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Posts tagged as “SBC”

The Positives and Negatives of Arduino

The big news in the single board computer realm recently hasn’t been with the Raspberry Pi, but with actions centering around Arduino…or should we say Arduinos?

The Raspberry Pi Report

My introduction to the world of single board computers started with the Raspberry Pi and an attempt to spin up a media server. Once the media server was established, the GPIO pins began to peek my interest and other projects were born. As I learned more about GPIO and electronics, I discovered there existed boards other than the Raspberry Pi that I could program to take my projects to another level.

Arduino logoTwo boards I began to work with were the Arduino and the BeagleBone Black. While I do like the BeagleBone Black, it’s the Arduino that has really honed my skills with electronics. The Raspberry Pi is all the rave of the tech world currently, but I thought I would take a moment to talk about some recent interesting stories about the board that everyone seems to have forgotten.

$5 Omega2 SBC Beats $300K Stretch Goal

The Omega2 is a quarter of the size of a credit card with a 580MH processor, 64MB RAM, 16MB flash, built-in Wi-Fi, a $5 price and with Linux preinstalled. What’s not to like about that?

The Video Screening Room

The most exciting developments in maker movement electronics is happening with low-cost Linux devices. In case you might not have heard of it, the Omega2 is a very small, very low-cost IoT Linux computer that you can program using many of the programming languages you already know. Check out the compelling Kickstarter video here.

Phil Shapiro

For the past 10 years, Phil has been working at a public library in the Washington D.C.-area, helping youth and adults use the 28 public Linux stations the library offers seven days a week. He also writes for MAKE magazine, Opensource.com and TechSoup Libraries. Suggest videos by contacting Phil on Twitter or at pshapiro@his.com.

A Review of the Pocket CHIP Computer

The CHIP computer, a SBC that runs on Debian and is billed as “the world’s first $9 computer,” has been released. This video review of the Pocket CHIP offers a good preview of what it’s about.

The Video Screening Room

The runaway Kickstarter success CHIP computer is now shipping, both the computer motherboard itself and the neat Pocket CHIP handheld device. A thorough video review of the device was created by gadget reviewer Lon Seidman.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnDbB6YlPvo?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]

To remind you what the CHIP Kickstarter campaign looked like on its first day, here is a screencast I made showing the contributions coming in on the first evening. This 30 second video is sped up to show several hours of Kickstarter contributions.

Phil Shapiro

For the past 10 years, Phil has been working at a public library in the Washington D.C.-area, helping youth and adults use the 28 public Linux stations the library offers seven days a week. He also writes for MAKE magazine, Opensource.com and TechSoup Libraries. Suggest videos by contacting Phil on Twitter or at pshapiro@his.com.

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