| If you’re here because you got a Raspberry Pi for Christmas, then Happy Christmas – and welcome to the Raspberry Pi family! If you’re just here for fun, then Happy Christmas too! The Raspberry Pi is a computer that you can use for all sort of brilliant and useful things, from learning to program, to making robots, to Tweeting when bird visits a nesting box, to taking pictures from the stratosphere. Here are some tips on getting setting up and using your Raspberry Pi. 1. Make sure your software is up to dateThe most important thing is to make sure that you have the latest version of our New Out Of Box Software (NOOBS). You can check this by starting your Raspberry Pi – here’s Carrie Anne to tell you more. If you don’t have the latest version (1.3.3) we recommend that you go here to get the latest version and follow the instructions (it’s really easy – just download it and then drag and drop onto a formatted SD card). 2. Setting upFull set up instructions are in the quick start guide. If you have any issues setting up your Raspberry Pi set up then please visit our forums. Our forum members are a very friendly bunch and will help you with any problems. The FAQ also has lots of tips and useful information PowerDo make sure that you have a good quality power supply. Some cheaper supplies do not output the power that they claim! Logging inWhen you finally boot up you will be asked to log in. The login is ‘pi’ and the password is ‘raspberry’. Note that nothing appears when you type the password, so tpye caerfuly! Command line and windowsThe Pi boots into a command line where you type instructions to the computer. To start a Windows-style graphical user interface, first log in, and then type startx and press enter. Brain on a stick warning: The Raspberry Pi is special. We built this little computer so that you have to tell it what to do, not the other way round. You’re in charge. It’s a very different experience to unboxing a tablet or laptop—deliberately so!—but because of this it has so much more potential. We accept full responsibility for any learning, thinking or fun that may occur whilst using our product. 3. What can you do with your Raspberry Pi?Because it’s a general purpose computer, you can do loads of stuff. But because it’s also small and light and doesn’t use much power, then you can do even more amazing things. And if you just want to use it as a media player then that’s cool with us too. Want to know more? If you’re under 15, we recommend Carrie Anne Philbin’s Adventures in Raspberry Pi, which will get you set up and hacking away in an afternoon. For anyone over that age, we recommend the official User Guide, co-authored by our very own Eben Upton, which will take you from raw beginnings to automating your whole house. Merry Christmas! We’ll be back in a few days – we’re taking a little while out to spend time with our families. |
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Merry Christmas! Got a new Pi? Read on!
Holiday Events Part III: How does this thing work?
| From all of us here at OverDrive, we hope you have a joyful, relaxing holiday season. You'll need it … because once January rolls around you may find yourself with a stampede of people at the library doors with tablets or eReaders received as a gift and want to know how to get free library eBooks. Self-help Embrace the OverDrive-created resources that are right at your fingertips. Especially for the users who just want help getting started, we encourage you to share the following resources:
Training classes and demonstrations Many libraries bump up their training efforts after the holiday season, and we can help with our Post-Holiday Training materials. Included in the kit are some promotional materials and suggestions for coordinating training sessions at your library. Watch our Hot Holiday Devices recording for a quick refresher of some of the new devices you may be working with. Additional support If you are worried about the influx of questions coming in to your library, you may want to sign up for Front Line Tech Support as a way to put your end users in direct contact with OverDrive Support. This will ease any burden put on your library staff during what is already a stressful time of year!
Cassie Renner is a Marketing Specialist at OverDrive.
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Sex Sells: Big Foot, Gargoyles, and Erotica, Oh My!
| It’s no secret that romance and erotica top the list of bestselling genres because…well, let’s face it…sex sells. But more importantly, well crafted romance titles that speak to a broad audience of readers also sells, as evidenced by imprints like Carina Press (Harlequin) and Ellora’s Cave being digital-first pioneers while still maintaining standards of authorship. But hasn’t every swashbuckling pirate or lord of the manor story line been done to death yet? Obviously not. Moreover, romance authors and publishers are finding new ways to reach their readers, as evidenced by new themes in the romance and erotica genres. Spare us your vampires, move over werewolves…Big Foot is here. Yes, Big Foot, the stuff of legends and Squatch-hunters everywhere. Only he’s made his way to the page with pseudo-rape tales from author Virgina Wade, and Amazon was nonplussed, to say the least. Following the controversy this fall with ebook titles finding their way in front of juvenile consumers, Amazon and other retailers began a broad sweep of removal, stripping a large number of titles from their virtual shelves for violating what the retailers say were their terms for content of this kind. Key titles were replaced rather quickly, with others, like Virginia Wade’s Big Foot-human-rape-triangle, undergoing a face lift before being returned to the site. Cover image changes, title changes, and even outright rewrites were required of some authors before their erotica would become available again. But that hasn’t deterred the die hard erotica writers or their hard core fans (pun intended). New titles continue to be posted to e-readers in record numbers, and the scenarios are even wilder than before, if that’s even possible. All Big Foot stories aside, gargoyles, aliens, and robots have seen huge growth in fan base as readers look to push the envelope of erotica without being…creepy? The safety net afforded by a non-human–and therefore, not actually possible–partner makes this cryptozoological erotica (an actual term) a highly profitable genre for an equally highly engaged audience.
Sex Sells: Big Foot, Gargoyles, and Erotica, Oh My! is a post from: E-Reader News |
Holidays Disrupt New Comic Day
| New digital and printed comics normally come out every single week on Wednesday. Due to Christmas and New Years happening on both days, the industry is releasing them this Tuesday and next Tuesday. If you are getting your comics from online distributer Comixology, the comics are available right now to purchase. Unfortunately the next week is fairly dire with nothing of note coming out. We have only Forever Evil #4, Justice League #26, Conan, Vol. 14: The Death, Robotech Voltron #1, Doctor Who Special 2013, The Saviors #1, Avengers #24.NOW and Origins II #1. Holidays Disrupt New Comic Day is a post from: E-Reader News |
