Ever since the SMART Response XE was brought to our attention back in 2018, we’ve been keeping a close lookout for projects that make use of the Arduino-compatible educational gadget. Admittedly it’s taken a bit longer than we’d expected for the community to really start digging into the capabilities of the QWERTY handheld, but occasionally we see an effort like this port of BASIC to the SMART Response XE by [Dan Geiger] that reminds us of why we were so excited by this device to begin with.

This project combines the SMART Response XE support library by [Larry Bank] with Tiny BASIC Plus, which itself is an update of the Arduino BASIC port by [Michael Field]. The end result is a fun little BASIC handheld that has all the features and capabilities you’d expect, plus several device-specific commands that [Dan] has added such as BATT to check the battery voltage and MSAVE/MLOAD which will save and load BASIC programs to EEPROM.

To install the BASIC interpreter to your own SMART Response XE, [Dan] goes over the process of flashing it to the hardware using an AVR ISP MkII and a few pogo pins soldered to a bit of perboard. There are holes under the battery door of the device that exposes the programming pads on the PCB, so you don’t even need to crack open the case. Although if you are willing to crack open the case, you might as well add in a CC1101 transceiver so the handy little device can double as a spectrum analyzer.

Continue practicing “SMART Response XE Turned Pocket BASIC Playground” →

Try it yourself. Experience a graphomotor difficulty.

This combination of tasks makes writing the highest form and most complex use of language. And as children progress through school, they are asked to do more with this skill than with any other except reading. Writing requirements increase across the curriculum -- from homework assignments and classwork to journals, note taking, quizzes, tests, and papers. Even standardized tests are moving toward fewer multiple-choice questions and more answers in the form of short paragraphs and essays.

Try it yourself. Experience an essay assignment.

Most of us write with relative ease when we jot notes to friends and loved ones. The more complex or important a writing task is, however, the more likely it is that the ease and fluidity we experience with simpler writing tasks will disappear. Writing an important letter or a company report, we may question our word choice and tone, and anxiously check and recheck to make sure what we've written makes sense.

It is probably no accident that many adults choose jobs that limit the amount of writing they have to do. Children, on the other hand, have no such luxury. They write nearly every day they are in school, from first grade on. And the accuracy, speed, and sophistication with which they write deeply impacts what they ultimately achieve scholastically. Because writing is so integral to a child's success or failure in school, identifying writing problems early is essential.

The Developing Writer

Stages of Writing

Imitation (preschool to first grade)

• pretend to write
• become aware that letters can be arranged to form words
• begin to organize letters and shapes in a line
• begin to print letters and numbers
• have relatively crude motor skills

Graphic Presentation (first and second grades)

• become adept at printing letters
• are preoccupied with the visual appearance of their writing
• become self-conscious if their penmanship is less attractive than their classmates'
• become better at sequential ordering of letters and numbers
• use invented spellings of words liberally

Try it yourself.

Progressive Incorporation (late second to fourth grade)

• gradually incorporate standards of capitalization, punctuation, syntax, and grammar
• seldom plan what they are going to write before they write it
• use writing to relate experiences rather than to solve problems or develop ideas
• begin writing in cursive
• begin revising their work

Automatization (fourth to seventh grade)

• must apply rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation automatically
• begin to regularly review their own work
• begin to write at a level equivalent to their own speech
• learn to write in stages by incorporating outlines and multiple drafts
• begin to assess the effectiveness of their own writing

Elaboration (seventh to ninth grade)

• become increasingly adept at using writing to express a viewpoint
• begin to use writing for thinking, problem solving, and remembering
• learn to synthesize ideas from a variety of sources
• begin to write at a level that exceeds their own speech
• use transitions like "finally" and "for example" extensively

Try it yourself.

Personalization-Diversification (ninth grade and beyond)

• learn to use writing styles appropriate to their subjects
• become more creative with their writing
• learn to use sentences of varying length and complexity
• write with increasingly sophisticated vocabulary
• develop individual writing styles

Neurodevelopmental Functions

Graphomotor

Attention

Language

Memory

Higher-Order Cognition

How technology can help accommodate kids' differences

Learning disabilities, by definition, limit a person's potential to learn. In school, these problems can stand like roadblocks in the way of a child's ability to understand information and ideas, and to master skills that otherwise would be well within his or her grasp. A child who cannot copy a homework assignment quickly enough may leave class with only partial instructions and a great deal of frustration and anxiety. Another child may struggle endlessly to put just a few thoughts on paper, no matter how clearly he has conceived those and many other great ideas in his mind.

While children with writing disabilities may always struggle with these barriers, they can find ways around them. Computers are providing some of these avenues. Word processing technology has had probably the greatest influence on kids with learning disabilities, especially those who struggle with writing. Word processors allow kids who physically struggle to print words on paper to type their work and to make frequent changes or major revisions with far less effort. They also allow kids who normally have problems with legibility or spelling to produce neat, spell-checked copies of their work.

Many kids, however, struggle in ways that cannot be helped by word processors alone. A child whose spelling is so poor as to be unrecognizable will benefit little from a standard spell-check tool. Another child might find it nearly impossible to understand words she reads, while she grasps most everything she hears. Fortunately, there are computer tools that can help in some cases like these.

word prediction software - helps kids who struggle with spelling by providing a list of words to choose from based on the first few letters they type

voice recognition systems - translate speech into written text, allowing a child to say what she wants to write

speech synthesis software - translates written text into speech, allowing a child to listen to textual information instead of practicing it

planning and organizing software - provides a clear structure in which to organize thoughts and ideas prior to writing

(Find more information on assistive technologies in Resources.)

While these technologies can provide learning-disabled students with a more efficient way of communicating their ideas, they all have limitations. The most obvious of these shortcomings is that the technologies alone seem to have little or no positive effect on children's long-term skill level. This means, for instance, that using word-prediction software alone will not help a student become a better speller when he's not using the program. But accommodations like this in conjunction with other strategies can Improve skills.

In a company I previously worked at, one of my bosses was a big guy with an even bigger personality. He shared his opinions loudly and broadly, and one of his opinions was that we needed to stop using the word “breakthrough.”

“If I have to hear one more time about some new ‘breakthrough’ product, I will throw you out of this office myself!” he would bellow.

Years later, I can’t help but wonder what he would think of the word “innovation.”

In May 2012, the Wall Street Journal published an article (paywall) positing that, as the word “innovation” increased in usage, it decreased in meaning. The accompanying infographic said it all:

• 33,528: Times “innovation” was mentioned in quarterly and annual reports in the previous year
• 255: Books published in the last 90 days with “innovation” in the title
• 43%: Executives who say that their company has a chief innovation officer or similar role
• 28%: Business schools with “innovation,” “innovate” or “innovative” in their mission statements

That may seem like a lot, but remember, that data is nearly eight years old!

The desire for and investment in innovation in all its forms — accelerators, incubators, startup/venture studios, corporate venture capital teams — has only grown since 2012.

While this may seem like a good thing, the fact that the success rate of innovations hasn’t changed means that most people react to “innovation” the same way my boss reacted to “breakthrough”; if you bring it up, they throw you out.

To avoid getting thrown out of offices, one of the first things I do with my clients when we begin working to build innovation into an enduring capability within their companies is to reestablish what innovation is and is not.

Innovation IS something different that creates value.

When people hear the term “innovation,” they tend to think of new-to-the-world gadgets that fundamentally change how we live our lives. Yes, but it’s many other things, too. Let’s break down the definition:

• “Something” includes products and technology. It also includes services, processes, revenue models and loads of other things. Consider this: Many would argue, quite convincingly, that the Toyota Production System was one of the biggest innovations of the 20th century.
• “Different” often surprises people. After all, even Merriam Webster defines innovation as “something new.” But here’s the thing: One of the most commonly cited innovations, the iPhone, wasn’t new. Even Steve Jobs admitted it when he said in his keynote speech that Apple was introducing three products: a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a mobile phone and an internet-connected device. The iPhone was different, however, because it combined those three devices into one.
• “Creates value” is probably the most important part of the definition. All innovations solve problems. Solving problems creates value. If you solve a big problem, either because it’s a problem lots of people have or it’s a very painful problem a few people have or something in-between, you create a lot of value for others and for yourself.

Innovation IS NOT a one-size-fits-all term.

Think of it this way: Both a Kia and a Maserati are automobiles, but you wouldn’t expect to pay Kia’s price tag and get a Maserati (and vice versa). Similarly, both a convertible and a pickup truck are automobiles, but you wouldn’t use your convertible to carry building equipment to a construction site.

With a definition as broad as the one above, it’s possible for “innovation” to become even more meaningless as it gets applied to more things. That’s why, like automobiles, it’s important to identify different types of innovation.

There’s no universally accepted set of innovation types, which is why I recommend that companies consider defining at least three types that reflect their business and forward-looking strategies.

One of the most common sets of innovation categories is based on the degree of change required for implementation:

• Core innovation requires minimal or no change to the current business model (customers, offerings, revenue model, resources and processes). Also known as continuous or incremental innovation, this is the unglamorous but deeply important work of constantly improving what you do and how you do it.
• Adjacent innovation makes a significant change to at least one element of your business model. It could be changing who you serve, like expanding from interventional cardiologists to general cardiologists; what you offer, like expanding into a new market when launching a new product; or how you offer or deliver it.
• Radical innovation is the stuff that gets all the press. These innovations fundamentally change the business, like IBM moving from computers to business services. These innovations are high-risk and require a lot of time, money and patience to see to fruition. This type of innovation is also called “breakthrough” but, for obvious reasons, I shy away from that term. 

There are many things that need to be done to shift innovation from buzzword to business capability. Defining innovation (and at least three different types) is only the first step in moving from innovation theory and theater to building innovation into a true capability that drives sustainable growth.

Or, as I would tell my old boss, “It’s the first step. But it’s a breakthrough one.”

What is Dark Money?

“Dark money” refers to spending meant to influence political outcomes where the source of the money is not disclosed. Here’s how dark money makes its way into elections:

• Politically active nonprofits such as 501(c)(4)s are generally under no legal obligation to disclose their donors even if they spend to influence elections. When they choose not to reveal their sources of funding, they are considered dark money groups.
• Opaque nonprofits and shell companies may supply unlimited amounts of money to super PACs. While super PACs are legally required to disclose their donors, some of these groups are effectively dark money outlets when the bulk of their funding cannot be traced back to the original donor.

Dark money groups have spent roughly $1 billion — mainly on television and online ads and mailers — to influence elections in the decade since the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court ruling that gave rise to politically active nonprofits.

Citizens who are barraged with political messages paid for with money from undisclosed sources may not be able to consider the credibility and possible motives of the wealthy corporate or individual funders behind those messages.

Infographic: See how Dark Money flows between nonprofits

Types of Election Spending

Political jargon can get confusing. What you need to know about spending to influence elections is that there are two main types.

Hard money: traditional political spending

With this kind of spending, donors must be disclosed, contribution limits apply and organizations are allowed to coordinate their efforts to help elect a candidate. This is not dark money. These groups include candidate committees, political parties and traditional Political Action Committees (PAC).

Soft money: outside political spending

Outside spending — sometimes referred to as independent or non-coordinated spending — refers to political spending made by organizations and individuals other than the candidate campaigns themselves. All outside groups that aren't political parties — except for a few traditional PACs that make independent expenditures — are allowed to accept unlimited sums of money from individuals, corporations or unions. With these donations, groups may engage in a number of direct political activities, including buying advertising that advocates for or against a candidate, going door to door, or running phone banks. However, these organizations are not allowed to coordinate their spending with political candidates or parties. While some outside groups — like super PACs — are required to disclose their donors, others are not. These nondisclosing organizations are referred to as dark money groups.

As the chart below illustrates, dark money groups are growing in size, scope and share of election spending with each election cycle.

Graph: Outside Spending by Nondisclosing Groups, Excluding Party Committees

Based on data released daily by the FEC. Last updated on August 23, 2023.

Types of Dark Money Spending

Whenever money is spent in a political election with the purpose of influencing the decision of a voter and the source of the money is not disclosed, it is dark money. Common types of organizations that can spend in elections while shielding the sources of their money are outlined in greater detail below.

Political Nonprofits

Nonprofit, tax-exempt groups organized under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code may engage in varying amounts of political activity. Because they are not technically political organizations, they are generally not required to disclose their donors to the public. These groups, like super PACs, cannot coordinate spending with political parties or candidates, and therefore are allowed to raise unlimited sums of money from individuals, organizations and corporations.

Types of 501(c) Organizations

There are a number of types of 501(c) organizations with different structures, uses and capabilities. None of these organizations are required to publicly disclose the identity of their donors or sources of money though some disclose funding sources voluntarily.

• 501(c)(3) groups: These organizations operate for religious, charitable, scientific or educational purposes. These groups are not supposed to engage in any political activities, though some voter registration activities are permitted. Donations to these organizations are tax-deductible.

  Groups you may know: NAACP, Center for American Progress, Heritage Foundation, OpenSecrets

• 501(c)(4) groups: Often referred to as "social welfare" organizations, these nonprofits are the most common kind of dark money group. They may engage in political activities, as long as these activities do not become their primary purpose. The IRS has never defined what "primary" means, or how a percentage should be calculated, so the current de facto rule is 49.9 percent of overall expenditures, a limit that some groups have found easy to circumvent. Donations to these groups are not tax-deductible.

  Groups you may know: National Rifle Association, Planned Parenthood, Majority Forward, One Nation

• 501(c)(5) groups: These are labor and agricultural groups and may engage in political activities, as long as they adhere to the same general limits as 501(c)(4) organizations. They are generally funded by dues from union employees. Donations to these groups are not tax-deductible.

  Groups you may know: Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

• 501(c)(6) organizations: These are business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards and trade associations, which may engage in political activity as long as they adhere to the same general limits as 501(c)(4) organizations. Donations to these groups are not tax-deductible.

  Groups you may know: US Chamber of Commerce, American Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors

Graph: 501(c) Spending by Type

Based on data released daily by the FEC. Last updated on August 23, 2023.

Super PACs

Technically known as independent expenditure committees, super PACs may raise and spend an unlimited amount of money and accept contributions from companies, nonprofits, unions and individuals. Since super PACs cannot supply money directly to candidates, they are exempt from the limits on fundraising and spending that regular PACs must abide by.

Despite the sometimes inaccurate portrayal of them in the media, super PACs must identify all of their donors to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and thereby to the public. They must do so on a monthly or semiannual basis in non-federal election years and monthly in the year of an election. In that sense, super PACs are quite transparent, except when the donor is a shell corporation or a nonprofit that doesn't disclose its donors.

So-called pop-up super PACs formed shortly before an election may game disclosure deadlines, enabling them to spend unlimited sums influencing races without disclosing their funding sources until after voters go to the polls.

While super PACs are not allowed to coordinate any of their independent expenditures with a candidate's campaign, many single-candidate super PACs are run by individuals who are personally close to a candidate or formerly associated with a campaign.

Hybrid PACs (Carey Committees)

A hybrid PAC has the ability to operate both as a traditional PAC, contributing funds to a candidate's committee, and as a super PAC that makes independent expenditures. To do so, these committees must have a separate bank account for each purpose. The committee may collect unlimited contributions from almost any source for its independent expenditure account, but may not use those funds for its traditional PAC contributions.

LLCs and Shell Companies

Limited Liability Companies (LLC) perform a number of necessary business functions. However, their unique structure may easily be abused or used in order to hide less than above-board activity. In politics, LLCs are sometimes established to help disguise the identity of a donor or source of money spent on behalf of a political candidate.

LLCs are governed by state law, but generally, minimal information is necessary to file the required articles of incorporation. In states such as Delaware, New Mexico, Nevada and Wyoming, LLCs may be incorporated without even disclosing the names of members or managers.

This lack of accountability and transparency have helped disguise the source of millions of dollars in political spending. Shell companies make major contributions to super PACs each election cycle, leaving voters in the dark while the recipient often knows the donor's true identity.

Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the OpenSecrets. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact OpenSecrets: info@crp.org

It’s pretty easy to program the Raspberry Pi Pico in Python, or you can use C or C++ if you so desire. However, if you fancy the easy language of yesteryear, you might like PiccoloBASIC from [Gary Sims].

Putting it simply, piccoloBASIC is a BASIC interpreter that runs on the Raspberry Pi Pico. It features all the good bits of BASIC such as GOTO and GOSUB commands, that fancier languages kind of look down upon. It’s also got enough built-in routines to handle regular programming life, like sleeps, delays, a basic pseudorandom number source, trigonometric functions, and the ability to deal with floating point numbers. As far as microcontroller tasks go, it’s got rudimentary support for talking to GPIOs right now via the pinon and pinoff commands. However, it’s probably not the way to go if you want to bit-bang an SD card to within an inch of its speed rating.

Down the road, [Gary] hopes to add support for features like the Pico’s I2C, SPI, and PIO hardware, along with networking protocols and Bluetooth. PEEK and POKE are also hopefully on the way for those that like to fiddle with memory directly.

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a different yet similar take, explore the port of MMBasic to the Pico platform. Video after the break.

Continue practicing “A BASIC Interpreter For The Raspberry Pi Pico” →

I got started in astrophotography in July 2015, when I received my first telescope as a gift: an 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain on an altitude-azimuth mount. After nearly falling over, seeing Saturn for the first time, I decided I must attach a camera to the telescope somehow so I could share that beauty with the world.

Astrophotography is often associated with expensive telescopes, robotic mounts, and highly technical challenges. But getting started can be easier than you think: All you need is a basic DSLR and a tripod.

Star trails

Images of star trails are stunning and easy to make. Start with your DSLR and a short-focal-length lens (a stock 18–55mm zoom lens at 18mm is perfect) on a tripod, and pick an area of sky. Capturing the motion of stars as they wheel around the celestial poles is particularly mesmerizing, so facing north (or south, in the Southern Hemisphere) is a good place to start. A nice foreground, such as a barn or a tent or even a distant tree line or mountain, will make for a captivating image.

In Manual mode, set the exposure time to 30 seconds and choose a relatively high ISO, such as 1600 or 3200. Use the widest f/stop, or stop down one or two if you are using a very fast lens, such as f/1.8. If your camera has a built-in multiple-exposure mode, use that to trigger it. If not, an intervalometer is an indispensable tool for all kinds of astronomy purposes. Intervalometers can be programmed to activate the shutter for you (rather than you manually depressing the shutter button), including in Bulb mode, where you can set an arbitrary exposure time. You can get an intervalometer for around $20.

Take long exposures — 15 to 60 seconds to avoid saturation — for at least one hour, although you can go all night. I recommend taking images in JPEG format for ease of processing, or you can convert raw shots to JPEGs later.

Processing star trail images is simple through free software called Startrails (www.startrails.de). Simply load all the photos, press the Startrails button, choose the mode, and watch the magic. You can import the final image into Photoshop or another image processor to tweak colors, contrast, and other details.

Time-lapse videos

This same technique can be used to take time-lapse videos of objects rising or setting, such as the Milky Way, the constellation Orion, or a crescent Moon. In this case, choose a short enough exposure that the stars don’t trail as much. (Fifteen seconds is good for an 18mm lens.) Otherwise, use the same the settings and technique as for star trails.

There are many free and paid programs to turn individual frames into a video. A favorite of mine is TimeLapse DeFlicker ($35 at www.timelapsedeflicker.com), which smooths variation in light between exposures. Add some space-themed music for a fun video of the night!

Nightscapes

Nightscape (or skyscape) images are wide-field shots of the night sky with a fascinating foreground, such as mountains, buildings, or anything else you might think of. Nightscape photos are best taken in raw format and from dark locations, far from cities.

A fast camera lens, such as a 14mm f/2, can capture the Milky Way rising using a single 20-second exposure. For an even more stunning image, photographers might take a single long exposure of the foreground — say 30 or 60 seconds, while lighting the landscape in some way — and then take several 15-second exposures of the sky to keep the stars from trailing. Stacking software can align and combine the sky exposures into one bright, high-contrast image; the photographer then replaces the sky in the foreground frame with the stacked sky frame.

Eight years after my first astroimaging experience, I now run four automated imaging rigs in my yard, with even bigger plans for the future. And I am thrilled to start sharing my knowledge and love of astronomy here!

Making the block just slightly denser would cause it to sink to the bottom.

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