Blog Posts
This month I continue my series on building the ultimate private cloud server. Now we have file storage with the help of OpenMediaVault, we now explore how you can access files from anywhere in the...
It's The MagPi issue #144! This is the start of a new series on taking back control of your infrastructure and build you own personal private cloud server. Over the coming months we'll take a deep ...
In the latest MagPi - Issue #141 - I have a chat with Oscar Vermeulen who has just launched his PiDP-10 kit, the latest in a series of Raspberry Pi-based DEC computer recreations. This is his most ...
The latest version of The MagPi is now available in all good booksellers (and probably some bad ones too). In this issue I cover the basics of learning to code. This can often be a intimidating pro...
With the arrival of Raspberry Pi 5 it's a brave new world for my favourite little computer. The new shiny PCI-Express header allows super-duper-fast peripherals to bypass the bottleneck that is USB...
The MagPi issue 139 is now available, specially release to coincide with Raspberry Pi's third birthday. (That's right, third, Raspberry Pi is a leap-year baby!)I've been busy in this one. Firstly t...
Just out is the third edition of Retro Gaming With Raspberry Pi. This 170+ page tome tell you everything you need to know about bringing the old games back to life. There's so much more than 'downl...
A cautionary tale of a bug that wasn’t (yet was) I’m currently working with a team helping an industrial textile manufacturer based in Lyon, France. Part of the job is working with a CSV file (isn’...
A friend was having a bit of a KonMarie moment and decided to remove some of the technology from her life. One item, which she had only just received, was a Joto. This robotic device is a neat spin...
In this month's MagPi I do unspeakable things to my front door as part of an ongoing SmartDoor project (more on that soon at this very 'ere blog). Also, I review the beautiful PiDP-11 kit. Availabl...
The rather wonderful MagPi issue 76 is out today. In this issue I'm turning up twice. First as part of the SuperGuide with a look at the Raspberry Pi Desktop and how to use it, along with some soft...
New Toy! New Toy!It has come as a bit of a surprise to me that the most popular post on this ‘ere site has been my original guide to owning an electric car in the UK. Mind you, when I think back to...
A time-lapse showing the construction of Just Add Sharks‘ Mini Strandbeest kit which I picked up at EMF Camp 2016. It’s a great kit and took about 90 minutes to put together.And here’s the result (...
Connie 1, WITCH 0You can keep your Winter Olympics with all it’s competitive falling and sliding. The real action was last Saturday at The National Museum of Computing where you could witness the i...
WAKKA WAKKA WAKKAWay back when, I bought an iCade. This bartop-style arcade machine was actually a very pretty bluetooth controller. Simply slot your first-generation iPad into the ‘screen’ and pai...
ZX Spectrums tend to suffer from two major problems. The earlier keyboard membranes were made from the finest Japanese rice paper and would shatter into a million pieces should a flea with a pencha...
In which our hero downsizes radicallyA couple of months ago we held the first in the ‘regeneration’ of the Milton Keynes Raspberry Jam. I took along my ZX Raspberry for all to see and wonder over. ...
You know when you’re having that long-overdue clean-out and you find a few things stashed away you’d forgotten about? From when you said “that’ll make a great project one day” then tossed it in you...
EMF Camp is a bi-annual gathering of creatives, geeks, makers and anyone with a passion for, well, anything. Over three days in a Guildford field we attended (and gave) talks, learnt new skills in ...
In which our hero is unable to leave well aloneA little epilogue to the ZX Raspberry project. I came into possession of a very dead ZX Spectrum+ and, following my own personal rule of ‘it gets fixe...
So, what do you do when your BBC Model B looks like this?Oh dear…You throw it in the skip of course!Nah, just kidding, you Google like a mad thing. What you learn is that screen corruption like thi...
In which our hero triumphs over excessive wiringBack in Part 2, I completed the USB keyboard conversion of an old, abandoned ZX Spectrum. The next, and final, step is to add in a Raspberry PI so th...
In which our hero enters the (keyboard) matrix…Ok, time to burn stuff. After hatching a plan in Part One, I’m now ready to proceed with my Frankenspeccy. But first, some more planning – what am I g...
In which our hero plans and schemesDespite wanting to convert a ZX Spectrum into a USB keyboard for some time, I held off to wait for the unlikely duo of the ZX Spectrum Vega and the Recreated ZX S...
I purchased this poor thing last week. After some initial mucking about, life was breathed into it once more. I had a a bit of fun getting the keyboard working but now she’s 100% operational and a ...
To many of us in the technical community, the story of Alan Turing is well known; a tragedy of a tortured genius who saved a world that may well have killed him in return. With this new film, the s...
So, you like the sound of going electric, but how does it all work? When Mrs E and I started considering an ‘EV’ (as the cool kids will insist on calling it) we quickly realised we had no idea how ...
Buoyed on by my successful project to add a composite video output to a 1976 Pong game, I decided to move to my next target, the Atari 2600. Now, this little beauty needs no introduction, a classic...
Pong! What more could a young child want in 1978? Despite my formative years, I was already hooked on my friend’s magic-filled box of delights he described as a ‘TV Game’ (for ‘console’ was a word ...
The first computer game I ever owned was this Binatone ‘TV Master MK IV’ – a simple unit that could play the standard Pong variants with a pair of analogue paddles. Yes, it may be simple, but I had...
The Raspberry Pi’s General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) connector consists of 26 pins that are a hacker’s delight, allowing for some serious analogue and digital tomfoolery. When drooling over the s...
This has been doing the rounds on Twitter but I thought I’d show off my own attempt.UK security firm Franklin Heath have put together an Enigma machine made out of paper. This really goes to show t...
Does your Raspberry Pi need a case? Mine too. I’ve looked at a few options and intend to make a selection. However, my first attempt may well be my favourite. Behold the ‘Raspberry Pi Fold-Up Case’...
As you may know, the German military made a significant addition to the original Enigma design by adding the plugboard, or steckerbrett. The board has twenty-six sockets, one for every letter in th...