New issue of The MagPi – and now you can buy a print edition too!
Things have been very busy in The MagPi‘s nesting box this month. We saw Ash in early September, and he mentioned that plans were afoot to do something the MagPi editorial team hadn’t imagined would be possible a few months ago. They were going to attempt to produce a print edition.
And being the well-oiled team they are, they got it done in a month. The MagPi will always be available as a free PDF download, but so many of you had asked for a print magazine version that producing one economically is now possible for Will, Ash, Jason, Meltwater and the rest of the team. You can order via Mod My Pi (there’s a big link to buy at the top of The MagPi homepage too). A copy is a pocket-money-friendly £2.99 (£2.49 ex tax).
As with so many parts of the Raspberry Pi ecosystem, The MagPi is a completely independent, volunteer-run, community project. We think they’re doing wonderful things, and encourage you to support them in producing this brilliantly educational, entertaining magazine each month by buying a copy, or helping with the writing and production yourself – the guys are always looking for new volunteers.
This month’s issue features the return of the skutter robot, instructions on making a portable power supply to make your Pi mobile, a Halloween project (for which you will require a pumpkin to go with your Pi), programming tutorials, interviews, competitions and much more. I’ll be ordering my own copy as soon as I’m back in the UK next week.
32 comments
pauldow
I appreciate the work, and look forward to reading this issue.
I believe there is a problem with the page numbering of the .pdf version. Pages 28 and 29 appear to be incorrectly labeled 24 and 25. There are other pages 24 and 25 in the right place.
My printer had jammed up with the wet weather I have today, and I thought there was a printer problem first. It doesn’t take much to get me confused.
William H. Bell
Hi,
The page ordering was fixed yesterday and rolled out to the pdf mirrors today. It is fixed in the proofs used for printing also.
Thanks and best regards,
Will
Shae Erisson
The digg link in the bottom right is confused, says “&title=”””>
instead of whatever it should say.
Yay for the MagPi! I’m in desperate need of a portable power supply, and I hope this issue talks about how I can make one from a bunch of rechargeable AA batteries!
XTL
There’s something like that in there. Kind of amazing that it’s a switcher. I’ve got some of these I’ve though I’d try:
http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-14004460-kis-3r33s_dc-dc_step-down_power_module_4a_up_to_98%25_efficiency.html
http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-14002072-lm2596_dc-dc_step-down_adjustable_power_supply_module.html
There are similar cheap modules available with USB output and step-up converters, too.
stevepdp
The Digg sharing link will look like that if you have Javascript disabled.
Geordie Birch
Ordered. I hope subscriptions will be offered soon as well.
Ian
I always print each edition of MagPi. I live in Canada and imported magazines are expensive. But what a surprise when I ordered my print edition. No tax and only GBP 1.00 to ship to Canada!! What a no brainer. With the price of printer ink i doubt I could print it cheaper myself!
Well done to the MagPi team and to modmypi.com.
meltwater
Glad you are pleased.
We’d looked in the past for printers and all seemed to price at £6+ each for low volumes without shipping, so we are very impressed with the price point they offer.
John Knight
Haha, I’m sure they’ll already be sending you one, Liz! ;)
andy
Normally I don’t like to criticize, but that ‘HTML Writer’ python program is the most retarded thing I’ve seen all year… :(
Alan Heath
Maybe you could offer up some improved code for the next issue.
andy
I’d be happy to.
Alan Heath
Cool. Looking forward to it, sir!
Semtex
A little harsh Andy? The article is a tutorial. It teaches concepts. The reader now knows how to create files in Python and call external programs. They can also use this technique to generate dynamic web pages.
I’m sure the MagPi team would live to get article submissions from you.
Regards
andy
Yeah I know it was harsh, but I was just so disappointed. They’re fine concepts to teach, maybe it was difficult to think of workable ideas of the right length… Jaseman does a good job of things normally, and the second tutorial was good, but I didn’t like that first one at all…
IvanRoulson
For me, the HTML writer is just one of the things I was looking for, as I can see applications (perhaps) where one Python program might write a file, and another one might read it. In this context, the two programs given are kind-of related. One writes, one reads. I’ve tried to see beyond the context given and convert it to something else, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
Jaseman
I was originally going to make the ‘write’ program put the x and y coords of the ‘points of a circle’ output to a text file or some kind of movement table for a sprite that moves around the screen, before opting to do a html text file instead. Although the example doesn’t have a practical use in itself, my hope is that it will spark some ideas. It might introduce HTML to some people too.
Chris Lambert
Will it be possible to order the older issues in a printed format? Also the ability to subscribe and get it posted each month and not worry about remembering to order it would be really Helpful.
William H. Bell
Hi Chris,
We have discussed doing this, but need to see how well issue 6 sells before doing so.
Regards,
Will
Stewart Watkiss
Just ordered mine – and added a third slice of Pi to my order for good measure :-)
Mikael Murstam
Very cool, but the PDF download link is broken! Please fix! :(
m0ntala
I have just found that out also… hopefully it will be fixed soon!
It did appear to be a much larger download (20 Mb) than the two previous ones which were less than half that size.
As I am also a fan of printed mags, I will probably order the latest one as well, to see what it turns out like.
Thanks! :)
William H. Bell
Hi,
The PDF link was fixed this afternoon.
Regards,
Will
Johnny Bravo
Is it just me, or is the “competition question” ambiguous (at best)?
BigNob
I love the section on ADA this month. ADA is an extremely important language, chosen for much safety critical applications such as aviation and space. Compiles down properly too. Well worth a look.
Luke A. Guest
It is a great language, but it is Ada (a name), not ADA (an acronym)!!
Poonam Patani
Hi,
i am interested in buying one, where can i buy a Raspberry Pi from?
Thank you
Poonam
JamesH
See front page of website for links to distributors.
Bantammenace
The long-running UK children’s comic The Dandy has announced that it will no longer be available in print. Could I suggest that the authors of the Magpi consider making an approach to the Beano to provide a Scratch program page. This I am sure would make Pie-face, among others, very happy.(And my 10 year old daughter.)
Kevin Roche
You say in the article: A copy is a pocket-money-friendly £2.99 (£2.49 ex tax).
There shouldn’t be any Tax to pay in the UK since Booklets ane magazines are VAT Free. I had a similar small booklet made and the printer stapled it into a booklet because that way there was no VAT. It would have included VAT if I put the staples in myself!
Jaseman
There’s no tax. I bought and received 5 copies for £12.45.
I’m very pleased with the quality. The only gripe I have is that the colours are not vivid enough.
tony hill
I downloaded all mags so far and found the answers to a good 90% of my questions. Well done keep up the good work