Doug's FAQs

How did you get a Raspberry Pi to work wirelessly with your car sound system?

Doug Belshaw — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:56:14 +0000

Note: This method requires no command line skills and the RPi simply plugs into your car’s AUX connector. I’m writing the following from memory having done this earlier today! More photos in this Flickr set.

What you’ll need

This is a fairly cheap setup and a starting point for any further work. I’m considering throwing a USB Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) into the mix at some point:

Raspberry Pi + case
SD card
USB nano wifi dongle
Cigarette lighter power output to USB adapter
USB to Micro USB lead
3.5mm jack to 3.5mm jack audio lead
HDMI cable (for setup only)
USB keyboard (for setup only)
Ethernet cable (perhaps)
A Linux machine (for transferring music only)

The Raspberry Pi (RPi) compatibility wiki for peripherals can be found here.

Overview

The basic procedure is to install Raspbmc, a RPi-compatible version of the XBMC media centre operating system. Once installed, changing a few options in the Raspbmc settings allows you to connect it to a wifi hotspot created by your smartphone. When the RPi and your smartphone are connected to one another, you can use the XBMC app (iOS/Android) to control the RPi.

Step-by-step instructions

0. If you haven’t done so before, set up a wifi hotspot on your phone. This is trivial to do on both Android and iOS via the Settings menu.

1. Install Raspbmc on your SD card. I used a fairly cheap 16GB Transcend version and this Mac OSX application to make it a one-click procedure.

2. Put the RPi in the case (if you have one) and insert the USB nano wifi dongle, SD card, HDMI cable and USB keyboard. If you have a USB connector on your TV you can power the RPi from that (via the USB to Micro USB cable). When everything’s connected up you should see Raspbmc doing its thing on your TV screen. You may need to connect an ethernet cable as well at some point.

3. Unplug the ethernet cable (if connected). Go to Programs / Raspbmc Settings and change the network connection to wifi. Change the SSID and passphrase to whatever you setup on your smartphone. I’m fairly sure I selected Ad-hoc connection and then told it to update. If you’ve got a iPhone then the blue band will appear at the top of your screen when the RPi is connected.

4. Go to Settings and find the option to turn on controlling Raspbmc over a network. You might as well turn on other things like AirPlay streaming, etc. as well. In short, have a good old poke around and a fiddle with the different options. One thing you will need to change is music to output to an Analogue source (rather than HDMI).

5. Download the official XBMC app from the iOS or Android app store. You should just be able to press ‘Find’ and connect to the RPi. Try using it to navigate through the Raspbmc menu.

6. Shut down the RPi, remove the SD card and unplug the keyboard. Put the SD card into a Linux-powered machine* and create a folder called Music in home / pi. Transfer any MP3 files you want to this new folder.

7. Re-insert the SD card into the RPi. Use your smartphone to navigate to the Music option in the RPi menu. Add as a source home / pi / Music. Try playing some music. You won’t hear anything unless you’ve got speakers connected to the analogue output of your RPi, but you should see it playing on-screen and the visualization appear in the background.

8. Shutdown Raspbmc and disconnect all cables. You should just have the SD card and nano wifi dongle attached at this point. Take the RPi to your car and find a handy place to put it close enough to the cigarette lighter power output and the AUX input. Plug the USB adapter into the cigarette lighter power output, then plug the USB to Micro USB lead into that and the RPi. Plug the 3.5mm audio lead to the AUX input and the RPi.

9. Start your car’s engine, or at least click the power on so the RPi can boot up. It should automatically connect to your smartphone’s wifi hotspot and then you can use the XBMC app to play some music.

10. Drive around listening to rinsin’ tunes.

*Windows and Mac OSX systems can’t recognise the EXT4 file system. I used a Chromebook to do this bit as it’s built on Linux.

Aren’t Open Badges all about gamification?

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:48:49 +0000

It’s now almost two years since I started getting involved in the Open Badges community. A lot has happened since then which makes it feel kind of weird that it’s only this week that we’re announcing v1.0 of the OBI (Open Badges Infrastructure). That’s because of the way that Mozilla develops products in the open with the help of the community, of course.

When Open Badges were announced to the world around 18 months ago one of the main criticisms was that it was ‘mere gamification’ of learning. Under this view badges are extrinsic motivators akin to the kind of stickers that you see being awarded to young children. Can badges be used to motivate people? Yes, absolutely. But so can carrots (metaphorical or otherwise), degrees, chocolate, toys, and the promise of a big hug.

I can see why people might equate Open Badges with gamification for a couple of reasons. First, the two things became big news around the same time in 2011 making it easy to conflate the two. Second, it takes a bit of a mindshift to re-imagine what is possible when we change the ways learning can be credentialed. It certainly took me a while!

In Jane McGonigal’s work (not least the excellent Reality is Broken) she talks about the difference between gamification and ‘gameful design’. The former, she states, is about rewards outside of the system, whereas the latter is all about the rewards within the system itself. I like the subtle difference she draws here as it gets to the heart of what makes Open Badges so interesting: badge system design. When there is no limit to how big or small the credentials can be – nor restrictions on how they can stack up together – then the world becomes full of wonderful possibilities.

At the end of the day, Open Badges are metadata-infused credentials. They are image files with embedded data that point out towards things like who issued the badge, what it was issued for, and the evidence for the accomplishment. Yes, badges could be used for ‘mere gamification’; they could be used to prop up an outdated system; but the really exciting thing is to use this new, open system to completely rethink the ways we can show what we know. It sounds clichéd but it’s true: the only limit is our imagination.

Have you got a list of everything you’ve written so far about #openbadges?

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:51:59 +0000

I’m participating in a podcast for Teachers Teaching Teachers tonight. This is to help me to get to stuff I’ve written about Open Badges, quickly!

DMLcentral

My blog

What do you think about Mitch Resnick’s (@mres) skeptical #OpenBadges comments?

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 01:47:23 +0000

In 'Still a Badge Skeptic' (http://hastac.org/blogs/mres/2012/02/27/still-badge-skeptic) Mitch Resnick, Professor at MIT outlines his concerns about badges:

"The problem, for me, lies in the role of badges as motivators. In many cases, educators are proposing badge systems in order to motivate students. It’s easy to understand why educators are doing this: most students get excited and engaged by badges. But towards what end? And for how long?"

I agree with Mitch's concerns.

At the moment I'm reading Clay Shirky's 'Cognitive Surplus'. Here's a quotation from a great section about motivation:

"Deci's experiment suggested that extrinsic motivations aren't always the most effective ones and that increasing extrinsic motivations can actually decrease intrinsic ones. He concluded that an extrinsic motivation like being paid can crowd out an intrinsic one like enjoying something for its own sake."

Shirky goes on to cite another study where the implicit contract between parents and daycare workers was broken. Fines for late arrival were imposed on the test group of parents whilst the control group remained unchanged.

The result of imposing fines for late arrival? Parents in the test group were *more* likely to arrive late (and therefore be fined) than before. And then, when the fines were removed, the behaviour – the increased number of late arrivals – remained. The implicit contract had been broken; the extrinsic motivator crowded out the intrinsic motivator.

To my mind, the focus of Open Badges is not motivation. They're about accrediting the types of things that just don't get accredited or signalling a learning journey. Yes, badges *can* be used as extrinsic motivators, but I'd argue that's not their best use.

So I'd agree with Mitch that we need to be careful when it comes to motivation around badges. We need to ensure that the focus is upon learning, pedagogy and creating a holistic picture of the individual. If it's just about finding another way to extrinsically motivate learners then we've failed.

Examples of using badges to credentialize learning (#openbadges & #dmlbadges)

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:13:00 +0000

At my main blog I’ve been talking quite a lot about the potential for badges to credentialise informal learning. Quite apart from the MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, HASTAC, US Department of Education and NASA-backed DML Competition, there’s an Open Badges infrastructure that people are beginning to use right now.

Up until now I don’t think that, collectively, we’ve done a good enough job so far at surfacing examples of people using badges imaginatively and creatively. That’s why I asked Ruth Schmidt, who’s been working with the Digital Youth Network in Chicago, to share some documents thy she showed in a session at the Mozilla Festival last weekend.

As you can see, one of the documents shows broadly four different types of badges. The other shows a retrospective analysis of the social network DYN has been using with students, and how badges would fit into their existing structure. I think it’s a great, well thought-through example of doing something with badges that is difficult or problematic with existing assessment and grading regimes.

badge-diagnostic-8nov2011.pdf
Download this file

DYNbadge-booklet-vF.pdf
Download this file

Why are your websites down?

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:42:00 +0000

This is the message that greeted me when I woke up this morning. My ‘main’ website when I signed up to Bluehost was historyshareforum.com, hence the reference to it below.

I have no idea which of the Terms of Service I am supposed to have ‘violated’. I’m currently looking for a way to transfer my sites elsewhere as this isn’t the first time this has happened. :-/

Forwarded message:

From: support@bluehost.com
To: [redacted]
Date: Thursday, 20 October 2011 22:25:37
Subject: Web hosting account deactivated for HISTORYSHAREFORUM.COM

Dear Doug:
Your web hosting account for historyshareforum.com has been deactivated, as of 10/20/2011. (reason: site causing performance problems)
This deactivation was due to a Terms of Service violation associated with your account. At sign-up, all users state that they have read through, understand, and agree to our terms. These terms are legal and binding.
Although your web site has been suspended, your data may still be available for up to 15 days from the date of deactivation; if you do not contact us during that 15 day period, your account and all of its files, databases, and emails may be deleted.
If you feel this deactivation was made in error, or in order to gain access to your account, please call our customer service line as soon as possible at (888) 401-4678 and press 5 to speak with a member of our Terms of Service Compliance department.
Please read the following, derived from our Terms of Service agreement, for additional information regarding the matter.
Engaging in any activity that, in BlueHost.com‘s sole and absolute discretion, disrupts, interferes with, or is harmful to (or threatens to disrupt, interfere with, or be harmful to) BlueHost.com‘s services, BlueHost.com‘s business, operations, reputation, goodwill, subscribers and/or subscriber relations, or the ability of BlueHost.com‘s subscribers to effectively use BlueHost.com‘s services is prohibited.
Please review the current copy of our Terms of Service here:
http://www.bluehost.com/cgi/terms
Thank you,
BlueHost.com Technical Support
http://www.bluehost.com
For support go to http://helpdesk.bluehost.com/
Toll-Free: (888) 401-4678 Option 2

How are you progressing with the #neverendingthesis?

Doug Belshaw — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:43:09 +0000

Pretty well, thanks. I was planning to submit this Friday, but a couple of things are going to prevent that. First, I'm off to the Scottish Learning Festival tomorrow (which means I won't be able to work on it for a couple of days). Second, I've found more minor corrections than I thought I would.

A note on my method for minor correction-spotting. Digital documents are great for writing and editing, but not for seeing the bigger picture. I needed a lot of space to blu-tack up nearly 300 pages, so I went into work on Saturday and Sunday and spent 10 hours in total going through my thesis with a fine toothcomb:

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649

My thesis as it stood a couple of weeks ago is available at http:/dougbelshaw.com/thesis. Once I've submitted, I'm planning to turn it into a wiki at http://neverendingthesis.com

Why was your camping trip a ‘tragi-comedy of micro-epic proportions’?

Doug Belshaw — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:31:05 +0000

Over at P2PU I’m organising a semester of learning around Mozilla’s Open Badges project. If there was one for ‘packing up a tent in the dark’ or ‘continuing
in the face of adversity’ I’d have a fuller CV this morning.

It all started innocently enough. “It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?” stated the four year-old HyperActiveBoy™ as we played football in the back garden on Saturday. “I think we should go camping tonight.” I was too busy trying to hold ChunkGirl™ (who, at seven months, is now the same weight as her two year-old cousin) to concentrate on the question. “Yes, we should go sometime,” I replied.

After much badgering over Saturday and Sunday it was agreed: PersistentBoy™ and Daddy would go camping on Sunday night. Mummy found a campsite close by and, at 18.30, off we went, driving less than ten miles to our destination. The opencast mine and trainline we passed close-by to the campsite should have put me off or, failing that, the bizarre fluffy white chickens. But oh no. In the words of the Beautiful South, we Carried On Regardless.

HyperActiveBoy™ and I had the tent up and were in it by 19.30 after having the now-traditional hot chocolate and cookies, and getting washed in the shower block. My plan was to read in the tent but, on leaning back to lie down, managed to crush my Kindle in a way that broke the screen. Not the most auspicious of starts.

With AwakeBoy™ far too excited to get to sleep with Daddy in the tent, I decamped to the car planning to scour internet forums for a solution to my Kindle problem. But, of course, we were in deep Northumberland where GPRS is like frickin’ broadband. After about an hour of fruitless searching, and with AwakeBoy™ still steadfastly refusing to sleep, I decided to get back into the tent.

Back in summer 2001 I went round Italy with AwakeBoy™’s Mummy staying at Youth Hostels. The sleeping bag I bought for that trip was an ultra-light one made for Mediterranean summers. On Sunday night it felt like the equivalent of a bin bag. Oh, and I didn’t have anything to use as a pillow as AwakeBoy™ was hogging the improvised rolled-up blanket.

AwakeBoy™, a.k.a. TalkInHisSleepBoy™ a.k.a. HotWaterBottleBoy™, of course, has never been cold in his entire life, so didn’t really understand why I, at about midnight when he was finally dropping off to sleep, proclaimed I needed to go back into the car to get my oh-so-thick M&S Dad cardigan.

From there it was all downhill. The excitement started again with AwakeBoy™ as I re-entered the tent. I threatened to take him home. A train went past. Something was moving in the opencast mine. He needed a wee-wee at 2am, managing to cover the outside of the tent in more than dew.

But then, at 3.30am, the cockerel started crowing. “That’s it!” I cried, not really caring who heard us by this point, “we’re going home!” AwakeBoy™, looking bewildered and as if he’d done something wrong, asked why. I explained that it wasn’t his fault, that it was the worst campsite in the world, and bundled him into the car.

Taking down the tent took about ten minutes in the dark given that I just threw it into the boot of the car. We drove up the drive towards the campsite owner’s house where I dropped the key off by posting it through the letterbox.

Did I also include a £10 note to cover the pitch fee? No reader, I did not.

What did you think of the Supercar Fantastic Four driving event?

Doug Belshaw — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:34:00 +0000

See the full gallery on Posterous

I really enjoyed it!

Hannah, my wife, bought me the experience for my 30th birthday last December but I’ve only recently been able to find a date which worked for all the family. I have no idea how much it cost, although I’m pretty sure she’ll have found a discount somewhere! The event was held near York, and Vision Motorsport, who ran the day, have also got a track near Oxford that they use.

I drove, in order, an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari 360 and a Porsche GT3. In order of preference, I’d go:

Ferrari
Porsche
Lamborghini
Aston Martin

Most people there preferred the Porsche, but I managed to overtake the person driving that in the Aston Martin! The Ferrari was just out of this world in terms of raw power and acceleration. The steering was precision and the traction control just made driving it a breeze. I remember Jeremy Clarkson reviewing the Lamborghini Gallardo and pointing out the weird driving position: the pedals are over to the left which means you kind of have to twist your body.

On the other hand, if I had to pick a car to drive every day, I’d choose the Aston Martin. It’s a refined, more comfortable car that’s really smooth to drive. I suppose that’s why rich businessmen drive it. You’d have to be pretty ostentatious to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo around the place – especially in bright yellow!

Hannah asked me a pertinent question on the way back home. I’ve got a Ford Puma, an absolutely awesome machine which is pretty quick and hugs corners. She asked if, had I not bought my Puma last year, whether I’d have enjoyed the experience more. I suppose that yes, I probably would. Our other car, a Ford Focus C-MAX is very much a family car and handles like a ship compared to my Puma. So, if I’d been used to driving that instead of my Puma for the last 10 months, then I suppose the day would have been even better.

As it was, I thought it certainly lived up to its ‘fantastic’ billing. It’s just a shame that a couple of the instructors kept telling me off for taking the corners too fast…

Update: I created a video…

http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377

(and yes, those photos have been HDR-ised and I added F1 noises!)

So you don’t condemn the rioters?

Doug Belshaw — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:21:52 +0000

Whilst I would absolutely condemn the violence and criminality that we’ve seen over the last few nights in major English cities, I can’t help but think that we’re narrow-mindedly only accepting one side of a much larger, more complex (and more disturbing) picture.

Put yourself in the place of a teenager in modern-day England. Even if you keep your side of the bargain – if you keep your head down, work hard and keep out of trouble – you still have to pay what must seem like an egregious amount of money to get a degree, something that is fast becoming a minimum entry level qualification for many jobs. How would you feel then?

But what about if it’s worse than that? What about if you’ve grown up in an environment where you’ve been neglected (or worse still, abused), where it’s up to you if you decide to go to school, where there’s no money in the house for what others class as basics? What if the structure that used to be provided by families, schools and communities just doesn’t exist for you? What if there literally are no boundaries? Is that your fault?

As we saw with the student fees protests, you can be well-educated, articulate, and peaceful in your demonstrations and *still* be completely ignored by the government. What chance have young, poorly-educated and marginalised people really got, then? What use is marching with a placard going to do? Can you honestly say that in those circumstances you wouldn’t turn to gangs and people who, on a short-term and very local level *can* sort out your problems for you? I’m not sure I could be so certain.

So whilst I obviously don’t condone violence and criminal damage, I have to wonder just how our young people are supposed to vent their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. As I mentioned yesterday I believe that the structural inequality in England is larger than at any time during my 30 years living in the country:

As Richard Wilkinson points out in his book The Spirit Level the overwhelming cause of male homicide is status inequality. In fact, the power of the effect is three times greater than the strongest correlation previously measured. Status inequality affects seratonin levels which, in turn, lessens an individual’s ability to enjoy pleasure and amplifies negative emotions. As a result, cortisol levels are likely to increase which are linked to almost everything bad that can happen to you health-wise: depression, cancer, heart disease, you name it.

So let’s catch the young people carrying out criminal damage. But rather than punish them in unjust ways, let’s be measured in our response. And for goodness’ sake, let’s get their side of the story. Perhaps then we can do something about working towards a more just society.