markb139

12 ms·

31.
by markb139 2y ago
From my experience on the Raspberry Pi rp2040, adding C code to a micropython build is very straightforward
32.
by markb139 2y ago
You think you're old? I was part of the team at the other end of that stack building and debugging the Java runtime for the Nokia Symbian phones :)
33.
by markb139 2y ago
I ported a Psion phone manager app (contacts & sms) to PalmOS. I can clearly remember the thrill of sending a message via the Bluetooth add on via a Nokia 6310i
34.
by markb139 2y ago
I know very little about horses, but find myself surrounded by them thanks to my wife’s interests. We have a horse who is quiet natured and well behaved. But, the fight or flight instinct wakes up very quickly and he’s 600kg.
35.
by markb139 3y ago
25 years ago I did the same thing with MS flightsim as an interesting project. I took a similar approach except I was using Java. I got as far as being able to navigate to lat/long fixes. Learnt quite a bit in the process
36.
by markb139 3y ago
>I've come to suspect the normal way large companies are organised makes performant software almost impossible. I think this is a bit of an over generalisation. There were (and still are) many large companies producing performant an
37.
by markb139 3y ago
I recently replaced the battery on a gen 2 shuffle. It was reasonably easy though required good eyesight
38.
by markb139 3y ago
I think the train station is private property.
39.
by markb139 3y ago
It may not be on the same scale of other countries, but the UK has gold deposits which have been mined for quite some time.
40.
by markb139 3y ago
We have an 87 year old who is a real fan of her iPad for staying in touch, reading and audio books. I personally use 3 ipads - I hate to throw stuff away: 1) old 9.7 pro as main device 2) old Air 2 for Zwift (this will sadly retire when up
41.
by markb139 3y ago
Some of the stuff I’ve worked on (Nokia phones) have been museum pieces for some time
42.
by markb139 3y ago
Way back in about 2001, I developed a text messaging (sms) and phone book management app for palmOS. I bought an m505 and a new fangled Bluetooth adapter. For the time it seemed revolutionary to be able to sync to a phone in your pocket wi
43.
by markb139 4y ago
In 2008 I applied for the program just to learn and write hobby apps. What put me off was after paying I had to prove to Apple who I was by sending a scan of my (uk) passport. As a non US citizen my data has very little protection, so i req
44.
by markb139 4y ago
I had a similar thought back in 2014. I had only studied the maths required for various engineering courses I’d taken. So, I decided I wanted to study maths for the maths. I was in the fortunate position of being able to self fund myself th
45.
by markb139 4y ago
Yes, I can set breakpoints in the C code and run the firmware on a Pico. It’s all running on a Pi4, so it was just a matter of adding the debug pins on the Pico and configuring vscode (instructions followed in docs).
46.
by markb139 4y ago
I’ve been doing the same, except I went one step further. I’m currently extending Micropython to add a DMA class to the RP2 port. I can build and debug Micropython via VSCode and use Thonny to write some Python to test. I could with the se
47.
by markb139 4y ago
Not all of us did
48.
by markb139 4y ago
Just before the iPhone, I think Nokia were shipping about 70 million Symbian phones a 1/4 and had about 50% of the market profit. Then, it didn’t
49.
by markb139 4y ago
The first Symbian based Nokia device was the 9210. I helped integrate the fax functionality - was amazing to see the first faxes sent and received :)
50.
by markb139 4y ago
We had instant messaging in the 80’s at college on a VAX. Admittedly only 8 people in any one chat.
51.
by markb139 4y ago
I use my Pi4 for raspberry Pico development work using vscode. The simple (press f5) debugging and a uart for printf() makes things super easy.
52.
by markb139 5y ago
Recently had water ingress on an Audi hybrid (thankfully covered by warranty). It turned out, after many calls, there is one service centre that could do the work in Scotland. It’s 250 miles away. It would seem even the official channels a
53.
by markb139 5y ago
I interviewed for a 6 month contract and there was a programming exercise. My first question was, what unit test framework is available for the Python code they wanted me to write? “Errr, there isn’t one”. Ok, let’s create a simple one fir
54.
by markb139 5y ago
I ported the rather nifty Psion 5 app called PhoneMan to the Palm pilots. It allowed managing address books and sending and reading sms messages. I never quite got around to finishing the picture message functionality. I even had sync worki
55.
by markb139 5y ago
I’m in my 50’s and I’m a much better golfer than I was in my 20’s. Partly club technology has enabled me to hit the ball more consistently and partly I now don’t try and hit the cover off the ball each shot :)
56.
by markb139 5y ago
A couple of years back I bought a microbit (in fact I bought two). "it's just a microchip" was the response. I think he might be a future product owner as he was more than happy to give me requirements for a simple game, but
57.
by markb139 5y ago
There are others that work the other way. If you visit the uk and fall over don’t say ‘I fell on my fanny’ Or ask for a fanny bag
58.
by markb139 5y ago
I’ve worked with a genuine 0.1x developer. Not only were they unproductive (which is fine if you are new or inexperienced in an area), but they actually reduced the productivity of others in the team. I think sometimes this was deliberate
59.
by markb139 5y ago
Aren't the schematics here: https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/raspberr...
60.
by markb139 5y ago
Something I find very interesting are the under the surface conditions in some bodies of water https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-469...

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