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Archive for the 'Linux' Category

Making a semi-permanent connection to the Arduino

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

I’ve been looking for a way to make a semi-permanent connection to the connector on the Arduino micro-controller.
The onboard connectors are female PCB header connectors. These are ideal for prototyping as you can stick solid core wires into the connectors, but these are not so good for connecting to another PCBs or external devices. [...]

PenguinTutor.com – now updated to new LPI exam categories

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

The LPI practice exams on PenguinTutor are now fully updated to the current LPI exam guidelines.
The Linux Professional Institute updated the objectives in 2009. At the time I went through validating the questions on PenguinTutor.com were still valid, but it looks like I didn’t make all the changes required.
Most of the questions are still [...]

Book review: Processing A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

This is a book review of a book for artists. The review is being written by someone that is not much of an artist. You need to keep this in mind when reading this review.
I am an engineer and experienced programming, perhaps the complete opposite of the target audience of this group. Although Processing is [...]

Processing programming language – on Ubuntu Netbook Remix Karmic

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I have recently been having a go with the Processing programming language.
You can see my first attempt in the Interactive Diode circuit demonstration – Processing / Java applet on PenguinTutor.com.
I really do like the language. It was ideally suited to the applet that I have created and I hope to add a few more soon. [...]

jEdit – adding syntax highlighting for Processing

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

I’ve recently been learning the Processing programming language. This is a programming language created for artists which is also the basis for the programming language used to program the Arduino. Processing includes an IDE called the Processing Development Environment (PDE), but the editor is quite basic.
The IDE has an option to use an external [...]

Redesign of PenguinTutor.com – Free and Open Source software – Linux certification and open source electronics

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

I’ve now completed a major reorganisation of the PenguinTutor web site. This is the most significant change to the site since it was launched in 2006.
The first reason for the change is to reorganise the content. Although it appeared to make sense at the time some of the categories were not as logical as [...]

I am now a Certified Linux Administrator for SUSE Linux Enterprise

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

As of today I am now a Certified Linux Administrator for SUSE Linux Enterprise.
This is due to a partnership between LPI and Novell. I have already qualified as Advanced Level Linux Professional (LPIC-2) through Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPIC), which now gives me free certification from Novell.
If anyone has already qualified to minimum [...]

Practical Arduino – Cool Projects for Open Source Hardware

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Practical Arduino is not a book for complete beginners, but it still starts off quite gently. It does assume that you already have an Arduino and have figured out how to create a sketch and push it to the Arduino. This is not a huge step as most of the info is on the Arduino [...]

Linux – changing the case of a filename using the rename command

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Although knowledge of the command line is not required to use Linux sometimes it can come in very helpful. renaming files is one area where it is often quicker and easier to batch rename a number of files using a command line program or short script.
mv
The normal command for renaming a file is mv (move). [...]

Dropbox – Keeping files in sync across computers, and across the Internet – Linux, Windows and Mac OSX

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Dropbox provides a folder on your computer, which can be shared across multiple computers, across multiple operating systems, across the Internet or a LAN.
If you ever need to access your files across multiple PCs then you need
Dropbox!
I was a little sceptical when I first heard of Dropbox. My first thought was that there are already [...]


Linux, LPI and the Quiz / Test Program posts are also available on the Penguin Tutor website
First Aid Information, first aid games and first aid practice test / quiz entries are also available on the First Aid Quiz Web site