Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi

With all the media hype over the recent iPad HD release, you may have missed the news about a less conspicuous but far more exciting gadget. During the first week of March, the Raspberry Pi foundation (a charity based in the University of Cambridge) announced that the Raspberry Pi was being manufactured and that pre-orders [...]

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Shadow Runners (review)

Synopsis Miranda’s new home is a dull seaside town, the sort of place where nothing ever happens. But things do begin to happen. Weird things. And something is happening to her. At school, Miranda meets a group of friends who seem to know more than she does. Together they must race to hunt down a [...]

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Floors (review)

Synopsis There’s no place on earth like the Whippet Hotel. Every floor has its surprises and secrets. Guests are either mad or mysterious. And ducks are everywhere. If anyone knows the Whippet, it’s Leo, the caretaker’s son. But when he finds four strange boxes that lead him to hidden floors, he realises something extraordinary is [...]

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The Boy Who Made it Rain (review)

The Boy Who Made it Rain (review)

Synopsis At only sixteen Clem’s world is turned upside down. His Willy-Loman-like father, a travelling salesman and a loser, is transferred from Eastbourne to Glasgow and along with him go Clem and his meek accommodating mother. But Glasgow is rough and Clem’s posh English accent is not well-accepted in the sink school he attends. And [...]

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Freak the Mighty (review)

Freak the Mighty (review)

Synopsis Max is used to being called stupid. And he is used to everyone being scared of him. On account of his size and looking like his dad. Kevin is used to being called Dwarf. And he is used to everyone laughing at him. On account of his size and being some cripple kid. But [...]

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Montacute House (review)

Montacute House (review)

Synopsis Death is stalking the land. Bodies, bruised and broken have been found and no one knows the cause… Except Montacute House seems to be at the centre of the mystery. As a creeping evil takes over the land, Cess’s best friend disappears and she fears he too will soon be dead. But if she [...]

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The Pasta Detectives (review)

The Pasta Detectives (review)

Synopsis My name’s Rico. I’m a detective. I notice things nobody else does. From a little piece of cheesy pasta lying on the pavement to something as big as what’s going on in the building where I live… Trouble is, I think a lot but not particularly quickly, which is where my friend Oscar comes [...]

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Protecting Yourself Online

Protecting Yourself Online

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’m asked by friends, colleagues and acquaintances what I recommend as the best method of protecting yourself against online threats. The trouble for both layman and techie alike is that there are so many different products out there, with so many different combinations, that it’s overwhelming knowing [...]

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Which laptop?

Which laptop?

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve been asked by family, friends and colleagues the question: “which is the best laptop to buy?” Often, people think that someone like me who works in IT can provide the answer to this question quite easily; after all, surely we should be on the ball and [...]

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Computer Programming for the Home Educated

Computer Programming for the Home Educated

As a child I went to state school in an inner city London school which, like so many of its kind, let me and many of my fellow students down in practically every subject. One particular subject was the then-called “computer studies” which is now known as ICT (Information and Communications Technology). Just like the [...]

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