How I Set Up My Raspberry PI – Lesson 1 Get A Good Power Supply

If you’re reading this blog post you probably already know what a Raspberry Pi is. And I’m going to assume that you already know there are literally hundreds of postings that instruct one how to set these units up. Because of the sheer amount of data available, that makes it difficult for the novice, I decided that I would document the information I used specifically in getting my Raspberry Pi’s operational.

Lesson 1 – Get A Good Power Supply For Your PI

Blackberry Power Supply that met basic specifications but DID NOT work with my Raspberry Pi

When I got my PI I purchased it with no accessories. Prior to discovering Creatron in Toronto, (Creatron has a well stocked selection of Raspberry Pi’s and accessories) I purchased a Blackberry power supply that claimed to meet the basic specifications (Model B: 5V dc, 700-1200mA with no devices connected) required by the PI. However as it turned out the unit pictured above did not supply power consistently and upon obtaining a good power supply I discovered that even the USB cable had problems when connected to my good power supply. Lesson learned, a video below on the subject and if you’re in the Toronto area, Creatron stocks these AidaFruit power supplies in their retail store.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 15,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 3 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

University of Southampton Engineers Built a supercomputer from 64 Raspberry Pi’s

Behind the scenes of a C64 demo

C64 “demos” were the root of the whole demo-scene-thing and they are still the main force keeping the C64 alive today. Audiovisual pleasure, still pushing hardware limits, still exploring different ways of expression. But what is typically happening inside the machine when you watch a demo? What effort is needed to entertain the audience? This talk will give you an inside look at the steps taken for the award winning demo “Error 23” given first hand by one of its main programmers.

This talk extends previous talks and documentation about the Commodore 64 and its demo effects by adding real-life challenges and experiences to it. What were the basic ideas? What obstacles were on the way? How did they get solved? 6502 assembly knowledge is really not required, some general understanding about assembly and low-level computing will be useful, though (think of stack, timer, cycles…). This isn’t about theory, this is for real 😉

Magnetic Logic and Magnetic Core Memory – Forgotten Technology

What? iPhone 5 automatically rotates using Cycloramic App.

Cycloramic has been Awarded the Pogie Award, for the Brightest Ideas of the Year in The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/RSJUYc
Cycloramic (Cycloramic.com) automatically rotates (handsfree) your iPhone 5 while taking a panoramic video of a special moment.

Gathered around a dinner table, in a bar, in a club, at home, or at a conference table? Cycloramic allows you to capture the moment (handsfree) in a unique and fun way whilst making you and your phone the talk of the event!

This video demonstrates the CYCLORAMIC app in real conditions on 3 different surfaces.
App available on the AppStore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cycloramic/id587578368

Taking a panoramic video has never been so easy and fun:
1. Put your iPhone 5 upright on the level surface,
2. Choose number of turns, and front or back camera,
3. Press Go, and start your show!
Once completed your video will be saved in the library of the iPhone.

Cycloramic.com
** ONLY iPHONE 5 will rotate using Cycloramic, Previous iPhone can use the app but will have to rotate phone manually **

Classic Computers: The IBM-PC (5150)