll just hang on to that for now.</span></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-36050646620878479172023-10-23T08:01:00.004-04:002023-10-23T19:09:31.482-04:00555 Timer: Astable Mode<p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The 555 timer IC is a popular integrated circuit (IC) used in various electronic projects and can be configured to perform a wide range of tasks. It was first introduced by Signetics (now part of ON Semiconductor) in 1972 and has since become one of the most widely used ICs in the electronics industry due to its simplicity and versatility. The 555 timer IC is available in different variants, including the NE555, LM555, and others, with minor variations between them.<br /></span><br /></span></p><p style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 555 timer operates over a wide range of power supply voltages, typically from 4.5 volts to 15 volts and is typically used in one of three operating modes:</span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span class="s1" style="font-family: arial; font-kerning: none;">A<u>stable Mode Operation</u>: In this mode, the 555 timer acts as an oscillator, generating a square wave output signal. This mode is commonly used in applications like LED flashers, pulse generators, and tone generators.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Monostable Mode </span>Operation</u>: In this mode, the 555 timer functions as a "one-shot" pulse generator. It produces a single pulse of a specified duration in response to a trigger input. Applications include timers and delay circuits.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Bistable Mode </span>Operation</u>: This mode is used to create a flip-flop circuit, which has two stable states and is often used in simple digital logic applications.</span></li></ul><span class="s1" style="font-family: arial; font-kerning: none;">Depending on how a 555 timer is to be used, the appropriate configuration and values for the timing components (R1, R2, and C) must be selected to achieve the desired output characteristics or time delays. Here's some details:</span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Timing Component </span>Operation</u>: The 555 timer's timing is determined by two resistors (R1 and R2) and a capacitor (C). By choosing appropriate values for these components, you can set the desired time intervals for the timer's operation.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Internal Comparator </span>Operation</u>: The 555 timer includes an internal comparator that compares the voltage across the timing capacitor with two-thirds of the supply voltage and controls the output accordingly.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Output Stage </span>Operation</u>: The 555 timer has an output pin (usually labeled as "OUT") that produces either a high or low signal based on the timing mode and the voltage across the timing components.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Trigger and Reset Input </span>Operation</u>: The IC has a "TRIG" (trigger) input and a "RESET" input. The trigger input is used to initiate certain modes of operation, while the reset input is used to reset the timer and interrupt its operation.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><u><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Threshold Input </span>Operation</u>: The "THRS" (threshold) input is used in some applications to override the internal voltage divider.</span></li></ul><span class="s1" style="font-family: arial; font-kerning: none;">Here's a short PSpice video I made demonstrating how the 555 Timer can be used in Astable Mode.</span><p></p><div style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p class="p1" style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="374" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4r347EnDlXo" width="449" youtube-src-id="4r347EnDlXo"></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">The </span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">555</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">timer</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"> is still one of the most popular components used </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">in timing-related applications. </span></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-53987850537835504712023-03-08T10:52:00.013-05:002023-03-23T11:02:33.714-04:00 Captain Vela The Adventure Dog (2009 – 2023)<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; text-align: center; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"><i>Don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened.<br /></i></span><i><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">-</span><span class="s2" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: none; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 9.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Dr Seuss</span></i></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJBy1br4fZ7-3hgTkNfz8jmaon7ZMId2AKK0tMJncurrPBgBjCSNxdQ6sa9EPlHQ5fLqzYrOgzUAuTb_EERepbasiuOI0sQt_FjFHcmUOdWf6S_uSjwDfg3eI5WWy4NkxOhkG9OWYCqMnh8MsrLzbj2Kxoc1Js46s5YNDdB8XCSd7IiWmSwF_K9wUxQ/s828/Vela%20and%20Diane.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="828" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJBy1br4fZ7-3hgTkNfz8jmaon7ZMId2AKK0tMJncurrPBgBjCSNxdQ6sa9EPlHQ5fLqzYrOgzUAuTb_EERepbasiuOI0sQt_FjFHcmUOdWf6S_uSjwDfg3eI5WWy4NkxOhkG9OWYCqMnh8MsrLzbj2Kxoc1Js46s5YNDdB8XCSd7IiWmSwF_K9wUxQ/s320/Vela%20and%20Diane.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Sunday morning Vela (our 14 year old Bichon Frise) woke up at her usual 6 a.m. time and we went out for our usual walk followed by a usual breakfast. Everything seemed fine with her. Around 10:30 Vela started to shake a little bit and looked uncomfortable. Since it was Sunday and our veterinarian was closed, we ended up taking her to an Animal Emergency Hospital in Deerfield, MA. Long story short - scans found spots on her liver, kidneys and gall bladder. She was in a lot of pain and we were given some pain medication to keep her comfortable overnight. She came home with us for one last night. On Monday March 6 we brought her to our vet. Scans and test results were reviewed and discussed. At around 11 AM she was put to sleep.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> I cannot say enough good things about the care Vela received from Dr. McIsaac and the staff at <a href="http://www.granbyanimalclinic.com" target="_blank">The Granby Animal Clinic</a>.</span><div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">After <a href="http://www.gordostuff.com/2012/02/goodbye-tim-2000-2012.html" target="_blank">Tim The Springer passed away</a> we sure had a huge gap in our lives. Eva was a junior in high school and Gabby was a junior at Mount Holyoke College. </span>On the way to Eva’s school we would drive by a house that had a sign with a picture of a white fluffy dog on it. A colleague had a couple of Bichon Frise dogs – I remember going over to their house one day and those two amazing little white dogs running circles around us in the house. John told me when they do that they call it the “Bichon Buzz”. Impressive little dogs those Bichons! I had a hunch that picture on the rock could possibly be one.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Well we decided we would start looking around for another dog and stopped by that place in Granby. Talk about a Bichon Buzz – the family were private breeders and had 15 or 16 Bichons of various ages. Controlled chaos is probably the best term to describe what we experienced walking into that house. A litter of new pups was coming and we discussed getting on the list for one of them. But.... there was an adult dog that caught our eye. Her name was Katie at the time and she was three years old. Katie had a couple of litters already but could not have any more pups for medical reasons. The breeder was responsible and was keeping her as a pet. Katie came up to Diane and the owner thought that was unique – unlike the others, Katie did not typically take to people coming in the house. Diane and I both asked about Katie and the owner told us she could not have any more pups and they would keep her as a pet. When we asked if Katie was available she was taken a bit back at first and surprised we would be interested in her. Long story short we brought Katie home the next day, changing her name to Vela.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Right from the start Vela fit right in with our family. She was our first “little” dog. Prior to Vela I had never been a fan of little dogs – probably because I never had one! Just like the other two Vela was all dog and had quite the personality. She may have only been 11.5 pounds but she was a tough, wiry little dog that could be quite smug at times. An amazing watch dog who loved to be with us. I believe if she had stayed with the breeder family Katie would have been very well cared for but would probably have never left the house. Vela however had the opportunities for many adventures with us, spending time, seeing things and visiting places with us that few dogs have been. The perfect airplane under the seat in front of you and everywhere else dog. So many memories and so many (over 1,000) pictures and videos.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">She was a constant companion and incredibly attached to Diane. When Diane was out she hung around with me but the second she saw Diane’s car coming down the driveway – well – I was a distant second place. The picture posted here tells the story well – that was the two of them.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">As we saw with Tim, we see a lot of Vela in our two daughters. Gabby and Eva. Both grown up now and doing grown up things – Eva married living in Nashville, TN and Gabby engaged, living in Medford, MA. Both with dogs of their own - Cheese the Beagle (Gabby) and Mo the Sheepadoddle (Eva). Vela got to spend time with both of her nephew dogs, most recently over the holidays. She taught them some stuff for sure.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I miss so many little things about her. Sleeping next to me while I work. I miss her food and water bowls. Feeling her moving around on the bed at night. Watching out the window for Diane to come home. She never forgot a person. I don’t think I ever used the word “No” with her. Waking me up every morning when it starts getting light to go outside and get the day started. She was constantly with one of us during the pandemic.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Monday morning was so difficult for us and our house is so quiet now. We miss you so much Little Buddy.</span></p></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-52783232222733703742023-02-04T09:17:00.001-05:002023-02-04T09:17:59.167-05:00MATLAB Tip Calculator on Your Phone<p><span style="font-family: arial;">In this video I show how to take your MATLAB code and run it on your iPhone. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="403" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sLS0vmjk7yk" width="486" youtube-src-id="sLS0vmjk7yk"></iframe></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Here's a list of instructions you can use while watching the video.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">In MATLAB on Your Computer</span></b></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Create a MATLAB script or function.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Document your code by adding explanatory comments at the beginning of the file and within each section.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Publish the code. On the Publish tab, click Publish.</span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">By default, MATLAB creates a subfolder named html, which contains an HTML file and files for each graphic that your code creates. The HTML file includes the code, formatted comments, and output. Alternatively, you can publish to other formats, such as PDF files or Microsoft PowerPoint® presentations. For more information on publishing to other formats, see <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_prog/specifying-output-preferences-for-publishing.html#bthgjqy" target="_blank">Specify Output File</a>.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">In <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/what-is-matlab-online.html" target="_blank">MATLAB Online™</a>, to allow MATLAB to open output windows automatically when publishing, enable pop-up windows in your Web browser.</span></li></ul></ul><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">After publishing the code, you must share the folder containing the published files. For more information, see <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/matlab_env/share-folders-in-matlab.html" target="_blank">Share Folders in MATLAB</a>.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">To share a folder from MATLAB®, <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab-drive.html" target="_blank">MATLAB Drive Connector </a>must be running and the folder you choose to share must be in your MATLAB Drive. If you are working in MATLAB Online, you do not need MATLAB Drive Connector to share folders since sharing is always enabled.</span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;">See: <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab-drive.html" target="_blank">https://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab-drive.html</a></span></li></ul></ul><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">To save to the MATLAB Drive, in MATLAB select Publish -> Save -> Save As -> navigate to MATLAB-Drive and save tipcalculator.m there.</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>On Your Phone</b></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Install the MATLAB app on your phone, login to your account and access the script saved in to cloud. You must have internet access to access.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Impress your family and friends with your tip knowledge, skills and abilities!</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And if you want to also impress them a little more, here's how to mirror your iPhone screen on a Mac.</span></div><div><ol class="ol1"><li class="li1" style="background-color: white; color: #18191b; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 4px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable.</span></span></li><li class="li1" style="background-color: white; color: #18191b; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 4px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Open the QuickTime Player on your Mac.</span></span></li><li class="li1" style="background-color: white; color: #18191b; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 4px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Click “File”, and choose “New Movie Recording”.</span></span></li><li class="li1" style="background-color: white; color: #18191b; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 4px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Click the Options pop-up menu, then Choose Your Connected iPhone. ...</span></span></li><li class="li2" style="background-color: white; color: #18191b; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The iPhone screen will now instantly display on the Mac.</span></span></li></ol></div><p></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-6445523295780266622022-10-24T09:08:00.007-04:002022-10-24T09:14:53.398-04:00Eva And Jesse Got Married Saturday<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Eva and Jesse got married on Saturday. A whirlwind Friday –> Sunday of memories, celebration, and emotions. As a father this is new territory. The past couple of weeks have been especially busy but also a time to think back and remember how fortunate I’ve been in so many ways. Here’s my father of the bride speech.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdCXvQi-NudW17GmNKV59Fxk2IC-Uz7t6fYqHMvOafVnDZPWIxpRnmuoEwhfIMqKf6cC74YwGkCVlHW8oVDUiJZPFkvQ3hklQLBmMU6VzgWYMo-bPChdIBFbfHTlfC_aAuUFXk5w4txMLNJKyqgO1wH0IGD7VG8qCxpGBecEzkMdVkhqx-xRPY2Qd5A/s973/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-24%20at%209.05.53%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="659" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdCXvQi-NudW17GmNKV59Fxk2IC-Uz7t6fYqHMvOafVnDZPWIxpRnmuoEwhfIMqKf6cC74YwGkCVlHW8oVDUiJZPFkvQ3hklQLBmMU6VzgWYMo-bPChdIBFbfHTlfC_aAuUFXk5w4txMLNJKyqgO1wH0IGD7VG8qCxpGBecEzkMdVkhqx-xRPY2Qd5A/w434-h640/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-24%20at%209.05.53%20AM.png" width="434" /></a></div><p></p></blockquote></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Yeah - choked up a few times and as a result it did not go as smoothly as I had planned. I have not seen the video yet. Maybe I don't want to! As far as the father-in -law thing goes - so far it has been really good. Welcome to the family Jesse!</div></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-34575667459087297582022-07-14T15:36:00.001-04:002022-07-14T15:36:49.259-04:00MATLAB Tip Calculator Fix-Up<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This summer I'm building a series of <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/"><span class="s2" style="color: #032553; font-kerning: none;">MathWorks MATLAB</span></a> (short for Matrix Laboratory) videos for an introductory online course I'm putting together at <a href="http://www.hcc.edu/"><span class="s2" style="color: #032553; font-kerning: none;">Holyoke Community College</span></a>.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">In this video I fix-up a previously saved tip calculator script in MATLAB. In the next video I'll show you how to transfer the script to your cell phone so you can use it when you eat out!</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QYkr-Kq4DHI" width="320" youtube-src-id="QYkr-Kq4DHI"></iframe></div><br /><p></p><p class="p2" style="color: #000026; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The course will start from ground zero assuming the student has no experience with MATLAB and work up to some interesting and powerful analysis techniques. Over the summer I’ll be posting additional MATLAB videos as teasers for the complete course.</span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #000026; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="color: #000026; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Want to learn more? Come take a course with me at <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299"><span class="s3" style="color: #0c36a5; font-kerning: none;">Holyoke Community College</span></a>. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course, drop an email to <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299"><span class="s3" style="color: #0c36a5; font-kerning: none;">gsnyder@hcc.edu</span></a> Our courses will transfer to most university engineering programs in the United States. </span></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-57803152743435132132022-06-16T12:46:00.001-04:002022-06-16T12:46:44.044-04:00Write, Save and Run A Tip Calculator Using MATLAB Scripting <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This summer I'm building a series of <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/">MathWorks MATLAB</a> (short for Matrix Laboratory) videos for an introductory online course I'm putting together at <a href="http://www.hcc.edu/">Holyoke Community College</a>.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In this video I demonstrate how to write, save and run a tip calculator script in MATLAB. In the next video I'll show you how to transfer the script to your cell phone so you can use it when you eat out!</span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="393" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ujjldGqR04s" width="473" youtube-src-id="ujjldGqR04s"></iframe></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The course will start from ground zero assuming the student has no experience with MATLAB and work up to some interesting and powerful analysis techniques. Over the summer I’ll be posting additional MATLAB videos as teasers for the complete course.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Want to learn more? Come take a course with me at <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">Holyoke Community College</span></a>. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course, drop an email to <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">gsnyder@hcc.edu</span></a> Our courses will transfer to most university engineering programs in the United States. </span></p></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-56176645961913031582022-06-14T18:52:00.001-04:002022-06-14T19:07:28.588-04:00MATLAB Basic Functions Video - Restaurant Tip Calculator<p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">This summer I'm creating a series of <a href="https://www.mathworks.com/"><span class="s2" color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85)" style="font-kerning: none;">MathWorks MATLAB</span></a> (short for Matrix Laboratory) videos for an introductory online course I'm putting together at <a href="http://www.hcc.edu/"><span class="s2" color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85)" style="font-kerning: none;">Holyoke Community College</span></a>. </span>Here's a new 4 min 52 sec how-to video using a simple restaurant tip calculation as an example. Full course videos and content will get into the MATLAB app with lots of hands-on practical and fun examples.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WP3rKVzcs84" width="320" youtube-src-id="WP3rKVzcs84"></iframe></div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">The course will start from ground zero assuming the student has no experience with MATLAB and work up to some interesting and powerful analysis techniques. Over the summer I’ll be posting additional MATLAB videos as teasers for the complete course.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Want to learn more? Come take a course with me at <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299"><span class="s3" style="color: #032553; font-kerning: none;">Holyoke Community College</span></a>. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course rop an email to <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299"><span class="s3" style="color: #032553; font-kerning: none;">gsnyder@hcc.edu</span></a> Our courses will transfer to most university engineering programs in the United States. </span></p></div><p><br /><br /></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-79488030039482487882022-05-25T11:52:00.004-04:002022-05-25T11:59:47.876-04:00My MATLAB Course Introduction for Scientists and Engineers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.mathworks.com/" target="_blank">MathWorks MATLAB</a> (short for Matrix Laboratory) is one of the most popular science and engineering mathematical tools. This summer I'm creating a series of MATLAB videos for an introductory online course I'm putting together at <a href="http://www.hcc.edu" target="_blank">Holyoke Community College</a>. This video is a quick intro to MathWorks and MATLAB. Full course videos will get into the MATLAB app with lots of hands-on practical and fun examples.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The course will start from ground zero assuming the student has no experience with MATLAB and work up to some interesting and powerful analysis techniques. Over the next couple of months I’ll be posting a few more videos using MATLAB as teasers for the complete course.</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="389" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HsJHsaQ_sjQ" width="467" youtube-src-id="HsJHsaQ_sjQ"></iframe></div><p>Want to learn more? I’ll be teaching an online MATLAB course at Holyoke Community College. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course with me drop an email to <a href="mailto:gsnyder@hcc.edu">gsnyder@hcc.edu</a></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-53122529630403971542021-12-04T16:29:00.008-05:002021-12-04T18:01:27.621-05:00Happy Louie Dusseault (1934-2021)<p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>“He was revolutionizing the industry with the great music he wrote and his great singing voice… There was a true entertainer.” Mitch Biskup</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Diane’s <a href="https://obits.masslive.com/us/obituaries/masslive/name/louis-dusseault-obituary?id=31714761&fbclid=IwAR1xgc9_DY-KyUrJMt5W1MIYGqX_II7XwQjrwGfkrLYi6v3n83JA3ICJ0E0"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">Dad, Happy Louie, passed away</span></a> the day after Thanksgiving….<br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-jjGky2R0GAvCShpPNBo-_UMXKneOBJnDsgUCygsHIk64qdViF_YTZ4gEvk1ZEDpdmSJrnALYe1BJGXmIIQKO66ewz3cnvn9ZM_Ro9InHTbTXbOoSqCuE_YAV_tSN8NWdXikRrPU3E370/s500/photo_20211202_W0061902_0_20211202.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-jjGky2R0GAvCShpPNBo-_UMXKneOBJnDsgUCygsHIk64qdViF_YTZ4gEvk1ZEDpdmSJrnALYe1BJGXmIIQKO66ewz3cnvn9ZM_Ro9InHTbTXbOoSqCuE_YAV_tSN8NWdXikRrPU3E370/s320/photo_20211202_W0061902_0_20211202.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">I grew up in Western Massachusetts with a lot of Polish-American friends and during college I worked summer and winter breaks at a cast iron foundry with many of them along with their Dads. Hard working, honest and very proud of their ethnicity and families. However, back then Polish-American people were considered fair game and Polish jokes were common. </span><div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Maybe you’ve seen the movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashdance"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">Flashdance</span></a>? If you haven't, watch the comedian scene and you’ll hear some vintage ethnic stereotyping (in this case, some nasty Polish jokes) that were unfortunately still popular in 1983 when the movie was released. A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/29/movies/suit-on-ethnic-jokes-in-a-movie-dismissed.html"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">$100 million lawsuit</span></a> was even filed (and later dismissed) against Paramount Pictures that contended Polish jokes in the movie 'hurt Poles' chances of getting jobs.</span><p></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>“Now let everybody listen, I need some help from you just like the springtime needs the rain. Let's cut out those Polish jokes, we're as good as other folks. Polish blood is flowing through my veins.” </i><a href="https://alt.music.polkas.narkive.com/PJnMbkJN/love-and-peace-lyrics"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;"><i>Original Happy Louie and Julcia lyrics</i></span></a><i> for Love And Peace Polka</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">Diane and I met in college. I had heard of her Dad but was not real familiar with Polish music. I remember the first time we met Julcia and Louie for lunch. Louie was quiet, reserved and (definitely) scoping me out. Right away he reminded me of some of the foundry guys – all good stuff. When I finally had the chance to watch him perform, I was blown away. Huge crowds that would pack the front of the stage waving red bandanas while Louie sang, played the trumpet and danced. He had the ability to make everyone feel special with his genuine honesty, generosity and kind heart and sense of humor. Most importantly, he made Polish-American people proud. Proud of who they were, their heritage, their families, their hard work and very proud to be Polish-American.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><i>“He didn’t just play Polkas. He had people up on the tables. He had incredible charisma. When he played a song, he made it feel like he was playing it for each person in the crowd. He had that pizazz. When he wrote a song it really touched people.” Lenny Gomulka</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;">From humble beginnings Louie and Julcia traveled the world playing and entertaining so many. Years ago Parkinson’s slowly started to take things away - Louie’s voice, his trumpet, his dancing – so many of the things he loved. It never took away his culture, pride, dignity, and respect for others. Heartbreaking as it was to watch I don’t ever remember him complaining or feeling sorry for himself.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"> </span></p><div style="color: #343434; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 15.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="s3" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-kerning: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">Louie made a such a positive difference in so many lives. Memorial contributions in honor of Louie may be made to the <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">MJF Foundation</span></a> ATTN: Donor Services, 111 West 33rd Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10120 for TEAM HAPPY LOUIE DUSSEAULT. </span><span class="s3" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-kerning: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span><span class="s3" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-kerning: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #343434; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 15.3px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="s3" style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-kerning: none; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">Quote source: <a href="https://www.masslive.com/news/2021/12/polka-world-mourns-death-of-bandleader-happy-louie-dusseault.html"><span class="s2" style="color: #0b4cb4; font-kerning: none;">Polka world mourns death of bandleader ‘Happy Louie’ Dusseault</span></a>. Springfield Republican. 12/4/21</span></div></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-52796689402188326562021-08-01T17:09:00.007-04:002021-08-02T10:40:32.424-04:00PSpice Lab Series Video 5 - Batteries In Parallel<div><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe you've got an RV or a boat with four or more house batteries used to power an air conditioner, oven, electric grill, etc. Maybe you've got a cabin off the grid and are harvesting solar energy to charge a battery bank. Ever wonder what those batteries are doing and how they are hooked up?<br /><br />In this video I use PSpice to demonstrate how multiple batteries are connected in parallel in a <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">power inverter</a>, <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">solar hybrid inverter </a>or UPS (<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#">Uninterruptible Power Supply</a>) to increase capacity and run your ac, oven, etc longer on a full charge.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="431" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iSjaiFyCjO4" width="517" youtube-src-id="iSjaiFyCjO4"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">For more PSpice laboratory simulations, visit my </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhPGK-8IhPE9lzQNC6ZC-0qWdMilUi6Lg" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">YouTube PSpice Playlist</span><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></a></div></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Want to learn more? I’ll be teaching a <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299#">Systems 1 course</a> online in the fall and a <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299#">Systems 2 course </a>in the spring at <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299#">Holyoke Community College</a>. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course with me drop an email to <a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6981308710120163981/7614043735841850299#">gsnyder@hcc.edu</a> Both courses will transfer to most university electrical engineering programs in the United States. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Hope to see you there!!</span></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-52817735232579740082021-07-22T14:27:00.001-04:002021-07-22T14:29:22.745-04:00Internet Access In Support Of The Cuban People<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Calibri; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5fQv6HU4ksgZo1WQnu8lFv-xz4qzBWaXEbGcUICwE0IKTZooYr1DjjbKsVzgGC2zbhtfxjGn8KhtvvH-7GT37CGrgD14ceP2a3IH1QI5QJzFWar3NabUEGayzoUvaJNgbp3_bJxFOtob/w225-h166/IMG_0774.jpeg" width="225" /></span>I was in Cuba four years ago. The government had tight control of just about everyone and everything including Internet access back then so I’m not at all surprised they’ve been able to shut communications down amid the protests. I’ve been reading a lot about alternative access for Cubans lately. Satellite has been getting a lot of questions but the network and mobile devices are still a ways out.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Today, balloons probably offer the best solution. Google actually has them ready to go with project <a href="https://x.company/projects/loon/"><span class="s1" style="color: #0563c1;">Loon</span></a>. Loon has been proven in collaboration with <a href="https://www.etcentric.org/loon-and-telkom-kenya-provide-internet-service-via-balloons/"><span class="s1" style="color: #0563c1;">Telecom Kenya</span></a> and used in <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2017-11-09-project-loon-delivers-internet-100-000-people-puerto-rico.html"><span class="s1" style="color: #0563c1;">Puerto Rico in partnership with AT&T and T-Mobile after Hurricane Maria</span></a>. Each Loon balloon is made of <span class="s2" style="color: #333333;">polyethylene</span> and has solar panels for electricity. They float between 60,000 and 75,000 feet which is above commercial airline height and provides 4G cell service to an area about the size of a tennis court. The problem – <span class="s2">Loon requires network integration with a telco to provide service along with some equipment on the ground. Loon also requires permission from local regulators — something that the Cuban government surely would not grant.</span></span><p></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Marcell Felipe, founder of the<span style="color: #333333;"> <a href="https://www.inspiredemocracy.org/"><span class="s1" style="color: #0563c1;">Inspire America Foundation</span></a>, </span>an organization dedicated to promoting democracy in Cuba and the Americas has been discussing a slightly different balloon idea without a lot of detail. Felipe claims he has been talking for a couple years with a contractor (not named, but could it be….??) that could deploy balloons that provide mobile phone connectivity without the participation of a ground provider. In <a href="https://www.inter-empresarial.com/technology/20210717226001-could-us-balloons-technology-power-uncensored-internet-in-cuba-cbs-miami.shtml" style="color: #333333;"><span class="s1" style="color: #0563c1;">comments to The Associated Press</span></a><span style="color: #333333;">, </span>Felipe has claimed it wouldn’t be feasible for the Cuban government to block these balloon-delivered signals “in any significant manner.″</span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pic: Telecommunications Building, Revolution Square Havana. G Snyder 2017</span></p></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-59204832091404471542021-06-13T12:13:00.002-04:002021-06-13T12:40:37.363-04:00PSpice Lab Series Video 4: Voltage and Current Linearity In A Simple Resistive Circuit<p><span style="font-family: arial;">In this video I use <a href="https://www.orcad.com/pspice-free-trial" target="_blank">PSpice </a>to take some measurements and <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel" target="_blank">Excel </a>to record the measurements and make a simple graph showing the linear relationship between voltage and current in a simple DC resistive circuit.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7RBNWbfrMyc" width="390" youtube-src-id="7RBNWbfrMyc"></iframe></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Want to learn more? <span style="color: #333333;">I’ll be teaching a </span><a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank">Systems 1 course</a><span style="color: #333333;"> online in the fall and a </span><a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank">Systems 2 course </a>in the spring <span style="color: #333333;">at </span><a href="https://www.hcc.edu/" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank">Holyoke Community College</a>.<span style="color: #333333;"> If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course with me drop an email to </span><a href="mailto:gsnyder@hcc.edu" style="color: #003366;"><span class="s2" style="color: #0563c1;">gsnyder@hcc.edu</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"> Both courses will transfer to most university electrical engineering programs in the United States. Hope to see you there!!</span></span></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-76140437358418502992021-06-10T10:09:00.002-04:002021-06-10T10:16:27.245-04:00Pspice Lab Series Video 3: Moving The Reference Ground Around<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Zero volts reference, also known as ground is always a confusing topic. What if ground is placed at different locations in a circuit? </span><span style="font-family: arial;">In this 11 minute and 42 second video I use <a href="https://www.orcad.com/pspice-free-trial" target="_blank">PSpice</a> to show what happens when you move a ground around in a series circuit.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="402" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KyxEpdgZTEY" width="483" youtube-src-id="KyxEpdgZTEY"></iframe></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Want to learn more? <span style="color: #333333;">I’ll be teaching a </span><a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank">Systems 1 course</a><span style="color: #333333;"> online in the fall and a </span><a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank">Systems 2 course </a>in the spring <span style="color: #333333;">at </span><a href="https://www.hcc.edu/" style="color: #003366;" target="_blank">Holyoke Community College</a>.<span style="color: #333333;"> If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course with me drop an email to </span><a href="mailto:gsnyder@hcc.edu" style="color: #003366;"><span class="s2" style="color: #0563c1;">gsnyder@hcc.edu</span></a><span style="color: #333333;"> Both courses will transfer to most university electrical engineering programs in the United States. Hope to see you there!!</span></span></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-2430401779996565562021-06-02T13:48:00.002-04:002021-06-02T13:48:35.992-04:00Pspice Lab Series Video 2: Simple Series Resistive Circuits<p> Here's a second <a href="https://www.orcad.com/products/orcad-pspice-designer/overview" target="_blank">PSPice</a> video covering analysis of a simple series circuit with two dc voltage sources and four resistors.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J1H5fb35eqI" width="463" youtube-src-id="J1H5fb35eqI"></iframe></div><p>Want to learn more? <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;">I’ll be teaching a </span><a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;" target="_blank">Systems 1 course</a><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;"> online in the fall and a </span><a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;" target="_blank">Systems 2 course </a>in the spring <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;">at </span><a href="https://www.hcc.edu/" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;" target="_blank">Holyoke Community College</a>.<span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;"> If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course with me drop an email to </span><a href="mailto:gsnyder@hcc.edu" style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;"><span class="s2" style="color: #0563c1;">gsnyder@hcc.edu</span></a><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.3px;"> Both courses will transfer to most university electrical engineering programs in the United States. Hope to see you there!!</span></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-77692959909247055832021-05-30T10:26:00.006-04:002021-05-30T13:41:41.092-04:00Uncle Stash’s Silver Star<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p3" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name.”<br /></i><span class="s1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><i>― </i></span><i>Ernest Hemingway</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Stash is short for Stashu and Stashu means Stanley in Polish. He was married to my grandmother’s sister <a href="https://obits.masslive.com/obituaries/masslive/obituary.aspx?pid=195559399"><span class="s2" style="color: blue;">Ruthie who passed away in February 2020</span></a>. Stash passed away in 1963 when I was six. I don't remember much about him but there were always stories about Stash in World War II. Rumors he was a member of a special forces group that captured a high level Nazi general.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Stash worked in a factory in Springfield, MA before and then after the war. From what my parents have told me he was the kind of person that went to work, came home and went back to work again the next day. Never talked about the war but </span><span style="font-family: arial;">does have a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Star" target="_blank">Silver Star</a> on his gravestone. </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After Aunt Ruthie passed away I did a little poking around on the web and came across </span><a href="https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/68360" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="s2" style="color: blue;">Stash’s Silver Star Citation</span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">:</span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Stanley J. Schab (ASN: 313466007), United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force while serving with Company M, 143d Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, in action against the enemy on 3 December 1944 in France. Sergeant Schab and his men were manning a machine gun in a house on the edge of a town when a large group of the enemy infiltrated around the building and cut their communication lines. Although hostile fire was coming through every window of the house, Sergeant Schab moved from man to man, firing his sub-machine gun from each position to encourage them. When a burst of automatic weapons fire knocked his gun from his hands, he picked the weapon up and continued to fire. One group of the enemy succeeded in reaching the yard, but Sergeant Schab killed two Germans and wounded another within five feet of the rear door. His vigorous and determined defense forced the enemy to withdraw. Later in the day, as he moved his outpost forward, he surprised and captured five Germans who were attempting to return to their own lines. When two other Germans tried to rescue their comrades, he killed one and wounded the second. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.</i></span></blockquote><p></p></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #202122;">December 3, 1944.... today it's just another day a long time ago - an obscure link on the web and a gravestone marker in a small cemetery in Western Massachusetts. </span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #202122;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #202122;">So many veterans like Stash - a regular guy that went off, did some heroic stuff, and was fortunate enough to come back home to his regular life.... so we can have our regular lives. Many did not get to come back and many came back very different people. The world sure would be a very different place without our current service members and veterans stepping up.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="color: #202122;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202122; font-family: arial;">Hemingway finishes: </span></p><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Stories, too die when the last person who knows the story dies. So the trick is not only to know the story, but to make people remember the story, so it will live on.”</i></span></div><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(20, 20, 21); background-color: white; color: #141415; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="s1" style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i></i></span></span></p><blockquote></blockquote><p></p><p class="p4" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="color: #202122;">We can't forget.</span></span></p></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-56789148135615072132021-05-23T16:25:00.000-04:002021-05-23T16:25:02.082-04:00PSpice Lab Series Video 1<p><span class="s1" style="font-family: Arial;">Over the summer I’ll be working on a series of <a href="https://www.orcad.com/products/orcad-pspice-designer/overview" target="_blank">OrCAD PSpice</a> videos. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;">PSpice is one of the most common analog and mixed signal circuit simulator and verification tools used by electrical engineers to rapidly move through the design cycle, from circuit exploration to design development and verification. It is also a lot of fun to play around with!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="p1" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I’m developing a series of 25-30 online experiments that we’ll be using in my <a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" target="_blank">EGR223 - System Analysis (Circuit Analysis 1) </a>and <a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" target="_blank">EGR 224 - System Analysis (Circuit Analysis 2)</a> courses at <a href="https://www.hcc.edu/" target="_blank">Holyoke Community College</a>. Here’s the first video in the series.</p><p class="p2" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="412" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xwr3T7C8xvE" width="495" youtube-src-id="xwr3T7C8xvE"></iframe></div><p class="p2" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;">OrCAD has an excellent academic program that provides students and educators with a complete suite of design and analysis tools to learn, teach, and create electronic hardware.<span class="s1" style="color: black;"> </span>If you are a student or educator you can download the software <a href="https://www.orcad.com/orcad-academic-program" target="_blank">here</a> for free and follow along with my labs. If you are not a student or educator (or perhaps considering) you can download and install a trial version of the software <a href="https://www.orcad.com/orcad-free-trial" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />I’ll be teaching the <a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" target="_blank">Systems 1 course</a> online in the fall and the <a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=8&poid=898&returnto=292#" target="_blank">Systems 2 course </a>at <a href="https://www.hcc.edu/" target="_blank">Holyoke Community College </a>in the spring so if you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking a course with me drop an email to <a href="mailto:gsnyder@hcc.edu"><span class="s2" style="color: #0563c1;">gsnyder@hcc.edu</span></a> Both courses will transfer to most university electrical engineering programs in the United States. Hope to see you there!!</p></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-18355649550040184212021-05-03T13:20:00.001-04:002021-05-03T13:26:13.709-04:00Can Success Be Taught?<span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FrxmFlWhQL1vmdjVwFcS1KUOQq8GmI3ZSdJKXaPynPxaSIePWHLnZ0BXSur2NzvgXjcVXj489XmtRnnYlfOYrnegUl8es4wPJpxqTL22OOq-vd_Q5rZnkx_57o7pLChY86y2-3jNO_VB/s373/Screen+Shot+2021-05-03+at+10.57.30+AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="373" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FrxmFlWhQL1vmdjVwFcS1KUOQq8GmI3ZSdJKXaPynPxaSIePWHLnZ0BXSur2NzvgXjcVXj489XmtRnnYlfOYrnegUl8es4wPJpxqTL22OOq-vd_Q5rZnkx_57o7pLChY86y2-3jNO_VB/w320-h187/Screen+Shot+2021-05-03+at+10.57.30+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>Success .... Is it luck? Timing? Purely based on abilities and talents we are born with? Can it be learned? Can we teach it to our children? Why are some more successful than others? Can it be taught and learned Hmmmmm….</span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href=" Bill Murphy wrote something back in 2016 over at inc.com that I’ve had bookmarked titled Want to Raise Successful Kids? Science Says Praise Them Like This (but Most Parents Do the Opposite) with the tag line Stop praising kids for their innate or God-given abilities, and instead focus on their effort. In the piece, Bill describes the work of Dr Carol Dweck, a Stanford University Psychology professor that did a couple of studies involving school age children and learning. In both studies Dr Dweck examines the difference between a growth mindset (belief that achievement is variable and intelligence and problem-solving abilities can be developed over time ) and a fixed mindset (belief that intelligence is almost entirely innate and you are born with it) and how that can impact success, arguing growth mindsets can have a much larger impact on success compared to fixed mindsets. What does this mean? Let’s use a sports analogy. A person with a fixed mindset might say, "Tom Brady was born with super athletic ability" while a person with a growth mindset might say “Tom Brady has worked incredibly hard to get to where he is today.” Bill Murphy breaks things down pretty nicely from a parent perspective. I’ll tweak his writing, approaching as an educator with a focus on students. • Praising students merely for their innate abilities, such as their intelligence, actually makes it less likely that they'll grow up to enjoy learning and to excel. • Praising students instead for the strategies and processes they develop to solve problems--even when they don't fully succeed--makes them more likely to try harder and ultimately achieve. Can success be taught? I believe so - yes. Take a look at Dr Dweck’s research and check out some of Bill Murphy’s writing for more." target="_blank">Bill Murphy</a> wrote something back in 2016 over at <a href="http://inc.com">inc.com</a> that I’ve had bookmarked titled <a href="https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/want-to-raise-successful-kids-science-says-praise-them-like-this-most-parents-do.html">Want to Raise Successful Kids? Science Says Praise Them Like This (but Most Parents Do the Opposite) </a>with the tag line <i>Stop praising kids for their innate or God-given abilities, and instead focus on their effort.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In the piece, Bill describes the work of <a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/carol-dweck?tab=bio">Dr Carol Dweck</a>, a Stanford University Psychology professor that did a couple of studies involving school age children and learning. In both studies Dr Dweck examines the difference between a growth mindset (belief that achievement is variable and intelligence and problem-solving abilities can be developed over time ) and a fixed mindset (belief that intelligence is almost entirely innate and you are born with it) and how that can impact success, arguing growth mindsets can have a much larger impact on success compared to fixed mindsets.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">What does this mean? Let’s use a sports analogy. A person with a fixed mindset might say, "Tom Brady was born with super athletic ability" while a person with a growth mindset might say “Tom Brady has worked incredibly hard to get to where he is today.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Bill Murphy breaks things down pretty nicely from a parent perspective. I’ll tweak his writing, approaching as an educator with a focus on students.</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Praising students merely for their innate abilities, such as their intelligence, actually makes it less likely that they'll grow up to enjoy learning and to excel.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Praising students instead for the strategies and processes they develop to solve problems--even when they don't fully succeed--makes them more likely to try harder and ultimately achieve.</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Can success be taught? No doubt - yes. Take a look at <a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/carol-dweck?tab=publications">Dr Dweck’s research</a> and check out some of B<a href="https://www.inc.com/author/bill-murphy-jr">ill Murphy’s writing</a> for more.</span></div></div><div><br /></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-34147635985270167932021-04-01T11:02:00.005-04:002021-04-01T11:08:33.563-04:00Nice Overview Video - Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Internet<p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal </a> recently went up to a remote area of Washington state to talk to some beta testers and take a look at <a href="https://www.starlink.com/" target="_blank">SpaceX's new Starlink satellite internet service.</a> </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This short 9 minute and 30 second video gives a nice overview of how low earth orbit satellite networks like Starlink are one piece of the puzzle in solving the global broadband divide problem.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="288" mozallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" src="https://video-api.wsj.com/api-video/player/v3/iframe.html?guid=92E2D423-50F2-4873-851A-1D6FD54B657C" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="512"></iframe></div><p class="p2" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Arial; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It’s good and watching with students should generate some very interesting classroom discussion.</p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-67587198471770256412021-02-28T10:12:00.009-05:002021-02-28T14:18:29.348-05:00Nonverbal Overload In An Online Engineering Classroom<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Last week, Stanford researchers published a new study: <a href="https://tmb.apaopen.org/pub/nonverbal-overload/release/1" target="_blank">Nonverbal Overload: A Theoretical</a> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://tmb.apaopen.org/pub/nonverbal-overload/release/1" target="_blank">Argument for the Causes of Zoom Fatigue</a>. The study is a first shot at pointing out Zoom, WebEx, etc design flaws to isolate research areas for social scientists and to suggest design improvements for technologists. Researchers found four quite different causes for fatigue and recommend solutions for each:</span></div><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vPyKVTbU5Zj587dK-tDwTAnvn9Sbz2jUoisazkwX68VyPdEPUW4Qh-jfuniNmE4Q1WPXZB0Vyv7bzR1WP4wLig-xGH-XkEAE-KmZ9T4qONkqs9JoXwOQpa89OVu4Wxyyrk_rakCNONdo/s1421/Screen+Shot+2021-02-28+at+10.05.15+AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1111" data-original-width="1421" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vPyKVTbU5Zj587dK-tDwTAnvn9Sbz2jUoisazkwX68VyPdEPUW4Qh-jfuniNmE4Q1WPXZB0Vyv7bzR1WP4wLig-xGH-XkEAE-KmZ9T4qONkqs9JoXwOQpa89OVu4Wxyyrk_rakCNONdo/w200-h156/Screen+Shot+2021-02-28+at+10.05.15+AM.png" width="200" /></a></div><b style="font-family: arial;"></b></div></blockquote><p><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /></b></p><p><b style="font-family: arial;">Close-up eye contact is exhausting.</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> <u>Solution</u>: Minimize the face sizes of attendees into grid view, and sit back a bit to allow yourself more personal space.</span> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: arial;">Watching yourself is exhausting.</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> <u>Solution</u>: Confirm that your lighting and setup look good, and then adjust the settings to hide your view of yourself.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><b style="font-family: arial;">Sitting immobile is exhausting.</b> <u style="font-family: arial;">Solution</u><span style="font-family: arial;">: Create a wider visual field for your camera. </span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-family: arial;">V</span><b style="font-family: arial;">ideo chatting is cognitively exhausting.</b> <u style="font-family: arial;">Solution</u><span style="font-family: arial;">: When it’s feasible, turn off your camera for breaks—and turn your body away from the screen.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It's all exhausting! I’ve done some of my own experimenting and agree with the Stanford findings when it comes to the online classroom. Here’s how I’ve been working on some course content delivery improvements in one of my online classes.</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Pre-Recorded Lectures<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve been pre-recording lectures for about a year now and posting them. In one of my classes I recently started watching them with students during class sessions – I share my screen and audio, playing the videos. Electrical engineering courses are 95% applied math and lectures typically involve a short introduction to a topic and then working sample problems. I am not a fan and do not use PowerPoint. I record lectures using an iPad and Apple Pencil. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Class Sessions<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Students are required to take notes as they would in a traditional in-person lecture with me writing on a board in front of the class. They ask questions, verbally or in the chat box. By watching my own lectures with the students, I’ve found myself much more aware of non-verbal cues. I’m able to watch the chat box, catch any mistakes I’ve made, pause a video for discussion, etc. I’m no longer sitting with my head down writing on an iPad, cranking out math problems while what seems like talking to myself. I’m much more focused on the students and the way I’m explaining the material. When they ask me to pause a video, I have a pretty good idea they are following the lecture and taking good notes!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Assessment<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;">After each class is over, students are assigned between 1 and 3 quiz/homework problems that are due the next day at noon. I also post the videos for students to access.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Breaks<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;">I do try to squeeze a 5 min break in when I can even though I’ve not been very good at that. I also try and keep videos to around 25 minutes so if we miss one of the 5 minute breaks there is a natural break between each video. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: arial;">Cameras</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Students typically do not turn their cameras on and I’m ok with that in my classes. Some faculty will disagree.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Future Plans<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;">We're charting new ground so every day is a work in progress - so far student feedback has been very positive with plans to further refine (have some interesting ideas for exams) and expand methods to other classes I teach.</span></div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-56348339761267999002021-02-19T10:16:00.010-05:002021-02-19T10:27:25.923-05:00Divergence Theorem - Electrical Engineering Class Snap VideoI've become a big fan of what I call snap videos while teaching remotely. Here's a simple example I used recently to explain a concept that is relatively simple to describe in a traditional face-to-face class but maybe not so simple for students to understand while learning online.<div>Every undergraduate electrical engineering student needs to take an electromagnetics course. This course is a little different than most of the other required courses that use wires, resistors, capacitors, transistors etc, all physically (and in most cases two-dimensionally) connected together. </div><div><br /></div><div>In much of this course there are no wires and everything in three-dimensions - I sometimes refer to it as the "magic" course. The math is advanced calculus based but I've found if a student has made it far enough to be taking this course they've got the math down and can handle it. Conceptually is where they often stumble -<span> trying to get a picture in their head of what is going on in three dimensions. </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div>The <a href="https://mathworld.wolfram.com/DivergenceTheorem.html" target="_blank">Divergence Theorem</a> is a good example. In electromagnetics it is used to identify by location like sources and sinks. It is also used to explain the rate of change of a function with respect to position. Important stuff for things like cell and wifi signals along with a bunch of other "magic-based" technologies.</div><div><br /></div><div>The math includes a couple methods called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume_integral" target="_blank">volume integration</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_integral" target="_blank">surface integratio</a>n. The volume integration is pretty easy - a student can bang through the math and get an answer without really having a good picture in their head of what is going on. Surface integration is a speed bump, wrong way turn, etc for many. I know it was for me when I was first learning this stuff. It really cannot be done without an accurate mental picture of what is going on. The classic way to introduce this topic uses a cube drawn in three dimensions on the board. Here's one of my (not so good) drawings in three dimensions (x, y and z axis) as an example. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHrNjkcRe2YYxZxnTA2OVjd_eANoP7OH_GXfrbgbsh8mh76lcT34eRDFDpMxfOmiq-Ow6sMO7mLdDmEep5Ra2tVLIU75d8fngDak0D1Vfgsa58l8u_-lXnnVy6F22vWrQK2uZ1c-0Uf3t/s950/Screen+Shot+2021-02-19+at+6.16.57+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="793" data-original-width="950" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHrNjkcRe2YYxZxnTA2OVjd_eANoP7OH_GXfrbgbsh8mh76lcT34eRDFDpMxfOmiq-Ow6sMO7mLdDmEep5Ra2tVLIU75d8fngDak0D1Vfgsa58l8u_-lXnnVy6F22vWrQK2uZ1c-0Uf3t/w315-h263/Screen+Shot+2021-02-19+at+6.16.57+AM.png" width="315" /></a></div>The cube (yeah, that's a cube!) has all six sides labeled and to solve the problem students need to do surface integration math on each of the six sides individually and then combine the six answers for a final answer. Which side is which is where the confusion lies - which on is side 1?? Looking at my drawing above - I can't figure it out.... My diagram is pretty much useless!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>When teaching in the classroom I hold up a box and describe and label the different sides with the students. Can't do that online so..... how about a video. Here's a quick one I put together a couple days ago, describing and hopefully explaining the confusing parts. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="332" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QE7HCpBZRng" width="399" youtube-src-id="QE7HCpBZRng"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I'm using an Apple iPad with Apple Pencil along with the <a href="https://www.goodnotes.com/" target="_blank">GoodNotes</a> app. I find it useful to "think out loud" when I do these. It is also the way I teach - thinking through a problem step by step with the students. I do not do any editing so this 6 minute video took maybe 10 minutes total to record and upload to YouTube. </div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-70850305901164197692020-09-18T19:07:00.002-04:002020-09-18T19:15:52.135-04:00 End of First Full Week Teaching – Fall 2020 Semester Remote <p><span style="font-family: arial;">Some quick thoughts/observations after the first week: </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFWNBNcHBKvAoyyvj4b2k2DwS7msQfv6Qr2iceKjadI0fgIA_OXhUZImBTYR5p-y_CULuQPIcfoq4tlr05y4Bf1x024xXB-mU9JcEO4CQxFOBUmTdg_wQzXKv-eAAztXFO-3U-4udPHxT/s819/IMG_3701.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="819" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicFWNBNcHBKvAoyyvj4b2k2DwS7msQfv6Qr2iceKjadI0fgIA_OXhUZImBTYR5p-y_CULuQPIcfoq4tlr05y4Bf1x024xXB-mU9JcEO4CQxFOBUmTdg_wQzXKv-eAAztXFO-3U-4udPHxT/w200-h171/IMG_3701.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></div><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Email volume from students is through the roof. Not meeting in person means not being able to ask questions. Email does not scale in an online “classroom” setting. I’ve used Slack in the past in courses with mixed results. At <a href="https://www.hcc.edu/">Holyoke Community College (HCC) </a>we are using Moodle as a learning management system (LMS) and there are ways to integrate Slack with Moodle – as an example see <a href="https://zapier.com/apps/moodle/integrations/slack">https://zapier.com/apps/moodle/integrations/slack</a> I’m not sure if I have the proper privileges to do this. Will give it a try this weekend. Some are using <a href="https://discord.com/">Discord</a> and I am also considering giving that a try.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The more I use <a href="https://moodle.com/">Moodle</a> the more I like it. I’ve used lots of different LMSs over the years and Moodle is very nice. I’ve been really impressed with the IT staff and Moodle admins at HCC.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">More on Moodle – very nice on mobile devices. I’ve been able to make my <a href="http://catalog.hcc.edu/preview_course_nopop.php?catoid=6&coid=5164">Circuits 1 Electrical Engineering course</a> content 100% mobile accessible. I like to think of mobile as the lowest common denominator for our students. At home they may not have a computer, have to share one, not have access to broadband, etc. The majority do have cell phones with data access though. </span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">I bit the bullet on a <a href="https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/?afid=p238%7CsePQQLV2M-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_466063673435_pgrid_109258514068_&cid=aos-us-kwgo---slid---product-">12.9 inch iPad Pro</a> over the summer and it has really been nice. Using an <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-pencil/?afid=p238%7CsraIMFAgF-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_378126887195_pgrid_76054337646_&cid=aos-us-kwgo---slid---product-">Apple Pencil</a> I’m using <a href="https://www.goodnotes.com/">GoodNotes</a> to record my lectures and keep track of just about everything else in my life. </span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Finally, I snagged the pic here from a recent (and brilliant) <a href="https://www.nokia.com/">Nokia</a> ad...... imagine what it would have been like back then.....</span></div><p></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-24029131050034874402020-09-08T15:46:00.003-04:002020-09-08T19:14:08.235-04:00 Day 1 Fall 2020 Semester Remote<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Bv7q-d1K1f0KulT3Bb6ypcvm9bSDykEFeRwF7X_P5Lwoj1LqVRi210Hgh-ckSp6teanY50J286n51UVpojKSKx1jaXNhVs_QmJX11WS1PUhvhQzQwramM5wjJJ7aA81_aKWu26IRAtu8/s2048/IMG_3650.HEIC" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Bv7q-d1K1f0KulT3Bb6ypcvm9bSDykEFeRwF7X_P5Lwoj1LqVRi210Hgh-ckSp6teanY50J286n51UVpojKSKx1jaXNhVs_QmJX11WS1PUhvhQzQwramM5wjJJ7aA81_aKWu26IRAtu8/w205-h154/IMG_3650.HEIC" width="205" /></a></div>I spent much of the summer preparing for Day 1. I was not sure what to expect – sure we went remote in March for the second half of the spring semester but that was a little different. We all knew each other and the ice had been broken a long time before we started zooming…… </div><div><br /></div><div>The first day of a traditionally offered class is always the same - most of the students do not know each other and they don't know the instructor. They don’t say too much and it is hard for the instructor to get any kind of feedback – positive or negative. Do they have any idea what the heck I’m talking about? I rely a lot on visual feedback when I’m in front of a class – Are they taking notes? Paying attention? Staring out the window or door? Looking at the clock? Looking at their phone? And sometimes just staring blankly into space? </div><div><br /></div><div>In some ways day 1 class zooming has not been much different. I noticed the majority (~75%) did not have their cameras on during the first class. Is that because they are shy? Doing something else like looking out the window, at their phone, etc? I’ve heard some faculty are requiring their students have their cameras on. I’m not going to do that. I am hoping to see them come on voluntarily as we get into the semester. </div><div><br /></div><div>I also noticed about the same percentage (and the same students) have their mics muted. I can understand that – I mute mine when I’m not talking. </div><div><br /></div><div>Conclusions – I don’t have any yet. It seems like a normal first day with a bit of a remote zoom twist. Our challenge as faculty has always been to get our students learning and that includes engagement, working together, not being afraid to ask questions, smiling and laughing every once in a while and generally feeling comfortable. From my perspective so far so good!</div>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6981308710120163981.post-25633069769243275522020-06-06T12:31:00.000-04:002020-06-06T12:31:26.333-04:00Congrats Class of 2020!<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Final grades went in at </span><a href="https://www.hcc.edu/" style="color: #954f72; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Holyoke Community College</a><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> last week and I’ve finally had a chance to take a little time to get some thoughts down.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1t2mbwfK3_ybQGEZ55sk-HrYzlDMAOEMScw9q0JqKqsgizH27GnJX0abRKXZQCKmwPy-t1hyphenhyphenG6XvnE25wkebmFeDxhy017u6Swz69fC_J0n5boj5_A-H3L7B9f23XzH6TRnIN3heBDpx/s828/IMG_3199.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="When a problem comes along be nice to it, because it tries to teach you something. Klaus Obermeyer" border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="828" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO1t2mbwfK3_ybQGEZ55sk-HrYzlDMAOEMScw9q0JqKqsgizH27GnJX0abRKXZQCKmwPy-t1hyphenhyphenG6XvnE25wkebmFeDxhy017u6Swz69fC_J0n5boj5_A-H3L7B9f23XzH6TRnIN3heBDpx/w200-h146/IMG_3199.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It seems like so long ago - thinking back to when we started the spring 2020 semester in January. Who knew what was coming in 6-7 weeks…. March 11 was the Thursday before spring break and when I last met with my <a href="https://www.hcc.edu/courses-and-programs/areas-of-study/stem/engineering" style="color: #954f72;">Systems 2 (Circuit Analysis)</a> class in person. It was midterm exam day. At the time we had all heard about Corona and were more than a little nervous…. A couple days later we learned we were going “remote” for the rest of the semester….<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">WOW - 8 weeks, hundreds of hours of online class time, studying, homework and exams. Loss of part time or full time jobs, learning in often non-idea locations and situations, uncertainty about the future, anxiety, for some depression, sleepless or near-sleepless nights, and a whole lot of frustration with your computer, others around when you are trying to get work done and of course your professors…. And now, not having that final chance on graduation day to say goodbye to you classmates and friends. It’s sure been a haul, it’s over now and you made it! It was not supposed to end this way. I’m hoping it was all worth it. It sure has been for me. I’m so proud of all of you that pushed through this.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Your attitude and hard work has been an inspiration that I’ll remember and talk about for a very long time. I know you are all off to different places and I’m sorry I did not get a chance to say goodbye to you all in person. Hoping to see you </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">at the Holyoke Community College virtual celebration in August and seeing you walk across the stage next year with the Class of 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Thank you for all of your hard work and wishing you so much success. I know you got this…. now go do more good work!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><font color="#ba67c8" size="4">CONGRATS Class of 2020!!</font></b></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Gordon F Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523828287507213516noreply@blogger.com0