How to Write a Simple Android Wear OS Hello World Application

A few months back I treated myself to a new watch, and I decided to finally try a smartwatch. I haven’t thought that I’d use it as much as I ended up doing, but I noticed that the Android device lacks a few features that I’d previously found on the Apple Watch, most notably a native stocks app that helps keep track of my portfolio. Granted, I don’t know why I’d like to see my life savings disappear in real-time, but I decided to try and write a simple stock tracking app for Wear OS devices just for the sake of it. However, this article discusses how to get started with writing a custom program for Wear OS devices.

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How to get the current time from an NTP Server using an Arduino, ESP32, or ESP8266 [shorts #4]

Arduino-based clock projects are a staple in the maker and DIY community, and I’ve built a few ones myself. Such projects typically incorporate a real-time clock (RTC) module that keeps track of the time. However, once the battery on the RTC module runs flat, it forgets the previously set time. Another option involves adding a few push buttons to allow users to set the time. The Arduino itself keeps track of the time as long as it’s plugged into a power supply, and it forgets the settings once you disconnect it from the power source. This short article discusses a third option that allows you to make your clock projects much more user-friendly by automatically setting and adjusting the time when necessary.

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How to resize bitmap images using C++ [shorts #2]

Since 2016, I’ve always returned back to my Macintosh Classic CRT build, constantly trying to refine the project and make it easier to reproduce my results. In my latest attempt, I used a Raspberry Pi to communicate with the monitor. While that method worked like a charm for me, others have reported a few problems they’ve encountered and possible solutions. In my next attempt to finally get this project right, I decided to go down another path. Without going into too much detail here, the new method required me to implement a simple scaling and dithering algorithm in C++. This short article discusses my image scaling solution in C++.

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Getting started with the Seeedstudio XIAO

This video takes a look at the Seeedstudio XIAO board. In it, I unbox the device, take a look around it, assemble it, and I also show you how to prepare the Arduino IDE to get the XIAO up and running in no time!

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How to use interrupts on the LPC55S69 powered Okdo E1

In the last article, I summarized the process of enabling and using GPIO pins on the Okdo E1 by configuring the MCU in the MCUXpresso IDE. This time, I’ll enable pin interrupts that allow an application to react to various events.

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How to use the GPIO pins on the LPC55S69 powered Okdo E1

Over the last couple of years, I’ve utilized a few different Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and other Linux based hobbyist development boards, like the BeagleBone Black, for many of my projects. I, however, never used other microcontroller boards that weren’t Arduino compatible. Recently, I started experimenting with the Okdo E1, a development board that’s powered by the LPC55S69, a very capable NXP microcontroller.

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Arduino MKR Vidor 4000 Verilog FPGA and MCU hello world tutorial

This article discusses how user code can be uploaded to both, the MCU and the FPGA, of the Arduino MKR Vidor 4000. Some time ago, I wrote this summary of the topic which, however, didn’t include an easy to follow tutorial. Instead, it was more of an outline aimed at more experienced users. However, today I tried to re-create the steps, and I noticed that the original article wasn’t as simple to follow for beginners as I’d have liked it to be.

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