Archive — page 13
Posted on 06 February, 2017
So the son was writing some MicroPython code for micro:bit (using the web editor) a couple of days ago, and hit an unexpected error; a script that he was editing — which had worked perfectly well — suddenly stopped reacting to button presses and even started showing errors when trying to flash it from his Mac.
After a little trial and error we found out that there is a maximum file size for MicroPython scripts of 8kB (which doesn't feel like a lot!) — this is possibly a little smaller than some other languages on the micro:bit, with the MicroPython language taking up the rest of the available storage on the device.
The script that he was writing had expanded out to nearly 200 lines, a lot of which was comments (which I'd recommended he add!) — so he was able to strip it back down to hit the file-size limit — but come on Micro:Bit Educational Foundation, you should really add a feature to the bug-checker so that it warns when a file is too large to be transferred!
Posted on 30 January, 2017
Update, April 2023 — I've now taken the site down, on the grounds that (a) it doesn't see much traffic and (b) hosting and domain fees were getting prohibitively expensive. I also think it's probably the responsibility of local ski clubs and regional associations to put information out there over local slopes ...
I've been working on a new project for the last week or so, which I'm pleased to be announcing today — ski-slopes.uk.
The site provides a complete directory of all ski slopes across the UK (who knew there was a slope in Northern Ireland?!) using an interactive map (shiny!) plus a search page to find all slopes within 50 miles of a given location.
Been fun to produce this one ...
Posted on 03 January, 2017
Following up on my mention of FreeCodeCamp and committing to the #100DaysOfCode, here's an old-style 'Rogue' game that I've written for one of the FreeCodeCamp challenges. It's hosted on CodePen.
Use your arrow keys to move around the maze (sorry to anyone one a touch-device, but I haven't dealt with touch controls yet). Enjoy ...
See the Pen FreeCodeCamp Project 15 - Rogue by Dom Wakeling (@domwakeling) on CodePen.
Posted on 01 January, 2017
After a hit-and-miss episodes (mainly misses, unfortunately) to open their new series, it's good to see Messrs Clarkson, Hammond and May get back to something approaching form in the New Year special (season 1, episodes 7 & 8).
Does make you wonder whether they should just cut their losses, and come out with 3 or 4 90-minute episodes each year — and do them all as road trips / challenges / races; seems like almost everything that's been good and/or memorable about Top Gear (and now Grand Tour) for the last several years has fallen into these categories?!
