I'm some kind of dummy

I would be lying if I said that I read the whole book. But I've certainly finished skimming it. In a lot of ways, this book was probably too easy for me. But I do think I got some benefit from getting this book, and I'll almost certainly go back over a couple sections at some point. My intention here is to just summarize what I learned and any other thoughts I had as I was going through the text. This will be organized in the same way the book is.

• Part 1: Getting Started with Raspberry Pi
  • I didn't need to read the section on installing an OS onto an SD card because the kit I bought (which I'll go into more detail on later) is already set up with one. However, I read it anyway because I felt it would be good for me. I envision myself picking up another SD card so that I have one that is stable and one where I'm not afraid to wreck things.
  • The section on connecting to the Pi suggested that I have an externally powered USB hub because the two USB hubs aren't enough. Apparently, this is quite a minefield. There's an entire webpage dedicated to these hubs. I'll have to look at this more closely when I get started and maybe make a run to Fry's and try to find one that works.
• Part 2: Getting Started with Linux
  • The section on LXDE was a waste of time. If you don't know how to navigate a Windows-like environment, you probably won't be buying a Raspberry Pi.
  • I grew up playing with DOS, so I'm not afraid of the command line. That being said, I actually feel like I learned quite a bit from the section on the Linux shell. I probably would have eventually figured out everything in that section by brute force, ignorance, and the occasional internet search, but having the basic commands all in one place is much simpler.
• Part 3: Using the Raspberry Pi for Work and Play
  • It's good to know Libre Office exists, but I really didn't need to learn how to use WYSIWIG text editor and a spreadsheet. I feel the same way about GIMP.
  • I don't know why this book contains a section on building a webpage. Does anyone buy a device like this to create webpages?
  • The section on Raspbmc was the only one in this part of the book that looked interesting. I might try setting this up just to do it. I don't have a lot of digital media, so this isn't going to be a long term media center for me, but I like the idea of being able to interact with the device using an XBox controller or XBMC remote app (whatever that is -- I just like the idea that you can use your phone to connect to the Pi somehow).
• Part 4: Programming the Raspberry Pi
  • I've heard of Scratch before, but I've never really used it. It looks like it's a kind of toy programming language. There's even instructions for making a little space invaders game. I wasn't really that interested in it.
  • I've done a little bit of programming in Python. Mostly, it's been writing short code snippets to do some sort of calculation for me. The section on PyGame was brand new to me. I might try learning more about that, but that will most likely be unrelated to the Raspberry Pi.
• Part 5: Exploring Electronics with Raspberry Pi
  • This is the section that has my interest. I want to know how to make this thing work in the real world. I skimmed through this because it was hard to make concrete connections with the topics without actually having played with the Pi. Part of the kit that I bought has some wires, LEDs, and other things to play with. There will be a lot of learning in this area, I think.
  • There are instructions for making a Labyrinth-like game where you tilt a box and try to make a ball hit some posts in a certain order. I might make this game for the experience of really understanding how this works. I have some thoughts about trying to make an interactive binary calculator that can be a educational display item. More on that later (maybe).
  • I might need to buy a few random tools to build things. For example, I don't have a soldering iron. And I don't think I have a good setup to do minor woodworking and building.
  • There are two other projects that are probably worth building for the experience. One is a Simon knockoff and the other is some sort of analog knob thing.

Something interesting I discovered only after I purchased this book is that a Second Edition of the Dummies book is coming out later this month. I probably should have looked into that before I made the purchase. Whoops. Too late now.

I'm still not going to break into the Pi just yet. I've got another book called "Getting Started with Raspberry Pi." This book looks get-it-up-and-running-ish. I should get through this in another day or two of reading. But it may turn into skimming, just as with the Dummies book. I kind of want to start playing around with the actual computer.