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Beam. #photo #2020
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Snap!Con20-notes
I’ve learned so much from Snap!Con2020 (the annual conference for Snap! – a blocks-based language), the sister of Scratch. Our current lives dictated that it be held online, which has had the good side-effect (they’re not always bad) – an opening-up of access to participants, who would not have been to able attend in person. This year’s conference was held at Berkeley, California.
One session was an introduction to MicroBlocks, a blocks-based language which has been designed so it can run on small controllers and can be used for physical computing (doing things in the real world; like flashing lights, driving motors for robots). This means that you can write a program, try it out on your controller and then run it untethered from the computer, say as part of an installation (the Arts kind).
Eager to try it out afterwards (that’s going to be a feature of many things I saw at Snap!Con2020), I built a little project, as demoed in this tweet. This note is by way of a bill of materials which I used to make it, basically by following the excellent instructions produced by the makers of the component parts. And maybe there'll be some follow ups as I play with new features.
What it uses
- a Raspberry Pi to run a WebThings gateway to provide a hub to send commands to the micro:bit. I used a Raspberry Pi 3 B (I tried the model 4, but the Mozilla software doesn’t seem to have been updated for it yet.) A Raspberry Pi 3 A+ should also work fine. The gateway opens the route to lots of WebThings possiblities.
- a BBC micro:bit as the ‘physical device’. Though a few years old, it is really good value, with and array of LEDs to control, and sensors such as an accelerometer. Also a set of crocodile clip friendly connectors to add buzzers etc.
- the micro:bit is not complete without the totally kawaii KittenBot Kitty case
- micro-USB cable to connect micro:bit to computer for writing and downloading code, and connecting to the Pi gateway when live
- a microSD card (8/16G fine).
What it does
The 5x5 LED array on the micro:bit can be switched on and off from the gateway (or over the internet). Nothing more, nothing less ;-) This note doesn’t cover the detail of the gateway, but I’ll plan to cover this separately; it’s going to be an important development for the web.
Steps
- set up your WebThings gateway as per Mozilla instructions, you should be able to access the user controls at http://gateway.local. You will need to add a MicroBlocks add-on from Settings.
- download the MicroBlocks software for your computer
- plug in the micro:bit to a USB port on your computer and update its firmware in the MicroBlocks editor
- create the blocks-first try the small local control block, just to prove you can flash the led. Then add the main loop blocks. Before unplugging the micro:bit and connecting to a USB port on the Pi, ensure you've deleted the first small local control block you wrote-it's proved its point (its presence seems to upset the WebThings operation).
- from the Things page add your new IoT device (+)
- now you should be able to control it.
Resources
MicroBlocks activity card - I used this as the basis of my blocks sketch. A few details seem to have changed with the current version of MicroBlocks, but this may be my inexperience with the software. There are lots of other activities to try out on their site.
Mozilla WebThings Gateway setup. You need to put the gateway software onto a flash card to power up the Pi. If you don’t have a Pi you can use a PC running Linux as a gateway instead.
micro:bit/Raspberry Pi parts. There are many stockists of these, check out your local supplier. In the UK I often use Pimoroni, but choose your local supplier. For example:
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View. #photo #2018
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Signage. #photo #2020
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Weathered. #photo #2020
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Design Talks Plus—Libraries
The changing design of libraries www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/…
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“Through the Kitchen Window: Misao Kuwata - Mochi Rice Cakes Wrapped in Bamboo Leaves”. I just love these small vignettes of lives full of energy, endeavour and generosity. www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/…
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Use when programming. #photo #2017
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All the sounds of the earth are like music @BBCRadio3
Each Friday recently the BBC Radio 3 Breakfast Show [www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/pl...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000j3hh) has been inviting audience participation in the form of a sing-along. (Haha! Autocorrect suggested sing-alone, it's getting far too perceptive.) Today's choice was from Oklahoma! Over the last week, listeners have tweeted pictures of the 1960s album cover, which I also recall as our household's first record, played on a blue leatherette-covered Dansette.
In her last years music was my mum's remaining engagement and joy, as dementia took its toll. We often sang along to this album and she would have been singing today, no doubt.
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This is by way of a small test
Trying out a new Micropub client. Happy Friday everyone!
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“An audience was coming to hear a story…I would have to pull back the curtains, step onto the stage and entertain them. It was the last thing in the world I wanted to do, but I had to do it. It had to be done. And somehow I did.
— Poet and playwright Inua Ellams. 2020. BBC Radio 3’s “The Essay—Let me take you there”. (Places we escape to in times of crisis.) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/pl… 💬
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The writer tries to understand the reader‒that’s the goal of a writer…is to have a good mental image of the reader.
Donald Knuth. 2019. “Algorithms, TeX, Life, and The Art of Computer Programming” conversation with Lex Fridman. lexfridman.com/donald-kn… 💬
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The resources were small enough; so if independence were a form of purity, I had my hands on the philosopher’s stone.
– Derek Jarman on his delight of the Super-8 medium. Michael Charlesworth. 2011. “Derek Jarman”. (img via bfi) 💬
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Some people say history moves in a spiral, not the line we have come to expect. We travel through time in a circular trajectory, our distance increasing from a epicenter only to return again, one circle removed.
— Ocean Vuong. 2019. “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”. 💬
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💬 “…programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” — Abelson, Sussman and Sussman. 1996. “Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs”
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💬 “Although we say mountains belong to the country, actually, they belong to those that love them” — Dōgen Zenji
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💬 “On email it’s never now. It’s always then…” — Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being.
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#photo #2007
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A video of the late John Conway, talking about his relationship with Martin Gardner’s columns in Scientific American, and his Game of Life. “OK, I don’t hate it”. His humour and humanity evident throughout.
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My colleague expressed concern about my attempt at making wild garlic pesto (not garlicky enough). “Do you have enough to try again?” Oh, yes.
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Of course I always wear a bow tie while eating my meals to this day.
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'Even a minute of breathing can reduce stress’
“’Even a minute of breathing can reduce stress’, my Apple Watch says, nudging my wrist gently. I dismiss it with a huff.” beckyhansmeyer.com/2020/03/2… stopped me in my tracks with this. I’m always doing it. Me who thinks of themself as being in a “oh, yeah, I appreciate the benefits of zazen” frame of mind. But not acted on recently.
Thanks for the reminder Ms Hansmeyer. And Apple Watch.
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No need for dogs to practice ‘social distancing’ — essential for owners though. #photo #2020 Mynydd Llangors
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TIL that The Photographers’ Gallery have a podcast thephotographersgallery.org.uk/content/t… and other online content thephotographersgallery.org.uk/viewpoint…
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A vision of the future. #mbfeb
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