Python Bytes: #313 Programming Robots With a Marker

<a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-JoGzArMHg' style='font-weight: bold;'>Watch on YouTube</a><br> <br> <p><strong>About the show</strong></p> <p>Sponsored by <a href="http://pythonbytes.fm/foundershub2022"><strong>Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub</strong></a>.</p> <p><strong>Connect with the hosts</strong></p> <ul> <li>Michael: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@mkennedy"><strong>@mkennedy@fosstodon.org</strong></a></li> <li>Brian: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@brianokken"><strong>@brianokken@fosstodon.org</strong></a></li> <li>Special guest: <a href="https://twitter.com/KellyPared"><strong>Kelly Schuster-Paredes</strong></a></li> <li>Special guest: <a href="https://twitter.com/smtibor"><strong>Sean Tibor</strong></a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Michael #1:</strong> <strong>How do you say that number?</strong></p> <ul> <li>Inflect: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@linuxgal@techhub.social/109430499504962727"><strong>fosstodon.org/@linuxgal@techhub.social/109430499504962727</strong></a></li> <li><p>Num2Words: <a href="https://pypi.org/project/num2words/"><strong>pypi.org/project/num2words/</strong></a></p> <pre><code># 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 </code></pre></li> <li><p>Num2Words also has a CLI:</p></li> <li><code>pipx install num2words</code></li> <li><code>$ num2words 2948475</code></li> <li><code>two million, nine hundred and forty-eight thousand, four hundred and seventy-five</code></li> </ul> <p><strong>Brian #2:</strong> <a href="https://inference-review.com/article/the-origins-of-python"><strong>The Origins of Python</strong></a></p> <ul> <li>Lambert Meertens</li> <li>A wonderful tale starting with TELCOMP, traveling through ABC, and finally reaching Python. </li> <li>This is a long article, but a wonderful story.</li> <li>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.</li> <li>A few quotes from the article: <ul> <li>“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.”</li> <li>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.</li> <li>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.”</li> </ul></li> </ul> <p><strong>Kelly</strong> <strong>#3:</strong> </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://shop.ozobot.com/cart">Ozobot Evo</a> Introduces a Python Beta Version. (<a href="https://ozobot.com/2022/08/17/"><strong>August 17, 2022</strong></a>)</li> <li>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. </li> <li>https://beta.python.ozobot.com/doc-python-api/ozobot.html#module-0 </li> <li>Still has the updated OzoBlockly platform for Block Programming.</li> <li>This tiny bot comes with: <ul> <li>Line following</li> <li>Color detection</li> <li>Sound</li> <li>proximity sensor</li> <li>bluetooth</li> <li>Crash detection</li> <li>Students can even code functions</li> </ul></li> <li>Ozobot simulator(block) https://games.ozoblockly.com/shapetracer-freeform</li> <li>Web beta app: <a href="https://beta.python.ozobot.com">beta.python.ozobot.com</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Michael #4:</strong> <a href="https://pypi.org/project/setproctitle/"><strong>setproctitle</strong></a></p> <ul> <li><p>A Python module to customize the process title</p></li> <li><p>Awesome for servers and anytime “python” is not enough</p></li> <li><p>Easy to use directly:</p></li> <li><p>from setproctitle import setproctitle</p></li> <li><p>setproctitle("tp-search daemon")</p></li> <li><p>Used automatically by servers like uwsgi and gunicorn I believe.</p> <pre><code>### # uWSGI server configuration ### [uwsgi] # uWSGI provides some functionality which can help identify the workers procname-prefix = training- auto-procname = true </code></pre></li> <li><p>Some nice results, example from Talk Python Training <img src="https://python-bytes-static.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/server-with-names.png" alt="" /></p></li> </ul> <p><strong>Brian #5:</strong> <strong>Looking forward to Python 3.12</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-3120a2/">New features in 3.12a2</a> <ul> <li>Improved Error Messages</li> <li>lots of other goodies, like <code>pathlib.walk()</code>.</li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0693/">Release scheduled for Oct 2023</a></li> <li>But why wait? Start testing your projects with it now: <a href="http://localhost:1313/testing-with-python-3.12">Te</a><a href="https://pythontest.com/testing-with-python-3-12">sting with Python 3.12</a></li> <li>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.”</li> <li>Actually, with that note, you might want to wait. I don’t. I’ll deal with it when/if I get a failure. </li> </ul> <p><strong>Sean</strong> <strong>#6:</strong> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRBLl7MsZVU&amp;list=PL2yQDdvlhXf9F-GUSSZ2jBtelyiWRFHNV&amp;index=13"><strong>Re:Invent 2022 EF Education Breakout</strong></a></p> <ul> <li>Presentation at AWS Re:Invent 2022</li> <li>Complete redesign of online learning platform by one of the largest education companies in the world</li> <li>We’ve all seen Zoom classrooms with rows on rows of students</li> <li>A more immersive experience for learning with green screens, digital sets, and props</li> <li>Massive amount of analytics around student engagement and learning, including full transcription of every student, engagement tracking, and computer vision</li> <li> <img src="https://paper-attachments.dropboxusercontent.com/s_8972A8B4AFB195FA45E7A043E2BDE6670DA22712B4D99F7D7829C7C10300934F_1670335403294_image.png" alt="" /></li> </ul> <p><strong>Extras</strong> </p> <p>Michael:</p> <ul> <li>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</li> <li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/text-extractor">Textinator for Windows</a> (the Windows version of <a href="https://www.textsniper.app">TextSniper</a>)</li> <li><a href="https://paperlike.com">Paperlike</a> for iPad</li> </ul> <p>Kelly: A new Special Interest Group for the PSF launched 6 days ago. “Edu-sig, through its <a href="http://www.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig">mailing list</a>, provides an informal venue for comparing notes and discussing future possibilities for Python in education.” Led by Timothy Wilson.</p> <p>Sean:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfvL_423a-I">Dr. Werner Vogel’s keynote</a> - everything is coming up async</li> <li><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/eventbridge/pipes/">EventBridge Pipes</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Jokes:</strong> </p> <p><a href="https://fosstodon.org/@kimvanwyk/109389398652030679">fosstodon.org/@kimvanwyk/109389398652030679</a></p> <p>And a new mastodon user:</p> <p><a href="https://fosstodon.org/@vruz@mastodon.social/109394538570819699">fosstodon.org/@vruz@mastodon.social/109394538570819699</a></p> <p><img src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/feature_comparison.png" alt="Feature Comparison" /></p>