GeekwithEnvy

programming

How To Make an LED Cube

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This is a great build video for an 8x8x8 LED cube by Kevin Darrah that I stumbled upon on the web. It goes over the basic build techniques  and shows you how to utilize a jig for assembling the LED arrays. As you watch the video you will quickly begin to realize that this project is not for the entry-level builder, clearly this is something that will consume a lot of your time and patience but the end result is awesome. Either way, it’s interesting to see how it all comes together.Blue LED in a cube

There are many Arduino builds out there that can be great for beginners. If you’re not familiar with Arduino then I highly recommend that you read this introduction to Arduino, it covers everything you will need to get up-to-speed on what it’s all about.

You can find many projects in the Arduino Playground, they include schematics and code to help you build cool stuff. If you want to make a much more novice-friendly 3×3 LED Cube you can use these schematics and code.

So what are you waiting for? Find a project and get building!

Apple To Live Stream WWDC Keynote

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wwdc2013Logo

Apple will offering a live stream of the WWDC 2013 keynote today on the Apple website. You can also watch the live stream on the newly added “Apple Events” channel on Apple TV.

Live Streaming video requires Safari 4 or later on Mac OS X v10.6 or later; Safari on iOS 4.2 or later. Streaming via Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 5.0.2 or later. If you’re looking for older videos from Apple’s past events you can find them archived here.

Apple’s WWDC is Nearing

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WWDC2013Banner
Image credit: 9to5 Mac

Apple’s upcoming World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) is creating a lot of buzz in the tech community and rumors are at critical mass. What’s next for iOS, OSX and will there be any hardware announcements?

It’s highly likely that Apple will announce iOS 7 at this years event especially considering that banners, like the one above, are being placed at Moscone West in San Francisco, California where the event is being held.

iRadio could be a Spotify or Pandora replacement and with the recent announcement of Apple closing deals with all three major music labels, WWDC could be the perfect place to introduce the new service. OSX 10.9 is also very likely, especially considering we didn’t get any news about an OSX refresh earlier this year and the fact that there’s also a big banner with an “X” on it at Moscone, much like the iOS one. I’m thinking that we will see more integration of iOS features into OSX along with Jony Ive’s UI changes in look and feel, which is rumored to be much “flatter”.

What about hardware? Apple could be refreshing the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with new 4th generation Intel hardware, which we mentioned earlier this week. It’s hard to believe that the MacBook line up could get much thinner but they may do just that as well. If you have never picked up a MacBook Air, it almost feels fake and making it thinner would actually be pretty impressive. We have also been waiting quite a while for a big update for the Mac Pro and anything at all about this would be nice. There are also hopes to hear things like an Apple TV announcement or an iWatch release but like with any of this, we won’t know till the conference begins.

The conference is June 10-14 and you can get complete details including a schedule on Apple’s developer page.

Mobile Gaming Has Come Along Way but the TV is Getting Lonely

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Gaming on mobile has never been better and it has inspired many small time developers around the world. The mobile app market is unique in that it’s probably one of the easiest ways to get your game in front of millions of users. iOS and Android are exploding with millions of apps and many of them were created by the average joe without any major support from a large corporation. With the rise is mobile gaming popularity, thanks in part to better mobile performance, many of us desire a bit more from our favorite mobile games.

Can we do any better? Well, it turns out that we can. Let’s bring this uber, developer friendly environment to the big screen. That’s exactly what  Julie Uhrman was thinking when she started OUYA, a company that’s creating a console that’s mission is to “open up the last closed gaming platform- the TV”. OUYA got major support through Kickstarter and became one of the most successful Kickstarter projects to date.

Main Kickstarter OUYA

OUYA Console
OUYA Console

This console brings the Android OS to the television and it will open the doors for developers to begin creating content for the big screen on an open platform. It’s very affordable at just $99 and all of the games will be free-to-try. OUYA is compact and elegant, it also comes with a nice looking controller. Another cool feature of the OUYA console is that it can be easily hacked, in fact it’s encouraged. Not a hardware guy ? Maybe you’re looking to develop? You can start now, the OUYA  software development kit is already available for download.

 

Specifications:

  • Tegra3 quad-core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 8GB of internal flash storage
  • HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth LE 4.0
  • USB 2.0 (one)
  • Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
  • Android Jelly Bean
  • Ethernet