This interest contains guides that cover all things RetroPie!
What is RetroPie? RetroPie is a popular software library for the Raspberry Pi that is used to emulate retro video games.
I always keep an eye on my MacBook’s battery percentage—especially since, as a developer, I run a lot of resource-intensive applications. I always want the battery percentage to show up in the macOS menu bar. There’s nothing worse than your computer dying mid-task, forcing you to wrangle up your AC adapter and figure out where you left off.
With the release of Big Sur, macOS now hides battery percentage from the menu bar by default, even if you had it enabled previously. They also removed the right-click option from the menu bar that formerly showed it.
In this short guide, I’ll show you how to show your Mac’s battery percentage in the menu bar in macOS Monterey and macOS Big Sur and get your Mac’s battery percentage back.
With the new trend of many shoppers staying home to get their holiday shopping done, Black Friday 2021 is starting early with sales for online shoppers. That means that shoppers will not have to stand in line, fighting their way into the store to get that half-price gift. Many are expecting Black Friday 2021 to be the biggest online event in modern shopping history with many companies competing with one another for the best deals in things like electronics. And that’s good news if you’re looking to buy some things for your next Raspberry Pi project!
…we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo!
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday technically falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Friday, November 26. However, with most shoppers preferring to stay home this year, online retailers will be offering major discounts throughout the entire month of November.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, both online and in-person. Retailers see it as the beginning of the holiday shopping season and encourage shoppers to do some gift-buying early with huge discounts on big-ticket and small-ticket items. Black Friday also has a bit of a sinister feel with discounts being so big that many shoppers will take to violence to be the first to get an item. Luckily, most shoppers are staying home this year, so we’re hoping everyone stays safe this Black Friday!
What about Cyber Monday?
We’ll be keeping an even closer eye on Cyber Monday deals that usually occur on the Monday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Monday, November 29. Again, we expect that deals on electronics, computers, and certainly Raspberry Pi goodies will be happening throughout the month of November. But we will definitely be updating this page with any Cyber Monday deals for Raspberry Pi fans.
Our curated Black Friday Raspberry Pi list!
Raspberry Pi Foundation
We’re here for those DIYers and Raspberry Pi fans that are looking for deals specifically on all things Raspberry Pi. We’re thinking not just Pis themselves, but MicroSD cards, cables, cases, kits, HATs, sensors, switches, and more. By bringing together in one place the best Raspberry Pi sales, we’ll save you some time browsing store-to-store. And lets’ face it…we could all use a little time back around the holidays!
We’ll be keeping our eye out for deals from some of your favorite Pi-tinkering companies who like to do fun deals and specials—companies like Adafruit and Pimoroni. And we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo.
We’ll be updating this page right up until Cyber Monday, so check back often for the latest sales in Raspberry Pi goodies!
EVICIV has created one of the most flexible touchscreens on the market. This portable touchscreen connects to your Raspberry Pi 3, 4, 4b, or almost any other computer or laptop.
SunFounder again puts a nice discount for Black Friday on their PiCar-V Kit. This is a great gift for the aspiring roboticist child (young or old) in the family! Check out our complete review of the SunFounder PiCar Kit for more information on this one.
This one is going to sell out quickly. The biggest deal on the official touchscreen we’ve seen. It’s a great touchscreen display for the Raspberry Pi that you’ll need if you’re buying one of the many kits this holiday season.
If you bought the screen, don’t forget to pick up some kind of case for the touchscreen. You will need one. Here’s the official touchscreen case from Raspberry Pi.
Yahboom Raspberry Pi Tank Robot uses the latest Raspberry Pi 4B/3B+ development board as the core controller (not included). The vehicle adopts blue aluminum chassis, high-quality track, high-power 370 motor, and metal coupling.
This is a huge discount on the entry board to the Arduino experience: great for learning the basics of how sensors and actuators work, and an essential tool for your rapid prototyping needs. Many Raspberry Pi fans have found the Arduino to be a great choice for projects when your computing needs are a bit less intense.
Instead of having to buy a case separately for your official 7″ touchscreen, this one comes with a nice little case and stand. This Black Friday will likely not last, as the actual price is less than buying the official touchscreen itself—so jump on it!
It only makes sense that if Arduino is discounting the Uno Rev 3 that they would discount the starter kit that contains it. It’s a great time to jump into the world of Arduino if you’ve been thinking about it. The kit comes with everything you need to build 15 different entry-level projects and a 170-page guide book to help you along.
If you do buy this, check out our guide to help you get started on your first Arduino program.
A good discount on a great multipurpose keyboard combo for your Raspberry Pi! 3 in 1 MultiFunctional 2.4GHz Mini Wireless QWERTY keyboard ＆TouchPad combo. LED-backlit with a USB interface adapter. The touchpad supports multi-finger functions.
While not everything on our Raspberry Pi Holiday Gift-buying guide will be on sale, you’re sure to find something special for the Pi-fanatic in your life!
Everyone knows that it’s possible to build just about anything out of LEGO blocks, one of the most imaginative toys ever invented, but now the ability to go high-tech with your LEGO collection just went to a whole new level with a new integration for the Raspberry Pi computer: the world’s smallest full computer and one of the most versatile pieces of hardware around.
The new device is called the “Build HAT” (“HAT” stands for Hardware Attached on Top) an is designed to connect with LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors. The HAT fits any Raspberry Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header and lets you control up to four LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors from the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Portfolio. The whole purpose of LEGO’s advanced building platform is to excite interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in a young audience, but the incredible power afforded by this array of products means that any LEGO enthusiast can create a whole plethora of robotic wonders. With the addition of the Raspberry Pi Build HAT, the ease of programming (through the HATs accompanying Python library), as well as the extended range of parts and sensors that connecting the Pi allows as builder to use, makes this extremely exciting for those who want to take their LEGO engineering project to hitherto unheard of dimensions.
With the new trend of many shoppers staying home to get their holiday shopping done, Black Friday 2021 is starting early with sales for online shoppers. That means that shoppers will not have to stand in line, fighting their way into the store to get that half-price gift. Many are expecting Black Friday 2021 to be the biggest online event in modern shopping history with many companies competing with one another for the best deals in things like electronics. And that’s good news if you’re looking to buy some things for your next Raspberry Pi project!
…we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo!
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday technically falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Friday, November 26. However, with most shoppers preferring to stay home this year, online retailers will be offering major discounts throughout the entire month of November.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, both online and in-person. Retailers see it as the beginning of the holiday shopping season and encourage shoppers to do some gift-buying early with huge discounts on big-ticket and small-ticket items. Black Friday also has a bit of a sinister feel with discounts being so big that many shoppers will take to violence to be the first to get an item. Luckily, most shoppers are staying home this year, so we’re hoping everyone stays safe this Black Friday!
What about Cyber Monday?
We’ll be keeping an even closer eye on Cyber Monday deals that usually occur on the Monday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Monday, November 29. Again, we expect that deals on electronics, computers, and certainly Raspberry Pi goodies will be happening throughout the month of November. But we will definitely be updating this page with any Cyber Monday deals for Raspberry Pi fans.
Our curated Black Friday Raspberry Pi list!
Raspberry Pi Foundation
We’re here for those DIYers and Raspberry Pi fans that are looking for deals specifically on all things Raspberry Pi. We’re thinking not just Pis themselves, but MicroSD cards, cables, cases, kits, HATs, sensors, switches, and more. By bringing together in one place the best Raspberry Pi sales, we’ll save you some time browsing store-to-store. And lets’ face it…we could all use a little time back around the holidays!
We’ll be keeping our eye out for deals from some of your favorite Pi-tinkering companies who like to do fun deals and specials—companies like Adafruit and Pimoroni. And we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo.
We’ll be updating this page right up until Cyber Monday, so check back often for the latest sales in Raspberry Pi goodies!
EVICIV has created one of the most flexible touchscreens on the market. This portable touchscreen connects to your Raspberry Pi 3, 4, 4b, or almost any other computer or laptop.
SunFounder again puts a nice discount for Black Friday on their PiCar-V Kit. This is a great gift for the aspiring roboticist child (young or old) in the family! Check out our complete review of the SunFounder PiCar Kit for more information on this one.
This one is going to sell out quickly. The biggest deal on the official touchscreen we’ve seen. It’s a great touchscreen display for the Raspberry Pi that you’ll need if you’re buying one of the many kits this holiday season.
If you bought the screen, don’t forget to pick up some kind of case for the touchscreen. You will need one. Here’s the official touchscreen case from Raspberry Pi.
Yahboom Raspberry Pi Tank Robot uses the latest Raspberry Pi 4B/3B+ development board as the core controller (not included). The vehicle adopts blue aluminum chassis, high-quality track, high-power 370 motor, and metal coupling.
This is a huge discount on the entry board to the Arduino experience: great for learning the basics of how sensors and actuators work, and an essential tool for your rapid prototyping needs. Many Raspberry Pi fans have found the Arduino to be a great choice for projects when your computing needs are a bit less intense.
Instead of having to buy a case separately for your official 7″ touchscreen, this one comes with a nice little case and stand. This Black Friday will likely not last, as the actual price is less than buying the official touchscreen itself—so jump on it!
It only makes sense that if Arduino is discounting the Uno Rev 3 that they would discount the starter kit that contains it. It’s a great time to jump into the world of Arduino if you’ve been thinking about it. The kit comes with everything you need to build 15 different entry-level projects and a 170-page guide book to help you along.
If you do buy this, check out our guide to help you get started on your first Arduino program.
A good discount on a great multipurpose keyboard combo for your Raspberry Pi! 3 in 1 MultiFunctional 2.4GHz Mini Wireless QWERTY keyboard ＆TouchPad combo. LED-backlit with a USB interface adapter. The touchpad supports multi-finger functions.
While not everything on our Raspberry Pi Holiday Gift-buying guide will be on sale, you’re sure to find something special for the Pi-fanatic in your life!
Everyone knows that it’s possible to build just about anything out of LEGO blocks, one of the most imaginative toys ever invented, but now the ability to go high-tech with your LEGO collection just went to a whole new level with a new integration for the Raspberry Pi computer: the world’s smallest full computer and one of the most versatile pieces of hardware around.
The new device is called the “Build HAT” (“HAT” stands for Hardware Attached on Top) an is designed to connect with LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors. The HAT fits any Raspberry Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header and lets you control up to four LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors from the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Portfolio. The whole purpose of LEGO’s advanced building platform is to excite interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in a young audience, but the incredible power afforded by this array of products means that any LEGO enthusiast can create a whole plethora of robotic wonders. With the addition of the Raspberry Pi Build HAT, the ease of programming (through the HATs accompanying Python library), as well as the extended range of parts and sensors that connecting the Pi allows as builder to use, makes this extremely exciting for those who want to take their LEGO engineering project to hitherto unheard of dimensions.
With the new trend of many shoppers staying home to get their holiday shopping done, Black Friday 2021 is starting early with sales for online shoppers. That means that shoppers will not have to stand in line, fighting their way into the store to get that half-price gift. Many are expecting Black Friday 2021 to be the biggest online event in modern shopping history with many companies competing with one another for the best deals in things like electronics. And that’s good news if you’re looking to buy some things for your next Raspberry Pi project!
…we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo!
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday technically falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Friday, November 26. However, with most shoppers preferring to stay home this year, online retailers will be offering major discounts throughout the entire month of November.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, both online and in-person. Retailers see it as the beginning of the holiday shopping season and encourage shoppers to do some gift-buying early with huge discounts on big-ticket and small-ticket items. Black Friday also has a bit of a sinister feel with discounts being so big that many shoppers will take to violence to be the first to get an item. Luckily, most shoppers are staying home this year, so we’re hoping everyone stays safe this Black Friday!
What about Cyber Monday?
We’ll be keeping an even closer eye on Cyber Monday deals that usually occur on the Monday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Monday, November 29. Again, we expect that deals on electronics, computers, and certainly Raspberry Pi goodies will be happening throughout the month of November. But we will definitely be updating this page with any Cyber Monday deals for Raspberry Pi fans.
Our curated Black Friday Raspberry Pi list!
Raspberry Pi Foundation
We’re here for those DIYers and Raspberry Pi fans that are looking for deals specifically on all things Raspberry Pi. We’re thinking not just Pis themselves, but MicroSD cards, cables, cases, kits, HATs, sensors, switches, and more. By bringing together in one place the best Raspberry Pi sales, we’ll save you some time browsing store-to-store. And lets’ face it…we could all use a little time back around the holidays!
We’ll be keeping our eye out for deals from some of your favorite Pi-tinkering companies who like to do fun deals and specials—companies like Adafruit and Pimoroni. And we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo.
We’ll be updating this page right up until Cyber Monday, so check back often for the latest sales in Raspberry Pi goodies!
EVICIV has created one of the most flexible touchscreens on the market. This portable touchscreen connects to your Raspberry Pi 3, 4, 4b, or almost any other computer or laptop.
SunFounder again puts a nice discount for Black Friday on their PiCar-V Kit. This is a great gift for the aspiring roboticist child (young or old) in the family! Check out our complete review of the SunFounder PiCar Kit for more information on this one.
This one is going to sell out quickly. The biggest deal on the official touchscreen we’ve seen. It’s a great touchscreen display for the Raspberry Pi that you’ll need if you’re buying one of the many kits this holiday season.
If you bought the screen, don’t forget to pick up some kind of case for the touchscreen. You will need one. Here’s the official touchscreen case from Raspberry Pi.
Yahboom Raspberry Pi Tank Robot uses the latest Raspberry Pi 4B/3B+ development board as the core controller (not included). The vehicle adopts blue aluminum chassis, high-quality track, high-power 370 motor, and metal coupling.
This is a huge discount on the entry board to the Arduino experience: great for learning the basics of how sensors and actuators work, and an essential tool for your rapid prototyping needs. Many Raspberry Pi fans have found the Arduino to be a great choice for projects when your computing needs are a bit less intense.
Instead of having to buy a case separately for your official 7″ touchscreen, this one comes with a nice little case and stand. This Black Friday will likely not last, as the actual price is less than buying the official touchscreen itself—so jump on it!
It only makes sense that if Arduino is discounting the Uno Rev 3 that they would discount the starter kit that contains it. It’s a great time to jump into the world of Arduino if you’ve been thinking about it. The kit comes with everything you need to build 15 different entry-level projects and a 170-page guide book to help you along.
If you do buy this, check out our guide to help you get started on your first Arduino program.
A good discount on a great multipurpose keyboard combo for your Raspberry Pi! 3 in 1 MultiFunctional 2.4GHz Mini Wireless QWERTY keyboard ＆TouchPad combo. LED-backlit with a USB interface adapter. The touchpad supports multi-finger functions.
While not everything on our Raspberry Pi Holiday Gift-buying guide will be on sale, you’re sure to find something special for the Pi-fanatic in your life!
Everyone knows that it’s possible to build just about anything out of LEGO blocks, one of the most imaginative toys ever invented, but now the ability to go high-tech with your LEGO collection just went to a whole new level with a new integration for the Raspberry Pi computer: the world’s smallest full computer and one of the most versatile pieces of hardware around.
The new device is called the “Build HAT” (“HAT” stands for Hardware Attached on Top) an is designed to connect with LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors. The HAT fits any Raspberry Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header and lets you control up to four LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors from the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Portfolio. The whole purpose of LEGO’s advanced building platform is to excite interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in a young audience, but the incredible power afforded by this array of products means that any LEGO enthusiast can create a whole plethora of robotic wonders. With the addition of the Raspberry Pi Build HAT, the ease of programming (through the HATs accompanying Python library), as well as the extended range of parts and sensors that connecting the Pi allows as builder to use, makes this extremely exciting for those who want to take their LEGO engineering project to hitherto unheard of dimensions.
With the new trend of many shoppers staying home to get their holiday shopping done, Black Friday 2021 is starting early with sales for online shoppers. That means that shoppers will not have to stand in line, fighting their way into the store to get that half-price gift. Many are expecting Black Friday 2021 to be the biggest online event in modern shopping history with many companies competing with one another for the best deals in things like electronics. And that’s good news if you’re looking to buy some things for your next Raspberry Pi project!
…we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo!
When is Black Friday?
Black Friday technically falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Friday, November 26. However, with most shoppers preferring to stay home this year, online retailers will be offering major discounts throughout the entire month of November.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year, both online and in-person. Retailers see it as the beginning of the holiday shopping season and encourage shoppers to do some gift-buying early with huge discounts on big-ticket and small-ticket items. Black Friday also has a bit of a sinister feel with discounts being so big that many shoppers will take to violence to be the first to get an item. Luckily, most shoppers are staying home this year, so we’re hoping everyone stays safe this Black Friday!
What about Cyber Monday?
We’ll be keeping an even closer eye on Cyber Monday deals that usually occur on the Monday after Thanksgiving, which this year is Monday, November 29. Again, we expect that deals on electronics, computers, and certainly Raspberry Pi goodies will be happening throughout the month of November. But we will definitely be updating this page with any Cyber Monday deals for Raspberry Pi fans.
Our curated Black Friday Raspberry Pi list!
Raspberry Pi Foundation
We’re here for those DIYers and Raspberry Pi fans that are looking for deals specifically on all things Raspberry Pi. We’re thinking not just Pis themselves, but MicroSD cards, cables, cases, kits, HATs, sensors, switches, and more. By bringing together in one place the best Raspberry Pi sales, we’ll save you some time browsing store-to-store. And lets’ face it…we could all use a little time back around the holidays!
We’ll be keeping our eye out for deals from some of your favorite Pi-tinkering companies who like to do fun deals and specials—companies like Adafruit and Pimoroni. And we’ll be carefully curating only the best Black Friday 2021 sales right here at Howchoo.
We’ll be updating this page right up until Cyber Monday, so check back often for the latest sales in Raspberry Pi goodies!
EVICIV has created one of the most flexible touchscreens on the market. This portable touchscreen connects to your Raspberry Pi 3, 4, 4b, or almost any other computer or laptop.
EVICIV has created one of the most flexible touchscreens on the market. This portable touchscreen connects to your Raspberry Pi 3, 4, 4b, or almost any other computer or laptop.
SunFounder again puts a nice discount for Black Friday on their PiCar-V Kit. This is a great gift for the aspiring roboticist child (young or old) in the family! Check out our complete review of the SunFounder PiCar Kit for more information on this one.
SunFounder again puts a nice discount for Black Friday on their PiCar-V Kit. This is a great gift for the aspiring roboticist child (young or old) in the family! Check out our complete review of the SunFounder PiCar Kit for more information on this one.
This one is going to sell out quickly. The biggest deal on the official touchscreen we’ve seen. It’s a great touchscreen display for the Raspberry Pi that you’ll need if you’re buying one of the many kits this holiday season.
If you bought the screen, don’t forget to pick up some kind of case for the touchscreen. You will need one. Here’s the official touchscreen case from Raspberry Pi.
This one is going to sell out quickly. The biggest deal on the official touchscreen we’ve seen. It’s a great touchscreen display for the Raspberry Pi that you’ll need if you’re buying one of the many kits this holiday season.
If you bought the screen, don’t forget to pick up some kind of case for the touchscreen. You will need one. Here’s the official touchscreen case from Raspberry Pi.
Yahboom Raspberry Pi Tank Robot uses the latest Raspberry Pi 4B/3B+ development board as the core controller (not included). The vehicle adopts blue aluminum chassis, high-quality track, high-power 370 motor, and metal coupling.
Yahboom Raspberry Pi Tank Robot uses the latest Raspberry Pi 4B/3B+ development board as the core controller (not included). The vehicle adopts blue aluminum chassis, high-quality track, high-power 370 motor, and metal coupling.
This is a huge discount on the entry board to the Arduino experience: great for learning the basics of how sensors and actuators work, and an essential tool for your rapid prototyping needs. Many Raspberry Pi fans have found the Arduino to be a great choice for projects when your computing needs are a bit less intense.
This is a huge discount on the entry board to the Arduino experience: great for learning the basics of how sensors and actuators work, and an essential tool for your rapid prototyping needs. Many Raspberry Pi fans have found the Arduino to be a great choice for projects when your computing needs are a bit less intense.
Instead of having to buy a case separately for your official 7″ touchscreen, this one comes with a nice little case and stand. This Black Friday will likely not last, as the actual price is less than buying the official touchscreen itself—so jump on it!
Instead of having to buy a case separately for your official 7″ touchscreen, this one comes with a nice little case and stand. This Black Friday will likely not last, as the actual price is less than buying the official touchscreen itself—so jump on it!
It only makes sense that if Arduino is discounting the Uno Rev 3 that they would discount the starter kit that contains it. It’s a great time to jump into the world of Arduino if you’ve been thinking about it. The kit comes with everything you need to build 15 different entry-level projects and a 170-page guide book to help you along.
If you do buy this, check out our guide to help you get started on your first Arduino program.
It only makes sense that if Arduino is discounting the Uno Rev 3 that they would discount the starter kit that contains it. It’s a great time to jump into the world of Arduino if you’ve been thinking about it. The kit comes with everything you need to build 15 different entry-level projects and a 170-page guide book to help you along.
If you do buy this, check out our guide to help you get started on your first Arduino program.
A good discount on a great multipurpose keyboard combo for your Raspberry Pi! 3 in 1 MultiFunctional 2.4GHz Mini Wireless QWERTY keyboard ＆TouchPad combo. LED-backlit with a USB interface adapter. The touchpad supports multi-finger functions.
A good discount on a great multipurpose keyboard combo for your Raspberry Pi! 3 in 1 MultiFunctional 2.4GHz Mini Wireless QWERTY keyboard ＆TouchPad combo. LED-backlit with a USB interface adapter. The touchpad supports multi-finger functions.
While not everything on our Raspberry Pi Holiday Gift-buying guide will be on sale, you’re sure to find something special for the Pi-fanatic in your life!
While not everything on our Raspberry Pi Holiday Gift-buying guide will be on sale, you’re sure to find something special for the Pi-fanatic in your life!
Everyone knows that it’s possible to build just about anything out of LEGO blocks, one of the most imaginative toys ever invented, but now the ability to go high-tech with your LEGO collection just went to a whole new level with a new integration for the Raspberry Pi computer: the world’s smallest full computer and one of the most versatile pieces of hardware around.
The new device is called the “Build HAT” (“HAT” stands for Hardware Attached on Top) an is designed to connect with LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors. The HAT fits any Raspberry Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header and lets you control up to four LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors from the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Portfolio. The whole purpose of LEGO’s advanced building platform is to excite interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in a young audience, but the incredible power afforded by this array of products means that any LEGO enthusiast can create a whole plethora of robotic wonders. With the addition of the Raspberry Pi Build HAT, the ease of programming (through the HATs accompanying Python library), as well as the extended range of parts and sensors that connecting the Pi allows as builder to use, makes this extremely exciting for those who want to take their LEGO engineering project to hitherto unheard of dimensions.
Everyone knows that it’s possible to build just about anything out of LEGO blocks, one of the most imaginative toys ever invented, but now the ability to go high-tech with your LEGO collection just went to a whole new level with a new integration for the Raspberry Pi computer: the world’s smallest full computer and one of the most versatile pieces of hardware around.
The new device is called the “Build HAT” (“HAT” stands for Hardware Attached on Top) an is designed to connect with LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors. The HAT fits any Raspberry Pi with a 40-pin GPIO header and lets you control up to four LEGO® Technic™ motors and sensors from the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Portfolio. The whole purpose of LEGO’s advanced building platform is to excite interest in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in a young audience, but the incredible power afforded by this array of products means that any LEGO enthusiast can create a whole plethora of robotic wonders. With the addition of the Raspberry Pi Build HAT, the ease of programming (through the HATs accompanying Python library), as well as the extended range of parts and sensors that connecting the Pi allows as builder to use, makes this extremely exciting for those who want to take their LEGO engineering project to hitherto unheard of dimensions.
A maker at heart, Michael loves all things DIY. Michael is an award-winning poet, writer, and editor. He has published two books of poetry and has writing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, and many others. He has taught writing at colleges across the country, and managed many leading literary magazines to national prominence. Now, he’s excited to devote his energies full time to Howchoo. He currently resides in the Tampa-area with his wife and puppy.
The latest version of Raspberry Pi OS has officially been released. It’s known as Bullseye, falling in line with the Toy Story-based naming convention of Debian releases. This new upgrade brings exciting changes and notable upgrades that may throw off your existing projects.
Overall the new changes are welcome and definitely help to polish the operating system. There are some user friendly add ons that make old processes obsolete and driver upgrades for certain components.
The biggest visual change is the upgrade to version 3 of the GTK+ user interface toolkit. This application is used to draw things like menus and buttons. You’ll notice a new look to menus with tabbed interfaces.
In addition to the new look, a different file manager has been implemented to organize and sort through file structures. The new file manager is known as Mutter and it’s replacing an older tool known as Openbox. Items will now have only two display options for files: icons or a list.
One of the most exciting features that we’ve come across is the new Updater Plugin. It’s icon sits in the system tray and provides tools for users to update their Raspberry Pi without having to open a terminal window. There’s also a new notification manager that makes the notification system design more unified.
There’s a new KMS video driver as well as a camera driver change that may throw off existing projects that rely on the old driver. The new driver is called libcamera.
There are a few additional updates, including the inclusion of Chromium version 92 which features accelerated video playback—something you can definitely notice when playing YouTube videos on the Pi.
The latest version is already available for download. Just download the image from the Raspberry Pi website or use the Raspberry Pi Imager to flash the OS to a new SD card. We always recommend backing up your current configuration before upgrading to a new OS.
To get a closer look at the new Raspberry Pi OS edition, check out the official post released by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Each week, check out my latest article for the new hit game or add-on released for free from the Epic Games Store! This week, the deal is a special Antstream—Epic Welcome Pack worth $15 in “gems” (the in-system Antstream currency) These gems allow players to play games, receive special awards, and join tournaments. If you’ve been hankering for a heavy dose of nostalgia, this is the moment to act and get yourself a hearty dose of retro gaming in.
The Epic Games Store has been around for a while, the lesser-known alternative to Steam, the nearly-ubiquitous platform for game purchases since it launched in 2003. But, where Steam originally existed and launched to promote Valve games, Epic Games Store launched in 2018 and quickly rose to success on the Fortnight franchise. At the time of Epic’s launch, Steam took a dramatic 30% cut from the sales of video games through their platform! This hurt both game designers and users, just wasn’t very nice. But the folks behind Epic realized something excellent: they could take a much lower cut and still have a profitable business. This led them to fast domination of the indie market, as small publishers flocked to the far better terms offered by Epic.
Mega Discounts
Epic Games Store offers some seriously incredible discounts on a regular basis, in addition to all the normal discounts one would expect on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the usual holidays. But the most exciting is their weekly free game or add-on, which simply harpoons all competitors.
When I first heard about this free game, I thought that can’t be real. They must only offer tiny indie games.Not at all, dear reader. Not. At. All. Epic frequently lists unbelievable A-lister games on their weekly deal, as well as sometimes offer two free games instead of one. In addition, just because a studio is smaller doesn’t mean the games it makes aren’t impressive. I’ve picked up some of my favorite new games, for free, from this platform, and most of them have been made by smaller studios (or as side-projects for teams from big studios).
Grab 1090 Gems for free to use in-game! This in-game currency can be spent on playing games, challenges and limited-time tournaments! Gems can also be used to unlock harder challenges and play turn-based PvP against friends and other players!
Retro gaming is an absolute blast. There are few better ways to instantly catapult oneself back in time than with the nostalgia-inducing trip into the land of classic video games. And classic video games is exactly what Antstream specializes in.
Available on Windows, Mac, Android, Linux, Amazon Fire, and Nvidia Shield, Antstream features over one thousand retro games, and has built a unique community of retro gamers who undertake challenges on their favorite games and even compete in massive global tournaments! It’s sort of like being in an old-fashioned arcade, but from the comfort of your living room.
Watch the video:
Now, Antstream does offer an ad-supported “free” service that anyone can enjoy, but it’s going to be a lot more fun to just shell out a year’s payment in advance (which works out to $7.99 per month) if you really want to dive into the realm of the classics.
Just remember not to sign up using a Facebook ID, the only global log-in option that Antstream offers—the last thing we want to do is give Facebook greater insight into our lives!
Antstream is cool, and this deal’s a great way to have some fun on the platform without making a big commitment, but it’s not the only way to dive into your retro game obsession. Not by a long shot.
Or, maybe instead of buying your kid a modern game console, you could get the stuff to make your own RetroPie station with Raspberry Pi and set some time aside each day to help them build it—and then play together on the console you yourselves have made! After all, the most important gift we can give someone we love is our time and presence, and spending time together with friends and family is what made these old retro games so great in the first place.
The latest version of Raspberry Pi OS has officially been released. It’s known as Bullseye, falling in line with the Toy Story-based naming convention of Debian releases.
Apple announced some very exciting news about Apple repairs Wednesday, specifically regarding iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and Macs with M1 chips. For as long as I can recall, most Android smartphones had some Self Service Repairs, specifically when it comes to battery replacement. Getting a new battery in the mail made a simple repair as simple as it should be, removing many of the inconveniences that are innate to tech repairs.
iPhones, however, have never involved Self Service Repairs. Because Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers can often be a far, inconvenient drive for Apple users, Self Service Repair for Apple products revolutionizes the repair process for tech-savvy customers who have experience or repair knowledge, including those who are person(s) with disabilities, are at risk of COVID-19, or don’t actively have transportation. In fact, it even surpasses the Self Service Repairs that are offered by Apple’s competitors. This new service option makes a simple repair a truly simple repair without any of the previous inconveniences.
But what is a Self Service Repair and what does it entail? What devices are eligible? Who should use Self-Service Repair? When can we all take advantage of this service option?
Self Service Repair is a new, additional service option for Apple Products that allows customers to get Apple genuine parts, Repair Manuals, and additional tools sent to them so that they can repair the product from the comfort of their home. Of course, Self Service Repair is a repair option meant for simple repairs. Some types of repairs eligible for Self Service Repair might be battery replacement, display replacement, camera replacement, and more.
To start, Apple will make Self Service Repair available for iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. Though, at an undisclosed time, this exciting repair option will also be made available for Macs with M1 Chips. If Apple customers have any of these products, they could be eligible for Self Service Repair, though the repair needed and skill-level of the customer may dictate if Self Service Repair is appropriate.
The great thing is that setting up Self Service Repair, determining if it is appropriate and if the repair and device are eligible, is as easy as setting up any other repair. Simply calling Apple Care and speaking with an Apple Representative can help customers determine the best repair for their product.
Apple Newsroom made an important point in their covering of the Apple Press Release when directly mentioning that Self Service Repairs are for “customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs” and “individual technicians with the knowledge and experience to repair electronic devices.” Essentially, Apple Newsroom is specifically stating that only those who consider themselves tech-savvy enough, and with the adequate repair experience or knowledge, to replace a “battery, display, or camera” should try out Self Service Repair. While these are indeed simple repairs, they are still repairs of a device that is not only important to the customer, but that costs a significant amount of money. If a customer feels leery or scared of what they may do while attempting to repair their iPhone or Mac, they shouldn’t complete a Self Service Repair.
However, I should note that Self Service Repairs with come with access to Repair Manuals and directions for the repair and repair process. Customers are also able and encouraged to review the Repair Manuals before scheduling a Self Service Repair with Apple.
Self Service Repair will be available in as little as three short months, but is supposed to be available in the United States at some point at the beginning of 2022. Though Apple hasn’t announced exact dates, Self Service Repair will also be available in multiple, though unspecified, countries later in 2022.
Unfortunately, the exact costs of the repairs have not yet been released. However, Apple’s repairs are universally known to be based on flat-rates. For example, according to the Apple iPhone Repair and Service Page all display replacements for the same model cost the same amount; it is safe to assume that the Self Service Repairs won’t be any different, or, at least, I would hope not.
With college semesters approaching right around the corner, it’s more important than ever to be proactive in making sure you select the right product for you.
I am continuously impressed with how creative people are, and Kaisar (@roboticbits on Twitter) is the newest person on top of the list after creating “Dot,” a stamp-sized two wheel robot. The robot is based on the Pimoroni Tiny 2040, and uses a 3V DC motor and a 70mA battery for power.
Kaisar claims that this is the smallest fully-functioning robot in the world, and while that might (or might not) be the case, either way it’s an impressive build.
While not available quite yet, Kaisar has stated on Twitter that details will be posted to Github in the near future.
Kaisar has another mini-robot project called Pica, which is an impressive three-wheeled robot built on a cut out Raspberry Pi Pico, with three motors controlled by a TI DRV8833 motor driver.
Keep track of all of Kaisar’s new projects by following their Twitter account @roboticbits.
Each week, check out my latest article for the new hit game or add-on released for free from the Epic Games Store! This time around, Epic Games Store has thrown up a massive offering for follows, with three incredible games released completely free. Epic has offered great games in the past week, like the Tiny Tina standalone game, but they don’t seem content to stop there. Maybe they’re just determined to show that it’s Epic, not Steam, that’s destined to be the best games distributor in the decades ahead.
Between the 18th and 25th of November, you can grab these three games for free: – Guild of Dungeoneering (this one looks so awesome) – Kid A MNESIA Exhibition (Incredible artwork from the classic Radiohead albums) – Never Alone (will clearly make you sob).
I go into all the details in this article, so read on to learn about this epic games!
Three incredible games released completely free
The Epic Games Store has been around for a while, the lesser-known alternative to Steam, the nearly-ubiquitous platform for game purchases since it launched in 2003. But, where Steam originally existed and launched to promote Valve games, Epic Games Store launched in 2018 and quickly rose to success on the Fortnight franchise. At the time of Epic’s launch, Steam took a dramatic 30% cut from the sales of video games through their platform! This hurt both game designers and users, just wasn’t very nice. But the folks behind Epic realized something excellent: they could take a much lower cut and still have a profitable business. This led them to fast domination of the indie market, as small publishers flocked to the far better terms offered by Epic.
Mega Discounts
Epic Games Store offers some seriously incredible discounts on a regular basis, in addition to all the normal discounts one would expect on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the usual holidays. But the most exciting is their weekly free game or add-on, which simply harpoons all competitors.
When I first heard about this free game, I thought that can’t be real. They must only offer tiny indie games.Not at all, dear reader. Not. At. All. Epic frequently lists unbelievable A-lister games on their weekly deal, as well as sometimes offer two free games instead of one. In addition, just because a studio is smaller doesn’t mean the games it makes aren’t impressive. I’ve picked up some of my favorite new games, for free, from this platform, and most of them have been made by smaller studios (or as side-projects for teams from big studios).
Guild of Dungeoneering is a turn-based, dungeon-crawling, card-battler with a twist: instead of controlling the hero you build the dungeon around them.
This totally reminds me of card games like Boss Monster, where the goal is sort of the opposite of what you might find in Dungeons&Dragons: instead of simply defeating the dungeon, you try to build the dungeon to defeat the adventurer!
One of the most obvious things about this game is it has the absolute best theme song, ever.
A turn-based game, the goal is to build the dungeon out around the adventurer, drawing cards to add rooms, monsters, and treasure along the way. Is it fun? Heck yes! There are some limitations to turn-based games, but it’s ultimately one of the best games of this type I’ve seen in a long time.
An upside-down digital/analogue universe created from original artwork and recordings to commemorate 21 years of Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac.
Two years in the making, this incredible digital exhibition that commemorates 21 years since Radiohead’s Kid A and Amnesiac albums. Originally intended as a physical exhibit, the pandemic changed everything, and Epic Games stepped in as an unlikely publisher, brining the Radiohead artist’s unique and intense artwork to life in one of the most unbelievable ways. The exhibit features artwork from Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood and sound design is by Nigel Godrich.
Experience the epic journey of Nuna and Fox as they search for the source of an eternal blizzard that threatens the survival of everything they have ever known.
Based on a traditional Iñupiaq tale “Kunuuksaayuka”, this amazing and atmospheric puzzle platformer brings the myth to incredible new dimensions, connecting modern audiences with a traditional story. The original tale was first recorded by Robert Nasruk Cleveland in his collection Stories of the Black River People, and it’s incredible to see it brought to life in this way.
Players take on the role of an Iñupiaq girl named Nuna and her arctic fox companion as they puzzle out the meaning of the blizzard that ravages the world. The game was developed in conjunction with an Iñupiaq storyteller and is remarkable for the way it helps draw the player into aspects of traditional Iñupiaq culture. I really cannot gush about this one enough.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, Gambrinous is an indie game studio dedicated to bringing the wonder of traditional tabletop and board games. They’ve released a bunch of simple games, always riffing off these traditional tabletop themes. One of their newest is Cardpocalypse, which is about saving the world in an RPG setting dedicated to being a 90s kid.
Watch the video:
Radiohead
Well, it’s not really a “game” per se, but video games have a long history as art exhibits in and of themselves. Really, though, the best thing to do in this case is sink into the albums being commemorated themselves, or maybe watch this excellent mini-documentary about the artistic process behind this exhibition.
Watch the video:
Upper One Games
Upper One Games is the first indigenous-owned video game developer and publisher in US history, a massive milestone on the road toward showcasing the incredible work and heritage of native people and culture. If you like this game, you’re certain to adore other stellar aesthetic platform games, like Ori and the Blind Forest.
The Raspberry Pi Pico is the first official microcontroller to come from the Raspberry Pi Foundation and like the SBCs that came before it, the Pico is compatible with a variety of HATs from third party developers. Today we’ve got an exciting new barcode scanning Pico HAT and Barcode Scanner Breakout to share with you created by maker Om Singh. Om recently created a Kickstarter that has more than surpassed its initial goal, ensuring the new boards are well on their way to development. The HAT is designed to mount to the Pico while the breakout can connect to devices via microUSB. Both provide a variety of tools to both scan and process various barcodes.
It was at Minecraft Live 2020 that the Caves & Cliffs update was originally announced. Since then, the Mojang team has been working tirelessly to bring players the biggest changes to world generation since the game first released in 2011. In April 2021, Mojang Studios announced the update would be split in two parts, with the first (1.17) released two months later.
With Caves & Cliffs Part 2 set to release in November or December 2021, many changes are set to be made to the entire Overworld of Minecraft. Each new snapshot version shows something new, but it’s hard to keep track of.
Below is a guide to all the changes being made to biomes within the 1.18 update!* These changes could also include the addition or removal of biomes and their variants.
*Changes noted are from the latest snapshot as of writing, Java Edition 21w44a.
The tundra is vast and covered with snow layers. The exposed grass and leaves take an aqua tone. Lakes generate frequently, though freeze over due to the temperature if not exposed to light. The Caves & Cliffs: Part 2 update will rename this biome to snowy plains.
Originally this biome had three variants: snowy tundra, snowy mountains, and ice spikes. In 1.18, snowy mountains will no longer exist.
The snowy taiga biome is one of three variants: snowy taiga, snowy taiga hills, and snowy taiga mountains. Both the hills and mountains variants will be removed in 1.18. Before villages didn’t spawn in the snowy taiga biome, however, in the update they’ll finally be able to!
Considering the name of the update implies cliffs, it’s no surprise that the mountain biomes are getting the most facelift. The following renames have been made:
Extreme Hills (BE only) has been renamed to Windswept Hills.
Wooded Mountains has been renamed to Windswept Forest.
Gravelly Hills has been renamed to Windswept Gravelly Hills.
There are only two biomes being removed in the update: gravelly mountains+ and mountain edge biomes. Gravelly mountains+ was a rare variant of the wooded hill biome that has the exact same features as the regular gravelly mountains. The only difference was that it could rarely generate on its own as a separation between a desert lakes biome and a snowy biome.
Mountain edge biomes were used until Java Edition 1.7.2. It is currently unused and was a technical biome intended to provide a smooth transition from other biomes to the mountains.
There are a handful of new variants of the mountain biome being added!
Meadow
The meadow is a grassy biome filled with patches of flowers and turquoise-green grass or double tall grass. Rarely, a lone oak or birch tree of any size can generate and always has a bee nest. Both pillager outposts, and plains villages can generate in this biome, making this the only mountain biome where villages can generate. The meadow biome generates in the lower sides of some mountains but can also generate standalone in plateaus, mainly next to plains and other temperate biomes.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Structures
Notable Mobs
Meadow
Lush/Temperate (JE only) Cold (BE only)
Uncommon
0.5 (JE only) 0.3 (BE only)
Pillager Outpost Village
Sheep Donkey Rabbit
Grove
The grove creates a forest of spruce trees on the sides of a mountain. The surface is covered with snow, snow blocks, dirt, and a lot of powder snow instead of grass blocks. This biome generates in high altitudes beneath the peaks and on hilltops next to forested biomes such as dark forests and taigas, and can generate at lower altitudes if next to snowy biomes.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Structures
Notable Mobs
Grove
Snowy
Uncommon
-0.2
Pillager Outpost
Wolf Rabbit Red Fox
Snowy Slopes
The snowy slopes is a mostly barren biome covered in snow, multiple layers of snow blocks and powder snow, with some sides also having stone cliffs. This is the only mountain biome where igloos can generate. Just like the grove, this biome generates at the slopes of the mountain, beneath the peaks and in hilltops. They’re generally near areas with less forested biomes, like plains and snowy tundras, and can start generating at lower altitudes in snowy regions.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Structures
Notable Mobs
Snowy Slopes
Snowy
Uncommon
-0.3
Pillager Outpost Igloo
Rabbit Goat
Jagged Peaks
The jagged peaks are one of the three peak biomes that generates only on the top of the mountain if they are tall enough, peaking at y=256. It is covered by a single layer of snow blocks with stone underneath often exposing ores such as coal, iron and emerald, and just like the snowy slopes, stone cliffs can generate in some sides of the mountain.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Structures
Notable Mobs
Jagged Peaks
Snowy
Uncommon
-0.7
Pillager Outpost
Goat
Frozen Peaks
The frozen peaks are covered by snow, snow blocks, glaciers of packed ice, and occasional small blobs of ice. Frozen peaks generate in smaller and smoother hills near snowy, cold and temperate biomes, but it can also generate in slightly jagged and taller peaks.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Structures
Notable Mobs
Frozen Peaks
Snowy
Uncommon
-0.7
Pillager Outpost
Goat
Stony Peaks
The stony peaks are a warmer variation of both the jagged peaks and the frozen peaks biomes that generates when a mountain peak is in a region with lukewarm biomes such as savannas, and jungles. It doesn’t generate snowy slopes or groves in the slopes of the mountain, unless there’s a colder biome bordering the peak. It is mainly covered by stone with large strips of calcite and exposed ores. The grass and foliage in this biome have a unique vibrant light green tint.
While the normal taiga can be considered a colder counterpart of the forest biome, the giant tree taigas could be considered a colder counterpart of the jungle biome. The giant tree taiga have four different variants: giant tree taiga, giant tree taiga hills, giant spruce taiga, and giant spruce taiga hills.
In 1.18, the giant tree taiga will be renamed to old growth pine taiga and the giant spruce taiga will be renamed to old growth spruce taiga. Also, giant tree taigas will no longer be considered cold biomes in terms of biome placement.
The variants giant tree taiga hills and giant spruce taiga hills will be removed in the upcoming update as well.
The shorelines of Minecraft are getting a needed change in 1.18! Beaches will soon be wider and generate less frequently. Before you could find a patch of sand anywhere that could qualify as a beach, but now they’ll have some restrictions to generation.
Beaches are more likely to appear on flat coastlines rather than hilly areas.
Stone shores are less common.
Beaches are no longer created when a desert borders an ocean.
The stone shore biome has also been renamed to stony shore. The stony shore variant generates wherever mountains or wooded mountains biomes border an ocean. They are made entirely of stone, with some gravel patches, and are usually a steep drop into the water below. Stone shores may generate at high enough elevations to have snow on their peaks, and waterfalls and lavafalls frequently generate on its sides.
A birch forest is a lush temperate biome, usually generating near other lush biomes. There are four variants: birch forest, birch forest hills, tall birch hills, and tall birch forest.
The 1.18 update removes the birch forest hills and tall birch hills biomes. It also renames the tall birch forest to old growth birch forest. The old growth birch forest features birch trees that generate much taller than normal. It also has taller hills compared to those in the birch forest hills, making this variant less suitable for shelter.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Notable Mobs
Birch Forest
Temperate/Lush
Common
0.6
Sheep Chicken Pig Cow
Birch Forest Hills
Temperate/Lush
Common
0.6
Sheep Chicken Pig Cow
Old Growth Birch Forest
Temperate/Lush
Rare
0.6 (JE only) 0.7 (BE only)
Sheep Chicken Pig Cow
The birch forest will be getting even more updates, as featured in Minecraft Live 2021! Read about the upcoming Wilds update in our recap of the virtual event!
A dark forest is a temperate forested biome, known for its thick canopies that block light sufficiently to allow hostile mobs to spawn during the daytime. It has two variants: the dark forest and dark forest hills.
In 1.18, the dark forest hills biome will be removed. Dark forest hills break the leaf canopy, increasing visibility and decreasing the chance of daytime hostile mob spawning, though the hills are steep compared to other hill biomes.
Swamps are mostly flat biomes, with elevations low enough to go below sea level throughout much of the area. Large portions of swamps are flooded, from marsh-like patches of single blocks to large lakes. Water in swamps takes on a gray-green color at the surface, turning pale yellow when submerged in it. Unlike most biomes, swamps have varying temperatures, which affects the color of grass blocks, grass and leaves.
In 1.18, the following changes will be made to the swamp biome:
Swamps are less likely to overlap cold or dry biomes.
Hanging water is no longer placed in swamps.
Swamps are less likely to extend far out from the coastline and are moved slightly more inland.
Swamp oak trees are now able to generate in slightly deeper water than before.
Swamps are now able to generate in dry areas, making them less fragmented overall.
The swamp hills biome has been removed in the 1.18 update. The swamp hills variant featured hillier terrain rising up between the flat marshes. Flooded areas in swamp hills tended to reach lower depths than the rest of the swamp, sometimes deep enough to have a gravel floor in place of a dirt floor, like normal oceans.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Structures
Notable Mobs
Swamp
Lush/Temperate
Common
0.8 (default, varies with swamp)
Swamp Hut Fossil Huge Mushroom (BE only)
Sheep Chicken Pig Cow
Swamp Hills
Medium/Mild
Rare
0.8 (default, varies with swamp)
Swamp Hut (BE only) Fossil Huge Mushroom (BE only)
Sheep Chicken Pig Cow
Swamps will be getting even more changes in the 2022 Wilds update! Read more about it from our Minecraft Live 2021 recap!
A jungle is a lush, temperate biome full of dense vegetation. Jungles are somewhat rare biomes, usually are expansive, and generate in green biome clusters. It has a total of seven variants:
Jungle
Jungle Hills
Modified Jungle
Jungle Edge
Modified Jungle Edge
Bamboo Jungle
Bamboo Jungle Hills
In 1.18, the jungle edge biome is renamed to sparse jungle. The jungle hills, modified jungle, modified jungle edge, and bamboo jungle hills biomes have all been removed. Below are the statistics for the remaining three jungle biomes in 1.18:
Mushroom fields is a rare lush biome that is the rarest non-variant biome in the game. The mushroom biome usually generates as a single island surrounded by ocean, though it occasionally generates touching land on a side. The islands have the tendency to be close to one another, resulting in multiple mushroom fields separated by only a few hundred blocks. In the upcoming update, mushroom fields will be tweaked to better match the shape of islands.
There is one variant to mushroom fields, mushroom field shore, which will be removed in 1.18. The mushroom field shore is a technical biome, that represents both the shores and the rivers of the mushroom fields.
The desert is a common warm biome mainly consisting of sand. It has three variations: desert, desert hills, and desert lakes. In the upcoming 1.18 update, the desert hills and desert lakes biomes will be removed. Also, desert biomes are now larger and less likely to show up as “microbiomes.”
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Structures
Notable Mobs
Desert
Dry/Warm
Common
2.0
Desert Temple Village Desert Well Fossil Pillager Outpost
The savanna is a common warm biome. It typically generates bordering a desert or plains biome, and has four variations total:
Savanna
Savanna Plateau
Shattered Savanna
Shattered Savanna Plateau
In Caves & Cliffs Part 2, shattered savanna is renamed to windswept savanna and are now less common. The shattered savanna plateau biome has been removed, and water lakes no longer generate in savannas.
The badlands is another biome family getting an upgrade! Formerly known as the mesa biome, the badlands is a rare warm biome, featuring mounds of terracotta in various colors. There are six different variants of the badlands biome:
Badlands
Badlands Plateau
Modified Badlands Plateau
Wooded Badlands Plateau
Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau
Eroded Badlands
1.18 brings changes to the generation and look of the badlands with:
Badlands will sometimes show up as flat areas next to plateaus.
Increased the maximum Y-level for red sand to generate, and increased the minimum Y-level for grass and coarse dirt to generate in wooded badlands plateaus.
Eroded badlands no longer create floating pillars on top of a water surface.
Increased the minimum Y-level for grass and coarse dirt to generate in wooded badlands plateaus.
Badlands biomes are slightly smaller on average.
Badlands can now generate on sharp peaks.
Water lakes no longer generate in badlands.
The extra gold ore in badlands biomes now generates up to Y=255.
The wooded badlands plateau has been renamed to the wooded badlands, while the badlands plateau, modified badlands plateau, and modified wooded badlands plateau biomes have all been removed.
Here are the statistics for the remaining three biome variants:
The deep warm ocean is similar to the warm ocean, but without coral reefs or sea pickles and is twice as deep. Since it is a deep ocean variant, ocean monuments and tall seagrass can spawn.
Currently, this biome does not naturally generate, though it can be generated using a Customized Superflat world. However, in 1.18 this biome will be removed.
A river is a common technical biome. Rivers serve as borders between various other biomes, and usually lead to oceans, although they can also form loops.
In 1.18, rivers get an overhaul! They will now be less likely to form a steep, dry river gorge in mountainous terrain. Instead, they either carve a fjord through it, or they raise the terrain to form a valley. Rivers that go through swamps tend to be more shallow, and merge with them rather than carve through the swamps. Finally, rivers are less likely to be very deep or get choked off in flat areas.
As you’d expect from the Caves & Cliffs update, the caves of Minecraft are getting revamped. They will now stretch down to y=59 and generate in two layers of different stone bases: regular stone and deepslate.
Caves can contain aquifers, bodies of water with different heights, that are independent of the sea level. They can also generate with lava instead of water, so explore carefully! This update also reduced the amount of flooded caves near river and ocean coastlines.
There are three new noise caves:
Cheese caves have large stone towers stretching from the bottom of the cave to the top, and are often large enough to allow safe elytra flight.
Spaghetti caves are long, thin caves that have small aquifers and are more similar to original caves.
Noodle caves are thinner, squigglier, and more claustrophobic variants of spaghetti caves.
Most importantly, there are two new biomes being added to cave generation!
Dripstone caves generate with dripstone blocks and pointed dripstone both hanging as stalactites and growing from the ground as stalagmites. Small water wells of 1 × 1 blocks are generated in the ground. This biome also generates larger copper ore blobs compared to other biomes.
Biome
Type
Rarity
Temperature
Notable Mobs
Dripstone Cave
Underground
Common
0.8 (JE only) 0.2 (BE only)
Glow Squid Drowned
Lush caves generate underground at any height, usually in areas with forested biomes. Azalea trees generate on any empty space above a lush cave, with roots consisting of rooted dirt and hanging roots that generate down until reaching the lush cave.
Within, moss and ores covers the floors and ceilings, along with moss carpets, grass, and azalea bushes. On the ceiling, vines and cave vines with glow berries grow down and light up the caves. Spore blossoms grow from the ceiling and drip water particles. A lush cave contains springs and shallow lakes with clay where dripleaf plants grow out of them.
Sometimes you want to share your Minecraft builds or moments with others, while other times you want to access screenshots of coordinates to the point of interest you promised you’d return to.
One of the biggest events for all Minecraft lovers out there is Minecraft Live. For those unaware, Minecraft Live is a virtual event streamed live to the entire world. The show is filled with news, content creators, and a community vote that will influence the game!
Originally Minecraft Live was part of the Minecraft Festival which was to be held last year in Orlando, Florida. However, due to the pandemic, they postponed the main event to 2022 and began a new Minecraft Live tradition.
On October 16th, viewers from around the world tuned into the livestream anticipating more news about the upcoming 1.18 update, but got more than they expected! The pre-show was packed with clips of content creators challenging themselves (and others), and YouTubers MoonKase and Masuo shared why they love Minecraft.
Agnes Larsson, the Minecraft Vanilla Game Director, stated, “That’s what we want to do with Minecraft. We want to inspire [players] to play Minecraft in their own way.” Which is exactly what the 2021 Minecraft Live event has done!
So without further ado, here’s a recap of all the cool and new things that Mojang has in store for Minecraft!
A lot of the inspiration and guidance for the Caves & Cliffs update came from the Minecraft community itself. Larsson praises, “This is the biggest update we’ve ever done, and we couldn’t have done it without the community.”
The most notable change to the upcoming update is that the Deep Dark biome, the new warden mob, and sculk blocks will be released in the 1.19: The Wild update (which you can read more on below). The change was made so that developers could ensure it’s just right for release, as it is a larger project than they anticipated.
One type of cave in the Part 2 update was inspired by the Son Doong Cave in Vietnam!
Originally the update was to be focused on new cave generation and mountains, however, they’ve expanded that reach to all biome generation. Biomes like the plains and badlands will now have more realistic and interesting cliff and hill generation!
For those with worlds that they’ve been playing for years, you won’t have to worry about the update breaking them. Developers wanted to make sure that old worlds could be played and updated to the latest version through a feature called blending. This feature will stop world generation from having jagged, mismatched, edges. Instead, it will blend the generations together. When loading an old world into a newer version, the caves will generate in the levels beneath the already generated ones, leaving more to explore without destroying the old.
Java and Bedrock will receive the new update at the same time! Mojang has also added a new feature called seed parity. Previously, there was no cross-sharing of seeds between Java and Bedrock, but the 1.18 update will make it so seeds can be shared between the two!
The Caves and Cliffs updates are the first to increase the world height and depth of bedrock, add an amphibian mob, and change the light level requirement in the Overworld. Caves & Cliffs Part 2 is set to release in November or December 2021.
On November 2nd, Minecraft Bedrock and Java Editions were added to Xbox Game Pass for PC! It will be the only place to get both Java and Bedrock in a singular place.
Minecraft developers came up with three new mobs to add to Minecraft! As with every year, the Minecraft community got to vote on which mob will be added to an upcoming update! In 2020, players voted for the glow squid, which made its debut in the Caves & Cliffs Part 1 update!
The mobs for 2021 were:
Glare: a creature that flies around, hates darkness, and brings players attention to areas that need more light.
Allay: a flying creature who loves music and will find items similar to one that a player gives it.
Copper Golem: a golem made of copper that will interact and oxidizes over time. If it oxidizes completely, it will turn into a statue and must be deoxidized. It also will randomly press copper buttons.
The winning mob of Minecraft Live 2021 was the allay mob, which will be released with the upcoming The Wild update!
The Creator Learning Portal is a newly launched website for all to learn how to become a Minecraft creator. Learn how to make skins, worlds, mash-up packs, texture packs, and more with guides filled with helpful information and steps!
There’s also some exciting news for Blockbench users! For those who aren’t familiar with Blockbench, it’s an open-source 3D modeling application where creators can model, texture, and animate 3D block-based models for Minecraft (and other games).
Jannis, the creator of Blockbench, teamed up with Mojang to create a Minecraft plugin. The plugin, called Minecraft Entity Wizard, lets creators build new entities based on premade templates of official Minecraft mobs. Creators can choose from premade models, behaviors, and spawn eggs. The plugin is free for all platforms and helps streamline the process and reduce errors!
Many players already know that a Spooky Fall event has begun in Minecraft Dungeons. However, lead designer Laura de Llorens Garcia and her team announced much more for the game!
Seasonal Adventures
Seasonal Adventures is Dungeons’ version of a battle pass. Players complete missions to earn adventure points and unlock unique rewards, along with new pets, weekly challenges, emotes, and flairs! This feature is a way for players to progress in the game and gather ranks, and there will be both paid and free tracks of rewards. Seasons will last infinitely, so players can level through different seasons whenever they want. Players can earn points through regular gameplay, completing daily trials, and by defeating floors in the newly added Tower. Seasonal Adventures is set to come out this holiday season in December 2021.
The Tower
Located in the player’s camp, the Tower is a singleplayer structure where players fight through 30 floors, each floor getting more difficult as they go. The floors will change every two weeks, so players have enough time to learn and complete their tower before a new one arrives.
Mojang announced their next update, 1.19, titled The Wild Update. This update will encompass changes to nature and challenging adventures. As stated above, the Deep Dark biome was moved to the 1.19 update to expand upon their original idea with new loot and blocks. Ancient cities will be added to the Deep Dark which include various new blocks to create a creepy new area to explore for special loot. Developers have hinted that there is something special to explore within each city!
They’ve also expanded the sculk block family to include the shrieker and catalyst blocks to force players to be more careful and brave in the deeper parts of the overworld.
Celebrating Wilderness
The next update will include improvements to overworld biomes to make them more diverse, unique, and add more immersion. There aren’t too many details yet, but Mojang wants to add features that help players feel completely immersed in their Minecraft worlds.
The new boat with chest has been a long time coming (and probably one of the most requested items). Obviously it’s a boat with a chest in it, so finally, we can store items found in long-distance adventures!
Mangrove trees will be added! These trees will grow in the swamp biome and will have large roots that players can boat through. The mangrove saplings can be planted on land and in water. A new tree means a new set of wood blocks including planks, doors, trapdoors, and more! A new swamp variant will be the mangrove swamp that’s filled with these new mangrove trees.
Another new block family is mud, which can be created from a dirt block and water filled glass bottle or be found in a mangrove swamp. The mud block can be placed atop dripstone to dry out and turn into clay. There will also be a mud brick block that players can use to build with.
Two new mobs are being added to the swamp biome. Frogs will now jump around, croak at you, and love lily pads. Tadpoles will be added as well, which will grow up to become one of three variants of frogs based on temperature. Each frog variant will have a special trait, which developers are working on currently. Also, fireflies will add ambience to the swamp, especially when they get eaten by the frogs!
The Wild update will be the first update to add a 2-dimentional mob (fireflies) and to feature a losing vote candidate from previous community votes (mangrove swamp). The Wild update is set to release in 2022!
Sometimes you want to share your Minecraft builds or moments with others, while other times you want to access screenshots of coordinates to the point of interest you promised you’d return to.
Jamie
