Using OBS for Online Teaching

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is a featured and popular used to lay out your screen for recording and streaming. V26 of OBS Studio was released mid October 2020, and it ships with a virtual camera feature (windows). This allows you to use the OBS Studio output as the camera input for other programs (e.g., video conferencing software). For teaching purposes, this means you have much more control when you are trying to teach online (and in person) since OBS gives you many options on what and how something is presented.

Upgrading Marlin 2.0+ with Mesh Bed Levling CR-10s

Download software Arduino: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software Marlin and configurations: https://marlinfw.org/meta/download/ You need the Marlin firmware in the “Downloads” column and the configurations from the “Configuration” column. Video guide from “The First Layer”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rOZpOiWYxM Load up printer-specific configurations In the Configurations navigate to config > examples > Creality > CR-10s and copy-paste the files into the Marlin-2.0.x > Marlin folder. It should prompt you to overwrite the existing Configuration.

Python Environments with Conda

Anaconda (and these days miniconda) has been my go-to for getting Python and the scientific/data science software stack installed on my computer (even on my Arch linux machine!). When it first came out it was the first time I was able to install and use pandas and the rest of the scipy stack. I’ve stuck with it ever since. It was also the first time I used (and understood) virtual environments.

R Hex Bowtie

If you were at rstudio::conf you may have seen me walking around with my conference badge and wondered what everything is.

My time as an RStudio Intern

I’ve had a lot of time to think about my time as an RStudio intern. When I do, I usually end up with a few words in my head before I’m flooded with (good) emotions and struggle with finding the words to convey my thoughts. The last time I tried to write something like this went a little like this. What I can say is this: whatever you thought it was like working at RStudio, is (probably) true.

Table of Model Results using kable and kableExtra

I’m at the R/Medicine conference (no it’s not a Reddit thing) and got to help Alison Hill with her R Markdown for Medicine workshop. One of the questions I got to tinker with was making tables used to report model results. One technique I learned while doing my MPH was to add variables to your model in blocks. It reduces the number of tests you need to perform, and is more meaningful than saying “I ran stepwise”.

R or Python, which One to Learn (First)?

I’ve been asked a few times lately about whether one should learn R or Python. Channeling David Robinson’s post, I’m writing a blog post about it. When you’ve written the same code 3 times, write a function When you’ve given the same in-person advice 3 times, write a blog post — David Robinson (@drob) November 9, 2017 The only definitive answer I have is if you’re planning to do web deveopment, and you’re somehow only picking between R and Python, pick Python (any of the Python web frameworks, Flask, Django, Pyramid, and then ask yourself why not JavaScript?

Git Squash and Merge Workflow

I have a love-hate relationship with Git. It took me years of following cookbooks and following strict set of commands to get a sense of how it works. I still have to spend time wrangling Git at times, but I’ve gotten to the point where I’m just annoyed, instead of scared. Here is the branching-squash-and-merge workflow I’ve been using at RStudio. Also, sorry I may be glossing over some of the Git basics in this post…

Inconsistencies with the == operator in R

One of the cool things about working on gradethis (grader need to be renamed) is that we end up doing things that aren’t common in R (i.e., grading and comparing code). I discovered an inconsistency with the == operator when comparing (long) R expressions. A quick primer on expressions In R, you can create an expression using the quote() function. This is essentially the code that R will execute.

Mounting Oclus Rift Sensors on the Wall

I was initially going to get some small bookshelves to put my Oculus sensors on, but you can take your Oculus sensors off the stand! This way you wont have an awkward way to mount the sensors against the wall. I also have a 3rd rear sensor, but when I was (re)setting up my sensors, I ended up just leaving it on my desk. The parts list below was from me shopping at Home Depot assuming I was going to mount all 3 against the wall.