bromagosa

Yup, totally. Power feature discoverability is not where we shine... :p

Yes, I totally agree that the website needs to make the important aspects apparent right away :)

We've been basically focused on finalizing the last details before launching beta, but reworking the website is on our list of urgent tasks, possibly even before the launch, who knows!

In Snap!, GP and MicroBlocks there's a pretty powerful keyboard interface to assemble blocks. I use it all the time instead of dragging blocks. Check out page 115 of the Snap! reference manual here: https://snap.berkeley.edu/snap/help/SnapManual.pdf

Jens Mönig implemented keyboard input for both GP and Snap!, so the same hotkeys will work on both. Since we're using GP for the MicroBlocks GUI, the same will also work on MicroBlocks.

Hi Avi! Let me first say that my final project at university was about Seaside, and that project landed me a Smalltalk job that marked the beginning of my professional life as a developer. I can't thank you enough!

Regarding Teensy boards, it would have to be version >3.0, because MicroBlocks uses 32 bit instructions and needs at least 16kb of RAM. The Teensy 3.0 just about meets the requirements, and 3.1 exceeds them comfortably.

We don't yet support any M4 MCUs, but we do support a couple of M0s, so I think porting the VM to the Teensy should be fairly easy. I don't currently have one, but I see they're cheap, so I'm going to order one and try to find some time to work on the port :)

If you'd like to, we can continue the discussion over email at interest (at) microblocks (dot) fun.

Actually, there are no similar projects that I can tell of. MakeCode, the "one that comes with the micro:bit", as you say, is not a live language and only works for a couple of boards. It's not even a language, it's a façade for an underlying text language.

To sum up what's different about MicroBlocks:

* It is blocks based.

* It is live. That means you can change scripts in real time while they're running. You can see the result of running any block in real time. You don't have to wait for any compilation/upload cycles.

* It is autonomous. You can disconnect the board at any point, and the program will keep running in it.

* It is parallel. You can run multiple tasks at the same time.

* It is portable. It runs in several boards thanks to our VM approach.

There was no language that did all these, so we made our own :)

Glad to see MicroBlocks on the front page of HN!

I'm one of the project devs. Feel free to AMA :)

microblocks.fun is still in Alpha, but check it out nevertheless! It works on lots of 32 bit microcontrollers.

It's been tested on the micro:bit, circuit playground express, calliope and several Arduinos.

Great! Congratulations on the web redesign as well!

Nope, you need to have contents in Catalan in your .cat site, not for six months but forever. I couldn't find this 6-months clause anywhere, and the terms don't mention it at all: http://fundacio.cat/ca/domini/sobre-el-cat/normativa

Furthermore, they clearly say that violation of the only usage restriction (contents in Catalan) can result in your domain being suspended.

edit: Just a little correction to your text in Catalan: L'idioma català és una llengua bonica. ;)

I tried the URL that's shown at the end of the video and it didn't work :(

Any live demos?

Well, opensourcing a product doesn't forbid you to earn from it, but that's your personal decision ;)

Is it opensource? I'd love to see the code.

Ship it as a mobile app, seriously!

I was thinking exactly the same thing! What kind of stuff would you want to keep on a straight trajectory and prevent from steering?

Many studies that seem unpractical or even stupid at first sight become genius when somebody finds a problem to which they are an elegant and obvious solution.