Minimum wages have increased steadily over the past several years, doubling in Shenzhen between 2009 and 2011. These changes, paired with greater scrutiny of labor practices, have slashed overtime hours. The average workweek, as a result, has shortened from six days to five.
With more free time and rising wages, notes Eric Pan, founder of Chaihuo, there’s a growing class of educated technology workers who are starting to discover making as a hobby. He and others say that developing a culture where making can be fun is a key piece of the creative process that leads to commercial innovation.
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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