Wahid's blog

Hidden buttons - sometimes designs can be too sneaky

My internet stopped working again today. Actually it was my wireless connection that just disappeared. I didn't notice it right away and at first thought my connection was just slow, then maybe the video player I was watching had some bug. After checking another window, I noticed my email was not working either. Then I noticed the status icon showed no connection. Ok, no problem, I would just reconnect. Except there was no wireless access point listed. So I checked the access point and it was ok.

Went to a presentation on the chumby today

I did not quite know what to expect and part of my reason for going was also to visit the local hackerspace and meet people. I was impressed with the chumby. Here's a device that seems small and odd-looking but it has a hidden powerhouse behind it that streams internet apps down to the device. You can select from over 1500 apps and the chumby will cycle through them so you can keep an eye on various events, social groups, news, etc. and not be distracted by putting all this information on your computer.

Improve child safety: child proof electrical outlets by raising their height instead of buying plugs or outlet covers

While answering a forum post about why most electrical outlets are in pairs, I wrote that I had always wondered why electrical outlets are placed so low to the floor. About 12 to 18 inches from the floor to the center of the outlet seems to be normal. So I decided to see if I could start a grass roots community effort to change this and improve child safety.

Actual results of adding filtering capacitors to power supply lines of oscilloscope electronic project

Clean, noise free supply voltages are essential when working with electronics and especially when designing analog amplifiers. This video is part of a project to build a digital storage oscilloscope with the electronics kits from the 3rd and 4th month of the Applied Guide to Electrical Engineering. You will be able to see firsthand the effects of noisy power supply lines not just in the supply lines directly but how this noise affects the voltage follower op-amp in the first analog stage of the oscilloscope front-end.

How to build your breadboard circuits to make troubleshooting problems easier

This video shows part of a circuit that I am working on to help the Applied Guide to Electrical Engineering members understand and build a digital storage oscilloscope. The videos are kept to a single topic as much as possible and the purpose of this video is not to explain how it works. In fact, it is not working yet, This video should help you build many other types of circuits by just following some of the tips that I share here about how to organize your circuits and how to begin troubleshooting when they do not work.

Helping judge Junior FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge

Last weekend was fun and rewarding that I wanted to share with you. Through the Seattle Robotics Society, I heard about this competition and the opportunity help as a volunteer, referee, or a judge. It sounded interesting so I signed up to be a judge. This was two days of different competitons.

Should I go to a community college first and then transfer to a university?

This is a common question for a variety of reasons:

  • You might have a good school in mind that is far from home and want to get as much school out of the way first at a nearby community college (cc).
  • Maybe you did not do very well on your SAT test and are hoping to get into a better school by getting good grades at a community college to prove that you can handle college life.
  • You might want to save money because community college classes are normally less expensive but the credits can be transferred.

Are you thinking about starting college but have no idea how to begin?

You're not alone in this confusing process. You've got to think about your dependency status, deadlines, school codes, worksheets, grants, and the list just keeps going. To make matters worse, most of the help is geared towards high school students who can very easily get lost in all the steps. And if you are not a high school student, then you will have an even harder time trying to figure out what to do.

Eight Secrets to Mastering Electronics Not Taught In Electrical Engineering Schools

This video slideshow presentation shows some of my best tips for learning electronics and electrical engineering. You can use these tips for any major school effort but they are especially useful for learning technical information. If you are enrolled or thinking of enrolling in an electronics training program, then this video will help you. Learn how to:

Wacom Bamboo tablet was not working with finger input

I just bought a new Wacom Bamboo tablet that accepts both finger and pen inputs to use with my laptop. The model number is CTH-460. Because I really do use my laptop on my lap and it has a large area below the keyboard, this made a good resting spot for the tablet as I started to use it.

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