Cracking on with my Raspberry Pi, I've written my first program in Python. The aim - to be able to send an SMS via a 3G USB dongle. The problem - the way SMS needs to be encoded is hideously complicated. For example, suppose you want to send "This is a very simple message :-)" to the phone number +447700900123. This is the command that you need to send to your dongle: AT+CMGS=42…
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(I think I'm the first person to try this - so I decided to document the process.) A few weeks ago, I won a Raspberry Pi at the #OTA12 hackday. It arrived on Friday, so I thought I would turn it into an SMS server using the incredible FrontlineSMS. 0. Setting up the Pi This is the easy part. Follow the excellent guide on the eLinux wiki. Essentially, download the Debian image, extract, and dd…
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As I was wandering over Waterloo Bridge, I spotted a Blimp flying above London. I find that Blimps have an otherworldly quality. Sleek, silent, and majestic. I fired off a few photos as it flew overhead. It then turned and went to approach The Shard. Where, finally, it docked and her passengers alighted. Here's the time lapse: Of course, it was just a trick of perspective. But wouldn't it …
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My local council, Woking, have found themselves in a spot of bother recently. It has emerged that they are subsidising parking charges for specific Christians churches. If you belong to a different church, worship a different god, or just want to go shopping, you have to pay for parking. The total subsidy was at least £55,864 between 2009 and 2011, and is still rising. The National Secular …
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Last month I gave an interview to the Metro newspaper about QR codes. Click for full size …
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At Over The Air I demonstrated what I considered a novel use for one of Android's sensors. I wanted to create a Theremin - a type of musical instrument which is played by moving one's hand over it - changing pitch and tone by moving nearer or further away. My first attempt used the proximity sensor. However, on all the Android phones I tried the sensor's accuracy was binary - it could sense…
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A delightful evening in London spent watching a pair of helicopters fly through Tower Bridge. It appears that it's part of the London™ 2012© Olympics® opening ceremony. First, the practice run: Then the three flights through the bridge Thanks to IanVisits for alerting us to the event, and Tom Scott for organising the picnic. …
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To quote Chris Applegate: "There is no HTTP code for censorship." But perhaps there should be. My ISP have recently been ordered to censor The Pirate Bay. They have done so unwillingly and, it would seem, have complied only with the letter of the ruling. Their block is, for now, trivial to circumvent. I am concerned that this censorship will become more prevalent. As network neutrality…
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Twitter recently announced that 80% of UK users were active on mobile. The means every time you tweet a link to your website, the chances are that it will be a mobile device which tries to open your site. This is a quick guide to what I consider to be the "best practices" for mobile redirection. It's pretty simple. Have a mobile friendly site. Redirect users who have a mobile. …
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I've been pretty disgusted with how the Tories are treating equal marriage, so I decided to put the case to my local MP. Here's my letter and his somewhat disappointing reply. Dear Jonathan Lord, I understand that there will shortly be a free vote on the issue of equal marriage. Some politicians have insisted that this is an issue which is not a priority for the electorate. I disagree -…
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I love Android, I really do. I'm chuffed to bits with the Galaxy Nexus I won recently. I've had a dozen Android phones before that - stretching all the way back to the HTC Magic. But it's getting obvious that Android has a serious design problem - even with the gorgeous new "Holo" theme for ICS. The issue is one of consistency. Users have limited cognitive surplus and often rely on muscle…
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Another brilliant event from Over The Air. The perfect mix of lectures, hacking, and relaxing in a country manor / museum. And, to top it off, my hack won a brace of prizes! The Wifi just about held up. Although I think it's fundamentally impossible to provide decent connectivity to 200+ people. Especially when they're geeks. Dan Benton@dogsbodyorgIt's people like @edent that break…
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