Upgrating our seminar room

Ultimate list for immediate purchase

1.  Camera: Tongevo with 20x zoom (~ $420) 
2.  Microphone:   Suphyee (~ $70)   
3.  Rack:  Furino (~ $30)
4.  Speakers:   Creative Pebble (~ $18)

We shall discuss a computer later.

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What we would need (ideas and finds): 

1.  Camera: Tongevo with 20x zoom, $420. 
[alternatively  Prisual  (30x zoom, good ratings)  $700]

2.  Microphone:   Suphyee, $70   
[Alternatives:  Lavalier 2 $110.]. 

3.  Rack:  Furino ($30)
[Tribesigns  ($110).  Which is more robust?]

4.  Speakers with a wide Hz range for the computer?  (< $30).   Creative Pebble?

5. MOST IMPORTANT:  A decent computer with HDMI output and a good sound card. With a variety of ports. And a good keyboard.  One that actually works.   ($1000 +  ?)  Our current computer behaves erratically, it takes sometimes 15 min before things are set.    

Any other suggestions or remarks?  (We have to read carefully the customers opinions).

A whim:  what about buying Maple (math program) for the seminar room computer?...

Making animations

ImageJ -- create a movie (ave, gif) from a stack of pictures

ImageJ Wiki -  the main site

Download from here  
Coursea -- learn ImageJ

Instructions on their website.

Excerpt from "Make a movie using ImageJ":

save your images in a folder.

open the images in ImageJ:  

  click on File>Import>Image Sequence...    

  click on any of the file names that appear in a list

  to make sure everything's ok, check the opened stack by pressing. ...

  save the AVI file by clicking File>Save as...>AVI.

Other animation creation software

Animation desk --gif and cartoon

"Best gif makers" -- a list 
"7 Best Free Image Sequence To Video" for Windows
FFmpeg -- open source.  Record, convert and stream audio & video

Manim -- to make professional math animations 

   -->  Manim -- the community version

                    -->  Documentation

Intro -- blog by Bex T.

YouTube videos by Benjamin 

YouTube videos by Brian 

Also: May learn here  (pay $15)

How to use Python graphics in HTML

Supercomputing at SIU

Check it out:

https://oit.siu.edu/rcc/

including:

List of things available

Anybody interested in doing something?...
Perhaps we should stat with learning how one can used.
If you know anything, please share it.


BTW,  to review Jupiter, watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maLy3WI7B34

Help

Online teaching tools

We may use this space for sharing our ideas, experiences, questions, and answers as we get prepared to online teaching.  Please use the comments area for this purpose.

Questions to our administrators (who seem to left us to ourselves):

1. Which software solutions are available at SIU? Are new purchases considered?
2. Are there docu-cameras available?  Where?  Would SIU buy some for Math Dept? Should we buy our own for preparation videos at home? 
3. Same question concerning other software.  How to record and edit videos?  Can they be posted on personal blogs?  Elsewhere? (I run a blog for every class.)   Etc., etc.
4. Can we get a professional help (training and Q&A session)  that will address our specific math teaching needs?  For instance in Nc 356 for all math instructors, some time at the beginning of the next week.
5. Is there a chance that the final exams can be taken in May on campus? That would be a great deal! It would solve the major headache-inducing problem.

For now, potential software to consider: 

• ZOOM:  A good short intro.
• ECHO 360:  Short intro video for SIU users.   
                        See also this 12-part tutorial.
                        Also, on Universal Capture.
                        Center for Teaching Excellence - SIU
• CANVAS:  Yet another system

Whiteboards for research communication

• Whiteboard -- simple, free
• Webwhiteboard - more complex (colors, etc)
• Awwap - very popular among researchers
• Ziteboard -- also more complex
• Scribblar -- advanced (great for math tutoring) but paid 

How to make your own  videos:

• A  drawing/writing software, e.g., OpenBoard:  See here a tutorial.  Download here.  
• A screen recording software (like OBS,  CamStudio, or Free Cam).  
• And video editing (OpenShot looks good)
• For precise writing, you will need a writing tablet, e.g.,  Wacom (~$70)

PDF Scanners

• Notebloc

SIU administration updates 

Happy New Year!

Interesting article in The Atlantic:

• https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/the-scientific-paper-is-obsolete/556676/ 

The second half promotes Jupyter and Python as the future everyday tool in computing.

See also how to produce images with python  (found by Ph.F.):

• https://blog.jupyter.org/ipycanvas-a-python-canvas-for-jupyter-bbb51e4777f7

WINTER BREAK

If you want to learn programming Processing
try this fantastic series of youtube lectures by A. Shiff.
He actually follows P2.js,  a sister version of Processing.
They are almost identical.

Start here 
(Youtube lets you speed up the videos).

You might like also this nice short intro to the online version of P5.js.

WEEK 8

About plotting in Jupyter:

                                  Plot1.pdf 

Have a great, pleasant and productive break!