Category: Uncategorized

Note: I’m under NO illusion that the success of Beat the Street is down to it’s physicality – cards, fobs, boxes, lights, noises, surprises! – and the social engagement. This prototype alone does not make the game!

Last week, I did manage to complete a functional Beat the Street clone with virtual “boxes” + smartphones. Less than a days’ effort. Needs to look nicer (I want animation!!), but, with the exception of “teams” this basically works!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69NwTgJrMlc

Here’s the Press Ups video: Trying something new: short videos on command line basics for beginners. Let me know if this is a useful start & I’ll do more!

https://press-ups.com/2018/10/command-line-terminal-basics-1-getting-started-and-finding-how-commands-work-with-man/

Things I did last week, on my day off, while my baby napped:

1. My “Virtual Beat the Street” clone now has a back-end and awards points!
2. Press Ups video production!

Gaaah! Honestly feel like this Mojave update is intended to slow my Mac down so I have to (finally) upgrade. SO frustrating. Hope this improves with some app/OS updates soon.

Note that toggling Dark Mode on a Mac is also possible with Alfred. There’s several workflows around for doing this. Or make your own with this AppleScript: https://cl.ly/e5c25ca8790f

Neat. A Mac App for toggling dark mode with a single click: https://github.com/HarshilShah/Nocturnal

Good grief my Mac is slow after the Mojave update. Used to wake from sleep in seconds. Now takes a minute or two. BUT battery life while sleeping seems longer. Is “deeper sleep” a feature?

Genuinely curious – does having an orange flashing light actually mean that no road laws apply, as this guy who’s 95% blocking a crossing at a busy and dangerous junction suggests?

Been neglecting the Micro blog, so maybe need a splurge of posts…

But also:

My goodness, it’s easy to make a geocaching-/Pokemon Go-type location check-in game.

And:

How on earth do other game (and fitness app!) makers prevent cheating by geeks? Do they encrypt/encode API requests or something? How does no one cheat at Strava?

CONS:
Not everyone (especially young kids) has smartphones and can play
Easy to cheat (esp if you’re a techie like me!)
Lack of physicality when tapping

It would still make for a good ongoing competition between adults, but the school thing would be lost.

Lunchtime thinking: I have a nearly complete front-end for a virtual Beat the Street clone. But building it has made clear the pros and cons of the virtual game idea.

PROS:
Low cost (to run it)
Little infrastructure
More flexible boxes (put them wherever you like!)

My son has made a book. Well, he’s made several. He wants to publish this one. It’s on a topic that ONLY he is enthusiastic about. What he’s made is INCREDIBLE for a 6 year old, but how to tell him it wouldn’t be published without making it sound like it’s rubbish?

A little write up of my tinkering with Geolocation APIs and seeing how hard it would be to build a “virtual” Beat the Street game:

https://rosswintle.uk/2018/09/beat-the-street-virtual-tinkering/

School homework task: “Write a silly story using 10 of your Year 1 common exception words”

Just 10? This is harder than it seems.

How about:

“They once said ‘come here’. Today my house is full!”

👍

People: Do you like the new MailChimp re-design?

Me: I’m the kind of person that looks for clothes with re-inforced knees, sturdy pocket linings and that are non-iron and machine-washable at 30. It still has lists and campaigns. It still sends emails. So it’s all good. 😉

Yay! I did it!

✅ At least 1 kid all day
✅ Both school runs
✅ Little one napped (eventually)
✅ Swim class at 4pm
✅ Everyone fed evening meals
✅ Solo double bedtime (!!!)

I know this is a normal day for many people. But it’s a personal triumph for me as an individual!

I wonder what happens if two people with Gmail just keep using the suggested responses. Would the conversation actually go anywhere?

Helpful IT Notice: Emails with your password in! 😱

https://rosswintle.uk/2018/09/product-ideas/