Linux Toys: 13 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment [Paperback]

Christopher Negus (Author), Chuck Wolber (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764525085 | ISBN-13: 978-0764525087 | Publication Date: October 1, 2003

* Christopher Negus is the bestselling author of Red Hat Linux 8 Bible (0-7645-4968-5) and earlier versions, with more than 125,000 copies sold
* Readers learn to build sixteen fun and useful devices for home and office, using spare parts and free software
* Projects include transforming an answering machine into an e-mail converter, building an MP3 music jukebox, building a car entertainment center, and creating a TV video recorder/player
* Projects work with any version of Linux
* Companion Web site includes specialized hardware drivers and software interfaces, plus music and game software

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Linux Format Top Stuff Award...9/10 Lots of ideas for making your machine do cool things..." (Linux Format, February 2004)

"...the book was good fun, entertaining and thought provoking..." (Linux Magazine, January 2004)

From the Back Cover

Chris and Chuck welcome you to the Linux toyshop

If the idea of remodeling an old laptop into a digital picture frame has your palms tingling, take this book home. That's one of thirteen cool projects these two experts will teach you to build using a PC, a few spare parts, and a little Linux. You can build single-use projects on an old PC, or simply add "Toys" projects to your high-end Red Hat Linux box. Just be sure someone knows where you are — in case there's an emergency before you're finished.

The Toys

Each with a complete materials list and detailed, illustrated instructions

1. Music jukebox
2. Home video archive
3. Television recorder/player
4. Arcade game player
5. Home network server
6. Home broadcast center
7. Temperature monitor
8. Telephone answering center
9. Mini ISP
10. Web-hosting service
11. DogHouse Linux with BSD games
12. Toy car controller
13. Digital picture frame

CD-Rom includes

• Xmame classic console gaming player
• WebVCRplus Web-based TV recording software
• VOCP telephone answering and voice messaging software
• Ffmpeg for recording and streaming audio/video
• BSD-Games classic keyboard games package
• Mplayer video player for Linux

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764525085
• ISBN-13: 978-0764525087
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,274,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Negus has been one of the world's leading writers of Linux books for nearly a decade. His Red Hat Linux Bible series has sold more than one-quarter million copies worldwide. Chris also authored or coauthored the books Linux Bible (2005 through 2007 editions), Linux Toys, Linux Toys II, and Linux Troubleshooting Bible for Wiley Publishing. For Prentice Hall, Chris is the editor of the Negus Live Linux Series and author of that series' flagship book, Live Linux CDs. Before becoming a full-time author, Chris Negus worked on UNIX operating system development teams at AT&T Bell Labs, UNIX System Labs, and Novell in the 1980s and 1990s. In particular, Chris worked in the areas of UNIX system administration and networking. When not working on computer books, Chris likes to spend time with his family: Sheree, Seth, and Caleb. Chris also enjoys playing soccer, singing opera (when nobody can hear him), and making things out of old computers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now I have something to do with those old PCs in my closet!, October 17, 2003

By 

hang10web (Midwest, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Linux Toys: 13 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment (Paperback)

Always looking for a something cool to tinker with, I found my perfect match in Linux Toys.

My first project this past weekend was to jump to chapter 10 and build the "Digital Receptionist." Using an unused PC (PII 300, 4GB, 128MB) and an old modem I was able to build the project, and I now get my phone messages from home answered by the machine and emailed to me at work - how cool is that?

There are 12 more projects in the book, and I will probably do the digital video recorder next.

I am not a complete Linux newbie - I have a RH 9 box on my home network, but I am no expert either. However, this is Chris Negus, the same guy that writes the Red Hat Linux Bible (great way to get the CD distro) so I found it very easy to read, and not at all intimidating.

If you have an old PC in the closet, or just like to play with Linux, get this book - it's a blast.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Stuff, December 11, 2003

By 

A. Jackson (East Coast USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Linux Toys: 13 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment (Paperback)

When I first read this book, I thought," This is nothing more than a collection of Stuff he pulled off the web." After going thru it a second time I realised that I never would have thought of most of these projects. If I had thought of them, I would have spent tens of hours serching the web trying to figure out how to do them and downloading te software needed.

If you like to tinker with computers, buy this book. All of the projects are well documented and the included cd has most of the software that is mentioned in the book.

I'm glad I bought it.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, October 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Linux Toys: 13 Cool Projects for Home, Office and Entertainment (Paperback)

I met Chris Negus at a User Group conference in April where he was talking about Linux Toys. I just got this book last week and spent the weekend trying out some of the projects. They are really fun and challenging. If you like to play around with Linux in your spare time or use it regularly, you will really enjoy Chris' book.