Zoom Brown Bag: A Friendly Introduction to Git and GitHub (for non-programmers… who have to program).

Abstract

Although programming may have once been a niche skill, the abundance of coding languages, environments, and libraries that are geared for practically any scientific pursuit has made programming an indispensable tool in any field. Being able to code one’s own software tools, whether to run or automate experiments, perform analysis, visualize results, etc., is an empowering and invaluable skill.  For those who pick up coding outside of a CS department or later in their careers, they may not be aware of some of the common “best practices” in software development.  Here will be presented an introduction to source control, and the specific web-based repository host for sharing and tracking code called GitHub.  In addition to describing just what Git is, I’ll cover why it might be useful for you and/or your lab, and how to create and utilize a repository on GitHub.

Improving Zoom accessibility for people with hearing impairments

People with hearing impairments often use lipreading and speechreading to improve speech comprehension. This approach is helpful but only works if the speaker’s face and mouth are clearly visible. For the benefit of people with hearing impairments on Zoom calls, please enable your device’s camera whenever you are speaking on Zoom, and face the camera while you speak. (Feel free to disable your camera when you aren’t speaking.)