Sunday, 26 October 2014
How to Download Music from Youtube and Sync to your iOS Devices.
In this post, I have linked a Youtube video below on how to download your favourite music from Youtube and sync it to your iOS devices. The systematic guide shows you how to get started with installing iTunes to your PC, converting Youtube to mp3 files, and finally sync it with your iTunes library to upload to your iOS device.
Saturday, 25 October 2014
Create Bootable Yosemite 10.10 USB Drive!
Apple released OSX Yosemite to the public at the October 2014 Apple event last week. Upgrading it to a computer through the Mac App Store is easy and simple for users to perform, however it is time consuming to download the entire 5GB file from the internet and then spend another an hour or so to completely install it on your Mac. Users with multiple Macs may find it troublesome to perform the same task over and over again to upgrade every single Mac that they have.
Wouldn't it be nice to load the entire image onto a USB drive that could be used to install on multiple machines? This blog post will show you how to load the entire Yosemite image on a USB thumbdrive with only one line of command.
The entire process of writing the image to the thumbdrive will take about an hour. There will be no progress bar to show you the status but rest assure that it is writing to the drive. You will see a completed status once it is done. Hurray! Now you have a bootable Yosemite thumbdrive!
Step 4) To install Yosemite on a mac, shut down the mac and insert the USB drive. Hold down the alt-option button as soon as you boot up your Mac. You should be able to see an orange coloured drive named Yosemite. Navigate and select the USB drive to boot. You will need to follow the simple instructions to install and you can get up and running with Yosemite in no time!
Wouldn't it be nice to load the entire image onto a USB drive that could be used to install on multiple machines? This blog post will show you how to load the entire Yosemite image on a USB thumbdrive with only one line of command.
What you will need to have is a 8GB thumbdrive (preferably USB 3.0), a Mac and a valid Apple ID account.
Step 1) Download Yosemite from your Mac App Store. It is free and you will only need to this once. Depending on your internet connection speed, it will take approximately 15 minutes to download the 5GB file.
Step 2) Once Yosemite has been completely downloaded on your local machine, open up Terminal. Plug in your thumdrive. (Make sure you have backed up your files on your thumdrive as the steps you perform later will completely wipe out your data on the thumbdrive)
Step 3) Assuming that your Thumbdrive name is Untitled 1, perform this command:
Note: The command is in one line with no next-lines
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled 1 --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app --nointeraction
The entire process of writing the image to the thumbdrive will take about an hour. There will be no progress bar to show you the status but rest assure that it is writing to the drive. You will see a completed status once it is done. Hurray! Now you have a bootable Yosemite thumbdrive!
Step 4) To install Yosemite on a mac, shut down the mac and insert the USB drive. Hold down the alt-option button as soon as you boot up your Mac. You should be able to see an orange coloured drive named Yosemite. Navigate and select the USB drive to boot. You will need to follow the simple instructions to install and you can get up and running with Yosemite in no time!
Monday, 6 October 2014
Easy Area and Perimeter Calculator for Windows 8.1
Hi there! This app is an updated and revised app from "Area and Perimeter Calculator for Kids" that I've created more than a year ago. I have removed the old app and republished it onto my main account. The reason for the move is that it is much efficient for me to handle all my apps with one account as it is easier to make any changes to my apps if I need to.
The old application was updated since it has contains erratic C# codes that triggers a run-time error. I have also upgraded the application to support Windows 8.1 and also included advertisements in the app.
Link to my app: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/easy-area-and-perimeter/9899fc7c-032e-4f3b-a8f3-1c6e5ce91339
The old application was updated since it has contains erratic C# codes that triggers a run-time error. I have also upgraded the application to support Windows 8.1 and also included advertisements in the app.
Link to my app: http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/easy-area-and-perimeter/9899fc7c-032e-4f3b-a8f3-1c6e5ce91339
Thursday, 25 September 2014
Xtrinsic Mems Sensor Board
The Xtrinsic Sensor Board from Freescale Semiconductor is an external add-on board for the Raspberry Pi. It was designed initially for the 26-pin GPIO Raspberry Model B, but recently added the support for the new Raspberry Pi B+.
The board is designed mainly for the Raspberry Pi and the BeagleBone Black, and some forums said that it has support for Arduino. However, looking for online tutorials for Arduino on using the sensor was extremely limited and I've made little progress on it since.
The board features 3 main sensors:
Although it works like a charm, the new layout of the Raspberry Pi B+ made it impossible to access the HDMI port of the Raspberry Pi when the sensor board is attached to the Pi. It worked for me since I used Remote Desktop to access the Pi, and other alternative solutions to use it when the sensor is attached, is to use SSH or connecting it to the Analog TV using the 3.5mm port of the Raspberry Pi. Apart from these methods, it is impossible to make use of the HDMI port of the Pi.
Do share this post to your friends who are getting this board for their new Raspberry Pi since there are little articles online explaining the inability to access the HDMI board on the new Raspberry Pi. I gladly appreciate it! :-)
Link to purchase the sensor: http://sg.element14.com/freescale-semiconductor/xtrinsic-sense-board/add-on-board-freescale-xtrinsic/dp/2365353
The board is designed mainly for the Raspberry Pi and the BeagleBone Black, and some forums said that it has support for Arduino. However, looking for online tutorials for Arduino on using the sensor was extremely limited and I've made little progress on it since.
The board features 3 main sensors:
- MPL 3115 - A high precision pressure sensor (returns X, Y, Z value)
- MAG3110 - A 3D Magnetometer
- MMA8491 - A 3 axis accelerometer
Getting started with the sensor is fairly simple, since there are already downloadable Python, PHP and HTML scripts written online to make use of the sensor on the Raspberry Pi. It has even tutorials on how to use the scripts to create your web server that hosts the data collected from your sensor to the web.
Although it works like a charm, the new layout of the Raspberry Pi B+ made it impossible to access the HDMI port of the Raspberry Pi when the sensor board is attached to the Pi. It worked for me since I used Remote Desktop to access the Pi, and other alternative solutions to use it when the sensor is attached, is to use SSH or connecting it to the Analog TV using the 3.5mm port of the Raspberry Pi. Apart from these methods, it is impossible to make use of the HDMI port of the Pi.
Do share this post to your friends who are getting this board for their new Raspberry Pi since there are little articles online explaining the inability to access the HDMI board on the new Raspberry Pi. I gladly appreciate it! :-)
Link to purchase the sensor: http://sg.element14.com/freescale-semiconductor/xtrinsic-sense-board/add-on-board-freescale-xtrinsic/dp/2365353
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
How to get started with Raspberry Pi!
In this post, I will show you how to get started from scratch with Raspberry Pi.
Please ensure that you have the following items to get started (All items are in the Amazon links below for easy purchase and checkout)
1) Raspberry Pi B+
2) Micro-USB Charger 5V-2Amp
3) 8GB Micro-SD Card (Class 4 and above) (4GB or more) OR NOOBS SD Card (see link below)
4) HDMI TV / Monitor OR DVI/VGA Monitors with relevant adapters
5) USB Keyboard
6) USB Mouse
Optional:
7) Wireless Dongle (WiPi) OR Ethernet cable
8) Raspberry Pi B+ enclosure
All items are down in the Amazon Link and is within USD$100 (excluding Monitor & Casing) which is highly suitable for people with tight budget:
http://astore.amazon.com/tecgadgee-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=4
Steps to begin:
1) Prepare your Micro-SD card with NOOBS. (Click on NOOBS to download)
2) Extract the contents of NOOBS and drag into your Micro-SD card.
3) After the copying is complete, remove the card from the computer and insert it to the underside of your Raspberry Pi.
4) Now, plug in the HDMI cable that is connected to your monitor to the HDMI port of your Raspberry Pi.
5) Plug in your USB keyboard and mouse.
6) Plug in your Ethernet cable if you have any.
7) Plug in your Micro-USB charger to your Raspberry Pi and connect it to your wall outlet.
8) Turn on your power source and you should see your Raspberry Pi booting up for the first time. If everything is successful, you should see a long list of command lines appearing on your screen. If you do not see anything, please check that all your cable connections are connected correctly, and also check that the contents of the Micro-SD card contains the files of the extracted NOOBS folder.
9) You will be prompted to make some changes in the utility setup for the first boot up. Make the correct changes (eg Date, time, region) in the utility settings. Once you're done, you see your Desktop of the Raspberry Pi.
10) You have now successfully completed setting up your very first Raspberry Pi! Congratulations!
Please ensure that you have the following items to get started (All items are in the Amazon links below for easy purchase and checkout)
1) Raspberry Pi B+
2) Micro-USB Charger 5V-2Amp
3) 8GB Micro-SD Card (Class 4 and above) (4GB or more) OR NOOBS SD Card (see link below)
4) HDMI TV / Monitor OR DVI/VGA Monitors with relevant adapters
5) USB Keyboard
6) USB Mouse
Optional:
7) Wireless Dongle (WiPi) OR Ethernet cable
8) Raspberry Pi B+ enclosure
All items are down in the Amazon Link and is within USD$100 (excluding Monitor & Casing) which is highly suitable for people with tight budget:
http://astore.amazon.com/tecgadgee-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=4
Steps to begin:
1) Prepare your Micro-SD card with NOOBS. (Click on NOOBS to download)
2) Extract the contents of NOOBS and drag into your Micro-SD card.
3) After the copying is complete, remove the card from the computer and insert it to the underside of your Raspberry Pi.
4) Now, plug in the HDMI cable that is connected to your monitor to the HDMI port of your Raspberry Pi.
5) Plug in your USB keyboard and mouse.
6) Plug in your Ethernet cable if you have any.
7) Plug in your Micro-USB charger to your Raspberry Pi and connect it to your wall outlet.
8) Turn on your power source and you should see your Raspberry Pi booting up for the first time. If everything is successful, you should see a long list of command lines appearing on your screen. If you do not see anything, please check that all your cable connections are connected correctly, and also check that the contents of the Micro-SD card contains the files of the extracted NOOBS folder.
9) You will be prompted to make some changes in the utility setup for the first boot up. Make the correct changes (eg Date, time, region) in the utility settings. Once you're done, you see your Desktop of the Raspberry Pi.
10) You have now successfully completed setting up your very first Raspberry Pi! Congratulations!
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
Raspberry Pi B+ is here!
Just got the Raspberry Pi B+ from element14!Transitioning from the Model B to the new B+ poses new challenges.
1) Memory card type is different. My old SD card that I'm using for the Model B could not be used, since the new model only uses Micro-SD card. Migrating data over from one storage card to another is time consuming.
2) Due to the new 40 pin GPIO, the Adafruit Cobbler Kit for the Model B cannot work with the new model. Adafruit has introduced the new Cobbler Kit Plus that is dedicated to the new 40-pin layout of the B+ and has brand new layout with new schematics and functionality.
However, for users who still owns the old Cobbler Kit, Adafruit provides a way to resolve this. They introduced a special GPIO cable that downgrades the 40-pin connection to the 26 pin connection so that they can connect to the old 26 pin Cobbler Kit.
For those out there interested in knowing the difference between the old and new Cobbler Kit schematics, the pictures are down below: (Top is New) (Bottom is old)
Links to purchase the new accessories: (Click on the links / Amazon Links)
1) Downgrade Cable
2) Cobbler Kit Plus (New)
Friday, 25 July 2014
FlightLocator for Windows Phone 8
As such, please remember to like and share the app if you think that it is useful. Do review and rate it as well :)
However, please be warned that the information displayed may be inaccurate, so DO NOT use this app as your primary source for your flight details. Instead, refer to the information provided to you by your ticket provider or airline in case of any last minute flight changes. Always cross check information from watch with the information from your ticket provider/airline!
Update: As of 26/7/2014, I have released version 1.1.0.0 of the App! If you have downloaded, you can get the update absolutely free!
New Features included:
- Handling no network exception
- Displaying logos of popular airlines
Update: As of 27/7/2014, I have released version 1.1.1.0 of the App! If you have downloaded, you can get the update absolutely free!
New Features included:
- In-App Advertisements
- Bug Fixes
Update: As of 31/7/2014, I have released version 1.2.1.0 of the App! If you have downloaded, you can get the update absolutely free!
New Features included:
- Brand New UI
Update: As of 6/8/2014, I have released version 1.2.2.0 of the App! If you have downloaded, you can get the update absolutely free!
New Features included:
- Live Tiles Support
- Bug FixesNew Features included:
- Live Tiles Support
Link to Windows Phone Store:
http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=c267924d-2e81-418f-b30f-8559b070bf9b
Screenshots of my app:
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Raspberry Pi Model B+
After 2 years since the launch of the Raspberry Pi Model B, the affordable and fun computer is back with another new model: Model B+. For the same price as the previous model at US$35, is it worth the upgrade from your existing Model B?The processor on the new B+ is still the same (700MHz Broadcom processor) with the same amount of RAM (512MB). What has really changed is the addition of 14 more GPIO pins, making up a total of 40 GPIO pins on the board. They have re-invented the power supply on the Pi to be much more energy efficient, saving up to 0.5 to 1 W of energy. They included 2 more USB 2.0 ports to a total of 4 USB ports on the Pi which is definitely a plus for users who wants to connect more devices to their Pi. Traditionally, users need to purchase their own external powered USB hubs to connect their peripherals and thus making their setup messy with dangling cables. Finally the noticeable change is to the onboard storage card re-design. In the past, the Raspberry Pi will only work with SD cards or Micro-SD cards with an adapter for its main storage, resulting in the extended area of the Pi due to the exposed area of the SD card. With the adoption of Micro-SD card slots, the Pi is able to have its own main storage card sit within the structure of the Pi, with no exposed area of the storage card.
The changes this time round focus more on the design rather than the hardware specs of the computer, thus I don't really see a need to upgrade from my existing Model B. But the new Model B+ is definitely worth getting for users who have yet to try out the Raspberry Pi.
Want to learn how to get started with Programming on the Raspberry Pi? Click on the Course Brochure from Learn2Develop.net for more information on the upcoming Raspberry Pi course in Singapore! You will also get to bring home your very own Raspberry Pi Model B+, Official Raspberry Pi Micro-USB charger and Sandisk 8GB Micro-SD card with SD Adapter!
Course Brochure (8 Sep 2014)
Feeling interested to get your very own Raspberry Pi B+? Use the link down below!
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Flight Locater on Pebble
To all Pebble users out there! I've just written a cool application that allows you to display your flight information on your Pebble smartwatch! Enter your flight detail in the configuration page on your phone and your watch will display all the important information.
Ever wanted to view your flight details at your fingertips without the constant need to refer to your phone? This app will solve that problem! It provides past flight details (up to 4 days from current day) and future flight details (up to 4 days from current day), so its easy to check the flight that you're about to board.
To developers out there who are curious on how my app works, my code simply requests flight information from Flightstats' JSON web service using Javascript, and displaying the information using C code on the Pebble.
Use the link below to download my app.
As of 5/7/2014, the app on the iOS platform is not yet ready due to some issues with Apple and I seek your understanding for the delay and inconvenience caused.
As of 25/12/2014, I have released version 1.1 of the app. It brings an improved Flight Configuration Utility page as well as support for flights up to year 2020. I have changed the file hosting of the utility page to my personal web server, therefore it should perform more efficiently.
As of 1/2/2015, I have released version 1.2 of the app, which I moved the Flight Configuration Utility to Amazon's Web Servers, which assures little downtimes and maximum performance.
Please also leave your feedback down in the comments below to let me know what I should improve on in the future update for the app. Do let me know what you think!
Do review it and share it with your friends if you find the app useful. Also, if you enjoyed using the app, give it a like on the Pebble store so that more people can notice this useful app! However, please be warned that the information displayed may be inaccurate, so DO NOT use this app as your primary source for your flight details. Instead, refer to the information provided to you by your ticket provider or airline in case of any last minute flight changes. Always cross check information from watch with the information from your ticket provider/airline!
If you find any errors or any problems with the app, please do not hesitate to write an email to support@clarencechng.com, and I will get back to you ASAP. Thanks!
Link to Pebble Appstore (web):
https://apps.getpebble.com/applications/53b40643e15ac85ce6000256
Link to install Application (only for iOS and Android users):
pebble://appstore/53b40643e15ac85ce6000256
Ever wanted to view your flight details at your fingertips without the constant need to refer to your phone? This app will solve that problem! It provides past flight details (up to 4 days from current day) and future flight details (up to 4 days from current day), so its easy to check the flight that you're about to board.To developers out there who are curious on how my app works, my code simply requests flight information from Flightstats' JSON web service using Javascript, and displaying the information using C code on the Pebble.
Use the link below to download my app.
As of 25/12/2014, I have released version 1.1 of the app. It brings an improved Flight Configuration Utility page as well as support for flights up to year 2020. I have changed the file hosting of the utility page to my personal web server, therefore it should perform more efficiently.
As of 1/2/2015, I have released version 1.2 of the app, which I moved the Flight Configuration Utility to Amazon's Web Servers, which assures little downtimes and maximum performance.
Please also leave your feedback down in the comments below to let me know what I should improve on in the future update for the app. Do let me know what you think!
Do review it and share it with your friends if you find the app useful. Also, if you enjoyed using the app, give it a like on the Pebble store so that more people can notice this useful app! However, please be warned that the information displayed may be inaccurate, so DO NOT use this app as your primary source for your flight details. Instead, refer to the information provided to you by your ticket provider or airline in case of any last minute flight changes. Always cross check information from watch with the information from your ticket provider/airline!
If you find any errors or any problems with the app, please do not hesitate to write an email to support@clarencechng.com, and I will get back to you ASAP. Thanks!
Link to Pebble Appstore (web):
https://apps.getpebble.com/applications/53b40643e15ac85ce6000256
Link to install Application (only for iOS and Android users):
pebble://appstore/53b40643e15ac85ce6000256
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Amazon Prime Instant Video
Perks of joining Amazon Prime:
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* Instantly watch over 40,000 movies and TV episodes
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