I've looked at those tutorials earlier today and they look good. I'm surprised they didn't get copied to the new parallax site. Or at least go through them and update them to include simpleIDE.
I have noticed that their learn site doesn't have much related to spin! Although I should mention that the book that comes with the PEK is an excellent intro to spin and the Propeller is available for purchase in book form or a free download as a PDF!
I'm confused. The broken links aren't on a Parallax website. I don't think that it's the responsibility of Parallax to maintain links on websites that they don't own or manage.
It is actually a Parallax problem. It indicates that documents don't stay in place. It means that even search engines may give you dead links. That 3party links break is a symptom of the underlying problem, i.e. the disorganization of where documents are to be found. Not to mention that some have been not only moved, but are currently missing.
You won't see this to the same scale, if at all, for well-organised vendor sites. It's important to straighten this up. There is no point defending a setup that is so clearly under-performing relative to other sites (check e.g. the microhip, atmel, or TI sites that I mentioned earlier - and I simply picked those at random!)
atexit8,
We no longer host the tutorials that had been available from http://www.parallaxsemiconductor.com, because they are outdated and no longer supported. We do not recommend using them to learn how to program the Propeller microcontroller, as they reference programming tools that are not supported and there are is some known errata.
We currently have a Spin programming tutorial built into the Propeller Tool. In versions 1.2.6 and higher, it is accessible through the help menu, by clicking on 'Help', 'Propeller Help…', then 'Spin Programming Tutorial'.
Once you are familiar with Spin itself, we have a series of examples, called Microcontroller KickStarts, using our sensors with multiple boards and programming languages, which are listed on the right-side of the page at: http://learn.parallax.com/KickStart. They include Spin code running on the Propeller QuickStart.
No matter the language or the board, if you need further assistance you can contact our support team using the phone or email as listed at http://www.parallax.com/support. Of course, the other forums members enjoy lending a helping hand from time to time too, so don't be afraid to ask here too.
Tim & TMT: Your constant criticism of Parallax is what speaks volumes. Sure, everything can and will be improved over time. It would be nice to hear some constructive words instead of negative ones.
Amen! If you can't find something here - a post is all it takes to get answers quick and often the come directly from Parallax. On the occasions that I have called for help - I found the Parallax folks willing to do most anything to help.
atexit8,
We no longer host the tutorials that had been available from http://www.parallaxsemiconductor.com, because they are outdated and no longer supported. We do not recommend using them to learn how to program the Propeller microcontroller, as they reference programming tools that are not supported and there are is some known errata.
We currently have a Spin programming tutorial built into the Propeller Tool. In versions 1.2.6 and higher, it is accessible through the help menu, by clicking on 'Help', 'Propeller Help…', then 'Spin Programming Tutorial'.
Once you are familiar with Spin itself, we have a series of examples, called Microcontroller KickStarts, using our sensors with multiple boards and programming languages, which are listed on the right-side of the page at: http://learn.parallax.com/KickStart. They include Spin code running on the Propeller QuickStart.
No matter the language or the board, if you need further assistance you can contact our support team using the phone or email as listed at http://www.parallax.com/support. Of course, the other forums members enjoy lending a helping hand from time to time too, so don't be afraid to ask here too.
— David Carrier
Parallax Inc.
David,
Thanks for the pointer about the spin tutorial in the prop tool. I'm sad to admit that I've completely forgotten about that!!
The QuickStart is a current and active Parallax product. Go to parallax.com and enter your UPC code or even just the 40000 part and one of the first results will lead you to the product page where there is a link to download demo code for the "buttons and lights".
Just so you know, there's nothing terribly special about the QuickStart. It's just one of many Propeller based boards. I actually built my own board and learned to program it using not much more information than what is included in the downloadable Propeller Tool programming software. And I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to this kind of stuff.
I backtracked my search and did eventually get to the info I needed.
I reexamined an unopened QuickStart package and found I had overlooked the '/rt' at the end of the link printed on the package.
Once I reentered that address it got me to the "RetailTrade" page which has the look and feel of everything else Parallax with somewhat different options and links. This is one of the Google innovations that shows you what they want based on where you came from to get there.
I entered the address off a BOE and got an "Education" page that I can find no way to reach from the Parallax.com home page. From the P.com home page there is a teach tab but the page it displays is not the "Education" page I got from the product.
I am still not happy that I have to open my computer to Google to be able to buy things online from this site. How would you feel if you stopped at the Quick Mart for a soda and chips and the cashier demanded to look inside your wallet before checking your purchase?
I take the 'personal' in Personal Computer very much to heart.
Tim
- In matters of style swim with the current. In matters of principle stand like a rock. - Benjamin Franklin
I am still not happy that I have to open my computer to Google to be able to buy things online from this site. How would you feel if you stopped at the Quick Mart for a soda and chips and the cashier demanded to look inside your wallet before checking your purchase?
I take the 'personal' in Personal Computer very much to heart.
Tim
Install Ghostery to stop the trackers and AdBlock Plus to stop the annoying ads embedded in web pages and your Internet experiences will be much more pleasant.
We do not recommend using them to learn how to program the Propeller microcontroller, as they reference programming tools that are not supported and there are is some known errata.
Concise answer.
Once I opened the links OBC provided and saw tools that are no longer supported, I realized why the QS tutorials had been deprecated.
Thank you for the official statement. I hope it answeres the OP's question.
It is actually a Parallax problem. It indicates that documents don't stay in place. It means that even search engines may give you dead links. That 3party links break is a symptom of the underlying problem...
Documents don't need to stay in place, and it's also impractical on a site that's evolving to meet the needs of changing Internet browsing. BUT, that doesn't mean there should be dead links anywhere. (The following is not to you, but to Parallax and anyone who makes Web sites.) If document locations change, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use a 301 permanent redirect to the new location. This does two very important things, while still following good search engine practice:
1. It provides users with a more productive experience. With a 404 Not Found, most surfers will not use the search feature to then find what they're looking for. They'll click off. Lost sale.
2. It keeps "link juice" to the Parallax site. Not found links carry no weight in the search engines, and it simply allows competitors and other sites to rank higher for keywords that should rightfully belong to Parallax.
Implementing the redirect is extraordinarily easy, especially using a CMS. Rather than deliver a 404 Not Found page, the CMS catches the lost link, looks to see if there's a new page, and if so delivers that page. In doing so, it also reports back a "301" code to let search engines and others know the page location has permanently changed. This is the proper way of handling the situation, and is what Google and other search engines recommend.
"persistent search for learning tools" is ok :thumb:
... isnot a good way to ask for help from the myriad of Propeller experts here. All of which are volunteers (besides Parallaxians of course). They help thousands of people each year on these forums get "up to speed" on hundreds of products - Many of which are not made by Parallax.
Tim - Within these Forums, you are are surrounded by the most generous/helpful/kind-hearted Propeller Experts in the world. Treat them with respect and they will rally to your side and help get you up and going - on the Propeller, on the BASIC Stamp, or on devices that we don't even have anything to do with. I see it on a daily basis. Try it and see!
This does not mean that anybody will hold your hand the entire time (although sometimes they do!), but I'm confident that if you're persistent and kind - you'll get the help and direction you are looking for.
So, do a "do over" - and let's see if our community is what I say it is.
I could be wrong, but maybe not. Let's see.
-MattG
Matt,
I'll bet a $10 bill against a dime that you and the vast majority of others on these forums see a different Parallax than I do.
The reason I can safely make that bet is that I have no Google Token associated with my login address. That is the reason I can not buy things online from Parallax.
I let a friend talk me into trying Google. The fact that they were giving away a free phone number did influence my decision.
The first thing I noticed was a lot of disk activity that had never been on my computer before. The second thing I noticed was that familiar web pages now had a different look. Research revealed the secret about the Google Token and I immediately wiped and restored my computer to a previous state.
I had a choice to make as a result of my research for a project I am working on. I decided to go with 'made in USA' instead of another globally know teaching system. I am having second thoughts about sticking to that mindset in the future.
On the OP's original issues of links on parallaxsemiconductor going AWOL: Sorry, but the way this is being handled is completely wrong.
First off, parallaxsemiconductor appears to be invisibly mapped to parallax.com, causing duplicate content issues with search engines. Second, as noted, links from third-part pages are being unnecessarily lost, depriving potential customers any benefit of the product. Each of these backlinks would have otherwise raised Parallax's ranking in search engine results. Incoming links like this should be treated like the gold bullion they are.
The "obscurity" of such sites with these back links is not relevant. Google and Bing and other search engines measure the Web differently. Such "obscure" sites can actually carry considerable authority and page ranking weight. IOW, none of them should be dismissed. Besides, a dead link on some Google Sites page is simply representative of a systemic problem. What about a dead link on Hackaday?
I understand David's concerns that the old appnotes on 'semi' are deprecated, but A) there should be a mechanism to not duplicate content across these two domains, and any links to the appnotes should specifically steer visitors to new pages on parallax.com that provide the intended information. It's debatable whether out-of-date information should continue to be sourced, but personally I'd do it, with a big note on the new landing page regarding no support, and so on.
Install Ghostery to stop the trackers and AdBlock Plus to stop the annoying ads embedded in web pages and your Internet experiences will be much more pleasant.
Do nothing and you are at the mercy of others.
mr,
Instead of adding even more stuff to my computer I simply use IE in Private Mode. I also do not click on links found on a site or sent to me in emails. Only our older male sibling and his stooges will have any luck tracking my web activity.
To do actual work I unplug the DSL and work with and save to thumb drives. That is a habit I developed when their were 360K floppies and at that time I was mostly concerned about HD failure.
If I am interested in something I study where the link wants to take me and then close that session and start another to go to that site and burrow down to what I want.
For obvious reasons I do not FB, YouTube or Twitter.
This thread has been answered by David to the best of our capability. The material in question was provided already by other forum members in links or downloads, and now posts are going off-topic.
Your suggestions to our IT department should be made to our IT department directly using webmaster@parallax.com, or in a new thread through the Suggestions to Parallax forum.
P.S. Working off line and using thumb drives will not save you. Have a Google for stuxnet to see how that worked out for the Iranian nuke plant.
Almost all leaks of data come about with inside help. There are also the horror stories about employees finding thumb drives in the parking lot or finding a neat little game they want to have on their office computer. In my time working field service I have on occasion simply reported corrupted files and reloaded the system to save a poor night shift person from getting fired. Many sites I worked only had access via removable media in the most restricted and constantly monitored locations.
If I told you what I am working on then men in black SUVs would come and haul you away<VBG>. I am surprised that they seem wiling to let me complete my work. My partner and I both checked with ATF to make sure no laws were being broken. Both opinions received cleared us to proceed.
The patent on the concept is about to expire so my partner and I will have to rely on Trademark and Copyright protections. If I can get lucky with a GQ interview we might well have another Duk Dyna here<GD&R>.
I'll bet a $10 bill against a dime that you and the vast majority of others on these forums see a different Parallax than I do.
The reason I can safely make that bet is that I have no Google Token associated with my login address. That is the reason I can not buy things online from Parallax.
I let a friend talk me into trying Google. The fact that they were giving away a free phone number did influence my decision.
The first thing I noticed was a lot of disk activity that had never been on my computer before. The second thing I noticed was that familiar web pages now had a different look. Research revealed the secret about the Google Token and I immediately wiped and restored my computer to a previous state.
I had a choice to make as a result of my research for a project I am working on. I decided to go with 'made in USA' instead of another globally know teaching system. I am having second thoughts about sticking to that mindset in the future.
What's a google token? I don't think I have one and if I did I would delete it. Can you tell me how to determine if I have a google token and how to remove/delete/cancel it if I do? I (as well as a number of friends) have bought many an item from Parallax by simply going to their website and ordering online as I would from any other site.
Instead of adding even more stuff to my computer I simply use IE in Private Mode. I also do not click on links found on a site or sent to me in emails. Only our older male sibling and his stooges will have any luck tracking my web activity.
To do actual work I unplug the DSL and work with and save to thumb drives. That is a habit I developed when their were 360K floppies and at that time I was mostly concerned about HD failure.
If I am interested in something I study where the link wants to take me and then close that session and start another to go to that site and burrow down to what I want.
For obvious reasons I do not FB, YouTube or Twitter.
Tim
I understand healthy paranoia about online security and have a number of various linux accounts on my machines that I use when going to different places and when dealing with online sites that involve banking or other financial sites I have virtual machines that I set up in VirtualBox that I created as "immutable". This means that sites can write cookies, inject viruses, trojans, etc while I'm using it but none of that actually gets written to physical disk and are lost when I power down the VM.
What's a google token? I don't think I have one and if I did I would delete it. Can you tell me how to determine if I have a google token and how to remove/delete/cancel it if I do? I (as well as a number of friends) have bought many an item from Parallax by simply going to their website and ordering online as I would from any other site.
And when I don't want to type, I just call (888) 512-1024. I love to talk to the people there.
This thread has been answered by David to the best of our capability. The material in question was provided already by other forum members in links or downloads, and now posts are going off-topic.
Your suggestions to our IT department should be made to our IT department directly using webmaster@parallax.com, or in a new thread through the Suggestions to Parallax forum.
Comments
Though Parallax has stated that they haven't dropped Spin most of the activities and code have been oriented towards Propeller C. These books also have Spin code in them.
http://www.parallax.com/product/122-32002
http://www.parallax.com/product/32316
Harprit, who wrote the first book also has a book on Propeller Assembly if you are interested.
You won't see this to the same scale, if at all, for well-organised vendor sites. It's important to straighten this up. There is no point defending a setup that is so clearly under-performing relative to other sites (check e.g. the microhip, atmel, or TI sites that I mentioned earlier - and I simply picked those at random!)
We no longer host the tutorials that had been available from http://www.parallaxsemiconductor.com, because they are outdated and no longer supported. We do not recommend using them to learn how to program the Propeller microcontroller, as they reference programming tools that are not supported and there are is some known errata.
We currently have a Spin programming tutorial built into the Propeller Tool. In versions 1.2.6 and higher, it is accessible through the help menu, by clicking on 'Help', 'Propeller Help…', then 'Spin Programming Tutorial'.
Once you are familiar with Spin itself, we have a series of examples, called Microcontroller KickStarts, using our sensors with multiple boards and programming languages, which are listed on the right-side of the page at: http://learn.parallax.com/KickStart. They include Spin code running on the Propeller QuickStart.
If you want to try C, the tutorials are at http://learn.parallax.com/propellerc.
No matter the language or the board, if you need further assistance you can contact our support team using the phone or email as listed at http://www.parallax.com/support. Of course, the other forums members enjoy lending a helping hand from time to time too, so don't be afraid to ask here too.
— David Carrier
Parallax Inc.
Amen! If you can't find something here - a post is all it takes to get answers quick and often the come directly from Parallax. On the occasions that I have called for help - I found the Parallax folks willing to do most anything to help.
David,
Thanks for the pointer about the spin tutorial in the prop tool. I'm sad to admit that I've completely forgotten about that!!
Mea culpa.
I backtracked my search and did eventually get to the info I needed.
I reexamined an unopened QuickStart package and found I had overlooked the '/rt' at the end of the link printed on the package.
Once I reentered that address it got me to the "RetailTrade" page which has the look and feel of everything else Parallax with somewhat different options and links. This is one of the Google innovations that shows you what they want based on where you came from to get there.
I entered the address off a BOE and got an "Education" page that I can find no way to reach from the Parallax.com home page. From the P.com home page there is a teach tab but the page it displays is not the "Education" page I got from the product.
I am still not happy that I have to open my computer to Google to be able to buy things online from this site. How would you feel if you stopped at the Quick Mart for a soda and chips and the cashier demanded to look inside your wallet before checking your purchase?
I take the 'personal' in Personal Computer very much to heart.
Tim
- In matters of style swim with the current. In matters of principle stand like a rock. - Benjamin Franklin
Install Ghostery to stop the trackers and AdBlock Plus to stop the annoying ads embedded in web pages and your Internet experiences will be much more pleasant.
Do nothing and you are at the mercy of others.
Concise answer.
Once I opened the links OBC provided and saw tools that are no longer supported, I realized why the QS tutorials had been deprecated.
Thank you for the official statement. I hope it answeres the OP's question.
Documents don't need to stay in place, and it's also impractical on a site that's evolving to meet the needs of changing Internet browsing. BUT, that doesn't mean there should be dead links anywhere. (The following is not to you, but to Parallax and anyone who makes Web sites.) If document locations change, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use a 301 permanent redirect to the new location. This does two very important things, while still following good search engine practice:
1. It provides users with a more productive experience. With a 404 Not Found, most surfers will not use the search feature to then find what they're looking for. They'll click off. Lost sale.
2. It keeps "link juice" to the Parallax site. Not found links carry no weight in the search engines, and it simply allows competitors and other sites to rank higher for keywords that should rightfully belong to Parallax.
Implementing the redirect is extraordinarily easy, especially using a CMS. Rather than deliver a 404 Not Found page, the CMS catches the lost link, looks to see if there's a new page, and if so delivers that page. In doing so, it also reports back a "301" code to let search engines and others know the page location has permanently changed. This is the proper way of handling the situation, and is what Google and other search engines recommend.
Matt,
I'll bet a $10 bill against a dime that you and the vast majority of others on these forums see a different Parallax than I do.
The reason I can safely make that bet is that I have no Google Token associated with my login address. That is the reason I can not buy things online from Parallax.
I let a friend talk me into trying Google. The fact that they were giving away a free phone number did influence my decision.
The first thing I noticed was a lot of disk activity that had never been on my computer before. The second thing I noticed was that familiar web pages now had a different look. Research revealed the secret about the Google Token and I immediately wiped and restored my computer to a previous state.
I had a choice to make as a result of my research for a project I am working on. I decided to go with 'made in USA' instead of another globally know teaching system. I am having second thoughts about sticking to that mindset in the future.
First off, parallaxsemiconductor appears to be invisibly mapped to parallax.com, causing duplicate content issues with search engines. Second, as noted, links from third-part pages are being unnecessarily lost, depriving potential customers any benefit of the product. Each of these backlinks would have otherwise raised Parallax's ranking in search engine results. Incoming links like this should be treated like the gold bullion they are.
The "obscurity" of such sites with these back links is not relevant. Google and Bing and other search engines measure the Web differently. Such "obscure" sites can actually carry considerable authority and page ranking weight. IOW, none of them should be dismissed. Besides, a dead link on some Google Sites page is simply representative of a systemic problem. What about a dead link on Hackaday?
I understand David's concerns that the old appnotes on 'semi' are deprecated, but A) there should be a mechanism to not duplicate content across these two domains, and
mr,
Instead of adding even more stuff to my computer I simply use IE in Private Mode. I also do not click on links found on a site or sent to me in emails. Only our older male sibling and his stooges will have any luck tracking my web activity.
To do actual work I unplug the DSL and work with and save to thumb drives. That is a habit I developed when their were 360K floppies and at that time I was mostly concerned about HD failure.
If I am interested in something I study where the link wants to take me and then close that session and start another to go to that site and burrow down to what I want.
For obvious reasons I do not FB, YouTube or Twitter.
Tim
Your level of paranoia is astounding.
But I do agree about FB, Twitter etc.
P.S. Working off line and using thumb drives will not save you. Have a Google for stuxnet to see how that worked out for the Iranian nuke plant.
Your suggestions to our IT department should be made to our IT department directly using webmaster@parallax.com, or in a new thread through the Suggestions to Parallax forum.
Almost all leaks of data come about with inside help. There are also the horror stories about employees finding thumb drives in the parking lot or finding a neat little game they want to have on their office computer. In my time working field service I have on occasion simply reported corrupted files and reloaded the system to save a poor night shift person from getting fired. Many sites I worked only had access via removable media in the most restricted and constantly monitored locations.
If I told you what I am working on then men in black SUVs would come and haul you away<VBG>. I am surprised that they seem wiling to let me complete my work. My partner and I both checked with ATF to make sure no laws were being broken. Both opinions received cleared us to proceed.
The patent on the concept is about to expire so my partner and I will have to rely on Trademark and Copyright protections. If I can get lucky with a GQ interview we might well have another Duk Dyna here<GD&R>.
Tim
What's a google token? I don't think I have one and if I did I would delete it. Can you tell me how to determine if I have a google token and how to remove/delete/cancel it if I do? I (as well as a number of friends) have bought many an item from Parallax by simply going to their website and ordering online as I would from any other site.
I understand healthy paranoia about online security and have a number of various linux accounts on my machines that I use when going to different places and when dealing with online sites that involve banking or other financial sites I have virtual machines that I set up in VirtualBox that I created as "immutable". This means that sites can write cookies, inject viruses, trojans, etc while I'm using it but none of that actually gets written to physical disk and are lost when I power down the VM.
And when I don't want to type, I just call (888) 512-1024. I love to talk to the people there.
(Such an easy number to remember).
Message received and understood.