Published in Classy Code Blog·Dec 14, 2021The Window Watcher — A Smarter Office using LoRaWANThis post describes how to leverage The Things Network, off-the-shelf battery- powered sensors and an Android tablet to smarten up your office. Full source code of the Android app is available in the companion repository at https://github.com/classycodeoss/windowwatcher. The Problem One common theme in a shared office, apart from cleaning, is making sure…Lorawan7 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·Aug 25, 2021Using Touch ID from JavaRecently I needed to extend an existing Java desktop application to support Touch ID on macOS. This is a short write-up on how to access native macOS features from Java, with Touch ID as an example. The approach described is general and can be used for other frameworks as well…Java5 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·May 5, 2020Scanning Barcodes in Progressive Web Apps using AngularLow-cost, easy to deploy and update — it’s never been easier to bring code scanning to mobile web apps. No native app, code signing and AppStore review processes to worry about. …Angular10 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·Feb 20, 2020Playing Pong with Ultra WidebandA short introduction to Ultra Wideband and a not so serious application of the technology, using the Decawave UWB development kit. Last year’s iPhone 11 announcement contained a surprise announcement without any of the usual fanfare. …Ultra Wideband8 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·Feb 5, 2019Going Freelance as a Software Engineer — Some AdviceSo you’re fed up with your job, or just up for something new, and thinking about going freelance? Then this post is for you. I have been working as a Software Engineer in Switzerland for more than 10 years, as an employee in multiple mid-sized software shops, as a freelancer…Freelancing7 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·May 30, 2018A Modern Architecture for Testing BLE DevicesOne of the more interesting customer projects that we did lately was the development of a test bench for a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) peripheral. This post is about the software architecture that we employed in building it. …Angular6 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·May 28, 2018Create a custom iBeacon using nRF52 and ABSniffer USB DongleThis article shows how to write a custom iBeacon firmware for the nRF52 chipset and deploy it to an ABSniffer USB dongle. Full code is provided on GitHub. We frequently use Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52 chipset to prototype and test Bluetooth Low Energy devices. …Ibeacon7 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·Jan 17, 2018The Atari 2600: A Personal Journey into the PastHow I rediscovered my first game console and wrote a small game for it. Childhood Memories I was born in the early eighties and spent the vast majority of my childhood in Venezuela. My dad was offered a job in the booming oil industry and we all moved down there and lived…Atari11 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·Jan 9, 2018iBeacon detection rate on iOSOn iOS, apps use the CoreLocation framework to detect proximity to an iBeacon. The detection process is completely opaque for an app, and Apple does not provide any information about the time it takes for an iBeacon to be detected. …Ibeacon7 min read
Published in Classy Code Blog·May 23, 2017Undocumented Android 7 BLE Behavior ChangesTL;DR version: Android 7 (Nougat) introduces changes in the BLE scanning behavior, aimed at stopping abusive apps. These changes are not documented so might catch some folks by surprise. What we usually offer our clients when we develop software for them is monitoring upcoming Android and iOS versions for changes…Bluetooth Low Energy3 min read
