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The Scratch 10-block Programming Challenge

21 March 2014

Back in the 80s and 90s, I used to write programs for Amstrad computer magazines. One of the best features was the 10-liners pages in Amstrad Computer User, which challenged programmers to come up with something interesting, fun or useful in no more than 10 lines of code. In many ways, it was a precursor to the coding competitions that still run today, with a limit on the final file size. You can see one of my contributions here:

magazine cutting showing my program Digital from Amstrad Computer User in February 1991

One of my 10-liners from ACU magazine. If this is your kind of thing, see my Amstrad CPC pages here.

I got around to thinking about what could be done in up to 10 blocks of Scratch. If you haven't heard of it, Scratch is a highly visual educational programming language. I've been using it a lot at my Code Club, and I wrote the book Scratch Programming in Easy Steps.

It's been an interesting challenge: You could pack quite a lot of instructions into one line of Amstrad BASIC (as you can see from the program above), but 10 blocks of Scratch means just ten instructions or functions. The upside is that the core purpose of the demo really shines through. I've used some of my 10-block programs with my Code Club, and they've enjoyed their simplicity, and the ease with which they can experiment with them. Quite simple ideas, like adding a password to a program, or making one sprite control another have really captured their imaginations.

Here are the 10-block demos I've created so far. Click each one to find tips on how they work, and demos that show them in action:

Feel free to share those images and links on your social networks.

I have a few more ideas, so I've set up a page for 10-block Scratch demos which I'll update as I publish new examples. Do you have any ideas for simple examples you'd like to see? Leave a comment below.

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Three things you should know before embedding Getty Images

07 March 2014

Getty Images, one of the world's leading photo libraries, is abandoning watermarking and encouraging bloggers to embed its images in their posts. It's a huge turnaround for a stock library that makes money from licensing its images for use online and in print. In effect, it's a surrender to social media, with the library acknowledging that people were using its images anyway. This strategy will help Getty to build the business from those who are willing to pay for commercial usage, by making the images more traceable to their owners.

The images are fantastic, and take you to people, places and times you couldn't otherwise access. Here's Prince, up close and in concert in the US in September 1984.

Here's Einstein with physicists Paul Ehrenfest (in whose home they're meeting), Paul Langevin, Kamerlingh Onnes, and Pierre Weiss.

Here's the 7th century pyramid and Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque, Mexico.

And there's plenty more to explore, although not all images are available for embedding.

Before you start using Getty Images on your blog, though, there are three things you need to know:

Getty's terms say photos may not be used "for any commercial purpose (for example, in advertising, promotions or merchandising)". This is a potentially grey area, given that lots of blogs carry advertising and almost every company uses social media to keep in touch with its customers.
You are only allowed to use the photos by using a special embed code. This is the same technique used to embed Youtube videos today. You don't actually put a copy of the photo or video into your blog, you just put in a code that brings it in from Youtube or Getty when someone looks at your post. That means, however, that Getty controls the embedded photos on your blog, not you. They can remove them at any time, serve alternative content, or even serve ads. Some content management systems might not allow you to embed content in this way. Using embed codes slows down your web page because it adds in another request to a different server. For those who want to optimise the user experience, they're not ideal.
The entire image area is a link back to Getty at the moment. It would be more usual for the credit line to be a link. Having such huge links creates the possibility that people (especially those using touch-based devices) will end up visiting them by mistake, which can be a frustrating user experience.

The collection of images is fantastic, though, and the way the photos are presented looks great. This is an interesting strategy, and it will add some wonderful imagery to the web. As long as you have a strategy to manage the risk of images disappearing, this provides a great free source of high quality editorial photos.

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Visit www.sean.co.uk for free chapters from Sean's coding books (including Mission Python, Scratch Programming in Easy Steps and Coder Academy) and more!

Discover my latest books

100 Top Tips: Microsoft Excel

Power up your Microsoft Excel skills with this powerful pocket-sized book of tips that will save you time and help you learn more from your spreadsheets.

Scratch Programming IES

This book, now fully updated for Scratch 3, will take you from the basics of the Scratch language into the depths of its more advanced features. A great way to start programming.

Mission Python

Code a space adventure game in this Python programming book published by No Starch Press.

Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps

Discover how to make 3D games, create mazes, build a drum machine, make a game with cartoon animals and more!

Raspberry Pi For Dummies

Set up your Raspberry Pi, then learn how to use the Linux command line, Scratch, Python, Sonic Pi, Minecraft and electronics projects with it.

Earworm

In this entertaining techno-thriller, Sean McManus takes a slice through the music industry: from the boardroom to the stage; from the studio to the record fair.