Changing Your Host Name on a Raspberry Pi

The host name, which is the UNIX equivalent to Windows’ “Computer Name”, is an easy way to access your computer from your local network without figuring out what it’s IP is. On Raspbian, the default host name is simply raspberrypi. For example, if you have Samba installed, you can access it from your Windows computers with \raspberrypi, or you can access your web server with http://raspberrypi.local.

But what if you had more than one Raspberry Pi on your network? Or if you just wanted to make it a little more personal? Well there’s two easy ways for you to change it.

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My New Raspberry Pi Case

Pi Case (Power/SD)

LEGO are awesome. Seriously. You can build anything with them. Including cases. Like for a Raspberry Pi. So I decided to go get some. Okay, they aren’t genuine LEGO, but for the price I don’t care; they got the job done at a fraction of the price. Anyway, after I was done playing with them like a 12-year-old, I got to work on crafting the perfect case.

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Adding Heat Sinks to the Raspberry Pi

This may fall in the category of “because I can” more than “because I should”, but I’m going to stick with the classic “why not?” category.

While adding heat sinks to your Raspberry Pi may not seem all that practical, seeing them on eBay for $2.80 (with free shipping) seemed too good to pass up.

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Two Weeks with Raspberry Pi

It’s been about two weeks since I got my Raspberry Pi for Christmas. It’s currently my favourite toy, and due to it’s extremely low power consumption it’s replaced my old server. Right now it’s basically being used as a headless server, despite the fact that it’s connected to my TV. I use command-line for everything with exceptions for when a screen is necessary, like watching movies or playing games. Most of the time, however, it’s just a server.

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Galaxy Nexus CM10 Unofficial ROMs

I’ve just started releasing my own Android ROMs for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (maguro). These ROMs are built off of the CyanogenMod source code (with a few extra patches), so they deserve all the credit. I’m just making my own builds in the absence of nightly builds.

If you happen to be a Galaxy Nexus owner and would like to try them out, they are currently available through ROM Manager.

Enjoy!

How To: Backup Your Settings with Android Backup Service

Wouldn’t it be nice if you get a new phone, and you install Angry Birds, and you can just continue where you left off?

When a user turns on their Android phone for the first time and goes through the initial setup, they are offered the chance to opt-in to have Google back up their apps and settings to Google’s servers. If they opt in, all of their backed up settings will be restored and previously installed apps will download from the Google Play Store. As a bonus, those apps can also backup their settings to be restored on a new device as well. Of course, the developer has to configure their app to handle this, and not enough do. Anything less than all apps is not enough.

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Asus Nexus 7 ROMs Unofficial ROMs

I’ve just started releasing my own Android ROMs for the Asus Nexus 7 (grouper). These ROMs are built off of the CyanogenMod source code (with a few extra patches), so they deserve all the credit. I’m just making my own builds in the absence of nightly builds.

If you happen to be a Nexus 7 owner and would like to try them out, they are currently available through ROM Manager.

Enjoy!

How To: NFC Part 1: Scanning an NDEF-formatted NFC Tag

In this article we’ll be discussing how to read data from an NDEF-formatted NFC Tag in an Android app.

In case you aren’t aware, NDEF is a format (think NTFS or FAT). Android has simple, easy-to-use support for NDEF, so there’s no need for hacky methods to use it. If you are designing your project with NFC in mind, stick to NDEF as your formatting. All decent manufacturer’s support NDEF formatting, and so does your platform. Stick to it. Save the headache.

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Tic Tac Toe for BlackBerry Playbook

So I just got word from RIM that they’ve let my Tic Tac Toe app in App World. Sure, it’s pretty much just a port of my Holo Tic Tac Toe for Android, but multi-platform is awesome.

Unfortunately, because RIM’s Android Runtime Environment doesn’t currently support Bluetooth, this version doesn’t have Bluetooth Play mode. Pass and Play is still available, so you can still play with your friends!

Check it out now, if you have a Playbook that is.

[App World link]

Holo Tic Tac Toe for Android

Check out my latest app, Holo Tic Tac Toe. Yes, it’s another Tic Tac Toe game, but no, it’s not just another Tic Tac Toe game.

With the arrival of a brand new version of Android comes apps that take advantage. This app sports Android’s new look, Holo, in versions +3.x (though it does support +2.1).

You can play against the CPU player, in Easy, Medium, and Hard modes. And once you’ve mastered that, play against a friend. Two player modes include Pass and Play, play on a single phone or tablet, or Bluetooth Play, kinda self-explanatory.

Try it out now on the Google Play Store.

Free! okay it’s ad-supported.

Ad-free. [$0.99]. Like free, but not quite free. I am a student after all.

Google TV. Yup, that’s right, Google TV. It needs more apps anyway.

 

Note: The Google TV version doesn’t support Bluetooth Play because Google TV doesn’t support Bluetooth. If you’re using a phone or tablet, make sure you download one of the other two to get Bluetooth Play. Preferably the non-free one.