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Write to us at Linux Format, Future Publishing, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA or lxf.letters@futurenet.com.
Readers building their own teaching courses, their own UPS systems and their own web frameworks. You are a busy lot!
UPS Pi
I’d like to suggest a further alternative to the ones in the universal power supply article: use an RS Components Power Bank (RS #7757508 − £19 ) This is a 5,200mAh battery with two switched 5V USB outputs delivering up to 2.1A in total. It can be charged while supplying power and so can be used as a UPS. Charging is via a 5V source to the same connector as on a Raspberry Pi. Charge state indication is by LEDs just above the on/off switch. Great mag and thanks for bringing back Answers! HughGrant,viaemail
Neil says
Thanks for the great suggestion! Glad you’re enjoying the magazine, please feel free to fire over any thoughts on topics we should cover, and any questions you might have or have come across for Answers!
Hour of Code
I thought you’d like to know about JS Hero that I have released. It’s a free (as in beer) open source JavaScript tutorial with interactive exercises. It’s designed for school classes and self-learning and is listed at Hour of Code ( https://hourofcode.com).
It’d be great if you could give it a mentioned! JS Hero is available as a Web app and Android app at
www.jshero.net or over at Google Play https://play. google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.jshero. StefanTrenkel,Bremen,Germany
Neil says
It’s always good to hear about the work our readers are up to either in their spare time or as their full-time job. I’m not sure I’ve come across Hour of Code before − looks good. Hopefully it’ll help some of our readers out!
Bête noire
I bet you thought nobody would ever see it, one Belgian sure did. Brought a smile to my face as well. Keep up the good work, guys. BertDeRidder,Belgium
Neil says
We have no idea what you’re talking about. We’re instigating a wide-ranging public review at enormous expense to locate the source of the interference.
Does it blend?
I have a find for you to publish! If you’re interested in learning to use Blender then try these Raspberry Pi-based projects (but you’re not actually limited to the Pi): Blender tutorials aimed at ages 9 to 13 with more to come I’d expect. See https://projects. raspberrypi.org/en/projects?technologies[]=blender. I found this link over at the Blender Community: https://blender.community. MikeMooreCovington,Washington
Neil says
We were all a bit taken aback when we realised that you could indeed install Blender2.79 on the Raspberry Pi, because it’s right there in the Raspbian repositories. However, we wonder how far you can get with the Pi’s limited 1GB of memory. We are constantly amazed by the Blender Foundation and its products, which it always makes available to all for free. It’s worth taking a look even if you don’t use them.
“Doesn’t Work”
I can sympathize with Allen Cooper. Like Windows 8, some Linux distros can be challenging. I agree Neil, that Mint and Ubuntu are easy to use right out of the box. I’ve found Knoppix easy to use, too. However, if one grew up in Windows, you might be more comfortable in one of the distributions that try to provide a more ‘Windows-like’ experience. Perhaps a future LinuxFormat article could cover the current ‘Windows-like’ options. Donald Tompkins, via email
Neil says
It always feels like there’s some tightrope to walk in terms of pandering − if that’s the right word − for ex-Windows users and trying to tackle head-on that Linux isn’t Windows. If you pretend that what you’re presenting is just another form of Windows, you’re setting people up for frustration and disappointment.
In a way this is what Windows 8 did; it altered its working paradigm so much that when people were confronted by it everyone blew their top. It happened to a lesser extent with the Vista User Account Control system and Vista itself, in forcing an increase in the hardware requirements. But then when we say “Windows” we’re talking about the desktop design and there’s no reason Linux distros can’t cater to that. I think that’s a good approach to a Roundup or even part of an Escape Windows feature.
In Sequence
I maintain GSequencer over at http://nongnu.org/
gsequencer. I’m working on a new version of Advanced Gtk+ Sequencer. I reworked some parts of the API and the source code is going to see some additional changes. However, I’d love to see additional people getting involved. I thought I had some contributors lined up, but when it turned out there were no financial resources assigned to the project, they had to step back.
During the Open Source Summit Europe 2017, I met Jonni Bidwell. He interviewed me and took some photos. I would love to see an article about GSequencer. What do you think? JoëlKräh em ann, via email
Neil says
We’re planning to cover your gsequencer work in a future issue of LinuxFormat. Jonni was hoping we could time the coverage with the release of v2.0 for gsequencer. So chop chop and we can get this printed!