Ezra Harris

Tag: Tech

  • Raspberry Pi 400 Retro Keyboard

    Raspberry pi recently announced its latest model of the Raspberry Pi. It’s called the Raspberry Pi 400. 

    It’s not clear that it is available for purchase yet. I heard about it first from a podcast called SQPN that discusses technology. 

    It is basically a Raspberry Pi put into a keyboard, so the Raspberry Pi 400 is the same as the Raspberry Pi 4 but with upgraded parts. It runs the latest version of Raspberry pi OS. The $100 kit includes the following:

    • Micro HDMI to HDMI cable (for monitor display)
    • Power cord 
    • Micro SD card (for the OS and storage)
    • Mouse
    • Raspberry Pi project book

    It’s also really cool because the ports on the keyboard are located in the back:

    I will write a follow-up blog post when it arrives! 

    Here’s an example of a real retro keyboard with a built-in computer from the 1980s. It was called the Commodore 64. The Commodore had 64 Kb compared to the Raspberry Pi 400 that has 4GB of RAM. My Dad was in high school when the Commodore came out, and he remembers one classmate who had one, but no one else had one in his class. These movies came out the same year as the Commodore:

    • E.T.
    • Annie 
    • Star Trek Wrath of Khan 
    Here are some old ads for the Commodore:

  • Making Changes to My Minecraft Server

    Yesterday I was trying to add plugins to my server, but when I joined on the server, nothing worked. I had tried restarting my server several times. The plugins weren’t working, (by the way, plugins are programs that you install on your server to make things look different I sometimes get mixed up about the difference in plugins and mods, but I am pretty sure that plugins can only change the way things look for you, and mods can only add to the game. Here is a more detailed article about the difference.) After that I asked the support team on apex’s website, and they said that I didn’t have Spigot installed on my server, I thought maybe I would have to pay extra if I wanted Spigot installed, so I thought perhaps I could upload the Spigot file to the server files. So I googled how to install Spigot on a server, but I kept getting the result “how to make a Minecraft Spigot server.” Then I texted Nicholas about the problem. He asked for the username and password for the panel login, and I gave it to him, and he logged in and quickly found out how to install Spigot on the server, so he set up Spigot, and now I think the plugins will work I will still have to try it, but I do know that Spigot is now installed. (If you would like to join my server on Minecraft, here is the IP address: BillyBones.apexmc.co if you do not know how to join a server Here is instructions.)

  • The iMac

    About a year ago, we had been given an old 2009 iMac from some of our friends. The iMac was slow, but we used it for our schoolwork. I had wanted to reset the computer, but I wasn’t sure if it would ruin the computer or not, but eventually, I decided to reset the computer. Well, it didn’t work, it had not gone back to its original program, and since I never created a backup, it was just stuck in the “select a drive” state. I had worked hours trying to get it to work. But nothing I did worked, so the iMac just sat there in my room for about three or four months. Until recently when I remembered that Nicholas had installed Ubuntu on a USB flash drive for his desktop computer, so I looked up how to install Ubuntu on a mac computer it said ” to plug in the USB flash drive then turn on your mac hold down alt/option and select the USB drive and then press the install” I followed the steps, and it started installing Ubuntu. I was very excited that it was going to work finally. I went through the ubuntu setup process then it was set up and ready, except for one thing the wireless internet chip driver for Ubuntu wasn’t installed, so I looked up how to fix that, and there was a lot of answers that I tried, but none of them worked. I don’t know whether I didn’t do the instructions right or not or if the version was wrong. But I skype called my brother, Nicholas, who has used Ubuntu before and who would know how to fix the problem. I had screen shared my screen on the iMac, and he helped me fix the problem. I didn’t understand everything that he told me to do, but he said that the computer needed a CD for installing the driver for the wireless internet chip. But he was able to make the USB flash drive seem like a cd to the computer, and the computer downloaded the driver. The iMac is now working, and I use it for schoolwork and skype.

  • Two Minecraft Versions

    There are two Minecraft versions for a pc:

    Minecraft Java edition costs 26.00$ for a one-time fee, and Minecraft windows 10 edition costs 29.00$ for a one-time fee. Usually, most people will buy one or the other. They both have separate apps to download so they aren’t the same app when opening Minecraft. But Minecraft Java edition has more experienced players because everybody who plays on Java edition is playing on a pc and pc’s are easier to move around when playing. But most people who play on windows 10 edition are playing on Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo so since they are playing on controllers it makes it harder to move around and it is overall harder to play than on a pc. I play on both versions of Minecraft, but I prefer playing on Java edition.

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