Last weekend I picked up one of the new A10 Fusion chip Retina display 9.7" iPads with Apple Pencil support. I was able to get the Apple academic discount ~ educators and students can purchase this iPad starting at $299 (US) and an Apple Pencil for $89 (US). I also picked up a Logitech Slim Folio Bluetooth keyboard and a Hermit Shell pencil case.
I've been doing a lot of sample problem video and audio recordings this semester for an AC electronics course. The example videos are best described as applied mathematics problem solutions - I write and talk through the problems while recording and post them on the web for students to access. Up until last week these recordings were being made using a 10 year old Tablet PC. The Tablet PC worked but the process was a little clunky - Apple adding Pencil support was my initial justification for the purchase.
Video recording on the new iPad has been a breeze. I'm using the built in recording app on the iPad along with the GoodNotes app - simple and slick. I don't do any editing by choice. My recordings go automatically into Photos on the iPad as mp4's and I just upload them to Google Drive for student access.
I'm also teaching an Engineering Design course this semester. Students in this class are proposing and building some really cool Arduino based projects. They do a lot of writing in this course and are required to electronically submit all work. Up until last week I was using Word on my MacBook to make document review edits and add comments. Once completed I email the edited document files back to the students. A few days ago I started using the iPad and Pencil to make handwritten edits and add comments to the student Word documents. Once saved I also send these documents back to the students. So far so good.
I purchased a first generation iPad years ago and it got very limited use. The new one has been a completely different experience so far.
Could an iPad replace my four year old 15 inch MacBook? Not yet but...... substitution is getting closer.
Sunday, April 29, 2018
New iPad 9.7" with Pencil So Far
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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10:33 AM
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Labels: Education, Engineering, impact, iPad, student, Technology
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
20 Gbps - In Your Home - In Your Car - In Your Pocket
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl8r24z3Ul0yRj3tnuQwfXOzOuSaqEPxHvSb01FGcZ_K_8uAz0_Q61BwrIDEUj6r9ait3O3fb9CWKy0BAWtaeUGomJXeMxfoxrX3xUgK2OBauNrnn0RwYhc_onIZM5sH5loTvm4610U52e/s200/GettyImages-631095950.jpg)
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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10:08 AM
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Labels: 5G, broadband, Education, LTE, small cell, Technology, Wireless
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Apple Pay – How Printed Store Receipts are Handled
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-s0l-6NS_c4oz4lsJkGvttwQ6mkSWws1VBbq0f_EQD7EasZ9JNUTKpOva_F_DLSTFgeth-irdcg9-_4Ie5o4MjP2HMSJesCNMx1_o5qvSIwCw7duaLmcgdbg8PDRazNStSzBIzZp63Zo1/s200/og_image.png)
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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10:22 AM
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Labels: Apple, credit card, Education, Pay, provacy, Security, Technology
Monday, December 4, 2017
Should I Buy Another Chevy?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZU4zaqE1G7KvhY9bajuf_EJfs8DYYJaQs_LOp6qW4ew5UIQ7Zp8TYuZ_QO5tJgF-qI3rMYyb0u4trD1Mjl0QxU0rrDAj8fx5zMCNdT0Cas_B6XYukK0BxxYjgiaWE3CWj38gJjcBtGkw9/s320/13-1980-chevrolet-chevette-in-california-junkyard-photo-by-murilee-martin.jpg)
Looking at older autonomous model Bolts - the lidar units were mounted on roof mounted rods and the car had sensors stuffed into drilled and cut holes in the body. The new autonomous Bolt has sensors hidden in the bumpers and fenders and the lidar unit is hidden in the roof rack. The new model appears to be a huge step up.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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9:22 PM
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Labels: autonomous, Car, Education, Engineering, hardware, lidar, self-driving, sensors, software, Technology
Monday, September 4, 2017
Automobile USB Phone Charging
It's nice day for a ride to the beach. You grab your stuff jump and in the car. Ooops - last night you forgot to charge your phone and you've only got about 30% but...... No worries, the beach is a 90 minute drive away which should be more than enough time for your phone to charge.
Friday, August 11, 2017
The Future of Wireless is Fiber
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Cactus Cell Tower (Image source: www.extremetech.com) |
- Current International Telecommunication Union (ITU) specifications for 5G specify a total download capacity of at least 20Gbps and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station.
- In contrast, the peak data rate for current LTE cells is about 1Gbps.
- Under ideal circumstances, 5G networks will offer users a maximum latency of just 4ms, down from about 20ms on LTE 4G networks.
- The 5G specification also calls for a latency of just 1ms for a stepped up service called ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC).
Fiber to the tower is a critical enabler of 5G wireless services including The Internet of Things.
For more information see Preparing the Transport Network for 5G: The Future Is Fiber and check out the rest of the OP-TEC August 2017 edition and previous monthly newsletters here.
Posted by
Gordon F Snyder Jr
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11:12 AM
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Labels: Education, fiber, Internet of Things, optics, STEM, Technology, Wireless
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Wisconsin and Taiwan's Foxconn
- Foxconn is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturing company headquartered in Tucheng, New Taipei, Taiwan.
- Foxconn currently has 12 factories in nine Chinese cities along with factories in Asia, Brazil, Europe, and Mexico.
- The company is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer by revenue that, as of 2012, produced approximately 40 percent of all consumer electronics products sold.
- Foxconn is the largest private employer in China and one of the largest employers worldwide.
- Major customers comprise all the biggies including Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, Google, and Dell.
- In reaction to a spate of worker suicides in which 14 people died in 2010, a report from 20 Chinese universities described Foxconn factories as labor camps and detailed widespread worker abuse and illegal overtime. The company claims these issues have been resolved.
- The complex will be located at a 1,000-acre site in southeastern Wisconsin.
- This will be the first liquid crystal display manufacturing facility in North America and that has environmentalists a little freaked out.
- It will take four years to build and will employ up to 10,000 construction workers over those four years.
- The factory floor area will cover 20 million square feet.
- Up to 13,000 workers could eventually be employed and paid an average of $53,875 a year, plus benefits.
- Will generate estimated $181 million in state and local tax revenue annually, including $60 million in local property taxes.
- Wisconsin will kick in $3 billion in state incentives over 15 years.
- Wisconsin is not projected to break even on the incentive package for at least 25 years (that's 2042).
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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3:54 PM
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Labels: Chinese, Electronics, Foxconn, Industry, manufacturing, Technology, Wisconsin