Flight Locater for iOS!

I started on the iPhone development journey since October last year and I have developed an app for the iOS platform. Based on the past apps that I created for various platforms, I decided to implement the Flight Locater for the iOS app. If you have used my app on the Windows Phone 8.1 platform, it is fairly similar on the iPhone, but has much more features with more accurate search results. The app now includes a map that draws a straight line path of the flight.

The Web Service used for the app is from FlightStats. The main difference of the app is that I have improvised my algorithm to get more accurate flight information.


Link to Flight Locater:

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=963958849&mt=8

Raspberry Pi 2

My brand new Raspberry Pi 2 has just arrived from the delivery courier earlier this morning. If you have been following my activities on Twitter, you may have know that I do own the Raspberry Pi Model B+. So why did I get the new Raspberry Pi then?

The main reason for getting the new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is that it features a brand-new Broadcom quad-core processor and has a RAM boost to 1GB. It claims to have 6 times the speed but retaining the design of the Model B+. This means that existing cases and accessories for the B+ could be used for the new Model B. It still costs US$35 and has made no changes in its pricing.

Furthermore, the enticing thing about the new Raspberry Pi is that Windows 10 would be able to run on the Raspberry Pi 2 and it will be available for free in the very near future. However, it is unclear if the Windows 10 for the Pi will be a tweaked version to accommodate the hardware. How awesome will it be if it can run a full-fledged Windows OS! Do stay tuned to my blog as I will cover more on getting started with Windows 10 on the Raspberry Pi 2 as soon as it is released to the public. However, if you're interested to know more about Windows on the Pi, do read the Microsoft Blog down below.




Microsoft Windows on Devices - Raspberry Pi 2
https://dev.windows.com/en-us/featured/raspberrypi2support

Using Apache to Host Files on your Raspberry Pi

I have recently written an article on how to use Apache to host files on your Raspberry Pi. This article guides you step-by-step on how to download the required Apache packages, setting up the Apache configuration files and finally running the Apache Server. It will take less than 30 minutes to complete it and preferable that you have some experience in Linux commands. After the Apache Server has been set up successfully, you will be able to host files from your Raspberry Pi to computers on the same network. You can also access your files on your Raspberry Pi remotely outside your network by performing port forwarding on your Router to expose your Raspberry Pi on the Internet.

Download the Article HERE

If you're interested to learn more on how to get started with the Raspberry Pi, do sign-up for our Raspberry Pi 1-day course this March! You will get to learn interesting things, such as building your own camera surveillance feed, setting up Apache and PHP server, creating tweets using the Raspberry Pi, programming scripts to display texts on a 16x2 LCD display and many more! Please refer to the schedules section below for more information about the course!

Each participant will get the following:

1) Raspberry Pi Model B Version 2 

2) Official Raspberry Pi 5V-2A Power Supply

3) 8GB Micro-SD Card with SD Adapter

Participants will need to bring their laptop for this course.

Course Fee

S$799 (nett; no GST)

If your company is sponsoring you for the training, your company can enjoy 400% tax deductions/ allowances and/or 60% cash payout for investment in innovation and productivity improvements under the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme. For more details, check out the Productivity and Innovation Credit page.

Schedules

Start Date	End Date	Details	Category
Thu Mar 26 2015	Thu Mar 26 2015	PDF

Venue

Bayview Hotel Singapore
30 Bencoolen Street
Singapore 189621 

FeaturePoints! Free Giftcards by Downloading Apps!

To all readers out there: want to earn free giftcards by downloading and trying apps? Just head over to Feature Points, download the app on your iPhone and you can earn points for every app that you use. 1200 points will earn you two dollars worth of giftcards (Amazon / Paypal and many more!). To begin with, use my feature points referral code and get 50 feature points free!


Referral code: 2QBW4Z

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.

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. 

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!

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

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:

• 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

The images below shows that the 3 pins on the Xtrinsic board blocks the HDMI port access of the Raspberry Pi board:

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!

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)

Download Datasheet for Raspberry Pi B+