A Brief Update

So, once again I am on paternity leave, and whilst that may seem like a most unlikely time for me to have more spare time on my hands (I really don't.. this parenting stuff is non-stop), it does afford me more time where my job is just watching a sleeping baby to make sure he's ok, which gives me the opportunity for some quieter time.

Last time around I experimented with and wrote up some work with Spring & MongoDB (see previous blog posts here and here) and this time I have a whole host more planned.  Firstly, I am getting back on some Android development and am working on a new app - part of which is using greenDAO ORM for Android (apparently used by Pinterest.com, which is pretty good - although I would think describing themseleves as an ORM might be a little stretch, at first glance it certainly seems to make DB/DAO Android work a lot less of a pain in the arse) - I will write up some notes on using that soon.



The other part is a Raspberry Pi project. I held back from getting a Pi for sometime, as I didn't really have any projects in mind, and as tempting as it was, I didn't want to get one and just have it sitting in a box unused for ages (or alternatively just using it as a mechanism to web-enable my TV) - However, having been inspired by this project I decided that I wanted to build a lego robot powered by the Pi, and long term, having a robot that can do clever things (map out rooms, shortest path algo stuff etc) but also have a code framework that makes it easy for kids to be able to program rules about how the robot behaves in different circumstances etc.

I have a Pi, I have dug out all my old Technic Lego (including motors) and have discovered the joy of buying lots of incredibly low-priced electronics kit (resistors, chips, breadboards, leds, etc) and am almost ready to start - just have to solder a few pieces together and we are off (well, that and learn some basic electronics stuff!)


Expect post on both topics shortly..