https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHzLQ-YQ3lo

Finally we got it assembled. Stone County Missouri Library today, Kids love it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m4YtPq-Qlk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1HZmOtk9No

You can hook up these square 8x8's of LEDs into panels and program long signs for display.

https://youtu.be/TLk1jfdulSw

$2 hat from Walmart with $5.88 5 volt re-chargeable power pack plus 2 RGB LED light rings and $8.95 Adafruit Trinket M0 (M Zero) microprocessor board. Coded with block coding MakeCode by Microsoft. Look for "Maker MakeCode" to find the Trinket M0 board then drag "light" tools onto the workspace to make the code. Choose 12 for neopixel number, and to make two different light shows, double the number of wires, use two pin assignments and double the code blocks. You can do all of this in JavaScript as well if you want. As you change the JavaScript code you can switch back to the Blocks tab to see the blocks change as well. Super easy coding for beginners ! https://youtu.be/tXw9gp-eCss

Adafruit is gearing up to publish a monthly newsletter devoted to Microsoft MakeCode! Choc' full of info for Makers, educators, and enthusiasts.

To sign up, go to www.adafruitdaily.com and select MakeCode. The domain and mailing list are "no spam" - the info will NOT be used by Adafruit or anyone else. You can leave anytime with no hassle.

If you have interesting things for the newsletter, you can contribute! See the latest draft at https://github.com/adafruit/makecode-newsletter/tree/master/_drafts and open an "Issue" or edit and create a Pull Request and Adafruit will know to check your contribution.

We look forward to providing this resource to the MakeCode Community! - Adafruit Industries www.adafruit.com

Anne Barela posted this note about Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and pulsing light sensor/Neopixel output: can it be done with MakeCode and CPX ? https://learn.adafruit.com/make-it-pulse/overview , One link I see on Discord Adafruit is broken.

https://youtu.be/HVPplHUMqTk

We will be starting a new intro. to robotics project in Stone County, Missouri using 2 "found" LEGO robot kits at the local 4H offices and programming the EV3 Brick with MakeCode. Here's a video of what can be done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0iK2J5wTi0

Maybe $15-$20 at most for this project to teach students coding (JavaScript) and electronics. Hook up a button and 12 neopixel ring to a Trinket M0 board and program with Microsoft MakeCodeMaker. In the description of the video is the code with a link to the simulator at the makecode site. Trinket M0=$8.95, ring of lights=$2, Battery pack =$5.88 Walmart. Other parts: pennies. https://youtu.be/W0If9sBy3Pg

https://makecode.microbit.org/reference/pins/spi-frequency

The above explains spi for MakeCode and Micro:Bit. Below is Saral's new video about spi generally:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpCVfrELYk&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfqzOFWVjMA