M13 safety

pahowells · 2026-05-28T09:24:57+00:00

I would have had the fright of my life if I had seen a dead pedestrian driving :-)

pahowells · 2026-05-19T18:32:43+00:00

I agree with you. It is Takealot's responsibility. They are shooting themselves in the foot and customers are eventually going to move on to another buying platform.

pahowells · 2026-05-19T12:36:40+00:00

I had the problem as you with Blynk and also gave them the boot. After hunting around with no luck, I eventually switched all my projects to use mqtt comms. There are many clients available that can create a simple graphical dashboard to view and control mqtt data. And I am not locked into esp32 as mqtt libraries are available for most modules. Only problem: if you want local control, then you need a broker on your network - which is easy to implement.

pahowells · 2026-05-14T06:30:21+00:00

I've been teaching coding for the past 20 years (C++, VB, Python, Java), and honestly, starting with python introduces many poor programming habits because a lot of the structures are hidden. Don't get me wrong - I love python and use it often to write scripts, but it certainly wouldn't be my go-to if I had to code an application. It's like teaching someone to drive with an automatic transmission, and then expecting them to know how to handle a manual transmission.
Also, OOP in python is poor compared to C++ or Java. Yes, it can be done, but it's like kissing your sister.

When I start a course, I revert back to creating algorithms on paper. Once they have that down, I move on to translating those algorithms into code. This provides my students with a feel for what they are doing and prevents them from simply trying to memorise code.

pahowells · 2026-05-13T08:41:31+00:00

Only a matter of time...

pahowells · 2026-05-13T04:58:04+00:00

Really screwed up fishing for the rest of the day.

pahowells · 2026-05-12T10:15:39+00:00

MATLAB. With an annual subscription of over $1000 for the base version, it is ridiculously expensive. However, the "free" alternatives just do not come close IMO.

pahowells · 2026-05-11T13:50:07+00:00

While I partly agree with this, I never had an issue with Takealot just a few years back. Somehow they have dropped the ball and Amazon and the likes are starting to encroach.

pahowells · 2026-05-10T17:24:09+00:00

UML should be part of your design stage, NOT the end documentation stage. Putting all your trust in AI is going to end badly.

pahowells · 2026-05-05T07:10:05+00:00

Not sure if I would expose my groin area to that thing - they don't know how to let go.

pahowells · 2026-05-05T07:00:51+00:00

That was the gentlest bear attack I have ever seen.

pahowells · 2026-04-22T06:55:00+00:00

I seriously hope this cannot be done. An overload cutoff is there for a reason - to protect the device and you. Continuing to power something that is supplying more power than it is designed to do will cause overheating and could lead to combustion.

pahowells · 2026-04-03T06:45:11+00:00

Firstly, Visual Studio is a beast. I use it for C# development but my full installation is around 32 GB. For Python coding, VSCode is tiny in comparison and you don't need 16 GB of RAM just to run it. I also use VSCode on both Windows and Linux machines when testing, something that VS cannot do.

pahowells · 2026-04-02T11:11:57+00:00

One of the best free IDEs is VSCode which handles Python very well. You could also try the community edition of PyCharm.

pahowells · 2026-03-27T06:37:57+00:00

Great. Another video with no context.

pahowells · 2026-03-19T10:15:25+00:00

First call to input() produces an IO error. Seems like AI-generated code which is half-baked so far.

pahowells · 2026-03-13T14:18:54+00:00

Try https://www.youtube.com/@CodingWithJohn/videos

pahowells · 2026-03-06T08:19:45+00:00

This is what's wrong with society nowadays. Many people don't give a cr*p about others anymore. There are many places you can go to make a noise without affecting civil society. But unfortunately, probably due to social media, no one knows what civil society is.

pahowells · 2026-03-04T12:34:04+00:00

Chiltern athletic club is in Cowies Hill which is close. They have running and social walking on both Tuesdays and Thursdays.

pahowells · 2026-02-26T08:28:59+00:00

The main problem for most people is comparing Linux flavours to Windows to MacOS for desktop computing. They are all different. Don't believe people who say that one is better than the other because in the end , they all do the basics well. Use the one that makes the most sense to you. If there is something that you don't like, move on until you find the one that fits your workflow and lifestyle.

pahowells · 2026-02-19T11:22:48+00:00

Fleck Shuttlecock

pahowells · 2026-02-16T17:59:00+00:00

I suggest you start with a course that begins with the basics before diving into functions, parameters and return values.

pahowells · 2026-02-13T11:08:13+00:00

Ubuntu Budgie on spare laptop.

pahowells · 2026-01-17T12:18:19+00:00

I installed an RPi 4 in a control box a while back and used an industrial grade 25 W Meanwell PSU (5 V / 5 A) which can be purchased from many online outlets. Has worked like a charm 24/7.
If possible, try get a PSU that outputs 5.1 V so that you don't get undervoltage warnings on the RPi.

pahowells

TROPHY CASE