Experimenting with a tty Connection for R

I presented twice at this years useR!. The first was a regular talk on the tty connection patch for R. The talk went smoothly, despite a live demonstration using the DLP-232PC data acquisition module (datasheet). The slides for this presentation are here: shotwell-tty-useR-2011.pdf

The image above is a photograph of the devices I demonstrated during my presentation. There are two DLP-232PC modules, two DS1820 digital thermometers (small black D-shaped device), two blue 4.7k Ohm resisters (i.e., yellow, purple, black, and brown stripes), and a small breadboard. I brought duplicate devices in case one failed. On the left and right ends are the mini-USB connectors. If there is interest, I could write a separate post to completely reproduce the demonstration, including where to buy and how to assemble the hardware, how to apply the tty connection patch to R, and the R code to collect temperature readings.

Reading sas7bdat Data Files in R, without SAS!

The second was a lightning talk (a 15 slide version of Pecha Kucha) regarding the sas7bdat package for R, which is a compatibility study of the corresponding database format (i.e., files having the extension .sas7bdat). This session was intense, but I think everything came out nearly as I had prepared. The slides for this talk are here (omitting some title slide artwork; If you didn’t see the original, then I encourage you to ask someone who has, or send me an email ): shotwell-sas7bdat-useR-2011.pdf

Comments on useR! 2011

This was a very successful conference, as was last year’s in Gaithersburg. The useR! series have been some of the most productive conferences that I’ve attended (i.e., in terms of sharing my own work, learning about others’ work, and networking). I want to send a big thanks to Heather Turner (chair of the program committee), Tom Nichols (chair of the local organizing committee), and all the members of the R community who made this year’s an excellent event.