Cool your Raspberry Pi 4 with the ICE Tower CPU Cooling Fan

As I had mentioned in why my computer restarted itself when I play League of Legends, excess heat can cause a computer to behave abnormally.

So how will your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B deal with rising heat? In case there is a spike in operating temperature, Raspberry Pi 4 will slow your CPU down significantly. When that happens, you will not be able to enjoy 4K videos on your Raspberry Pi 4 anymore.

After I did a review on the Raspberry Pi 4, I had been contemplating whether to get a cooler fan for my Raspberry Pi 4. In the midst of delayed gratification, Seeed Studio asked if I am willing to do a review on their Ice Tower Cooler. Since I wanted a cooling fan for my Pi 4, I agreed to have a look at the Ice Tower Cooler.

Given that, this post contains some points for your reference if you are pondering whether to get the ICE Tower CPU Cooling Fan for to cool your Raspberry Pi 4.

How to change the hostname of your Raspberry Pi, running Raspbian, with raspi-config

When you deploy multiple Raspberry Pis in your house, it is a good practice to give each of them a unique hostname. Since the default hostname for Raspbian is raspberrypi, it will be easier to look for the IP address of a new Raspbian installation in this situation.

Given that, let us look at how you can change the hostname of your Raspberry Pi in Raspbian via the Raspberry Pi Software Configuration Tool (raspi-config).

How to add a React component that rotates recommended items on your website

As I had mentioned in how to monetise a programmer’s website effectively, affiliate marketing can be an effective way for your website to earn money.

Since affiliate marketing programs revolves around links, we can build a catalogue of items that we wish to recommend to visitors to our websites.

If you have already built that catalogue of product recommendations and an API endpoint, you can build a sticky component in your sidebar and rotates recommended items from there.

Since I have been hearing good feedback about React, I implemented such a feature on my website with React.

In case you are looking to do the same, this is how you can add a React component that rotates recommended items on your website.

How to read soil moisture level with Raspberry Pi and a YL-69/FC-28 moisture sensor

When I did a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B review, I got myself a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B. Therefore, the current Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ that I have been using for validating Raspberry Pi ideas became available for another IoT project in the house.

So what should I do with my Raspberry Pi?

Since I have always wanted to build my own indoor herb garden, I plan to use it to help my plants grow well.

When I bought the LED Grow Lights, I am able to give my plants consistent lighting. Given that consistent lighting is solved, I can use my Raspberry Pi 3 to monitor soil moisture so that I can provide water my plants better.

Given these points, this is a proof of concept that I did to read soil moisture level with my Raspberry Pi and a YL-69/FC-28 moisture sensor.

How to use the MCP3008-I/P chip to help your Raspberry Pi read digital data from analog sensors

Although your Raspberry Pi is unable to read analog input out of the box, you can get a MCP3008 I/P ADC chip to help your Raspberry Pi do so.

When you connect a MCP3008 I/P chip to your Raspberry Pi, you can read up to 8 analog inputs with SPI.

Given these points, this post will show you how you can use the MCP3008 I/P chip to help your Raspberry Pi read digital data from analog sensors.

How to enable SPI master driver in Raspbian using raspi-config

Your Raspberry Pi has the ability to communicate with hardware using the Serial Peripheral Interface specification. However, this master driver is disabled by default.

If you want to use the SPI master driver to communicate with devices, then you will need to enable it.

Let’s look at how we can enable the SPI master driver using the Raspberry Pi Software Configuration Tool (raspi-config).

How to use TransferWise to receive your Amazon Affiliate earnings through direct deposit

As I had mentioned in easy and effective ways for programmers’ websites to earn money, I use Amazon Affiliate program to earn some commission fees for keeping this website running.

Given that, I am able to earn some cash to pay for some online courses and latest gadgets to enrich myself.

However, receiving your Amazon Affiliate earnings can be costly if your bank account is not eligible for direct deposit.

If you are looking for a fast and affordable way to receive your Amazon Affiliate earnings through direct deposit, this post will show you how to use TransferWise to receive your Amazon Affiliate earnings.

How to capture images in the dark with the Raspberry Pi Infrared Camera Module from Seeed Studio

When I wanted to keep tabs on my corridor, I built a Raspberry Pi Zero W surveillance camera with MotionEye and Raspbian Lite.

After a while, I make my Raspberry Pi Zero W see an ultra-wide view by using one of the Fish Eye lens from a Camera Lens kits that I received as a gift.

Since then, I am able to have a wide angle view of my corridor as long as I have a browser with an Internet connection.

However, the same setup will not work for checking on my plants in the kitchen. If I am to snap some pictures after my LED growth lights are switched off, I will definitely get pitch black images.

So what kind of camera should my plant surveillance setup use? In order to capture images in the dark, I should look for a camera without the Infrared Filter – a NoIR Camera.

With this in mind, I head over to Seeed Studio and got myself the Raspberry Pi Infrared Camera Module.

Since Seeed Studio had provided me with a voucher for this purchase, I am able to minimize the cost of producing this article.

Thank you Seeed Studio!

Given that, let’s see how we can capture images in the dark with the Raspberry Pi Infrared Camera Module.

How to use Python 3 virtual environments to run Python 3 applications on your Raspberry Pi

Whenever I am working on a Python 3 project, I will always use a Python 3 virtual environment for running that project. Therefore, I tend to do the same when it comes to building Python 3 applications to run on a Raspberry Pi.

If you are looking to build Python 3 applications to run on your Pi, then you may find this article useful for you.