Tiny PC. Big ideas

A Raspberry Pi is a tiny lowcost lowpowered computer produced by a nonprofit called the Raspberry Pi Foundation Since 2012 the foundation has been consistently producing and updating these small wonders The current model the Pi 4 was launched just a few months ago and is readily available in India They have sold over 19 million Raspberry Pis worldwideThe latest Raspberry Pi includes a lowcost and lowpowered ARMbased processor similar to the processors found on your smartphone just a little bit older It comes in three variantsmdash1GB 2GB and 4GB The Pi4 is loaded with WiFiAC Bluetooth 50 2 USB 30 ports 2 USB 20 ports 2 Micro HDMI ports and an Gigabit Ethernet port The whole thing runs on a Ctype USB charger There are a few more things you will need to run your Pi but they are not very expensive By our calculation you can set up a running desktop PC for under R5000 which is very impressiveWhat you can do with it For a lowpowered device there are lot of projects online that use the Raspberry Pi as its core You can turn it into a web server a brain for a robot an automated farmbot home assistant and even a Pibased portable laptop For starters we can look at turning the Rapsberry Pi into a desktop computer a retro gaming console and a media centre Dont worry You dont have to be a whiz at computers to do this there is a way to install them with minimum experienceGetting started Just getting the Raspberry Pi is not enough to get started The Pi is just a computer so you will need to get a MicroSD card to load the operating system a USB C power cable micro HDMI cable a screen and a keyboard and mouse You can optionally also invest in an enclosure for under R500 Once you have all of these in place you are ready to begin The first step is to install an OS on the MicroSD for which there are a bunch of choices depending on what you want to do with the deviceNewbie For complete beginners the Raspberry Pi Foundation has made it easy to start using the Pi Just download Noob and copy it on to the MicroSD card It will boot and prompt you to configure the Wifi which you should do After this the Pi will offer a menu with different installation choices I would recommend installing Raspbian for your desktop LibreElec for a media centre and Lakka for some retro gaming goodness The programme will download and install all of your choices You may want to give it an hour or so it takes time to download and install Once installed the OS will give you a choice at startup to decide what you want to boot intoDesktop If you are going to be predictable and use your Raspberry Pi as a desktop then you will probably want to install Raspbian While there are other OSes out there that could be used with the Pi the Raspbian is the most compatible The operating system is fairly simple to install and use The OS includes programmes like LibreOffice Scratch and even Minecraft While it is a highly functional desktop computer it lacks the power to run demanding applications like photo and video editorsGaming Lakka is a retro gaming OS that is lets say inspired by the look and feel of the PS3 It can play almost any kind of retro game all the way from the Atari to the Nintendo to even the first PlayStation You will have to legally obtain the games to run them on the machine they are often called ROMs You may have to run a Google search to find the games you want to play Lakka is very intuitive it can automatically find ROMS on your pendrive and even detect your controller I used it with a PS4 controller no keyboard mouse needed for this OSMedia Centre If a media centre is what you are after then you may want to go in for LibreELEC Based on a popular media centre software called Kodi LibreELEC is light and fast The OS can be customised to change its look and how it functions It is also very receptive to IPTV so if you have a subscription to an IPTV service you can integrate it in to the Kodi You can also add a bunch of addons that let you watch YouTube and other such video services LibreELEC works with a controller as well as a keyboard mouse setupWhat you need to get startedRaspberry Pi 4 2GB Rs 3237 32GB MicroSD Card Rs 300Type C power cable and charger Rs 500Micro HDMI to HDMI cable Rs 270Any screen TV Monitor old CRT TVKeyboard amp Mouse Rs 399Total Rs 4706Optional Pi housing Box Rs 399Optional Game Controller Rs 250LinksNOOBSDownload httpbitlysmdnoobsGuide httpbitlysmdnoobsguideRaspbianDownload httpbitlysmdraspGuide httpbitlysmdraspguideLakkaDownload httpbitlysmdlakkaGuide httpbitlysmdlakkaguideLibreElecDownload httpbitlysmdlibreGuide httpbitlysmdlibreguideOpen Media Vault Guide httpbitlysmdomvguideWatch middays review of theRaspberry Pi 4NewsSony shows off concept electric car at CES 2020Sony surprised audiences at CES 2020 with a concept vehicle that was filled to the brim with their tech The silver coloured custom electric car called Project S features a dashboard made entirely of screens 360 degree reality audio rear and side mirrors with cameras The car has a total of 33 sensors all geared towards customisation and user assistance while driving The car is powered by two 268bhp motors that can hit 0100kmph in 48 seconds with a top speed of 240kmph Unfortunately the car may always remain a prototype as Sony has not announced anything about production or the possibility of buying oneNew group bids for org to keep it out of private handsLate last year it was announced that org and other domains maintained by the Internet Society would be sold to a private equity firm A controversial move considering that the values of an equity firm do not match that of a nonprofits To block this bid a group of nonprofit leaders have formed an organisation to buy and operate the domains Some prominent members of the group include Esther Dyson founding chairman of ICANN and Katherine Maher CEO of Wikimedia FoundationCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to 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