LosOjos

Also from the same series, Adventures in Minecraft is really good. I run a code club and this has been the basis of all our projects so far, teaches python via the Minecraft API, has been very popular here (once they get past the fact it's a limited version of Minecraft that is!)

Looks great, but £260 is way beyond my budget (as close to free as possible)! I'm a serial GAS sufferer, so I dare say I'll buy something similar before the year is out, but money's too tight to mention at the moment.

Makes sense - gonna go for that then to start with and buy one of those Hantek USB oscopes later if I need to generate signals - though thinking about it, I wouldn't have thought it was too difficult to use a soundcard to generate a signal too... potential project!

Really like the look of the soundcard oscope, do you think that'll have a faster sampling rate than an Arduino?

Hmmm that could potentially be a problem, going to be using it to debug microprocessors (I assume!) so if it's too slow to pick up the signal that could rule it out... again though, as I know nothing about them, I don't know if that statement even makes sense!

One of these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/RioRand-DS201-PRO-Portable-Handheld-Oscilloscope/dp/B00JRO7BUW

In what context?

Why not? Unless you open it with a hammer, you shouldn't be able to tell from the outside that it's ever been opened up.

Sounds like the same Hantek one I've been looking at. Did you find it was lacking anything important? I haven't used an oscilloscope since I was at school so have absolutely zero idea what to look out for!

I'm about to start a basic robotics/embedded computing course with edX (https://www.edx.org/course/electronic-interfaces-bridging-physical-uc-berkeleyx-ee40lx#.VHOLXUZOUcg) One of the requirements is access to an oscilloscope, which I don't have. I've looked at my options, and there seem to be 3 open to me: - DIY solution. Using an Arduino. Lots of Instructables on this, but I'm unsure how good they are having never used an oscilloscope. This will be free, as I have all the parts required. - USB. These obviously require a PC to use, but that's no problem as I'll be working at this at home and have a netbook I can use should portability become a requirement. They're cheap, too (<£100) - Traditional/CRT. These are majorly expensive, but if they're the only suitable option then I'll just have to bite the bullet and buy one. Anybody have any recommendations? I want to spend as little money as possible here but I also want something that will get the job done, so if I have to spend the cash, then so be it.

Agree with @Seb1780 - it's always a good idea to separate data entry from presentation. However, for simplicity's sake I have attached a couple of examples for you. The SUMIF version simply looks for an 'x' and adds that support type's cost to a running total. If all support types cost the same, you could replace it with a COUNTIF and multiply the result by the cost to get your total. The SUMPRODUCT version looks for numerical values, so it's possible to enter multiple instances of each support type. Pupil Premium Tracking2 SUMPRODUCT.xlsx Pupil Premium Tracking2 SUMIF.xlsx

Our IT techs used to have a little 16x2 LCD screen hooked up to an Arduino that displayed messages; they had an app on their PCs which sent the appropriate message to display via Bluetooth. Always thought it was a great way of getting kids interested as well as being functional

I'd love to play it in 4K, but there's no way my rig will handle that. Seriously considering financing a couple of 980s for the task... missus may kill me though, what with the saving for our wedding and all!

Orrrr... they're making sure it's a decent port this time and not a repeat of GTAIV? I'd rather wait for a game that works than have a broken game now.

I ended up coming up with a workaround for this which isn't perfect but got the job done; I made the red/green bands a very vivid colour with high transparency. Resulting print out was almost the same colour as original (not that it really mattered) but importantly you could see the needles through it, so that'll do for now unless someone finds a "proper" fix. Next annoyance is that it appears Excel can't manage to print what it shows on screen they all came out like this on print outs: For the time being I've just removed the gauge style border as these were needed for an afternoon meeting, but I won't let it beat me!

Struggling to find an answer to this one on Google so hoping someone here can help. I've set up some complex charts in Excel which contain 7 different series. I'm trying to recreate the gauge charts as seen in the FFT dashboard. When they work, they look great: However, I am having a really annoying issue that when I reopen the document, the formatting gets screwed up and the "needles" z-order changes, obscuring them like so: The "fix" is a real faff - I have to edit each series, toggling them from primary to secondary axis an unspecified number of times, then reformat them. There's really no system to this; sometimes it works first time, sometimes it takes 2 or 3 attempts to put them right. Every time the formatting gets screwed and has to be readjusted. I can't do this every time I update the document, it takes too long and completely defeats the object of making these in the first place (other schools I have seen make the gauges in Illustrator and paste them in - I thought I'd be clever and set it up in Excel so I can just drop in the figures and job done, but now I think I'm wasting my time! Any ideas? PS: for those that are interested, there are doughnut charts for the red/green bands and the labels, and pie charts for the "needles", plus a couple of shapes dropped behind to make it look like a speedometer.

If you're filling the RAM slots and they're all the same kind of RAM then you don't need to worry about order - only matters if you have some banks free

As far as I'm concerned: - you want as thin a layer as you can - you want to spread it over the entire surface area (right up to the edges, then wipe the excess away that goes over the edge) It's really, really simple @mac_shinobi. I think you're way overthinking it all; it's nigh on impossible to assemble a PC incorrectly if you have common sense these days, like @sonofsanta said, it's glorified lego! One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet but I have seen catch people out - check your mobo's manual to make sure you're using the correct RAM slots (assuming there are more slots than you have RAM). You want to make sure you're filling them in order and pairing properly, some mobos put pairs together, some "alternate" (so some would be A1, A2, B1, B2 whereas other might be A1, B1, A2, B2). Just check the manual, it's simpler than I make it sound Of course with all the RAM you've bought, you may well fill all the slots anyway in which case this isn't a problem By far the hardest part of assembling a modern PC is connecting all the power/LED wires from the case to the correct pins on the mobo - fiddly little things take me forever (but then I haven't got the steadiest hands in the world!). Why on Earth they haven't made a standard layout for these so that proper connectors can be made (like they have for every other common connection) I don't know!

The "pea sized blob" is just the amount you use, you still need to spread it. Yeah, OK, the heatsink will spread it itself under pressure, but do you really want to risk leaving part of the top uncovered (therefore vastly reducing the efficiency of the heatsink) just for the sake of taking a minute to spread it? Don't risk it! If you don't have a card handy, pop in to Subway/McCollins/Coop/etc. and ask for a membership card

Brilliant - it will be very interesting to see how this plays out!

Not watched the video yet (will watch it at home), but judging by that statement it looks like he's starting his political career just like any other politician: by making undeliverable promises in the run up to the vote!

@mac_shinobi - I know what you're talking about! Way back when, you used to get a set of washers to insulate the screw heads from the mobo. These days they're unnecessary as they leave space enough for the screw head on the PCB so that you won't damage anything. TBH, I'm not sure it was ever necessary to use the washers, but I do remember you used to find them in most old PCs; I panicked a little too the first time I built a PC that didn't come with washers EDIT: I know others have already told you this and given you guidance, just wanted to reassure you I remember what you're talking about, you haven't gone mad (well, maybe, but this isn't evidence of it)

In a possibly related issue - every time SIMS loses then regains focus, the Census screen jumps back to the top. Extremely irritating when trying to reconcile pupil numbers!

Oh yeah it does look great, I'd love that machine as is! Only pointing out things I'd change given the choice to try to help, not p' on your bonfire

Ok to be fair, in my memory I had read about this on a news site, but couldn't find that, so there's a chance the Japan incident is the one I was remembering (found at least one news story on that: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2054057/Homeless-woman-comes-out-of-closet.html Still don't see what you two do but I'll accept it's possibly a fake video; not like I was there! Either way, an actual living human being living in your house without your knowledge - much creepier than a ghost, surely?!