Geeky Techiness, Operating systems, Opinion

Quick intro to BerryBoot on the #Raspberry Pi – boot multiple OSs – and opinion piece

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I found a quick intro guide to using BerryBoot on the Pi. BerryBoot lets you choose which of the available images to install and boot from. You can choose at boot time which OS you want to run! Here’s a link to an article about it:

Raspberry Pi: Easily Boot Multiple Linux Distributions From The Same SD Card With BerryBoot

Or you can jump straight to BerryBoot itself and get started.

In my opinion, the best thing about BerryBoot is that you can choose to install and boot from a USB drive/stick. The SD card used in the Pi is easily swappable but that also makes it the weakest point in your set-up. Several times I’ve knocked the SD card, causing a fatal shut-down and corruption of the card. I’ve had to fix this using a method I previously documented. I’ve also heard stories of people dropping their Pi and damaging the SD card or the socket. Effectively booting and running from a much more robust pen drive seems like a great idea. Okay, you lose a USB socket, but that’s got to be better than losing all your data through damage to the delicate SD card. The main disadvantage to BerryBoot is that you need access to a keyboard/display to choose the boot image each time you start-up. No headless running with this method!

Software

TheocBase Runs On The #RaspberryPi

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TheocBase Runs On The Raspberry Pi

For those interested in exploring the Raspberry Pi as a platform for Church activities, you might want to take a look at TheocBase. TheocBase is a piece of software for scheduling:

  • Congregational Bible Study
  • Ministry school
  • Service meetings
  • Public meetings

There is now an experimental (i.e. Alpha) version of the software now available. It is very early days and errors are being thrown during set-up, and I’m not sure how much of it is working, but it’s something to keep an eye on if you’re interested.

Geeky Techiness, Making, Programming, Robotics, Silliness

#RaspberryPi using Scratch to control RC car over GPIO

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Winkle Ink’s been tinkering with an old remote control car and a bunch of transistor based driver circuits. What he’s come out with is a remote control car that you can program from Scratch. It’s not the most precision control you’ll ever see (because of the limitations of the car itself) but it’s great fun!

Read the full article here or see his video of the project in action below:

Geeky Techiness, Internet of things, Making, Programming

Bicycle Dashboard on the Web using a #RaspberryPi

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Jeremy Blythe has been busy. He’s created a live web bicycle dashboard using his ControlMyPi project. The Pi is carried onboard his bike and then he uses a combination of

  • the Raspberry Pi
  • a 3G dongle
  • the Adafruit Ultimate GPS Breakout
  • and an accelerometer sensor

to update a website with

  • a webcam image
  • a Google map
  • and some gauge-readings for the accelerometer stuff.

A very impressive project. What I’d like to see is a small screen on the bicycle itself so that the rider can view the dashboard, but then he’d have to worry about weatherproofing and that kind of thing.

Here’s his diagram of the project:

Raspberry Jams

Milton Keynes Raspberry Jam – Open invitation for owners and enthusiasts of the #RaspberryPi

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Free tickets are still available for the Milton Keynes Raspberry Jam this coming Sunday, 24th February 2013. Click here to reserve a ticket http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5421371468

What’s so special about the MK Jam?

The Milton Keynes Jam is rather special because it is held at Bletchley Park inside the National Museum of Computing. They’ve got the oldest working digital computer in the world – the WITCH.

The WITCH

Also there is Colossus – the famous code-breaking computer from World War 2.

Colossus

You can also see dozens of working old home computers including the BBC Micro, Archimedes, Spectrum and ZX81. If you like computers, it’s a fantastic place for oldies to reminisce and for youngsters to learn about what did come before their X Box.

In short, it’s the perfect home for a Jam – there’s been a real sense of occasion every time I’ve been.

What’s in the Jam then?

We usually have introductions, then about 2 hours of open session, where people lay out their demos and talk to each other. There is a perfect opportunity to ask questions and get help with something you might be stuck on. It’s great for meeting people, getting inspired and sharing ideas too. We usually have several teachers present and several experts in various areas. If you’re having trouble with a software or hardware project, bring it along and someone will probably be able to help you. If you’re struggling with your soldering, this is a great place as there are a great number of people with the burn marks to prove they’ve earned their stripes!

After the Jam, you can go round the museum. If it’s your first visit to the Jam, you can visit the museum free of charge.

If you’re in the area, please come and join us! You can click here to reserve a ticket http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5421371468.