Unit 14: My Raspberry Pi Future Projects

For this semester we dabbled with creating a LAMP server on both a virtual machine on the computer and a Raspberry PI (optional). Now that class is weeks from completion I thought it might be interesting to think about the things I can do with my Raspberry Pi.

Game Console

Of course I could make a game console out of my Raspberry Pi. On Life Hacker website it gives perfect step by step instructions for installing software called RetroPie. By simple erasing the current information on my Micro SD chip and imaging RetoPie on instead I can turn the Raspberry Pi into an old school video game machine. I've already purchased some SNES UBS Controller to give it a try in a couple weeks.

Home Media Center

I can turn my Raspberry Pi into a media center. Since I already have a Apple TV I’m not sure this is really what I want to use it for, but it’s an option. With the OpenELEC software I can run Xbox Media Center from my Pi and from what I’ve read and watched on YouTube, it runs cable TV and videos in the home network fast and in High Definition. As I said before, I do already have a way to stream HD video on my Television, but this would be great for the job down the road if I need it.

Creating a Drone

I've been wanting a drone for recording film in the air for over a year now. This is a perfectly logical project if I want to learn a bit more code and create a drone with the Raspberry PI. I know for a fact that there are multiple sites on the web that give step by step instruction for the build (Example). I think the big thing that’s important to me is that the Drone can lift a camera with it. So even if the Raspberry Pi is smart enough to fly, I still need a HD camera connected.

There are tons of other idea for things to do with your Raspberry pi. I personally like these links:

Ping Bin

Gear Burn

I have tons of projects just waiting for my graduation in December. I thought my list was filled with things to do, but with the Raspberry PI I have gained more projects to play with during all that time I used to spend studying and working on assignments.

Unit 13: Hello, World

Earlier in the year I read the book called Homeland by Cory Doctorow.  It’s the sequel to his more popular book Little Brother. In Homeland the main character has to deal with a huge torrent full of government documents that the government doesn't want the world to see. It’s a Techie kind of thriller and I would say that these books are directed at nerdy people and teens. It’s about question authority and about why we let other people make rules for the way we live. They are very interesting reads and I totally suggest them to all of my library teens.

In Homeland there is an awesome moment where the main character is building and programming a website for a politician. The book then goes on to talk about the awesomeness of writing code. The idea of creating something from nothing and then executing it and seeing what you've created in action. The “HelloWorld” code that most computer language lesson books teach is a perfect example of this. ‘Hello World’ is instant gratification that you've created something worth seeing (even if it’s a little text on a web browser written in JavaScript).

I personally love creating things and I defiantly would love to learn more about C++ and graphical based game design. Currently at my job I am working on learning how to get an App published in the Apple store using software that lets you design and upload it to the Apple store (GameSalad). This is great if you want to rely on a 3rd party, but I want to learn how to do it from scratch too.

I think it’s great that we live in a world with such a mass of openly available information on learning to do just about anything. The only time where really need to pay for any of that education is if we want to get that information in binded form. I’m graduating after this semester and I can’t wait to start playing with learning game design as a hobby. This class was really great to get my juices going in that direction.

Unit 11: Can't Wait to Use it!

One thing that I have really liked about this semester and this class specifically is the real world use of what we've been doing this for the past 11 weeks. Instead of so many classes that I've had where we learned a lot of philosophy on the LIS profession, this class has given as a hands-on technical look at how library databases from work. Don't get me wrong. I think a lot of the theory that I have learned in the past two years will be very helpful for communicating with other people in the LIS profession, but there is something special about learning something that you can take with you to work and actually do something with if given the computer access.

         

When I learned that we were going to be making our own LAMP server, I was very excited and couldn't wait to order the Raspberry Pi to set up. Being a somewhat technical person, with some background in coding but not a lot of background in hardware this has been a nice refreshing way of learning how to use and set up a library system.

Six years ago I helped open my first library. But when it came to opening the library on the library computer system end, I really didn't have anything to do with it. Everything that had to do with setting up the library OPAC server went to the library technician, and I'm sure that he probably knows most of the things that were learning in this class. I'm proud to say that now I'm excited about the idea of setting up a system that I know the ins and outs of the back end.

I realize that we have one third of our class left and I can't wait to see where this goes and the great hands on experiences we have left. I also have to admit I’m excited to figure out what I’m going to do with my Raspberry Pi. I’m figuring I will make a video game system with it, but who knows, there are a ton of different possibilities.