Back in 2019, I needed a new bed. My requirements – cheap, simple, sturdy, solid wood and untreated: Research led me to the Heavy Duty bed frame from strictly beds. The untreated part was because I didn’t know what bedside tables I wanted at the time so I planned to treat the bed to match the bedside tables.
Read more
I have been interested in chaos for a long time. I like swarms – they are chaotic. Each individual in a swarm has a very simple set of rules to follow but overall, the swarm seems to move in a coordinated fashion. As such, I wanted to provide a simple and visual explanation of swarm behaviour that was accessible for people to interact with – MIT’s Scratch seemed the ideal platform then.
Read more
The European Space Agency confirmed confirmed successful code execution on board the ISS – code produced by four young girls in a Code Club I run.
Read more
A colleague emailed me a link to a Scratch project where somebody had done a pandemic simulator so I thought I would have a try. I liked the idea but I wanted to have a go but coding from ‘scratch’ (no pun intended).
Read more
After over a decade of owning a digital SLR camera and taking nearly a hundred thousand photos, I finally entered a photography competition for the first time.
Read more
I run an after-school code club, which is attended by pupils from a few different year groups. I am impressed by what a team of four girls have achieved (aged 11-13). They’ve written code in Python that will run on a Raspberry Pi in the International Space Station (ISS) next year.
Read more
Maps of urban areas in the UK countryside look similar to histology slides. I reflect on the impact of human activity on our planet and the scars left behind.
Read moreThe Micro:bit website is an awesome place to start learning to code. You can create your own programs such as a digital compass through to mini-games. I’ve included an example here. It’s very simple and the Micro:bit has a lot more capabilities that can be used (compass, radio, bluetooth, accelerometer etc.)
Read more
I must be in some kind of mid-life crisis: I decided to learn to ride a motorbike. The thought had been in my mind since I’d sat on a colleague’s bike a few years back. I loved the feeling but without any knowledge of riding bikes, I was like a small child on a pony ride at the beach. I would regularly see the convenience people enjoyed in Spain, hopping between places in lovely weather on a scooter, and thought this is a lifestyle for me.
Read more
I’ve still got a few kilos to shed but I’m not supposed to go to the gym when my muscles are still recovering so bike ride it is. By the time I persuaded myself to go after a Sunday morning routine of coffee, breakfast, gardening, reading (currently Norman Doidge – The Brain that Changes Itself), it was nearing midday so my options were limited to places a bit more local.
Read more