Scantron Bad Apple

At first, I was pretty sure that I did not want to include this project here, mostly because it is what my generation would call a "sh*tpost." After thinking about it some more, however, I came to realize that I at least gained some value out of this "flaming pile of sh*t."

What I'm specifically referencing here is how absolutely slow Python is. This is an objective fact that everyone knows by the time they gain self-awareness, but this project made me really know.

Yes, I understand that I didn't put too much effort into optimizing this script, and that iterating over every pixel of every frame of a video takes a long time, but Python made it take even longer.

And I'm okay with that. Something this taught me is that although the full script took about an hour to run, it only took me about an hour to write. If I wanted to write it in C++, it would have run faster, but it would have been much more mentally draining on me. So, it's a net zero in terms of time; I may as well take the easy path.

Just like that one scene with the Triceratops from Jurassic Park, this project has taught me that we can learn a lot from a pile of crap.

You can watch the finished product here.

Made with

by Colin