Alternative to AVR Butterfly?

On Jun 21, 4:16 pm, mrdarr...@gmail.com wrote:

> Sure, two (in case I break one while studying it), California (United
> States), 5V, wow, really?  Thanks...

Email me your details. You will need to pay postage, which will
probably be about $4. But let me first check that I haven't already
packed the LCDs.

> What country are you in?  And why are you giving them to the EE
> department instead of selling them and donating the proceeds to
> charity, just curious?

I'm in New York. I'm giving a fairly large assortment of unwanted
through-hole parts and surplus bits of various types to the EE
department for the students to play with in labs and personal
projects. I can think of no cause more worthwhile, nor one in greater
need of charity, than the study of science and engineering in North
America.

mc wrote:

> I should add that I'm not looking for an LCD exactly like theirs.  All I 
> need is the ability to display about 6 digits.
> 
> 
If this is for a hobby project you can use one scrapped out of a fax or 
older HP laser printers. They usually have a HD44780 or compatible on 
there which provides a four-bit interface, plus some control lines. The 
character sets are already in there, you just send over the ASCII in 
nibbles. AFAIK most can also be connected 8-bit for byte transfers.

Since you already have an LCD I guess there are enough free port pins. 
If not you could hang something like a 74HC164 and go serial.

-- 
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

In article <1182457945.289240.78580@c77g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,  larwe <zwsdotcom@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> I can think of no cause more worthwhile, nor one in greater
> need of charity, than the study of science and engineering in North
> America.
> 

[I'm in the UK, and have no direct experience of the US education system.
My comments are based on what I see happening from this side of the pond.]

I have developed a similar perception, namely that science and technology
education appears to have been gradually de-emphasised in the US.

It seems self defeating to me, as it seems that a country's general
leadership is based on it's technological leadership.

So why is science and engineering been de-emphasised in the US ?

Or is my perception wrong ?

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Microsoft: Bringing you 1980's technology to a 21st century world

On Jun 25, 7:43 am, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
(Simon Clubley) wrote:

> So why is science and engineering been de-emphasised in the US ?

Pick your reason(s); there are several believable theories.

1. Anti-science theocracy in the White House.

2. Nonsensical "No Votes From the Ignorant Left Behind" edumacation
legislation that rewards faked test scores, not good learning. That's
fine for philosophy or Trivial Pursuit but in science or engineering,
people who don't have a thorough understanding of what they're doing
stand out a mile - and they're dangerous and useless.

3. Shrinking job prospects. This is a vicious circle; outsourcing
removes incentives to enter the field in the US, which reduces the
pool of talent, which encourages/forces venture capital to invest
overseas, which removes local incentives, which reduces the pool of
talent...

4. Hysterical anti-science green lobby throwing roadblocks ahead of
development. Let's see that happen in China.

5. Urban youth culture. Science and math aren't cool. Gang signs,
narcotics and rape are cool.

On Jun 21, 3:32 pm, larwe <zwsdot...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm in New York. I'm giving a fairly large assortment of unwanted
> through-hole parts and surplus bits of various types to the EE
> department for the students to play with in labs and personal
> projects. I can think of no cause more worthwhile, nor one in greater
> need of charity, than the study of science and engineering in North
> America.

Sounds great!  However, my concern would be if whoever ends up in
charge of them will believe in their importance to the same degree
that you do.  I'd think there's a substantial risk that someone will
before long decide to "clean up" and dispose of them, either in the
dumpster, or to one lucky student thus excluding the others.

mc wrote:

> I should add that I'm not looking for an LCD exactly like theirs.  All I 
> need is the ability to display about 6 digits.

The Mega169 of the Butterfly can contole a certain
number of segments. You just need an LCD that fits.
On a second thought, I guess the average LCD may
be controllable with this controller.

Rene
-- 
Ing.Buero R.Tschaggelar - http://www.ibrtses.com
& commercial newsgroups - http://www.talkto.net

On Jun 25, 4:43 am, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
(Simon Clubley) wrote:
> In article <1182457945.289240.78...@c77g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,  larwe <zwsdot...@gmail.com> writes:
>
>
>
> > I can think of no cause more worthwhile, nor one in greater
> > need of charity, than the study of science and engineering in North
> > America.
>
> [I'm in the UK, and have no direct experience of the US education system.
> My comments are based on what I see happening from this side of the pond.]
>
> I have developed a similar perception, namely that science and technology
> education appears to have been gradually de-emphasised in the US.
>
> It seems self defeating to me, as it seems that a country's general
> leadership is based on it's technological leadership.
>
> So why is science and engineering been de-emphasised in the US ?
>
> Or is my perception wrong ?
>
> Simon.
>
> --
> Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
> Microsoft: Bringing you 1980's technology to a 21st century world



How is science/engineering education doing over in Europe?  In
particular, in Great Britain, France and Germany?

I sat in a class once (Personal Finance) at my university (UC Davis),
and the professor started the lecture by congratulating us on getting
accepted, saying that only 10% or so of high school students are
accepted to the University.  Kinda makes you wonder what happened to
the other 90%.

Here are some stats on the graduation rates on UC Davis.
http://facts.ucdavis.edu/summary_of_degrees_conferred.lasso

So let's see, for '05-06, 573 engineers graduated out of 5901 total
bachelors degrees earned, yields about 9.7% graduating engineers.

So, let's round that off... 10% accepted to uni, 10% graduating as
engineers, gives oh, what, 1% of the general population making it
through the grinder and getting the BS in engineering.

Makes us feel so special...  (big cheesy grin)

Now, looking at the table, there are others who make it too:  doctors,
lawyers, even the physical science folks.

Michael

On Jun 26, 2:45 pm, mrdarr...@gmail.com wrote:

> So, let's round that off... 10% accepted to uni, 10% graduating as
> engineers, gives oh, what, 1% of the general population making it
> through the grinder and getting the BS in engineering.

My first day in college physics, the professor told us to look at the
person to the left and the person to the right - say hello and
remember their face, because by the end of the semester, both of them
will probably have dropped out.

larwe wrote:

> My first day in college physics, the professor told us to look at the
> person to the left and the person to the right - say hello and
> remember their face, because by the end of the semester, both of them
> will probably have dropped out.

A stunt pulled off by professors from the EE division at my alma mater 
(RWTH Aachen, Germany), on a somewhat regular basis, too.  And the scary 
thing is they were absolutely right about it!

In the science/math department where I eventually graduated such first 
year drop-out rates would have been considered disastrous.  EE 
professors, on the other hand, could barely contain their pride about 
that figure.  They considered it a glorious achievement.  But that was 
before freshman numbers dropped by roughly a factor of 5 over the course 
of a few years.  They began to miss the cheap labor from thesis work 
soon after, and started to reconsider their "achievements".

On Jun 26, 12:26 pm, larwe <zwsdot...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jun 26, 2:45 pm, mrdarr...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > So, let's round that off... 10% accepted to uni, 10% graduating as
> > engineers, gives oh, what, 1% of the general population making it
> > through the grinder and getting the BS in engineering.
>
> My first day in college physics, the professor told us to look at the
> person to the left and the person to the right - say hello and
> remember their face, because by the end of the semester, both of them
> will probably have dropped out.


Cheerful fellow!  Was he correct?

For some real fun - try taking a C programming class (filled with
freshmen) while you're a senior.

I did just that during my senior year (and *after* taking the C++
class.  Class was just too full.)  Just needed a Mass Transfer II
class to graduate... and of course everything's offered only once a
year.  Took a C programming class, just for the credits (and the easy
A).  Oh, the joy.  Freshmen with attitude, giving the professor a hard
time.  I remember one exam - I got 47 out of 50.  A bit miffed that I
made three bonehead mistakes on the exam.  Most of my classmates were
happy to get 20 out of 50.

Final exam, had to write some routines... I wasn't sure if c = a[b()]
would compile, so I just expanded it: i = b(); c = a[i];

After the exam, tried it out, and my original thought was right.

Michael