I thought I might use Google cloud and associated APIs to write a database-driven website. It’s going to take a lot of learning…
Google Cloud
3d printing
Since it’s been so long since I wrote anything here I’m way behind on all the inventiveness that has hapened.
On 3d printing – I was previously super happy about the printer I had for FDM printing. It was rubbish at small and detailed items though, which is why I then went and bought a resin printer.
The resin printer is great, but incredibly messy. And not brilliant for the environment either. It uses UV-curing water-washable resin so you rinse off the models after printing before then setting them under UV light to properly harden. The resin is quite noxious and involves a solvent which a) gives you a headache after a while, and b) causes cancer and skin lesions. So although the models are good, there are downsides.
But then I was spammed with information about the latest Bambu FDM printers that promised good detailed printing, no manual bed levelling needed, and even works in multicolour! That must surely cost a million pounds? Not – it was less than £500.
I bought one – a Bambu A1 with a 4-colour filament thingy. And so far it’s amazing. A world apart from the previous two printers. It just works. Suddenly 3d printing is a useful tool and not just a hobby in adjusting things to the millionth degree to try and get a boat model to look vaguely decent.
It’s fast too. I bought a model of a haunted house and printed it for halloween. It’s so good we keep it out on permanent display.
https://uk.store.bambulab.com/products/a1?id=571094875713077256
Losing Money
My cybercurrency dabbling isn’t going so well…
DIY at South Western House
For Sin’s flat at South Western House in Southampton, we wanted to put up a screen of batons.
The batons dimensions are:
- 1170mm long to fit between ceiling and mezanine floor;
- 44mm wide
- 17mm deep
We bought them from B&Q at about £34 for six in a pack. They come in a length of 2400mm and do actually fit in a mini. We cut them to length and stained them with walknut varnish, satin finish.
The distance to be covered is 1180mm from post to post. In this gap we need to fit ‘x’ batons, with a gap of ‘y’ The question is, what size is ‘y’?
Total width of batons 17x
Total number of gaps x-1
Total width of gaps (x-1)y = xy-y
Formula: 1180 = 17x + xy - y
17x + x*y - y = 1180
So from this we can pick a number of batos on the x axis and read the required width on the y.
More game dev
Now learning about survival methods.
Embedding Godot games in WordPress
I had to research how to do this for the last post so as I’ve now leart it it’s worth recording. Essentially, you need to use iframes like this:
<iframe src="https://rjp.cc/games/click"
style="width:1024px; height:600px; border:none;"
title="Godot Game"></iframe>Trying Godot
I’m learning the free game engine Godot. It can make 2D and 3D games and could be a good candidate for the Treasure Trails app.
Let’s see if I can embed a game:
Accounting
In my new role of FL8285 Treasurer I need to present the accounts for the calendar year 2024. This is lots of learning. Key points appear to be:
- Record transactions as and when they occur, not necessarily when they appear in the bank. For example a cheque written for somebody is entered into the account at the point of issuing it, not at th epoint when it gets cashed.
- There are four funds within the same bank account. Movements between funds are recorded even though the net efect on the balance is zero
- Getting everything to reconcile is harder than you think.
Motion Extraction
Browsing on Youtube I found this fascinating method:
The basics are:
- duplicate your video clip
- invert its colours
- set opacity to 50%
- slide timeline by a little (1 frame for rapid movement extration, 1 second for less rapid)
I’ll give it a go when I’ve got some stable enough video.
EDIT:
I gave it a quick go. I’m not wholly impressed and will have to investigate more.
Ok let’s try this a fifth time
After rediscovering this site it looks like this is the fifth time I have tried to update on things I am trying to learn.