Martin Evans

Director Digital Maker CIC , Workshop Leader, Author Arduino in Action, Builder of Underwater Robots and Art Installations

[Martin Evans @lostcaggy]

@virginmedia First installed in June but has never worked properly Engineer came out made some changes and said give it a few days to settle down but still not working. Uni starts back soon and they really need this sorted. DM me for postcode

[Martin Evans @lostcaggy]

@virginmedia appalling service my youngest and friends at their flat in Dundee have been trying to get broadband service working properly for past two months. Still not fixed and still being charged.

[Martin Evans @lostcaggy]

@recantha Yes exactly, it works really well

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

https://t.co/xvXPRsE3kw Day 1 from last week's "Project Week" in @aberdeengrammar - we were teaching "on board" feature of the @microbit_edu #microBit as well as GPIO with pin break out boards. 6 hour from little or no experience to confident Micro:Bit users! #makeCode

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We're delighted to be working for the @AbdnArtMuseums this summer as part of the #festivalOfTheSea (July 15-28th) with some "underwater robots" (have a go at piloting ROVs) https://t.co/fArL53DNKl

[Martin Evans @lostcaggy]

@martincpitt Training finished? I’m coming up to nine years on the bench this summer

[Martin Evans @lostcaggy]

Fantastic night in Edinburgh watching ⁦@HamiltonMusical⁩

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

Had an amazing morning on a zoom call with all the new @microbit_edu Champions ! incredible to see so many positive & kind people around the world helping shape a better world through #STEM education on the brilliant #microBit I snuck in my #pixelRing glasses for the photo

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

Just had some feedback from pupils in our @Sonic_Pi workshop (s3's) The pupils got a "whole class merrit" due to their concentration, engagement & hard work.
#SonicPi is an amazing tool for #music #coding but above all #PupilEngagement cheers to @Aberdeenshire for the funding

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We've had a fantastic mid term break at @AbdnArtMuseums with the #microBit drop in day, the #makeAndTake microbit workshop with 12 families, then microbit #cpd for @AberdeenCC education. It was all about giving confidence to use tech in class. (Great feedback from participants)

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We had a great weekend @AbdnArtMuseums showcasing the amazing #microbit by @microbit_edu with our Drop-in sessions - which inspired people to sign up to the "make & take" workshop we ran today. More on this later! (spoiler: amazing!) #stem #steam #computing #creativity #aberdeen

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

we've got another weekend of #microBit drop in taster sessions at @AbdnArtMuseums this Saturday (10th). Our 2 sessions in January saw a wide range of ages & abilities play & program with the amazing @microbit_edu come join us! https://t.co/beLIboih8f

[57North Hacklab @57NorthHacklab]

For a bit of hacking with the kids, there is a Workshop at the art gallery on the 13th of February...
https://t.co/HqWKlk5TBi

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We'll be running a day's #CPD for teachers in @AberdeenCC #education during the February In Service days - https://t.co/h22O4Vti8k for Primary & Secondary teachers interested in learning about the #microBit or taking skills further #STEAM #Stem

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We're half way through January already!
So! Here's a friendly reminder of our up-coming #microbit worshops for @AbdnArtMuseums January/February! https://t.co/beLIboih8f Free Drop Ins + "Make & Take" ticketed sessions

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We've been having a magic time with the pupils, great coding & concentration on the cardboard today (you could hear a pin drop a few times!) @YouthLinkScot @CreativeScots @YLSGrants

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We were so pleased to see the pupils embracing & really "getting it" with the #makeCode blocks, adding in external inputs & outputs too with @pimoroni breakout boards! @YouthLinkScot @CreativeScots @YLSGrants @microbit_edu

[Digital Maker CIC @digitalMakerCIC]

We had a fantastic time. Great to see such keen beans (coming back from break early, asking to do more coding etc). Their interactive sculptures using @microbit_edu #microbits were superb! big smiles all around! @CreativeScots @YouthLinkScot #stem #sctoland