eBay Cheap Soldering Station - Updated With Fix June 3 2017 Update - Fixing it! Today at Blackpool Makerspace I finally fixed the soldering iron, largely thanks to a video from Big Clive which explained the fault. So what was the
pimoroni Red Alert - Work in progress My love of Star Trek is well known and so when I got the chance to play around with Pimoroni's new Mote lights, well there was only one thing to do. Simulate alert
Raspberry Pi Using SPI on the latest Raspbian Jessie --UPDATED 28/7/2016-- This post is more an aide-memoire after I spent a day trying to get SPI working on a Raspberry Pi 2 running the latest Raspbian Jessie release. Back it
GPIO One ruler to errr rule them all! tl;dr Alex has just announced his Kickstarter for this ruler, and I heartily suggest you head over and get one. Everybody wants to rule(r) the world! At high school I had
robot Johnny 5 is alive! It's no secret that I love robots, and when Liz Smart, Code Club Coordinator for the North West asked me along to the Big Bang Fair North West along with some robots...I
chip Chips, dips and Doom I recently took delivery of a $9 computer, called C.H.I.P, a kickstarter project from 2015. I opted for Pocket CHIP, a Gameboy-esque case that provides a full keyboard and touchscreen
hacking Blinky Lights LEDs are wonderful things! The humble LED provides us with illumination, it indicates when a device is on standby and it can teach anyone the basics of controlling a physical device with a
kano Competition Time - Win a Kano Display!! Hello readers. A little something dropped through my letterbox the other day. Yes the Kano Screen kit, which I reviewed in Issue 209 of Linux Format. This portable yet robust display comes with
general Three Years In 2013 I took a big step, I left full time employment and decided to go self employed.... The first Tuesday after the early May bank holiday in 2013 was not a good
keyboard Bluetooth Keyboard Shenanigans If you have followed my antics long enough then you will know that I am a little frugal. Some would say "cheap", well both are true :) So on Hot UK Deals
microbit micro:bit - Hacking the GPIO - Updated! So yesterday on the train...I saw this tweet. Just had GREAT yr4 after school club using #bbcmicrobit 😀 BUT trying2do traffic lights & struggled w/ short circuits pic.twitter.com/xsp1upJs3q— Ben
microbit BBC micro:bit - Gesture controlled blinking lights I've been tinkering with the new BBC micro:bit computer, especially the Micro Python editor Mu. I love how flexible the board is, especially for getting down to hacking in very little time.
Raspberry Pi The Ultimate Raspberry Pi Handbook Since 2013 I have written a lot of Raspberry Pi content for Future Publishing and sometimes this content is collected into special "bookazines", magazines devoted to one topic that cover 100+
Raspberry Pi BETTer late than never... It was a tale of two cities, a game of two halves or some other euphemism. But BETT 2016 seemed centred on bringing the Maker Movement into the classroom. At one end of
android Using Android To Help Stroke Patients As you may already know, my Wife's aunty had a stroke in July 2015 and this has had a major impact on our family. I won't go into too much detail but suffice
hacking Hacking Poundland My love for cheap electronics is well documented and the various Pound shops in Blackpool feed my need quite well. Today at Blackpool Makerspace I worked with young hacker Josh to build a
oggcamp The Chief is dead, long live The Chief To my crew, Your hard work and enthusiasm has made Oggcamp 2015 the best Oggcamp ever and I am proud that you are my crew. It is heartening to see that so many
hacking Geekery and tinkering I'm a geek I know far too much about Computers, Electronics and Star Trek, don't get me started on Galaxy class starships! So this makes me a geek, which is cool because just
Raspberry Pi Museum in the making On August 28 and 29 I was part of the team showcasing the best of Blackpool’s history for an upcoming Blackpool Museum. The event was called “Museum in the making” and merged
Raspberry Pi Using Raspberry Pi in museums Blackpool has a long history of entertainment with many big names coming to Blackpool during it's "Golden Age". I was recently asked by Blackpool Council to provide a Raspberry Pi workshop
Raspberry Pi Origins I’ll let you into a secret. I’ve not always been a programmer, in fact I’ve only been programming for a few years. Ok compose yourself, get a brandy or a
python Trinket - Hacking Python in the browser Hacking Python in the browser! At a recent Code Club regional meeting I learnt of a very handy way of writing Python in the browser. Trinket.io is a browser based Python editor
hacking Micro:bit Last weekend, August 15 and 16, the BBC were in Blackpool as part of their Make it Digital roadshow. I was lucky enough to be asked along to help deliver a day long
Linux Simple VNC connections Creating a VNC connection Controlling a Raspberry Pi using VNC is a great way to remotely control a robot. But how can you do it? For this project you will need. A Raspberry
hacking Micro Python Python is my favourite language and it has been my favourite for around three years. Why? Well because I understand it and I can use it to make different projects. I also enjoy
