New Era in Technology by Mandarino

I have been pondering the ability for simple parts to gather useful gain at HF.  Tonight I built a simple Push Pull arrangement using a pair of 2N7000 FETs.  It’s pretty simple.  It’s breadboarded so likely to be noisy but a realistic fixture for setting bias.

Here is the schematic:

It is mounted on a push-pin breadboard so I can’t expect too much.  My goal was to monitor the VBias voltage, and current on the 13.8V line, while watching the output.  Going from Class C, to AB, to A was the purpose of my inquiry.  I picked the area of greatest interest to me, which is 7 to 28 MHz.

To analyze and evaluate information processing needs and construct solutions from an ever-changing set of technologies.In the Human Computer Interaction concentration, you will use information systems to explore key aspects of human thinking and determine how that knowledge can be applied to the design of effective user interfaces. Acquire a variety of techniques for prototyping, assessing, and improving user interfaces, and select and apply a variety of tools for computer-mediated human communication.

want to use a common panel meter to do the indication. But the scaling of the log amp is not exactly in perfect alignment with the panel meter’s input. A sticky problem. The AD8307 uses a Log amplifier to create a linear response to a logarithmic function. Huh? The panel meter provides the digital indication of the linear response.

The AD8307 creates a voltage output that looks approximately like this: 

 

So when the AD8307 puts out 1.5v, we want the meter to read -20.0. When it puts out 1.0v, we want it to read -40.0. When it puts out 2.5v, we want it to read 20.0. There is a trick to this. It’s called linear equations. We need to subtract a specific voltage from the output and multiply it times some number so that it follows a formula. But what’s the formula?

Suppose we start with a 0-200mV meter movement, which will read +/- 200mV. How to we scale the AD8307 output to fix the situation so that it spills the right value in mV?

We first need to solve the graph as an equation. Let’s start with the intercept method first. Here is the general form of the equation:

 

 Let’s take 2 points off the chart and solve for an equation:

 

Now substitute real values and reduce the equation for X and Y:

 

What does it all mean?

It means we need to first run the output of the AD8307 to a comparator, which will have a reference set to 2.0v. The output will be multiplied by 40 to give us the correct output.

Suppose the AD8307 gives us 2.5v. That’s 0.5v more than the reference. Times 40 then is 20.0v. But the meter reads 0-200mV. So we divide that by 100 to give us 20.0mV, which we will read as 20.0dBm.

Suppose the AD8307 gives us 1.0v. That’s 1.0v less than the reference. Times 40 then is -40.0v, divided by 100 to give us -40.0mV, which we will read as -40.0dBm.

If the output of the AD8307 is 0.5v, that works out to be -60.0dBm.

So the comparator reference is important to locate the 0.0dBm point, and the amplification is important to give us linearity over the bandwidth of the device. In this case we need +40/100 or 0.4X amplification of the voltage deviation from the reference. The amplification needs to be slightly adjustable.

Routers are probably the most important component of a NoC, as the performance of the whole network is driven by the routers’ performance. Cost for the whole network in terms of area will also be minimised if the router design is kept small. A new application specific processor architecture for implementing NoC routers is proposed in this master thesis, which will be called μNP (Micro- Network Processor). The aim is to offer a solution in which there is a trade-off between the high performance of routers implemented in hardware and the high level of flexibility that could be achieved by loading a software that routed packets into a GPP. Therefore, a study including the design of a hardware based router and a GPP based router has been conducted.

Memes have traditionally spread through word-of-mouth communications. The advent of the written word, followed by the invention of the printing press, added new vectors though which memes could spread. More recently, technological innovations such as radio and television have allowed much faster and more efficient memetic transmission. However, the internet provides much more fertile ground for the rapid, worldwide diffusion of all manner of horizontally-propagating memes. Though it too was once a meme in itself, the world wide web has become one of the most fertile vectors in memetic history.

Memes spread rapidly on the internet for many different reasons. First, the internet's sheer information density allows a concentration of memes that was impossible with any other media. Writing and even movable-type printing could only transmit so much information - their memetic-spread value was inherently limited by such factors as ease of use and availability of materials. Even radio and TV have limits - a person can only listen to (and a station can only broadcast) one program at a time. All these meme-spreading methods are time- and energy-consuming, and they also rely on there being at least enough adherents to cover the expense of further dissemination. In other

words, only memes that already existed to some degree could "afford" to utilize these meme-spreading mechanisms.

The internet is a different story altogether. It is relatively easy for almost anyone to assemble and post a workable (if not exactly attractive) internet site stating their views on all manner of issues. Even an unpopular meme can gain propagation opportunities if a single adherent makes an attempt to disseminate it. Moreover, memes that would previously have been unavailable to many populations become relatively easily accessible over the internet, greatly expanding each internet user's range of meme exposure.

The internet also solves the one-program-at-a-time problem faced by radio and TV. Its vast storehouses of information are available simultaneously, requiring only a few clicks to access such diverse information as the day's stock quotes, tomorrow's weather forecast, a new recipe, help with chemistry homework, perspectives on international trade, and a wealth of similar details. Whereas print media requires an exhaustive visual search and TV or radio requires waiting until the appropriate program comes on, the internet allows users to access numerous different types and classifications of information without excessive effort or delay.

Probably the best meme-spreading internet innovation is the search engine, which allows efficient location of even the most obscure information. Without search engines, most internet memes would languish in obscurity on isolated or hard-to-reach personal pages linked to only a few other documents. While large companies trying to promote memes favoring their own products would still flourish, much of the internet's meme-spreading capacity would not exist without search engines.

Search engines provide the most powerful and efficient way of locating obscure information or different memes relating to the same topic. Using a search engine, it is a relatively simple task to locate, say, articles discussing the military appropriateness of the use of the atomic bomb during World War II. A research paper on this topic, or even just locating information for personal interest, would once have entailed long and tedious trips to the library accompanied by cumbersome searching through card catalogs, book indexes, etc. With the power of search engines and the vast resources of the internet at your fingertips, this research project suddenly becomes many times easier.

Finally, search engines assist internet users by obviating the need to memorize long, often unintelligible strings of characters in order to return to certain sites. Without search engines, many people might remember a few important web addresses, but they would be unlikely to discover any new or unique memes from these sources. Search engines allow people access to a much greater storehouse of information and diversity of perspectives without requiring people to memorize long web addresses. This is especially helpful in the case of

personal pages, whose addresses are sometimes long and difficult to remember. Incidentally, personal pages are one of the better sources of truly novel memes on the internet.

It has been shown that the internet, due to its unique properties as an information medium, is extremely well-suited to meme propagation. However, these same properties actually encourage meme transmission by adherents. First, as mentioned above, meme transmission via an internet site is relatively simple and does not entail the cost of radio, TV, or print dissemination; it also does not require the repeated transmissions required by traditional word-of-mouth proselytism. Second, the internet makes anonymous posting of messages or pages possible, allowing adherents of relatively unpopular memes to speak up and be heard without revealing their identities. This possibility of anonymity is a powerful attractant to many people who are unsure of their ideas or opinions, who do not want to admit to their ideas (or who want to ask a potentially embarrassing question), or who feel threatened by their ideas. Such people are naturally drawn to anonymous internet postings which will hopefully not only spread their memes but also bring them into contact with fellow adherents.

In the same vein, the internet allows adherents of relatively unpopular memes to band together, if not physically, then at least ideologically and cybernetically. Even if adherents of a given meme are extremely well-distributed throughout a population, they can still present an organized front, set up a page or site detailing their meme set, and attempt to "cyber-proselytize" visitors. In this way, the internet is a powerful vector that contributes to the continuing survival of otherwise uncompetitive memes by allowing them to find a niche in the internet community.

Another factor in the increased meme transmission observed over the internet is its interactive nature. Print matter, radio, and TV are all essentially passive experiences requiring the reader, listener, or viewer to perform all necessary cognitive processing. Of course, discussions between individuals about reading material or radio/TV programs are possible, (and there are exceptions to this rule, such as call-in radio and TV shows) but the internet offers a possibility that is rarely if ever realized with any other media - simple, direct communication between users. This explains in particular why chat rooms are so wildly popular, especially among such traditionally "social" groups such as teenagers - chat rooms allow for user-friendly social interactions that broaden a person's normal social scope.

Messageboards and newsgroups are also popular because they allow a simple method by which people can share their information - or more, crucially, their memes - with a diverse population of internet users. They encourage communication between people, and thus between meme sets, that do not normally come in contact. Furthermore, they actively promote meme-sharing within the messageboard or

newsgroup population by asking for feedback, comments, opinions, etc. This provides people with unique opportunities to exchange their views - and, incidentally, provides memes with unique opportunities for propagation.

Email is one of the most direct and efficient forms of communication available through the internet. Through email, people can communicate quickly and efficiently with people from all over the globe without worrying about the delivery of postal mail. People can share their viewpoints accompanied by images, programs, and useful links, thereby tailoring their memetic proselytism to one or a few specific recipients. Interestingly, as people share their memes through email, other replicators sometimes hitch a ride: computer viruses.

While not technically memes, computer viruses are replicators whose spread has been greatly bolstered due to the internet. Viruses once relied on infecting a group of connected computers or a community of users freely sharing disks and data; now, they spread rapidly throughout the internet population via devices such as email. This extremely effective method of virus propagation allows the virus to spread virtually indefinitely (without containment measures, that is) by sending copies of itself to all addresses saved in the address book of a given computer. It may be that someday, viruses will "evolve" or undergo a type of natural selection, adapting to the different antivirus software used and ordinary security precautions implemented by a variety of people. Indeed, with enough time to evolve, viruses may begin to self-organize into "genomes" in the same way ancestral replicators organized into genomes and memes organize into meme sets.

In this virtual world, where the tidal wave is crashing into the house on the cliff, the scene is set to show the ongoing struggle between nature and technology. For years, nature has succeeded over technology and technology over nature but this image is about nature’s forces taking over and inevitably winning the “battle”. The concept of using a face in the wave personifies nature and almost gives Mother Nature a face so to speak. Using water, one of nature’s most powerful elements, is the main focus which through colour and shape, draws the reader into the picture and the true essence of what I want to convey is explained. Nature which is often suggested in today’s world as feeble and crumbling away because of technology, is changed in this image and technology is being shown as the small and weaker side of this battle. The cliff on which the house is situated will be able to survive the destruction of the wave but it’s clear that the house will not.The building represents technology, due to its man-made qualities and the fact that it is built on nature and therefore eroding the land. It could be seen that Mother Nature is angry at the world and is finally

making a stand against technology and the downfall in nature that everyone has witnessed over the last decade.Evil is often associated with darker imagery and colours so the wave incorporates this idea. Innocence is often portrayed with much lighter and brighter imagery and colours but the lighter image on this design is the house. To a reader who knows the fight between nature and technology, it is hard to say whether technology should be depicted as innocent in this image. The revenge which nature is taking on technology could be due to the ongoing destruction that technology has left behind on nature as it thrives to survive.

Virtual worlds are engaging, stimulating spaces where students can meet online for normal class activities, including lectures, discussions, case studies, projects, papers, exams, and labs. Classes are a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activity. A virtual world class differs from a traditional course management system, such as Blackboard or Moodle, due to the three-dimensional (3D) graphical setting, the use of avatars to represent the class participants, and the sense of presence that puts the learner within the scene. After teaching nine university courses using the virtual world of Second Life as an educational classroom, I have come to the conclusion that successful virtual class experiences require a blend of technology, tools, content, student ownership, identity, engagement, course structure, risk management, mentoring, feedback, and a good orientation to using the tool.

The First Class:An editor once said that a published book often does not begin with the first chapter that the author wrote. Since authors tend to start the book with background and detailed information, the editor usually removed that chapter and began the book instead with chapter 2, where the action begins. Similarly, although it is tempting to begin a virtual worlds class with an orientation to the software and the virtual world itself, students need action and excitement to help them envision how they will use it effectively. Instructors thus should sell the benefits first, have students choose to use the virtual world, and then discuss how it works. When a student logs in to a virtual world for the first time, the monitor may display the student’s avatar (a representation of self) from behind—that is, the student sees the back of his or her avatar. The world feels like a strange new frontier, populated with a scene (e.g., a landscape), 3D objects (e.g., billboards, boxes, benches), other avatars, and a user interface that would impress science fiction fans.

Figuring out how to move, look around, and interact with others is not intuitive for most users. If the first class begins here, some students will exit the software, vowing never to return. Rather than startle students, the first class needs to show them the benefits of using virtual worlds, demonstrate what students of all ages have accomplished in only a few days, and provide a brief introduction on how to use the tool effectively. The first class should feature cool technology, exciting research, entertainment, and great visuals to enflame students’ imagination.

Figure 1. An experimental-design class space hosted by the author and open to the public.I begin the orientation session with exciting examples from other classes, schools, and research projects. Putting a face on these experiences and making them real, personal, and engaging is important. Although I start most orientations on campus, online students also meet in the virtual world. Getting everyone to the class site requires a few minutes and benefits from alternative communication support (via phone, VoIP, voice in the virtual world, or a conferencing tool). I continue the orientation with highlights of accomplishments from different parts of the Country.) Colleges, Universities and Alternative Education campus in Second Life, hosted by 1 and only 1 Avatar Professor. Their learning experiences will inspire and help many students visualize projects modeled in a virtual world. During one session, a student reflected: “If teens could do it as well, Student ownership grows as students visualize the class workspace as a place where they meet, attend class sessions, work on projects, play, and relax with friends. Finally, end the class (orientation) with an overview of how to move, look around, customize avatars, and interact with other avatars and objects. The instructions are simple and focus on basic skills. Students practice moving and looking around, laughing as they struggle to

adapt the user interface to their perception of accepted behavior in both the real and the virtual worlds.

The Benefits for Students:At this point, some students may be eager to try out the virtual world, while others remain hesitant. The next step is to mitigate the risks associated with using unfamiliar technology and to create a safe learning environment. Perhaps fear and uncertainty are barriers to learning. Students worry that they are already challenged to learn a host of new concepts while acquiring the desired course competencies. Adding the complexity of a new software tool increases their perception of risk, and they need to see the benefits and how the instructor will manage the risks. Students need to know that it is OK to make mistakes and to explore the boundaries and that they are required to be active participants. After all, students learn best from their mistakes and rarely forget them, so one rule is that mistakes are great opportunities for learning. Virtual world learning experiences are fun. Class can be held on the beach, in another country, in outer space, or in any simulated setting. Students do not need to be confined to a traditional class setting, with chairs facing forward, but can instead move within the learning environment, communicate via text or voice, offer information or ask questions whenever they like (without being impolite), and correspond with classmates and friends via private messaging. Students can create content, using built-in tools to construct their ideas as a form of virtual doodling. These 3D objects and models can express their ideas and offer a context for questions as they work on class projects during class discussions.The class experience is lively, engaging, and rich with social networks, interaction, and expression. Students are not passive. Their time spent is productive, allowing the instructor to provide feedback as they draft their ideas and conduct activities. Less time is spent in critical assessment at the end of the course, since the learning process and measurement instruments are interactive and observable throughout. New roles emerge as students move from campus and online discussion boards to the virtual world classroom. Education centers on discovery, yet students often have a limited view of their role in the classroom. Some may be taking a class because it is required rather than because they chose it. A few may feel disengaged and go into “cruise control,” expecting the instructor to entertain them. Shifting students from the passive roles of survivors and castaways to the

active roles of researchers and explorers requires a change in their perception of themselves and their willingness to participate.With very little time and a lot of content to cover, one way to accomplish this change is to use game-based metaphors that capture students’ interest. But there is no need to actually create a game to leverage the concept of game-play for class activities. After all, class activities come with goals, feedback, rewards, and recognition, and these translate well in this visual, exploratory environment. The virtual world looks like a game setting and is one in which instructors can guide, observe, and provide feedback and rewards for class activities. Students worry that the class structure will be poorly defined and managed. A well-structured course includes a syllabus that defines the course objectives, learning objectives, goals, measurements, a schedule of activities and assignments, and anallagies for assessment. Virtual world classes projects will be delivered, how class discussions will be evaluated, and how students can benefit from feedback to improve the quality of their work throughout the course of life. Other benefits include discovering new ways to study, discuss, create, and express the course subject under the supervision and support of the instructor. In virtual worlds, the instructor’s role shifts from being the “center on the stage” to being the domain expert—the authority who stimulates and supervises exploration while providing structure, guidance, feedback, and assessment. Demystifying complexity is not an easy task! Great virtual world learning experiences blend the following features in a mix that is appropriate for the course content and for the achievement of the desired course competencies. Not all classes include projects or creation of 3D content, and this list favors activity-based learning and social networks:

← Self: Customizing the avatar ← Exploration: Moving around the world ← Communication: Sharing information with others ← Navigation: Looking at 3D content ← Interaction: Using 3D objects ← Creation: Designing a class project ← Delivery: Giving the projects to the instructor ← Assessment: Evaluating Second Life projects ← Feedback: Compiling progress and performance reports

Content that comes to life:

Virtual world classrooms use a mix of media-rich course materials. Aside from how content is shared via discussion during synchronous sessions, learning stations can be designed that offer content to students who miss class or who need more time to study and reflect. Students can touch these 3D objects to get notecards, listen to podcasts, or see streaming video that covers this course content. Although this capability is also available in online course management systems and websites, the shared nature of an avatar interacting with an object, being part of the content that is being studied, and seeing 3D simulations of the content come to life is powerful. Since a student’s understanding of complex content may be hazy, offering information in a variety of ways allows students to use the information to solve problems and create solutions for their projects. Exams or assessments of competency shift to projects and solutions to problems that are expressed in context, offering new ways to visualize, experience, and assess the solutions. This method does not replace traditional methods of evaluation, but it does offers additional ways of assessing what students know and can apply. For example, CS 382, a software design class at Colorado Technical University (CTU), created a 3D game maze and populated it with traps, sensors, flags, a scoreboard, treasures, and other game features and then played the game on the last night of class. The goal of the class was to learn to model a variety of software designs using drawings in a design specification. The students exceeded the class requirements: they designed, prototyped, and tested their designs. They discovered a minor flaw, and one student fixed the problem while the class tested it during the next run of the game. These students were so immersed in the learning experience that they did not realize they had accomplished the goals of several classes in a single term. Virtual environments are stimulating, creative landscapes. When virtual worlds are populated with the right mix of content and discovery, students remain long after class ends.

Location, Environment: How these aspects will relay with studentsVirtual world classrooms are no less real than other online class environments, and if used for synchronous class sessions, they may simulate a campus-based class meeting. The differences are the emphasis on interaction, real-time discussion, and shared experiences and the addition of back-channel communication features, such as instant messaging to individuals, the entire class, and other virtual world groups. Class participants should not be anonymous, despite the use of virtual world aliases for avatar names. One reason is that students want

information, education, feedback, and grades from their instructor, and they want to know who is responding to them. In addition, students share a sense of community in these environments, and they mentor one another as they discover how to use the tool to complete their individual and team course activities. This sense of identity differs from the social use of virtual worlds for entertainment purposes, where anonymity is often favored.Finally, as students become active participants in virtual world classes, the student who is on “cruise control” is at risk. Students shift from being passive listeners to engaging in group interaction and activities and demonstrating that they understand the course content via the completion of projects, papers, labs, and case studies. Many classes that include case studies use role-play, putting learners in roles and contexts in which they explore the content and make decisions based on the forces and constraints placed on them. One example of a class role-play is show below in figure2, which depicts a literature activity in which students participate in the courtroom scene from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. The students’ exploration of the content benefits from this social learning environment.

Figure 2. virtual world campus The virtual world classroom became an open space version of a usability lab. In this virtual usability lab, students needed to first learn how to use the virtual world building tool to construct objects, texture them, and link them to create user-interface prototypes and heads-up display prototypes.

Figure 3 below. A picture of the Instructor and a student discussing accessibility design.In addition to learning user-interface design and testing principles, the class goal was to reflect on new ways to design and evaluate user interfaces. With this goal in mind, the students elected to study problems related to accessibility, perception, and interaction. Instead of focusing solely on the software interfaces, they created 3D linked objects with behaviors that simulated real-world systems.

In their “lessons learned” papers, the students noted that the virtual world classes enhanced their learning experience and their perceptions of self and gave them new skills to demonstrate their mastery of the course content. The sense of presence and the customization of their avatars were high on their list of priorities for learning and participating in virtual world classes. In contrast, they noted that it took time for them to customize their avatars and to learn to communicate, gesture, and emote. They also learned to create 3D objects and to texture, link, and program the objects into testable, scripted projects that responded when touched. As mentor, I felt is important that offer the right mix of instruction, observation, opportunity to struggle, and support—all of which will be necessary for them to discover, build, and test their solutions. The struggle to discover solutions is part of the learning process. For the mentor, knowing how to balance that struggle with solutions and success is key.

The user-interface projects studied accessibility issues, evaluated them with test subjects, and analyzed how virtual environments enhanced or detracted from the simulation of these real-world experiences. At the conclusion of the class, students exceed the course requirements and learned a host of virtual world skills.

Virtual World: Enhancement of Learning Do virtual world classes replace campus-based classes or online course management systems? No! Campus-based classes offer rich interaction, expression, and other forms of communication and real-world experiences that are not possible given today’s virtual world technology. For classes that center on formal papers and research reports, campus-based and online classes excel. Even though slides and text-based information can be used in the virtual world, its strengths center on 3D visualization and sensory experiences that are harder to simulate in the campus-based and online classrooms.

The use of virtual worlds expands on the campus-based and online classrooms, enhancing learning experiences. Classes in virtual worlds offer opportunities for visualization, simulation, enhanced social networks, and shared learning experiences. Some people learn best by listening to the course content, others by seeing and visualizing the content in context, and the rest by using a hands-on approach to demonstrate course competencies. In virtual worlds, we can leverage a mix of content and activity to support all learners: auditory, visual, and interactive.Virtual worlds support these different learning styles and give students opportunities to explore, discover, and express their understanding of the subject. Naturally, the tool’s capabilities do not guarantee a great learning experience. The success of a course depends on effective course design, delivery, and assessment. Course designers, instructors, and IT professionals are challenged to create stimulating content, deliver it reliably, and ensure a stable virtual world learning environment.Do the benefits outweigh the risks associated with venturing into a virtual world educational platform? Perhaps, the virtual world is my preferred learning and teaching environment.