In the past few months due to Coronavirus many people have been working from home… live streaming or meeting from home, even live TV shows from home..? In this video, the famous Youtube mathematician Matt Parker shows some interesting tips on how one might be more professional at making videos.
Continue reading “Matt Parker explains professional online videography”Librem announces Anbox working on Librem 5 phone
Yesterday Librem announced in a blog post that the Android compatibility layer, Anbox, is runnable in the Librem 5 Linux phone. They reportedly had to fix a few bugs, and they show a screenshot of a listing of apps – it is odd to notice that most apps shown (Firefox, Music, Camera…) really should have a native Linux application that works.
Continue reading “Librem announces Anbox working on Librem 5 phone”Removing old PPA from Ubuntu for stability and latest features
Once in awhile a package hangs out at an old version even after a system upgrade or two. This can cause odd things like that software portion not working like it should. In my case, an old salbabix ios PPA that was long defunct as Ubuntu 18.04 and later have no problem just plugging in updated iOS devices.
Continue reading “Removing old PPA from Ubuntu for stability and latest features”Re-flash-light project
Have you ever had a flashlight “ruined” by some ancient batteries becoming a permanent part of the flashlight? In my latest instructable I have an example home-re-built flashlight I made recently. If you have some good flashlights ruined by bad batteries please see this tutorial as an example of how you might turn it into something new and working again!
Continue reading “Re-flash-light project”Speech recognition made easy
There are numerous howtos for Raspberry Pi and other portable computer voice applications, like this one, but generally they are using Google’s voice api. This may work… when the wifi or network is working, but not only is this sending your voice to google, it requires payment for usage over a certain amount. Users of your robotic application may be not so thrilled when they see it is sending audio samples to Google, and that it does not even work if there is a wifi hiccup! Instead, let’s go through a simple on-device installation that works fairly accurately with no external dependencies!
Continue reading “Speech recognition made easy”It’s time to upgrade your code for Python3!
If you have been keeping up with Python news you will know that Python 2.x will not be supported in 2020 🙁 While it was the default install for many many years it’s time to get your scripts updated if you haven’t yet. As an example, here is how I modernized the ancient Robot Candy Thrower Code:
Continue reading “It’s time to upgrade your code for Python3!”How to port a Flutter App to run on the new Librem 5 Phone
If you write a Flutter app for Android or iOS, you are likely not targeting a very widely used platform – desktop! This is especially important as the new Librem Phone is basically a Linux desktop. Let’s go over the setup of testing a Flutter app on Linux and the Librem 5:
Continue reading “How to port a Flutter App to run on the new Librem 5 Phone”Reading Amateur Radio Frequencies with RTLSDR device and Python
There are many cheap ($5-20) USB RTL-SDR devices you can find on Newegg or Amazon that have an unexpected extra of being able to pick up broadcast radio. This is a handy feature, and in fact we can even read ham-radio frequencies by changing the bandwidth and frequency to read. There are excellent howtos on the easy installation of GQRX for just listening to the radio and setting your frequency and listening, and that’s a good way to start with testing your device. In this post I’ll show how to read and listen to radio using just Python and the Python RTLSDR library, which will show a lot more detail in how decoding radio works, and lets you run a clean interface to listen or record radio.
Continue reading “Reading Amateur Radio Frequencies with RTLSDR device and Python”Setting up AREDN node with Ubiquiti Nanostation with Ubuntu
If your area has other ham-radio operators that are using an AREDN network, an Ubiquity router is a great way to connect to the local LAN network. Note that you will need:
- An amateur radio license.
- An Ubiquity Nanostation (the “loco” one is cheaper but it has less range 🙁 )
- POE outlet to 2-ethernet adapter (included when you buy a new Nanostation)
- Two ethernet cables (You will want at least one outdoor-rated cable if you will put it outside, which will likely be necessary for good signal.)
Continue reading “Setting up AREDN node with Ubiquiti Nanostation with Ubuntu”
Candy-throwing Robot with Arduino, recycled parts, and Dlib
Looking for a fun way to hand out candies at your local harvest fair? In this howto I show how to use a wood frame and old computer/printer parts to build a robot candy thrower:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Candy-Throwing-Robot-With-Arduino-Recycled-Parts-a/