Here's a list of things I am currently doing with a Raspberry Pi:

Yup, that'd be nothing

The A+ is still happily running the dice clock, but other than routine system updates nothing's changed since I wrote that code at the start of the year.

The original model B has been all but relegated to paperweight.  I'm not even sure when I last booted it, so the operating system must be quite out of date by now.  It's not compatible with HATs, and I still haven't had any genius ideas for it.  Sorry little pi.

I was rather hoping that by now I could be writing about displaying stuff on an e-paper screen, but unfortunately the PaPiRus kickstarter I backed has been rather delayed.  I still have no idea when it might arrive, as communication has been somewhat lacking, but hopefully it'll be some point in 2015 and I can get stuck in with it.

Meanwhile, a few other new products have caught my eye:

Piano Hat

I got very excited when I first saw preview photos of this.  A tiny piano! It's taken genuine effort not to buy one so far - I've been telling myself it needs to wait until after I've got and done something with the e-paper screen first.

But I can think of Actual Genuine Ideas of things to do with a tiny piano - nothing remotely useful, just little fun things.  Knowing my luck all my ideas probably exist as basic example programs, but hey.  I wonder if it'd talk to my old yamaha keyboard (with MIDI in/out). That keyboard has a floppy drive and doesn't get anywhere near as much use as it used to.

It's possible that messing around with MIDI and code would bring horrible flashbacks from my MSc project, but I'd be willing to take that risk. I will definitely be purchasing one of these at some point!  Or putting it on the xmas list.

Sense Hat

This was designed to go into space, on the ISS.  Can you get much cooler than that?  I don't think so.

It's got an 8x8 LED matrix, same as the Unicorn Hat (but smaller), and a load of sensors.  And a joystick, for direct input/control of things.  Game of snake, anyone?  Lots of possibilities here - it reminds me of one of those 'teach your child electronics' board things, but modern and exciting.  And a lot smaller!

Official touchscreen

Brand new this week, a 7" touchscreen which mounts directly on to the Pi.  Do I need one?  No.  Do I want one?  Obviously.  Can definitely see this being useful for so many things though - but not anything I'm thinking of doing myself at any point soon.

If only I had more spare money and time!  If I start buying more hats then I'm going to need to add another Pi to the collection, as currently only my A+ is compatible.

I've also been thinking I should buy a soldering iron and get into doing more actual electronics (arduino, perhaps), but please... continue reading »

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Seems it's not quite peak blackberry season just yet.

Last night's raid on some local hedgerows was a bit disappointing on the blackberry front - found enough for a crumble or cake, but it needs another week or so before everything is nicely ripe and pickable.  However, we also picked enough sloes for a large batch of gin

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According to the internet, today is National Fitness Day.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I will be having a rest day and doing nothing more strenuous than walking the boyfriend's dog.

Ooh, rebellious...  But I suspect I am not in the target demographic for this particular occasion, as being active is a well established part of my routine.  I get twitchy if I go too long without doing exercise, and consider it a waste of a nice sunny day to stay inside all the time.

Currently I'm running twice a week, in preparation for my first 10k later this month.  When I signed up the thought of running that distance seemed impossible, but now I know I can do it and I'm sort of almost looking forward to the race.

The downside of all this running is that it's taking up time I'd otherwise want to spend cycling.  Both bikes have been rather neglected this summer

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