I’ve decided to use the Arduino in my electronics class this fall. The Arduino is an “open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software.” Even from the description it sounds like just what an electronics course needs. I finally had some time to tinker with it today, and after a few minutes [...]
Archive for the ‘try this at home’ Category
Teaching with Arduino
Posted in computing, open source software, physics, teaching, try this at home, tagged arduino, demo, teaching on April 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Squirt Sunset
Posted in experiments, optics, physics, teaching, try this at home on January 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Last semester, in Waves and Optics, we discussed Rayleigh scattering. I described some simple examples, including the famous blue sky, and orange sunset. Earlier in the semester, I had coincidentally noticed that Squirt soda in a clear glass tends to be a little blue in hue, and not surprisingly, looks orange if held in front [...]
acrobat.com
Posted in computing, try this at home, tagged document, online, share, web 2.0 on October 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Now, finally some sweet looking competition for Google Documents. Of course, I have nothing against Google Docs, I used them all the time. But, I’m also a big fan of nice typefaces, PDF files, and screen sharing… all of which are features of the tools now available via acrobat.com. A free service (at least for [...]
SVN and LaTeX
Posted in computing, mac tips & tricks, open source software, physics, try this at home, tagged google code, latex, subversion, svn, thesis on April 26, 2008 | 7 Comments »
For anyone curious about the process of managing a LaTeX document with the Subversion (SVN) version control system, I have to highly recommend it. Now that my dissertation is officially finished, I have a bit of time to explain the process I used to back-up, archive, and otherwise manage the beast.
Removing outlet safety covers
Posted in try this at home, tagged babyproof, lifehacks, outlet, safety on November 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Slightly off-topic, and yet relevant to anyone facing the same dilemma: Now that I’ve baby-proofed all of my outlets… how do I plug something in?
If you have already separated a nail, or two, or generally jambed-up your fingers trying to remove one of these things, then you know what I mean. If not, then wait [...]
photon:me::tennis ball:earth
Posted in bad science, physics, try this at home on October 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
I was thinking back over an analogy I had used in a talk years ago, and I wanted to update it with some better references, and the math to show I’m not insane. I was trying to describe how weak a single photon is, I used an off-the-cuff analogy of a bb pellet hitting a [...]
Brain Test
Posted in more about me, try this at home on October 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Finally checked in on a friend’s blog and found an amazingly accurate brain profiler. Without further ado, my results:
Your Brain Usage Profile:
Auditory : 50%
Visual : 50%
Left : 47%
Right : 52%
Full summary below the fold…
Puzzling again
Posted in physics, try this at home on September 15, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
The Lunchtime! crowd is at it again with another puzzler/brain teaser/new-age company interview question about marbles and stairs. Spoilers included in the comments so only read the initial post if you actually want to puzzle over it.
Juggling forces
Posted in bad science, experiments, physics, try this at home on September 2, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
What started as a pretty informal online chat about an old riddle has led to several risky video-experiments and an even shakier theoretical analysis. I find the discussion to be a good example of how physics tends to be more about choosing your simplifying assumptions than about answering real-world questions. It’s also good for a [...]
