One of the most common patterns I’ve run into while working on PiBox has been threads that process inbound data via a queue.  The pattern is simple enough. Initialize a thread to acquire data When data arrives, put it into a data structure Place the data structure on a queue […]

Thread Management with Mutexes and Semaphores

We’ve been thinking about getting into 3D printing here at the Hammel household.  I’m looking at building small enclosures for the various embedded boards I work on.  My wife is looking at creating components for the designs she works on for Vindicated Vinyl, her small business.  After doing a bit […]

Getting started with the Robo3D printer and OctoPrint

The first official PiBox meetup has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 18, 2017 in room B2 at Library 21c.  I’ll be doing a demo of the PiBox Media Center and going over the same slides I presented at the Colorado Springs Open Source Software Meetup.  Then we’ll open it to […]

First PiBox Meetup

I’ve been porting a number of utilities in PiBox to provide library support for common functions.  This includes a network configuration library – known as libpiboxnet – and a higher level library for PiBox specific functions.  The code for the networking library was originally duplicated in two different apps with […]

Unit testing server protocols in C

The value of an over-exuberant penchant for experimentation and fiddling should never be underestimated, if only because it helps measure the onset of age-associated mental debilitation. In other words, everyone needs a hobby. Or two. Or ten.

What to do in 2017

I’ll be covering the PiBox Development System and PiBox Media Center in overview, explaining what these are, how to use them and where they are going.  I’ve got a set of slides and will demo the media center along with all the new features I added late this year.  Basically […]

PiBox @ Colorado Springs Open Source Meetup

Back in October I started work on a new app for PiBox: an XM radio player.  The hardware is an XMPCR, a device sold in the early 2000’s that connected over USB to a PC.  The device didn’t last long.  I think there was some concern that people would steal […]

PiBox: XM radio app (PiXM) and wifi scanning in PNC

I don’t enter many contests.  I see little value in getting something for free. It’s far more interesting to earn them.  But every now and then something catches my eye that seems worth the minor effort of a big reward. So a while back, perhaps back in September or so, […]

Halloween haul from Arrow

I just found out that I’ll be demo’ing PiBox at the Mini Maker Faire at Barnes and Noble, on Briargate Blvd just south of Chapel Hills mall on Saturday November 5th from 3-5pm.  It’s the same demo I did for the larger CS Maker Faire but with less signage. I […]

PiBox @ Mini Maker Faire @ Barnes and Noble