BBC Micro:Bit

A new, interesting board aimed at helping kids get into programming is the BBC micro:bit.

They have setup a Foundation to support this device, and they have a lot of information on their website.

You can purchase them from several sources.  In the US, two sources are Adafruit and Sparkfun.  (see the website for a list of re-sellers worldwide)  Both sell the board at about $15, tho you can get a "kit" that includes a USB cable and a battery pack for a couple more bucks.  Both sell an edge connector for the cards, but Sparkfun has one that allows for the board to be attacked to a breadboard HERE.

New in the Internet of Things

While I await my CHIP to arrive, I thought I'd note some of the other new items that have popped up in the last few months in terms of new boards for IoT.  I think most should be aware of these, but some may not be aware of all of these.

Resources for the Internet of Things Security

At the HackMiami Conference  on May 16, 2015, I did a presentation on an Introduction to Internet of Things Security.  The presentation is now up on YouTube.  I have the link below.

As a tie-in to the presentation, I am providing here links to the various resources that I covered in the presentation, along with others I didn't have the time to.  If you come across other items of interest, please add them to the comments.

Another "micro-PC"

Just learned about this compact, and inexpensive PC: the Utilite.

At this point its just announced, but the company has a prior product line called the "Trim-Slice", so they do have a track record.

For about a $100, you get a small (very small) case with a powerful CPU, 4G Ram, 128G storage, and plenty of connections (USB, Gigabit ethernet, etc).  Can run Linux or Android.

So now yet another power small computer that could be used for some interesting activities.  A possible competition for the Raspberry Pi or Beaglebone.  (tho I don't think so, they are focused on different markets).