1 old noob + 1 rPi = I can't believe I did it! (revisited)
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Hello fellow MagicMirror makers!
It is with a huge sense of self-satisfaction that I present my build of MagicMirror. Looking at the builds that came before mine was extremely helpful and the people that have assisted me here should all be commended. Without your help I may not have completed my project. Thank you all, for your time, patience and effort on my behalf. I think you are nothing short of brilliant and I wish you all every success. And a special shout out to Michael Teeuw for making this all possible. Feel free to comment, Michael, so I can tell my son that the creator of MagicMirror actually contacted me about my build. (fingers crossed)
My reason for building: (Yes, I’m going to tell a short, boring story)
My son is a senior at Steven’s Institute of Technology. He majors in Computer Programming and Engineering. While he was home for Christmas break he suggested I take an old PC and install uBuntu on it as a project. (I like projects). It took me a few days, but when I was done I thought, “Well now what do I do with it?” He suggested a few online sites that teach you Python and Java but I have no practical use for learning that at my age. Then he suggested I check out this thing called a Raspberry Pi. He said people were doing all sorts of cool things with them. Then he went back to school.
First, I did some Google searching for what a Raspberry Pi actually was. Seriously, I had no idea. Another Google search for what people were doing with them. BLAM! There it was! A Magic Mirror, but I was unsure of my ability to do this. My solution? See if I could get it up and running on a PC. Once I was able to successfully install and actually get MagicMirror running I was totally into it, hard core. I ordered my Pi and the 2-way mirror. When my son comes home for his next break, I will present him with a Magic Mirror, and thank him for the best suggestion, ever.
(End of boring “short?” story).
In the future, it is my intention to add a USB webcam, a microphone and speakers so that I can have facial recognition, some sort of voice activation with response and sound. Might as well dream big.
!
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Awesome job dude! :D
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Nice story, my dad is in the same “situation”. He is a paying guest (at least dict.leo.org uses this as translation for Pensionär) and is now trying to find new hobbies and tasks. He enjoys going to the hardware store looking for some nice tools to build stuff or repair things in my parents house. From time to time he tackles with different linux distributions, and he mentioned he wants to buy a raspberry :D
And please let us know the reactions of your son. I can imagine I would be kind of irritated but proud of my dad building such a thing on his own, working his way through all these difficulties.
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Here is a list of the modules that I am using that I forgot to enter at the end of my story.
MMM-Remote Control - An absolute “must have” module. With it, I use my iPhone to turn other modules off and on. It impresses the hell out of people. It impresses the hell out of me! You can also access it on any computer on your network. Brilliant!
compliments - I use it for insults, too. “You look fat in that dress!” is my favorite.
planetrise - I’m an amateur astronomer with a telescope. Having this information at a glance is simply fantastic!
alert - One of the default modules
MMM-Simple-Logo - 3 instances, 2 you can see. The picture I drew in high school and the YES logo at the bottom right and left. A picture of me is hidden via MMM-Remote Control. I mean really, who wants to see that? ;-)
MMM-Globe - Another “must have” for me. Every ten minutes I get a picture of earth from the Japanese Himawari-8 weather satellite displayed on my mirror? Sign me up.
clock - One of the default modules
calendar - I combined the free US Holidays calendar with my Google calendar. Excellent!
currentweather - One of the default modules. Very nice.
weatherforecast - One of the default modules. Also very nice.
MMM-SystemStats - Hidden via MMM-Remote Control in the pictures. When I want to check system temperature, system load and free ram I just show it for a moment and hide it again.
newsfeed - One of the default modules. I happen to be in NYC so that’s just perfect for me
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Great work! Looking good! I bet your kid will be impressed! I know I would if my father took on a project like yours! :)
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@Jayh391 said in 1 old noob + 1 rPi = I can’t believe I did it! (revisited):
Thanks for posting modules used.
Jay
Thank you for reminding me
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@Snille said in 1 old noob + 1 rPi = I can’t believe I did it! (revisited):
Great work! Looking good! I bet your kid will be impressed! I know I would if my father took on a project like yours! :)
Thank you very much. That’s what I am hoping for. :-)
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HOLY COW THAT IS JUST PLAIN AWESOME!!! Great job!!! I LOVE IT!
Hey no such thing as old ;) The noob part… I’m still there… just learning how to write js and it’s been painful but I thought to myself today… “I AM GOING TO GET THIS!” I learned PHP I can learn this too!
Baby steps… Hahahhahhaha
