I run kodi through libreELEC on a raspberry pi 4.
An interesting gotcha is that on the raspberry pi 4 there are 2 x HDMI ports allowing for 2 screens at once. Quite cool! But when you install the libreELEC install on one HDMI port and then replug into the other, you won’t get sound. There’s no function in the gui to change this and no real google fu will lead you to the fix.
After stymying me for about 20 minutes I tried plugging the hdmi port into the original port and voila! all worked fine.
I’ve been living with mum for a little while back in my childhood room. I’m walking a lot through the urban streets of the suburb I grew up in, adventuring into the Deli’s of the area that are unbelievably still around and somewhat thriving. I wrote about it…
I was privileged to host an event at Base64 last week, speaking with 3 excellent women speakers who have all been instrumental in building their own startup businesses.
We talked for way too long, shared some canapes and some amazing sparkling wine stuff from the good women of Sparkke. It was one of those last minute events you pull together by the skin of your bones where you end up sitting in a circle with a bunch of inspiring humans from all walks of life who all have a particular gaze and thought about a new business idea. And then … do something about it.
Lauren from https://otlet.io/
Kari from https://www.sparkke.com/
Heidi from https://www.womenofsteele.com.au/
All spoke about their distinctly different worlds of shark liver storage, hacked SoC’s in wearables worlds, Heidi’s new role as a national Women of Wearables ambassador and ethical craft brewing. Here are some snaps.
I test the gear I sell. The USB Powerbanks you, as a punter generally buy come with all sorts of different batteries with differing quality and inbuilt operation. You can’t really test a powerbank without first pulling it apart. You need to manually test the individual battery cells either “in “balance”which means in series with several cells tested concurrently or on an individual basis. This HOWTO tells you a little of one of the ways I test my batteries to ensure that they operate:
So .. here’s a guide to simply testing the rated mAhs (capacity of a single cell LiPo battery) to ensure that when a powerbank is advertised at “10,000 mAhs” that it translates to a relatively real number.
Before we start , it’s good to mention that battery testing for LiPo is not an exact science and depends on the age and quality of the battery itself.
First up, I’m using a device called an an imax B6. It will test up to 6 cells in balance (giving you individual readouts for up to 6 batteries)
Grab the battery you wish to test and find a holder for it/ them. Like this!
Plus the B6 into power and scroll to the LiPo charge menu. Generally the Battery you pull out of the powerbank you have will have some ratings on it. You can see here that the battery I’m testing is rated at 3.7 Volts and 2.2 Amps so I’ve selected those options.
Plug the positive crocodile clip into the positive connection on the battery holder and the negative clip into the negative side.
Plug the crocodile clips that connect to the output jacks in and click the start button. You will see the battery charging and in the bottom right location – now it’s a waiting game. Keep a regular eye on the battery checking for howe warm the battery is getting. There is a temperature sensor on the B6 that will let you know if things get too hot but always a good idea to keep a manual check. Also keep watch on seeing those numbers tick up!
Safety Tip: In the name of preventing potentially burning batteries on fire in your work area (in my case my kitchen!) I do recommend placing your battery and battery holder into an electro magnetic bag.
Here’s a little project to make a thing with a 5 year old kid involving LED lights that respond to music by dimming and changing colour.
Here’s how to make it yourself!
https://www.hackster.io/dawnwiener/make-a-light-that-wants-to-dance-with-somebody-5f07f1
It was 4pm, a workday that’d started at 6am and a site wide power outage and it had left me in, well, I was in “a mood”. I’d handmade a lot of gifts, fixed a grumpy phone system and the making of christmas food gifts unfinished and lovingly prepared had not been ‘quite done’ or quite finished and I missed my grandmother Mary. She was a maker of things at Christmas. Rum balls and apricot balls were her favourite and I’d done a right angle twist on theme: A fig paste for my favourite waiters Marcio, a woman whose name I couldn’t recall and Mrcio’s mum in California. I’d made cherry, ginger chilli coconut balls for my mum and my aunties.
The balls were too coconuty didn’t taste good and the first run at a fig paste was more like blackpool rock than the deep sticky ooze Id hoped.
I drove to Watson st and Grandma’s tiny cream brick unit to say hello. Someone else lives there now. Having said my hail mary’s and my ole mary’s I stopped by The Arkaba shopping centre and the loneliness would not leave me. I stopped by a friendly local butcher to buy liver to keep on track with my seriously limited diet and I spoke to him for a bit. He had problems of his own. Wendy had called him that morning asking for 100 kilos of chicken fillets – He got it done! But that’s not the story.
I asked this local, pork pie hatted butcher Andrew what christmas looked like for him . He told me it was like every other day, Every day is christmas for me love. “Why is that then there Andrew ?” Well, he said, let me tell you a story.
His mum and dad never asked for much – just 4 things of the kids. Both when they were kids and after they’d grown the parents asked their kids to come home for 4 days a year. All together. Especially, Christmas day no matter where they were in Australia. So. The rules were set. His mum was a prolific maker and doer. She had a small locked room in the house that no one – Not even her husband was allowed to enter. Out of that room came her efforts. Hundreds and hundreds of cards and stuff to give. Things to give. Every christmas the kids would get little packages. Just like my feeble efforts. As life hurtled past the hundreds of christmas cards that came out became bereavements cards. As they do.
And as we all do, Beryl died one day and Beryl’s loves; her husband and her kids decided to unlock and enter the room. In it was a making room. Unwritten cards and the things of building and making lived here still. And 11 boxes. Each labelled. One for each of the kids and one for dad. They looked, closed the door, relocked the room and decided not to go back till dad died and they were all together again. To open those boxes. Together.
As husbands whose life belong with their wives often do, Andrew’s dad died soon after mum and the kids decided. They still wouldn’t enter the room until one day, in memory of their parents, when they were all together. Just the ten of them. They would go into the room and open their boxes. That day happened one random day in the year a couple of years later when they sold the house. All the 10 decided to stay in their rooms. No wives, no grandkids, no husbands. Just them on a day like christmas day and without their mum and dad and they would go into the room and look at their boxes. They’d stay the night – with unapproved booze and unfold an evening. Walking into the room, they found their boxes, all sat down and opened them, talking of the many things Beryl had collected over her life, for her husband and her kids. That day wasn’t christmas day you see – but every day was christmas for Andrew. It was his life with his mum and his dad in a big creaking stirling home and the making of things.
I took my livers, left Andrew to his chicken fillets and got back to thinking of christmas things, making electronic circuit board christmas cards, hooking up LED’s with my nephew jack to teach the basics of electric circuits and card making, thinking about my cherry ripe balls, my chutneys and fig paste and thought of Beryl.
The loneliness left and I continue to make and to give. Thank you Andrew. Thank you Beryl.
Now, have some second round spiced scotch fig paste and chutney kids (electronic circuits and other christmas making guides to come!. Or food. Perhaps you will too make something too? Perhaps you will buy something I’ve made to give to you? Perhaps not. but make something for christmas or a time – make it and build it for the people you love. Every day is christmas.
Cue corny Bing Crosby song and snowflakes gifs. Corny shit huh?
Elo Everybody (and lets face it, if you’re signing up for this shit I’m most likely related to you or have known you or conned you in face to face to do this), I’m about to put a shedload of money into this crazy adventure and I need your help to decide on a few things. I’d like to know what you need so that I can mod it, make it, build it and provide it to you.
Rather than “think I know” what looks good and works well. I want you to tell me. For a taste of the proposed range have a look at a little video I made:
So here are some questions. Winner drawn Dec 23 2018 and gets a simple but incredibly durable and good looking charge cable, an LED light, a USB torch kit and a maybe a Mi Band 3 Smart Watch (the heroine of the show) but only if you want to give it a test and tell me what you think. You’ll also be subscribed to our mailing list. So lets get cracking!
The band comes Boxed and certified with the watch itself, slilicon band and charger is black.
I have in stock in silicon grey, red and yellow bands. And a couple of gorgeous blue and white willow pattern ones. And another gorgeous yellow pattern. Proceeds go to domestic violence. shelters and the homeless. rose gold and shiny gun metal dark grey and black shiny mesh are also available1 , and pendants in a black silicon case with either silver or rose gold chains (not real).
