At one of our last MUGs, we scheduled our next road trip for this Saturday, February 11, primarily this time to Creatron in Scarborough for at least a couple of Raspberry Pis, more details to follow. Generally we fill a car, we've been known to rendezvous in Bethany, descend upon either the Markham-Unionville or Oshawa CanadaComputer stores, head off to Creatron, Sayal Electronics, or both, and Bill mentioned a stop out Steeles Ave. West to some radio-oriented store as well.
Please add your replies if you're interested in: a) joining us, b) suggesting a location we hadn't considered that might be of interest, or c) having some item(s) of interest the others can pick up for you during our outing.
See you there! <^8#
I'm interested though sadly, I won't be a buyer. At least I will know what is available out there for future road trips.
Oh, c'mon, Jason; sell a couple of your chickens and splurge! <^8#
OK, so far we have Mike, looking for a Pi (presumably at Creatron, as am I); Jason, with or without fewer chickens and a few shekels in his pocket; Glen (damnit, what's his last name?!) - Goslin, from Oshawa, who we'll remap the road trip for, and also suggested Sayal Electronics (I'd suggest the one at Woodbine & 14th, rather than the one on Vic Park & Gordon Baker Rd., it's bigger - I *think*), Bill just *might* join us, hoping we make it to Radio World (I know *exactly* where that is, Bill, I used to live a couple of miles [yes, friggin' MILES, I said! <^8#] from there, have eaten at the Mickey D's across the street, and stayed in the hotel behind it...) OK, who am I forgetting?
So far, I believe the itinerary maps out thus:
Rendezvous with Glen at the CanadaComputers in Oshawa (/Timmy's across the street - or a pit stop thereafter); on to Creatron, which has a WHACK o' stuff, but very small - with enough attendees, we could make it hard to move around in there). Up Pharmacy Ave./Esna Park/Rodick Rd. to Riviera Dr., to Woodbine, voila! Sayal Electronics...
Time permitting, we could continue from there across Hwy 7 (or the 407?) to Hwy 400, down to Steeles Ave again and over to Radio World before calling it a day! <whew!> And Glen had also suggested A1 Electronics, down at Hwy 427 & the Queensway, where there's another CanadaComputers I haven't been in before... And was there something else down that way? In any event, I doubt we'll make it beyond Radio World, for lack of time, but... I guess you never know! <^8#
Does that sound about right to everyone?
I'm definitely up for it, stopping at Creatron Canada Computers and wherever else anyone wants to stop. What time are we thinking of leaving/returning, Bob?
Off-hand, I'd think 10am... That ought to put us in Oshawa by 11am, on the road again for 11:30am-noon, depending on pit stop, in and out of Creatron by 1pm, to Sayal by 1:30pm-2pm, depending on a stop for lunch vittles... Maybe out to Radio World by 3pm, additionals by consensus, and I *never* wanna head home until the stores all close! <^8#
Extremely ambitious, I fear; we'll have to be efficient in our stops to make it all happen - and if we *do* have more time, I'm definitely up for A1 Electronics as well, if everyone else is up to it! I've only heard of it, so I'd like to scope it out if we actually have the chance, see what it's got to offer. I'd hate to have to make that trip repeatedly without a really good reason...
I am going to pass on the road trip, guys. The weather might make the roads a bit messy, for tomorrow.
Maybe by Spring time, we might need some more gadgets and have another road trip.
Gentlemen, good and true... You know I hate to say it, but the weather predicts, amongst other things, freezing drizzle for both tonight and tomorrow.
I have no problem with most weather-related issues, but a near-zero coefficient of static friction is a definite exception. To the uninitiated, SLIPPERY IS BAD! <^8#
Let's keep an eye on next weekend, and see if it provides a better forecast. Sorry, guys! >^8#
I'd be okay waiting for the Spring or least next month. I should be able to afford a base Pi by then. :D
Well, it's not like it'll be the most epic, last time only, road trip we ever do - things like Bill's mention of Radio World, up on Steeles Ave. W. near Hwy. 400 is a place I might never otherwise have found out about, and Glen mentioned A1 Electronics out in Mississauga by Sherway Gardens (WOW!! I had a look at Google Maps of the area, and O*M*G!! The last time I was out there, there was a scrap yard on the north-east corner of North Queen St. & The Queensway! That whole area has been taken over by big box and outlet-ty stores! How the little scruddy industrial building housing A1 Electronics and another couple of little industrial companies has managed to avoid demolition in the name of commerce I *can't* imagine! <^8#)
And can we have a moment of silence for Active Surplus... <^8# Arguably THE best little hole-in-the-wall electronics surplus store to have about a gazillion little bins containing virtually EVERY little part, doo-dad, gewgaw and whatchamacallit manufactured over the past century (or probably even longer! <^8#) Guaranteed, if you were looking for something in particular electronic-y, and spent the time picking the entire place over, you WOULD find it! It was definitely in there somewhere! <^8# I loved that place, and was heart-broken to hear of its demise.
Hey, c'mon; most guys like to gather over sports events; others, myself included, like to get out in the outdoors from time to time, in my case, at least, fishing. As opposed to catching, which is definitely NOT a priority for most fishermen... That's just a bonus. But geeks like us do road trips to hardware vendors of many kinds, and find new ways to spend our money on things that keeps our brains stimulated, creating all manner of new toys, tools & machines!!
Fear not, my friend; like the adage, "more month than money", if I won a big lottery, I probably STILL wouldn't have enough for all the new toys I'd like to buy!! <^8#
OK, Road Trip update: Mike's still on, Jason may be also, I'm supposing Glen's still in, Rob has expressed an interest primarily if we're planning on Radio World; that's my car, overfull already! <^8#
Stefan is interested, but may be looking more toward springtime - I can't remember... And Bill just *might* go if the weather's really good.
I have both Mike and Rob saying Saturday's supposed to be +7° to +9°, which would make for a glorious road trip... SO...
Keep an eye on the weather, and here's to Saturday! <^8#
I might have some money before Saturday. If I do, then I'll come. It depends on if the paypal transfer goes through before then. But 3 in the back might be a little cramped. Perhaps if Bill is driving up, I'll go with him, instead?
You should come, money or no. It doesn't cost anything to look at the toys :) And what could be better than a day out with the geeks. It's supposed to go up to +10 on Saturday.
OK, weather looks good for Saturday. I could meet up with Bob in Bethany, near the restaurant, like we did last time. Someone from Bob's car could transfer over to mine, if they want.
I don't fancy driving back in the dark, so I may head back by maybe 4:30 pm. If my passenger is from Peterborough, I could drop the person off at his house in Peterborough.
Bill
OK, it's Friday night - we're still leaving tomorrow, right? Who is in (besides Bob and I)? Are we still leaving Peterborough at 10 am?
OK, weather looks good. Bill's in for rendezvous in Bethany, I'm checking on Rob and Stefan, Mike's in, Jason's in (?), I'll check with Glen in Oshawa - if he's in, we'll detour through Oshawa and stop at CanadaComputers down there for a geek fix... Onward to Creatron, then Sayal Electronics, then Radio World, and if there's still time, A1 Electronics, maybe?
I'll pick up Mike & Jason, and possibly Rob, rendezvous in Bethany with Bill, and head on from there...
*** UPDATE ***
OK, I'm picking up Mike around 10am, haven't heard back from Stefan yet, Jason thereafter if he's going, then Rob at Applewood, meeting up with Bill at Timmy's/PetroCan for around 11am, off to Creatron - Glen's got a cold, and has to pass - then Sayal Electronics, then CanadaComputers Markham-Unionville store, before heading to Radio World. From there, we can decide what more we have time for...
Have I forgotten anything/anybody?
No stop at the Apple Store? ;D
I'll be bringing a pi project book as optional reading on the way.
Alright, gentlemen, and you know who you are...! <^8# We had a great road trip, with one glaring aggravation that I'm sure put Bill off - I know it did me! We met up at Timmy's on the 115, with Bill surprising us by already being there as we'd barely made it onto the 115! When we got there, we planned logistics over a quick coffee, then all took off in my car, first to Creatron, which everybody quite enjoyed visiting! I bought a set of RPi bits, Mike bought the same, and Rob got 2 and a breadboard, so he's going to be Frankenstein'ing something together, I figure! Don't blow up the res, bud; don't DO it! <^8#
We left Creatron and stopped for lunch at Wendy's, at Woodbine & 14th Ave. in Markham. And, y'know, it was PURELY coincidence that it's across the street from Sayal Electronics, so that became our next stop as quickly as we could get lunch out of the way. From there, we headed over to Radio World, for our "lunchbag letdown" of the day. 4 brilliant guys in the car, and not one checked out its hours in advance. Only open until 2pm, our arrival at about 3pm would be the only real wasted effort of the day, and basically it's going to be our first port of call come next road trip!
From there, we headed over to the Markham-Unionville flagship CanadaComputers store, so Mike could waffle for a while over which Android cellphone to buy, and how much was too much. We also decided that, if Bill wins a smaller prize from the $60M lotto recently (like, a million bucks, say) we're going to get a clubhouse downtown and put that $13,000. uber TV system we saw there in it! <^8# Thanks, Bill!
Good weather, good friends, great sights and shopping - mostly; it really doesn't get much better than that! And Jason, you were missed, and would have had a fabulous time! *DON'T* miss the next one, OK?! <^8#
Oh, and the punch line? I'm typing this in from its default Chromium browser running on my Pi while it's doing 197 updates. It seems a tad slow, but then, it's wrong to hold it up to Core i7 performance, and it's chugging along like a champ! Oh, and it seemed to have a bit of a problem connecting to wifi, but I realized most people will take the twist tie off of the power supply cord and not sit the Pi 3 inches from the power transformer! Interference, much?! <^8#
Two thumbs up, gentlemen, and I'm really looking forward to another in March! Let's do it! <^8#
Did you use the NOOBS software, Bob, or did you just choose to install a stand alone Raspbian OS?
Well I may as well add my RPi experience, but I'll put it with the Raspberry Pi thread we already started (http://forums.plugintolinux.ca/index.php/topic,131.msg841.html#msg841). Jason, perhaps you can add all the non-trip RPi entries in this thread to RPi thread. But quickly, I used the Noobs software and installed Raspbian and LibreElec from it - very easy!
I can't merge threads. All I can do is split them to create new ones.
No, I went straight to Raspbian using dd on my laptop running Ubuntu 12.04.5. Very simple. It sounded to me like NOOBS was the easy way around prepping an SD card, so...
(thread continued in the General Linux/Android Discussion forum) Click:
http://forums.plugintolinux.ca/index.php/topic,131.0.html