This isn't just about directing the pizza delivery to your late night study session. It's about being able to tell the 9-1-1 operator where the emergency is happening. A student died at the University of Victoria and one of the contributing factors appears to be the inability of the 9-1-1 operator to get paramedics to […]
This is a quick little post on M5Stack embedded hardware. I'm going to use the Arduino 2 IDE with the M5Stack Timer Camera F in this example. I just opened up the Arduino IDE and updated the boards and libraries. I had previously installed the M5Stack library on the Arduino IDE. I'm going to see […]
It's the April 2025 exam system and it's clear to me that the Student ID system here at YorkU is completely broken. I've previously written about how silly it was to rely on cell phones as ID cards. And, in parallel to this, the administration at YorkU has also permitted the use of just about […]
York University hides a lot of health and safety documents behind the Passport York wall. The "YU-Link" set of pages was introduced about ten years ago and, in the process, many documents that were previously accessible are now locked away and hard to obtain. In other words, this means that many important documents cannot be […]
The Arduino-compatible Grove board that we use in EECS 1021 and EECS 1011 at York University has multiple analogue sensors on it. Other analogue sensors, like the soil moisture sensor, can be attached to the board using either the Arduino headers (in yellow) or with the Grove connectors. Students in EECS 1011 and 1021 are […]
I really like the Princeton StdLib for Java to make basic graphs with Java. The learning curve isn't steep and installation is easy. To get started either grab the Maven support files or the JAR and install in IntelliJ or your favourite IDE. Here's an example to draw some basic shapes on the screen. Now, […]
While demonstrating the OLED display in class this week, I messed up the lesson -- twice -- because I forgot a really important detail: timing. When putting information on the OLED display it's important to take into consideration timing. But that timing is not always important to consider. Where I messed up was in demonstrating […]
Some students will find that their Grove Beginner Kit for Arduino board will have trouble being recognized by their Windows or macOS machine. It is important that you download the driver from SiLabs if this is the case, as per the instructions found on the Wiki page for the Grove Beginner Kit. That page will […]
We use iVerilog (Icarus Verilog) for a number of courses, including (presently) EECS 2021. There are a few ways to run it Here is a video overview.
Why are so many sidewalks at York University still covered in ice and snow? Because we simply don't have enough employees and equipment to get the job done. What staff we do have has been working really hard to make the walkways and building entrances safe, but there is simply too much ground to cover […]