#313: Programming Robots With a Marker

Published Tue, Dec 6, 2022, recorded Tue, Dec 6, 2022

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About the show

Sponsored by Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.

Connect with the hosts

Michael: @mkennedy@fosstodon.org
Brian: @brianokken@fosstodon.org
Special guest: Kelly Schuster-Paredes
Special guest: Sean Tibor

Michael #1: How do you say that number?

Inflect: fosstodon.org/@linuxgal@techhub.social/109430499504962727

Num2Words: pypi.org/project/num2words/

# Inflect:
import inflect
inflector=inflect.engine()
print(inflector.number_to_words(8675309))
# eight million, six hundred and seventy-five thousand, three hundred and nine

# Num2Words
from num2words import num2words
print(num2words(8675309))
# eight million, six hundred and seventy-five thousand, three hundred and nine

Num2Words also has a CLI:
pipx install num2words
$ num2words 2948475
two million, nine hundred and forty-eight thousand, four hundred and seventy-five

Brian #2: The Origins of Python

Lambert Meertens
A wonderful tale starting with TELCOMP, traveling through ABC, and finally reaching Python.
This is a long article, but a wonderful story.
It includes a nice emphasis at all times to keep a language simple enough for the absolute beginner but powerful enough to not be annoying for experienced developers.
A few quotes from the article:
- “Ease of learning and ease of use are both desirable attributes in any programming language. Nonetheless, I have often felt that this aspect of language design does not always receive the attention it deserves. And what may seem easy to a designer may not necessarily be easy for a language learner.”
- Regarding ABC: “To serve our intended users, absolute beginners, we sought to hide low-level implementation details and instead to provide powerful high-level, task-oriented features.
- Then Python: “The growth in popularity of Python, from its inception thirty years ago as a one-person effort flying under the radar, has been phenomenal, but not meteoric. Instead it has been a long, slow, and steady rise. Python’s ease of learning gave it a competitive advantage in a period when there was a perpetual need for more programmers. Its clean syntax and semantics make it easier to maintain a software base written in Python than other languages—an important consideration given that the cost of maintaining software dwarfs the cost of creating new software.”

Kelly #3:

Ozobot Evo Introduces a Python Beta Version. (August 17, 2022)
The original Ozobot model – the Ozobot Bit – is no longer available for purchase . The New Evo Ozobit- has three Kit options. The Entry Kit (single robot), the Ozobot Evo 12-Pack, and the Ozobot Evo 18-Pack.
https://beta.python.ozobot.com/doc-python-api/ozobot.html#module-0
Still has the updated OzoBlockly platform for Block Programming.
This tiny bot comes with:
- Line following
- Color detection
- Sound
- proximity sensor
- bluetooth
- Crash detection
- Students can even code functions
Ozobot simulator(block) https://games.ozoblockly.com/shapetracer-freeform
Web beta app: beta.python.ozobot.com

Michael #4: setproctitle

A Python module to customize the process title
Awesome for servers and anytime “python” is not enough
Easy to use directly:
from setproctitle import setproctitle
setproctitle("tp-search daemon")

Used automatically by servers like uwsgi and gunicorn I believe.

###    
# uWSGI server configuration
###
[uwsgi]
# uWSGI provides some functionality which can help identify the workers
procname-prefix = training-
auto-procname = true

Some nice results, example from Talk Python Training

Brian #5: Looking forward to Python 3.12

New features in 3.12a2
- Improved Error Messages
- lots of other goodies, like pathlib.walk().
Release scheduled for Oct 2023
But why wait? Start testing your projects with it now: Te sting with Python 3.12
Note that “During the alpha phase, features may be added up until the start of the beta phase (2023-05-08) and, if necessary, may be modified or deleted up until the release candidate phase (2023-07-31). Please keep in mind that this is a preview release and its use is not recommended for production environments.”
Actually, with that note, you might want to wait. I don’t. I’ll deal with it when/if I get a failure.

Sean #6: Re:Invent 2022 EF Education Breakout

Presentation at AWS Re:Invent 2022
Complete redesign of online learning platform by one of the largest education companies in the world
We’ve all seen Zoom classrooms with rows on rows of students
A more immersive experience for learning with green screens, digital sets, and props
Massive amount of analytics around student engagement and learning, including full transcription of every student, engagement tracking, and computer vision

Extras

Michael:

You can support the PSF if you’re selling things on EBay. Check “Donate a portion to charity” and choose “Python Software Foundation” via Joe Riedley
Textinator for Windows (the Windows version of TextSniper)
Paperlike for iPad

Kelly: A new Special Interest Group for the PSF launched 6 days ago. “Edu-sig, through its mailing list, provides an informal venue for comparing notes and discussing future possibilities for Python in education.” Led by Timothy Wilson.

Sean: