Lessons in Linux contains lectures about the linux Operating System.
Maker’s Movement includes lectures on using Microcontroler boards like the Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
Tai Chi lists resources for the art of Tai Chi.
STEM introduces science and technology subjects to the curious with a smile.
Troubleshooting will focus on how to find and fix issues.
Copyright © 2001 - 2024 John F. Moore
The ocean covers 70% of the surface of the earth and holds 96% of all water. The evaporation provides water for the rain. The currents move the warm water from the tropics to Europe. The wind moves sailing ships, and drives wind turbines.
How can we capture this energy to create electricity to power our modern civilization? Let’s explore what is being done today and in the future to capture this energy.
Wind energy has powered civilization for millennia with wind mills, and wind sails. But today with the demand for renewable energy there is a great demand for wind turbins to create electricity.
Lets look at the uses of wind energy, the wind patterns around the world, and what potential the wind has today to help with our energy needs.
Our planet is livable because our sun provides energy in the form of light and heat. The plants use photosynthesis to grow. The sun warms the ground, which warms the air, which in tern warms us.
What if we could use the sun’s energy to produce electricity to power our machines? Well, we can, using photovoltaic panels.
We began by learning about woodworking tools, then we discussed how to build things with wood. Now we are going to explore wood shaping.
We will start by exploring the original wood shaping methods like chisels and knives, and finish with the computer controlled cutting.
We have looked at the tools you would use to do wood working, now it is time to use the tools.
We will make a couple of simple tools and look at an idea for a book case, from a single sheet of plywood.
Last meeting we discussed what tools you need in your home Tools for your home. So this talk will begin as a continuation of the previous talk. But!!!
I am going to start to introduce some wood working tools in this talk. I like to do wood working as a hobby and especially like making things for my home.
Living in a home or an apartment you need to fix things from time to time. But whether you are an old pro, or a newbie you need to know what tools you need for what type of work.
Tonight we are going to start a discussion of what tools are best for what situation. There are some basic tools and some nice to have tools, depending on what you need to do. I will include fasteners and common parts as they seem appropriate.
When you are on vacation it is common to take pictures. When you get home, what do you do with the pictures?
We are going to learn how to create web photo albums with JAlbum to document your trips. This will help you remember where you were as well as share some pictures with friends.
Why does the same song sound different at home, or in the car, or over ear buds from my phone?
Come along as we look at how sound is converted into electrons, recorded onto media, manipulated, and finally spit out to our ears. What we take for granted when listening to music, is really a wonder of complexity, but moves our ears to joy.
This is a continuation of the Recorded Sound Talk
How do we record sound? How do we measure sound? How do we modify sound? How do we recreate sound?
Why does the same song sound different at home, or in the car, or over ear buds from my phone?
Come along as we look at how sound is converted into electrons, recorded onto media, manipulated, and finally spit out to our ears. What we take for granted when listening to music, is really a wonder of complexity, but moves our ears to joy.
How is sound created?
How does sound travel?
How do we hear sound?
What is:
Frequency and Wavelength
Amplitude and Volume
Music vs Noise
Text documents, Word documents, PDF files, Markup documents, Markdown documents, Web pages, *.docx, *.html, *.odt, *.tex confused yet? On a computer we have multiple types of documents to express thoughts, ideas, or just letters. Lets look at some methods of marking documents.
Now that we know what types of documents we are creating, how can we use them in a wiki or a web browser.
Personal web servers are a great way to save manuals, interesting links, trip memories, and many other bits and pieces of information.
We are going to create a home Wiki using a Raspberry Pi and a USB hard disk. This will be a headless server, meaning that it can live anywhere it can connect to your network.
IOT (Internet of Everything) and embedded system are taking over. How to understand, How to adapt, and are we ready.
The electric car adoption has been greatly accelerated by a startup company named Tesla. This upstart car company, as of July 1, 2020, is the most valuable car company in the world, and has redefined electric cars.
But why is Tesla so popular? How is Tesla’s approach different from an internal combustion car? Isn’t an electric car just a different motor in a normal car? How does driving an electric car differ from driving an ICE (internal combustion engine) car? How is an electric car different or the same as an ICE car?
How often have you had a door stick? Or a cabinet drawer bind? Or a cabinet door not close properly? When it rains do you get water dripping off the window sill inside the house? How about those wooden chairs with the cross brace pulled out of the leg?
House maintenance is not all that difficult if you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do some work. We will look at some issues I have seen and discuss how to address them. Often you can find help by googling the problem.
How is your home/apartment plumbed? What to do when the sink is dripping all night? How to deal with a clogged drain. Let’s explore how to deal with these issues, and when to call a plumber.
What to do if a light does not light. What to do when your hair dryer will not turn on. How to map the circuits in your breaker panel. How to hook up a generator, if you don’t want to hire an electrician. How does a 208 volt circuit differ from a 120 volt circuit. Bring your electric questions to find answers.
Where does electricity come from? How do we create it? What is the relationship between magnets and electricity? We will discuss how electricity get to our homes, and how they are wired. Lastly we will discuss the terminology for electricity.
This is the third of three talks How Does a Computer work. This talk will discuss how to talk to the CPU
We are going to discuss types of instructions, methods of creating the instructions, as well as interrupts.
This is the second of three talks about How Does a Computer work. This talk will discuss the CPU.
For this talk we will focus on the computing engine in the computer.
This is the first of three talks about How Does a Computer work. This first talk will discuss the parts around the CPU.
We are going to discuss hardware and interfaces.
The GPIO pins on the raspberry pi provide an interface to other hardware devices. Unlike the normal computer interfaces such as USB, Ethernet, or power, these pins can read and write hardware.
We will explore how to use the interfaces and then experiment with a couple of devices.
Finally we will explore a few other things you can do with a Raspberry Pi.
What is an OS, and why do we need one?
Most people are not aware that their computer has an OS, or they think Windows runs the computer. But they don’t realize that Windows is only the software that enables them to run their applications.
But is Windows the only choice for a personal computer?
I want to present some other options, and the reasons that Windows might not be your best or only choice.
Last meeting we setup the Raspberry Pi as a headless server. We discussed some of the commands needed to maintain the system.
Now we are going to discuss some of the background programs and configuration used by the operating system.
This will be a wide ranging talk about Linux on the Raspberry Pi.
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Enjoy John F. Moore
Written by John F. Moore
Last Revised: Thu Nov 14 08:14:04 PM EST 2024