Greedy iPhone

Mosty of the time the devices around us just work. Which makes the occasions when they go wrong all the more scary. Yesterday my iphone started moaning about being short of memory. Which was surprising, bearing in mind I don’t do things like record videos or put lots of huge games on the device. I thought I’d sorted out the problem by deleting a few movies I had downloaded but today it ran out again. Something in my phone is eating all the memory. Searches online list a bunch of things you can do to try and fix this which end with the action “wipe the phone and restore everything”. Ugh.

Mint TL70 Arrives

The TL70 has arrived. Rather excited. It’s a twin lens reflex. There are two lenses underneath the lens caps above. One is for the viewfinder and the other takes the pictures. The lenses are connected so that as you focus through the viewfinder lens you are also focusing the camera one too. This means you get to do manual focus, something I’ve not had to do for a while. You also have to set the aperture (the size of the hole the light comes through). The camera then chooses the shutter speed (the time the film is exposed to light). If you get everything right, you get a picture that looks OK. Looking forward to trying it.

Spray Glue is awesome

The non-sewing sewing project is coming along. I’m now making cases for things, still with flat components that are bolted together. I’m using spray glue to hold the fabric elements to the 3D printed sheets that give the case its structure. Spray glue is awesome. It’s really for sticking down carpets, but it turns out it sticks pretty much anything else too. Just make sure you open the windows before you use it.

Mint TL70 is on the way

A Mint TL70 is on its way from Hong Kong. Thanks folks. I’m really looking forward to playing with it. As soon as I’ve finished this chapter….

Non sewing-sewing

I’m writing an article about making cases for gadgets. It’s based on an observation that if you have a 3D printer you can print thin sheets (two or three layers work well) and use them to strengthen bags and cases. I also want to look into using 3D printed components to join things together. I’m calling this “non-sewing sewing”. It’s going OK so far.

Get them journalling

A while back I mentioned some discussion on first programming languages for four-year-olds. I’ve been thinking about all this. If I could teach a child to do one thing from very young, it would be to start a diary or a journal.

One of the biggest regrets of my life is that I can’t remember that much of it. I’m lucky. I’ve been blogging for a while and I can go back and look at my posts from 20 years or so ago and get an impression of what I was up to. But if I’d had a proper journal I’d have a lot more to go on, including all the things that happened but are not for public viewing.

I envy the young of today who will grow up with a hinterland of pictures and sounds that will always be with them. Me, I can hardly remember what my bedroom looked like when I was 10. Perhaps 4 years old is a bit young to be emulating Samuel Pepys but getting the habit of putting in effort to remember what you’ve been up to is a really good thing. And these days there must be tools out there that you can use to get started. And writing a jounal does something else for you too. It gives you a reason to write and get better at it, which is a skill that will be useful whatever you end up doing.

Shipped Chapter 7

I’ve shipped chapter 7 off to the publishers. And I’ve already got a big chunk of chapter 8 written because I’ve moved it around a bit. Although it might end up chapter 9 as I think about it….

Pipe dreams

So, I’m making this trombone controller for the PC. As you do. This meant I was down in the local DIY warehouse yesterday looking at plastic pipes. I’ve got this cunning plan which involves putting one pipe inside another to get a nice slide action. These two sizes seem to work quite well, although I’ve a feeling I’m doing the easy bit at the moment.

New boots

Got some new boots today. The previous pair lasted ages. They started leaking during one of the damper parts of emf this year and that was it for them. The new pair were pleasingly inexpensive and seem to keep the water out.

Theramin Fun

We had another great discussion at the hardware group this evening. Although the number of folks who turned up wasn’t that many that chat was of high quality. Brian even got around to demonstrating the Theramin that he is building with a bunch of distance sensors.

First programming language for a four year old?

People post the strangest questions on Twitter. Someone was asking about the best programming language to use to start teaching their four-year child old how to code. Perhaps they were asking in jest, or to perhaps to create the tweeting frenzy which followed as some people suggested Scratch and others weighed in saying that four is much too young. Which I think is the right answer. Although there’s nothing wrong with doing things together that show how much fun you have solving problems.

Instant Camera Fixations

When I write a book I usually develop an obsession with something or other. It helps me take my mind off class constructor syntax or whatever I’m grappling with. For the Python book it turned out to be electronic music devices. For the JavaScript book it turned out to be robot dogs. this time it seems to be instant cameras. I’ve spent most of today writing chapter 7 and taking quick breaks to read all about the Mint TL70.

Big ugly pictures

Took the other big ugly camera out today. This one came out quite well. I think the lens flare adds something..

Lost my ideas

I try to keep a list of ideas for blog posts. I’ve just discovered that I’ve lost it. So this will have to do for today…

Another Ugly Camera

A while back I bought a really ugly camera. Now I’ve got another. It’s a Lomo Instant Wide. It arrived today.

Actually, this one looks a lot better to my eyes than the previous one. It is painted plastic with faux leather stuck on, but it’s done with some attempts at style. It’s not new. I had a few fun minutes clearing muck out of the battery compartment to get it to work. But work it does. It’s another large format instant camera. This one has a bit more manual control and a remote control built into the lens cap. I’m looking forwards to taking some pictures with it.

Thanks O2

Had a strange experience today. Something was broken, we contacted the provider, they were responsive and polite and sorted out. It’s a bit sad that I expect this outcome to be the exception rather than the rule, but it was nice anyway.

She Hulk - Attorney at Law

For the last few weeks we’ve been glued to She Hulk - Attorney at Law. It’s a fabulous piece of tosh with a female relative of the hulk coming to terms with being able to turn green and strong while trying to hold down a busy job as a lawyer specialising in superhero cases.

The casting is perfect, the tone just right and the stories great fun. We’ve really enjoyed it, right up to the last episode where it got a bit too clever for its own good. Theatrical and movie types talk about the “fourth wall” - an invisible boundary that separates the audience from the performer. She Hulk doesn’t just break the fourth wall, it folds it back on itself. What starts with pieces to camera while driving down the highway ends in a sequence which is one or two layers of “knowing” more than it needed to be. You might like it, I just found it made my brain hurt a bit more than it needed to.

But apart from that everything is splendid and you really should watch it. Another series would be wonderful.

Flu Jab

Went for my flu jab today. I’m not saying it was fun, but it was mostly painless.

Fun and Games at Netgames

Our online gaming group, which was convened in the depths of the pandemic, seems to be lasting beyond covid. We had a hilarious (an hilarious?) time playing netgames this evening. First we had a go at Secret Hitler, which was fun, and then we had a go at Codewords. The implementation is spot on and the games work well, even if you are not in the same room. Worth a look.

Cottingham Puffin

The area has been scattered with Puffins. This is a close up of one near us.