This Halloween I created an indoor halloween light effect using a Raspberry Pi and a PIR sensor. Unlike previous years my children weren’t really involved in making this one, which is because my 9 year old daughter decided to create her own Raspberry Pi based Halloween Project. She has created a Raspberry Pi, Makey Makey […]

It’s useful to be able to turn mains electricity on using a computer program. Whilst it’s not hard to create an electronic circuit that can switch mains voltages, if not done correctly it can be dangerous. This is where the remote control sockets can be used to create a physical barrier between the low voltage […]

Last time I wrote about my Going Sober for October challenge it was pretty much about what I was doing, but this time it’s more about why I’m doing this and the charity that I’m raising money for. I’d certainly heard about Macmillan Cancer Support charity and particularly about the Macmillan nurses, but I’ve not […]

Zip World velocity is the worlds fastest zip wire and the longest in the northern hemisphere, and it’s in Wales. The zip line goes across a former slate quarry in Snowdonia. I visited on the same day as going White Water Rafting. When we arrived we were weighed and height measured before we were kitted […]

This is the second book that I’ve been the technical book reviewer for, the first being Learn Raspberry Pi with Linux. When I was contacted by Apress to ask if I’d do the review then I didn’t hesitate to say yes as from the description this sounded like just the sort of book I would […]

I have done a lot of kayaking in the past, but until recently I’d never tried whitewater rafting. We went to the National Whitewater Centre in Wales. The centre is Canolfan Tryweryn on the Upper Tryweryn river near Bala in Wales. After getting changed into a wetsuit, buoyancy aid and helmet we had a short […]

I had already visited Brodsworth Hall and gardens taking my children for a day out on a standard day. This was our second visit which was on one of the Brodsworth at War special event days. I took my family along as a member of the English Heritage members panel. The day that we visited […]

For the month of October I’m giving up drinking alcohol as part of the Macmillan Go Sober for October campaign. It’s been a week now and it’s going well. I don’t normally drink too much, but I do enjoy drinks especially with certain meals or when going out. I’ve therefore been swapping my drinks for […]

It’s not often that you see a Raspberry Pi workshop, a team from (soon to be???) the worlds fastest car and some llamas in the same room, but that’s what you’d find at this years school’s day at the Malvern Festival of Innovation. I was there as a STEM Ambassador helping out on the Raspberry […]