Here’s another book from Packt Publishing which I’ve read recently. As the title says, it’s about learning using the RPI for various robotic projects. After reading it, I think the title should be modifed as BRIEF INTRODUCTION to Raspberry Pi Robotic Projects (yes, with capital letters) :)

The introduction to the RPI is very good, covers everything including how the hardware works, installing the OS, etc. It’s followed by a short chapter on Python and C++ programming, but it’s really really short, and I don’t understand why the author chose C++ with all those pesky standard library functions. Otherwise, all the chapters are well-written and easily understandable. My biggest problem with the book was that the author assumed that the reader has a Windows PC, and he/she can run all those Windows-based tools. Surprisingly, the book covered not just how to build a moving, speaking, seeing robot, but also has a chapter on how to create a sailing or flying one.

This is what we heard on 11th July in Budapest:

So I got a new book from Packt Publishing to read, I’ve just finished it, and liked it very much.

It covers a lot of fun topics like what peripherals can be used with the board, how to configure LAN or Wi-Fi, how to use the on-chip watchdog and the hardware video decoders (I have to admit I didn’t know, that the Broadcom SoC has a built-in hardware watchdog!), how to install and configure a web server, a game server, a file server, how to use Bittorrent Sync and Bitcoin, and how to stream live HD video.

I think it’s far the best resource for everyone who already have basic Linux skills and want to get familiar not just with the RPI, but also with any other embedded computer which has a Debian-based OS.

As I couldn’t find any information on the web about the heat generated by the new Wouxun KG-UV8D in cross-band repeater mode, I thought I’ll share the information with my precious readers. :)

So, if you use both bands in the low output power (0.5W) mode, the radio gets very hot in about 10 minutes of continuous repeating, but not so much that you can’t touch it – so it works fine.

If you use one of the bands in 5W output power mode, the radio gets so super hot in a few minutes, that you can’t touch the metal parts on it. I didn’t try to run it longer because I was afraid that it’ll catch on fire :)

A few months ago I was asked by Packt Publishing to help reviewing a book called Building a Home Security System with BeagleBone which you can buy and read here.

Now they asked me to write a review of their recently released book titled Raspberry Pi Projects for Kids. I’ve read it on the weekend, and liked it very much. The author knows how to keep the attention of the reader (who is possibly a kid) through the book.

The introduction section is pretty straightforward and well illustrated with photos, so anyone can understand how to power a Raspberry Pi up and install the operating system. The book’s structure is good, it’s nice that the introduction starts with using Scratch which I think is a very good tool to show kids how programming works. Building a simple Angry Birds clone with it is quite simple yet entertaining, and shows a lot of the capabilities of Scratch.

The next chapter is about building a simple controller device and wiring it to the Pi. The author should have included some actual photos of the building process, not just schematic images, but at least those are fine and a crafted kid would be able to build it by reading the book. The Python examples are easily understandable and explain GPIO pin usage clearly. The interactive map chapter shows how to use GUI elements with a nice example using Google Maps API to download map images and displaying it in a self made application window. The chapter also explains how to interact with the window.

I think Raspberry Pi Projects for Kids is a very cool book for a child who is interested in how programming works, and wants to try it out quickly and easily without being bored reading other science books about programming. If you have a child who might be interested, go buy this book (and a Pi)! :)

Github

I started using Github in the past few months for hosting my hobby projects. Here’s the list of my current repos:

• nweather-wordpress-plugin: WordPress plugin which shows graphs from data uploaded by nweather-upload.
• nbackup: A simple backup script which uses rsync or rdiff-backup over SSH to back up directories.
• ntimelapse: Scripts for processing webcam and sound uploads, generating and uploading timelapse videos to YouTube.
• ntimelapse-upload: Captures and uploads multiple webcam images and sound recordings to a PHP script.
• nlogrotate: A simple logrotate shell script I use in embedded enviroments.
• nweather-upload: This script can be used to upload a WS-2300 (or compatible) weather station’s data acquired with fetch2300.
• nalarminterface: Alarm system USB interface firmware, host application and other tools. Also a nice example on using XMEGA USB devices and libusb for communicating with them.
• nusbreset: Resets Linux USB devices.
• pcsensor2: Reads temperature from a TEMPerV1.2 USB thermometer (VID/PID 0c45:7401)
• homerseklet: A webpage for displaying temperature graphs.

New HT

I’ve bought a Yaesu VX-8GE, which is a dual-VFO handheld transceiver with a built-in GPS and APRS capable TNC. Now you can find my HT’s position on aprs.fi if it has GPS and APRS coverage.

I’m planning to fix the APRS unit in my car as it’s not working well anymore.

Gerecse WX and new webcams

I’ve integrated the weather data graphs into the radio club’s homepage which you can see here. The data also gets posted to aprs.fi.

I also made a new Youtube channel for the automatic daily timelapse videos of the Gerecse cams. You can see my other cameras at webcam.nonoo.hu.

If you want to build an automatic timelapse generating system like this, you can use my ntimelapse and ntimelapse-upload scripts.

And here’s the unbelievably cool Trabant from Pusztamarót:

MySQL is not very cross-compile friendly, but hey, let’s give it a try.
» …continue reading ‘Cross-compiling MySQL’

Here’s how to set up RADIUS authentication using FreeRADIUS and an Active Directory server. For example, this can be used for authenticating Wifi WPA Enterprise clients (when you connect to a WPA Enterprise Wifi network, you have to give your username and password, not only a password like when connecting to a WPA Personal network).
» …continue reading ‘FreeRADIUS AD authentication’