TTS Raspberry Pi IP address using espeak or Pico TTS pico2wave

I don’t use my Pi frequently, but when I use it, mostly I use it through SSH. Whenever I wanted to use through SSH, I find the Pi’s new IP address either using my router connected devices page or netsh related commands. I don’t want to lock the IP address for Pi.

In AIY Voice kit, Google has provided a sample program using their aiy.voice.tts API. It uses Pico TTS pico2wave command. Code here shows the API definition and how they are using pico2wave. Example here shows how to use the API using Python. I have used this method earlier, created a simple Python program using only the IP address command and called the python script upon reboot with 30 seconds sleep in crontab file. It is working fine.

In my new RPi, I wanted to test the latest Raspbian OS but I want to try a different method for saying the IP address without voice hat through a simple speaker connected to headphone jack. So, explored the options. Came across this article of comparing available TTS. OpenHAB has good details as well in their website for TTS (here). Went with the simple espeak TTS. New OS is using pulseaudio and I couldn’t figure out a way to make mplayer / ffplay / cvlc / aplay work (omxplayer worked). Finally purged pulseaudio and went with alsa. After that, sound has started coming in the tiny speaker connected to audio jack using aplay.

Created a simple bash script with 2 lines and invoked in crontab @reboot sleep 30 && sh /…./filename.sh. Called espeak as an execute command otherwise aplay was throwing some error and didn’t spend time to resolve it.

ipaddress=$(hostname -I | cut -d’ ‘ -f1)
#echo $ipaddress
speak=$(espeak -ven+f2 -k5 -s150 -a 200 -g10 $ipaddress –stdout | aplay)

Now, after system reboot, when this script runs, it speaks the IP address through the tiny speaker. Big relief 🙂

References:

• https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-4-model-b/
• https://aiyprojects.withgoogle.com/voice/ (v2)
• TTS Text To Speech
• https://github.com/espeak-ng/espeak-ng/
• https://kalliope-project.github.io/kalliope/settings/tts/pico2wave/
• https://pypi.org/project/ttspico/
• OpenHAB – open Home Automation Bus, open source project for home automation
• https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/best-text-to-speech-tts-converter-for-raspberry-pi-espeak-festival-google-tts-pico-and-pyttsx3
• https://www.openhab.org/addons/voice/googletts/
• https://github.com/google/aiyprojects-raspbian/blob/aiyprojects/src/examples/voice/assistant_library_with_local_commands_demo.py
• https://github.com/google/aiyprojects-raspbian/blob/aiyprojects/src/aiy/voice/tts.py
• https://nerdvittles.com/?p=16463

Who is SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19?

Disclaimer: Following information is based on the details available in public internet, social media and shared by known people. Please go through WHO Coronavirus website for more details and answers for many common questions like will I get this disease, should I worry, symptoms, etc. No information related to the biological nature of this virus is mentioned here in this blog due to its complex nature for common understanding.

COVID-19 is the name of disease spread by virus in Corona family (World Health Organization coined this term – CO corona VI virus D disease 19 year-2019). 2019-nCov was a temporary name. Since the virus looks like a follow-up version of SARS, WHO mentions the virus name as ‘SARS-CoV-2’ (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). This virus causes respiratory issues in human. Those who are already having an existing not so good body immunity, gets severely affected by this virus if it attacks them and causes death. SARS and MERS are similar respiratory diseases in the same corona virus family.

How to differentiate?

1. Dry cough + Sneezing (could be) Air pollution
2. Cough+ Phlegm+ Sneezing+ Running Nose (could be) Normal cold
3. Cough+ Phlegm+ Sneezing+ Running Nose + body ache+ weakness+ slight fever (could be) Flu
4. Dry cough+ sneezing + body ache+ weakness+ high fever+ breathlessness (could be) Corona Virus

Protection:

Self-hygiene should be followed by all the people who are infected / recovered / in good health. This will help reducing the contagious nature of this virus. Self-hygiene includes keeping surrounding clean, wash hands with soap, wearing reusable mask and wash after use / disposable medical mask / N95 mask / makeshift mask, and many other hygiene measures. Those who are infected, better to be isolated. Those who are treating / caring the infected, needs to be extra cautious considering the strength of this virus contagious nature and its severity.

Path to recovery:

Self-immunity is the only known method at this point of time to the best of my knowledge. It is a virus. So, it works and acts like any other virus. Since it is new, we don’t have enough data to conclude that it could be only a seasonal / comes every year in the same season / when will it stop. If whole human race builds immunity for this virus then we can claim that this virus is dead or we have to find vaccination for this virus based on its mutation.

One of my friend explained the 6 weeks of recovery (it may sound analogous to lock down period being practiced in many countries now but these two are separate). The incubation period of virus in a human body ~14 days + strong attack for ~7 days + recovery period of ~7 days + first test & receive -ve test result + ~2 weeks watch period + second test & -ve test result (2 consecutive -ve test results). After this, a person is considered as free of virus and free from passing it to others.

If I get affected by this covid-19 and recover, am i immune to this virus again? Since it is new virus and the scientists current understanding that this virus mutation is rapid, most likely it can affect the same human again but the belief is that the impact to that recovered human may be less because of developed immunity. May be one can compare this to cold, if you have recovered from cold, it doesn’t mean that you won’t catch cold again.

Why countries are worried?

It could be because of 2 main reasons. This virus is new and highly contagious, it is spreading at the speed in public before scientists could understand more about it for a response. So, any unknown is always a fear. Another reason is, wish to keep health care support ability under control (keeping the health care support need in the level we can support; not all citizens of a country are Doctors / Nurses).

When will it end?

Virus should decide on when to end / fade. In the sense, it should decide to stop mutating frequently in rapid speed, show a consistent pattern for scientists to understand and prepare treatment procedure and vaccination. In the race between scientists, doctors and virus, we will start relaxing / feeling free when we start running ahead of virus (treatment procedure in place; vaccination is also ready; clear understanding of how to find and treat future mutations). Are we there yet? At the time of writing this, I haven’t read like we have started running past the virus but there is hope that we will do soon.Once we start running past the virus in race, the virus will be one among the list of Pandemic and Epidemic viruses which WHO monitors even today (like Influenza, Cholera, Ebola, TB). After all, our body encompasses more viruses and we are collectively bigger than this small virus in all counts.  So, herd immunity is an another option.

Will social distancing stop the virus?

Short answer is, it’s very hard to say so considering our social and economical life, incumbency period of this virus, asymptotic nature in some patients, etc. Social distancing is a precautionary way for slowing the spread of this virus from person to person. Of course, if sick people are at home till 100% recovery and the potential carriers of this virus are not being contacted by others due to social distancing, then the chances of virus getting killed is there. We also don’t know the virus in full yet like how long it can stay on a surface, human body, air, etc. apart from what we have heard from few scientists so far. All say that they need more data which is not available enough now. We should not forget the fact that this virus is believed to be mutating rapidly in a short period of time which means what we know today may not hold good for tomorrow with respect to this virus.

What are the types of vaccination?

Vaccine type #1: Live attenuated – live weakened version of virus
Vaccine type #2: Inactivated (India Covaxin) – contain virus that has been killed
Vaccine type #3: Subunit – only parts of the virus are used
Vaccine type #4: DNA/RNA (Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech) – not actual virus but has part of the genetic code of virus with instructions for carrying out viral functions
Vaccine type #5: Viral vector (Janssen) – part of the actual virus genetic code will be inserted through a harmless virus which our body is already able to handle with ease like cold virus

Resources:

• https://www.coronavirus.gov/
• https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus
• https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
• https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
• https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/How-to-respond-to-COVID-19
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
• https://www.mohfw.gov.in/
• https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus
• https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/en/
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-03/when-and-how-does-the-coronavirus-pandemic-end-quicktake
• https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/05/01/848400469/coronavirus-faqs-whats-a-pulse-oximeter-is-it-a-good-idea-to-buy-one
• https://coronavirus.medium.com/explained-the-different-types-of-coronavirus-vaccines-f962f3663e03
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines.html

Data references:

• https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
• https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/16/816707182/map-tracking-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-in-the-u-s
• https://www.sccgov.org/sites/phd/DiseaseInformation/novel-coronavirus/Pages/dashboard.aspx
• https://avatorl.org/covid-19/
• https://coronaindia.org/

Windows 10 – Upgrade PHP v7.2 to v7.3

In Windows based system, if you are using PHP v7.2 in IIS setup then follow the below steps for upgrading to v7.3.

• Best option is to install PHP v7.3 using Microsoft Web Platform Installer. This is suppose to take care of many things automatically for IIS.
• Download the PHP v7.3 code from https://windows.php.net/download#php-7.3 (Non-Thread Safe version for IIS). Unzip the contents to the PHP folder (v7.3) similar to the current v7.2 (C:\Program Files\PHP –> 64bit version).
• Open IIS and update the handler mapping for *.php (update the entry related to the name PHP_via_FastCGI).
• Check whether PHP.INI file is available under the new PHP directory (C:\Program Files\PHP\v7.3). If not, create a copy of php.ini-production and rename it to php.ini.
• For default extensions like curl, LDAP and MySQL, open php.ini and uncomment the following lines
  • enable the extensions directory. Usually it is the ext directory under v7.3 folder. (extension_dir = “ext”)
  • uncomment the lines related to the module [extension=curl; extension=ldap; extension=mysqli]
• Restart IIS
• Test with the sample PHP file for phpinfo() details and make sure that the required modules are enabled
• Test your PHP application which was working earlier in previous version for compatibility issues, if any.

References:

https://www.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.legacy.index.php#install.windows.legacy.iis7

https://www.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.manual.php

Compare Arduino Raspberry Pi Micro:bit

Arduino:

Arduino is a microcontroller, which means it is a special purpose computer that runs one program at a time, over and over again. Some examples of microcontrollers are microwave oven controller (brain behind the keypads), TV controller which talks to TV remote. Most of the microcontrollers are propitiatory devices. But Arduino is an open source platform which helps engineers to build and prototype their projects (also great community support for knowledge sharing). Arduino hardware is open-source, programming language to interact with hardware is open-source, software to develop the program is open-source. https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Products has the details of all types of boards available through Arduino platform. Arduino Uno (Rev3) is one of the famous boards which has 14 digital Input/Output pins and 6 Analog pins. One can connect Arduino Uno to a laptop and using the Arduino software, they can program it to read and write data to various electronics components. Since it is an open-source, many 3rd party vendors have enhanced the basic board hardware and software libraries but at the same time maintain the compatibility with base platform.

WiFi: One can use a serial to WiFi chip like ESP8266 for adding WiFi connectivity to Arduino or use Arduino’s available analog pins for getting more sensor data and upload to IoT using MQTT + ESP8266. ESP32 is a successor to ESP8266 which has WiFi + Bluetooth connectivity.

Bluetooth: One can use bluetooth chips like HM05/06/10 to enable Bluettoth capability so that Arduino can be controlled using a smartphone.

References:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/choosing-an-arduino-for-your-project/all

Arduino For Beginners

https://www.amebaiot.com/en/ameba-arduino-getting-started/ (has wifi, nfc and custom libraries which can push data to IoT platform)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.dabbleapp

micro:bit

micro:bit is a tiny programmable microcontroller to make learning fun and easy with the help of Microsoft Makecode block based UI (supports Javascript as well), MicroPython, SwiftPlayground (iPad) and other code editors like mbed, MIT Scratch, Arduino, etc.

It’s ARM based system with 256KB ROM and 16KB RAM with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), 25 LEDs, several other sensors built-in. This unit has lots of potential and great community to support with lots of ideas and shared projects. It was given as a free device to all UK 7th grade students to promote programming through a BBC initiative.

If anyone want to add WiFi to this controller then they can do so with chips like ESP8266 ESP-01(s) and make use of serial to WiFi communication to do some bais IoT programming.

References:

https://microbit.org/; https://microbit.org/guide/; https://microbit.org/code/

https://www.elecfreaks.com/store/blog/post/comparison-between-microbit-and-arduino.html/

https://www.iot-programmer.com/index.php/books/27-micro-bit-iot-in-c/chapters-micro-bit-iot-in-c/45-micro-bit-iot-in-c-getting-on-wifi?showall=1

Raspberry Pi:

Raspberry Pi is a general purpose single board computer with the ability to run multiple programs. One can use various Operating System software in this computer though mostly linux based open-source versions are available with greater community support. Since the hardware uses Broadcom SoC, it may not come under open-source but the Pi foundation maintains low cost and affordable for education purposes. https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/ has all the products related to Pi. Similar to Arduino, Raspberry Pi also enables engineers to build and prototype their projects (also great community support for knowledge sharing) but provides more flexibility and helps to evaluate complex solutions with ease. Orange Pi Pc Plus (http://www.orangepi.org/) is an open source hardware SoC which supports open source operating system like Android and Linux. Raspberry Pi has 17 Input/Output pins for integrating with electronics components. Pi lacks good support for interfacing with analog devices (lacks Analog to Digital conversion circuit). Pi has I2C and SPI interfaces though. There are couple of methods outlined in the reference links which may help. IoT applications can be developed using Pi with ease compared to Arduino.

References:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/projects/building-raspberry-pi-controllers-part-5-reading-analog-data-with-an-rpi/

http://www.gadgetexplained.com/2016/05/4-ways-to-get-raspberry-pi-to-read.html

Cost:

Arduino Uno sells around USD 20 and the 3rd party boards based on Arduino sells much cheaper than that, some boards with wifi sells around USD 25. Similarly, Raspberry Pi Zero W sells for USD 10 (without wireless, it costs USD 5). Adding a 40 pin GPIO connector, 5V 1.2A micro usb power supply and USB-TTL cable (for using with computer) comes around USD 20 as total cost. So, cost may not be a deciding factor because they are very close.

Technical specifications and software usages are totally different between these two devices except the similarity of input / output pins for connecting to electronics components.

IoT:

Arduino platform may be a good option for a low power IoT solution. There are 2 mostly used chips (ESP8266 and ESP32). ESP8266 is older than ESP32. ESP32 has Bluetooth capability along with WiFi as well as dual core. Both can work well with Arduino IDE, WiFi and cloud providers connectivity for data transfer. Depends on IoT project needs, one can pick a board with either ESP8266 or ESP32. One can connect ESP8266 to AWS IoT using Mongoose OS. On the other hand, Raspberry Pi also provides enormous support for IoT due to the single board computer nature. ESP8266 with Arduino board version 2.5, one can connect to AWS IoT using Arduino sketch (I have given the steps I have followed here in github link – https://github.com/erbabu/esp8266awsiot).

References:

Measure Wi-Fi Signal Levels with the ESP8266 and ThingSpeak

Best ESP8266 Wi-Fi Development Board – Buying Guide 2021

ESP32 Development Boards Review and Comparison

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Use-BluetoothBLE-With-ESP32/

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/apn/aws-iot-on-mongoose-os-part-1/

https://github.com/erbabu/esp8266awsiot

Suggested progression:

• Explorer level: Adafruit Circuit Playground Express (https://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Playground-Express-Developer-Base/dp/B0764MCBNR) or e-textile wearable kit (https://www.amazon.com/MJ-Starter-Learning-Arduino-Lilypad/dp/B07JMVP862)
• Beginner level: Arduino Uno based kits (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X3V84PV). This vendor has a very good githib tutorial for Arduino which makes use of Arduino IDE for interacting directly with Arduino and Processing IDE for developing Java based games interacting with Arduino devices like Joystick, Potentiometer, etc. https://github.com/Freenove/Freenove_Ultimate_Starter_Kit_for_Arduino
• Intermediate level: ESP8266 / ESP32 based kits for WiFi and IoT (https://www.amazon.com/UCTRONICS-ESP8266-Development-Temperature-Humidity/dp/B06XYJL6P2)
• Advanced level: Raspberry Pi based kits – small power computer with electronic interfaces (https://www.amazon.com/Vilros-Raspberry-Starter-Power-Premium/dp/B0748MBFTS). You can refer many github help repositories and tons of information in internet for making use of Raspberry Pi and projects related to it. Few are: https://vilros.com/learn/resources/  https://github.com/Freenove/Freenove_Ultimate_Starter_Kit_for_Raspberry_Pi  https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/  https://www.hackster.io/raspberry-pi?ref=topnav
• Communicate and control MicroControllerUnit/IoT device using smartphone app via Bluetooth (like HM-10 module / HC-05, HC-06, ) – example: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/mayooghgirish/arduino-bluetooth-basic-tutorial-d8b737  https://www.hackster.io/mansurkamsur/upload-sketch-arduino-over-bluetooth-using-android-f1ce55

Github:

Feel free to checkout my ESP8266 based project shared in Github. https://github.com/erbabu/ESP8266ServerWeatherOLEDRGB/

Following are the goals of this project.

1. Program ESP8266 using Arduino IDE
2. Understand programming Common Anode RGB LED using 3 GPIO pins
3. Read weather data for my city using OpenWeather API (HTTP client) and display current datetime, current weather and 3 day forecast in OLED display (SSD1306)
4. Run HTTP web server in ESP8266, control RGB LED using the web page running in ESP8266 via desktop browser / mobile phone browser

Checkout my experience in connecting ESP8266 with AWS IoT using Arduino IDE Sketch. https://github.com/erbabu/esp8266awsiot

Conclusion:

I like the review and suggestions given in this article. https://raspberrytips.com/raspberry-vs-arduino/

My take: If your need is for electronics prototyping and simple two step tasks like read sensor value and report, then go with Arduino, rest please prefer Raspberry Pi because it serves as multi-purpose low cost computer with many uses.

USA Tourist Attractions – Seattle

Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It is in the west coast of USA (Washington state – WA) and well connected with flights from all over the world. Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Renton, Everett are its neighboring cities. Some of the local companies in and around Seattle are Alaska Airlines, Amazon, Boeing, Costco, Expedia, F5 Networks,  Microsoft, Nintendo, Nordstrom, Starbucks, and T-Mobile. Seattle is the home of sports teams like Huskies (University of Washington football), Seahawks NFL, Mariners MLB, Sounders MLS, Storm WNBA

Seattle gets more rain in Nov, Dec and Jan months compared to other months in the year (occasionally gets snow). More than 200 cruise ships brings one million+ cruise passengers per year and makes Seattle port a busy one in the country. Sea-Tac (SEA) airport is one of the top 10 busiest airports in USA.

There are many indoor and outdoor attractions in and around Seattle for tourists to explore all through the year. Seattle city pass will give a good idea of top attractions.

Outdoor attractions:

Seattle waterfront; Space Needle and Seattle Center area attractions; Pike Place Market and its near by famous shops like first Starbucks store, Le Panier, Piroshky shop; Seattle Great Wheel; Woodland park zoo; Amazon sphere and Amazon go market; Snoqualmie falls; San Juan islands; Ballard Locks; Bainbridge island ferry ride for seeing Seattle skyline and glimpse of Seattle water; Seattle parks and beaches; Parks to see Seattle views, short hikes near one of the I-90 exits from exit 20 till Snoqualmie pass, gorgeous mountains.

Indoor attractions:

Boeing museum; Boeing future of flight; check out the Seattle museums list and pick your favorite; Seattle theater plays; Great Wolf Lodge or Wild waves (water based theme park); Family fun center; Casinos (Snoqualmie, Tulalip); Pacific Science Center; Glass museum; Seattle Aquarium; Smith Tower

Shopping:

Seattle Premium Outlet, Westlake Center, Pacific Place, University Village, Northgate mall, Bellevue square, Alderwood mall, South center mall, Northbend factory outlet, Auburn outlet collection mall

Canada: Canada’s British Columbia state is in the border of WA state. Vancouver and Victoria are two famous day-trip destinations for tourists to Seattle.

Vancouver – Stanley Park attractions including aquarium, Capilano suspension bridge, Lions Gate Bridge, Grouse mountain, attractions on the way to Whistler like Britannia Mine Museum, falls and Sea to Sky Gondola, Vancouver Lookout (Tower), Whale watching

Victoria – Butchart garden, Royal BC museum, Fairmont Empress hotel, Parliament buildings, Butterfly garden, Bug zoo, Beacon Hill Children’s farm, Castles (Hatley, Craigdarroch), Ogden point lighthouse, Fisherman’s wharf, Fan Tan Alley (Chinatown)

Resources:

https://secretseattle.co/seattle-parks-best-views/

http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/seattle-facts/city-symbols

https://www.citypass.com/seattle

https://seattle.findwell.com/greater-seattle/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g28968-Activities-c57-t66-Washington.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g60878-Seattle_Washington-Vacations.html

https://www.yelp.com/city/seattle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_Seattle

https://www.portseattle.org/maritime/cruise

https://www.portseattle.org/sea-tac

https://www.wheretraveler.com/seattle/19-seattles-best-water-parks-pools-and-splash-pads

http://www.seattleandsound.com/beaches.html

http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/directory

https://www.seattle-theatre.com/

https://www.wta.org/

https://seattle.curbed.com/maps/best-seattle-day-hikes-trails

https://seattletravel.com/activities/rainy-day-activities/

https://www.seattlemag.com/article/14-best-places-hike-pnw

Olympic National Park attractions

Olympic National Park is located in the North West corner of WA, USA (Northwest region, Olympic Peninsula – Pacific Ocean, Hood Canel, Strait of Juan de Fuca).

For WA and OR state people, this is one of the famous tourist attraction in Summer (Memorial day – Labor day). Following are the reference links which will give a very good idea of what to be expected and choose based on one’s taste.

• Park website – https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/maps.htm (zoom the map and see all the attractions)
• Handy attractions list – https://www.olympicnationalparks.com/discover/points-of-interest
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_National_Park
• Neah Bay – Famous for sports fishing

Following are the places which are there very near to national park though it is not usually recommended for a short trip because it takes a good amount of time to see these places.

Long Beach and Cape Disappointment – https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g58566-Activities-Long_Beach_Washington.html
Ocean Shores – https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g58648-Activities-Ocean_Shores_Washington.html

If possible, visit Astoria, located near the border of WA and OR.

Astoria – https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60806-Activities-Astoria_Oregon.html

 

Tiki Intranet

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PMP exam tips

FYI – I am not new to Project Management because I work as Project Manager (Technical) in a software company and I have more than 10+ years of software experience. So, my experience may not match with yours.

PMP is something I was aiming for a long time. I was hesitant to take the exam because of couple of reasons – out of touch with learning for writing an exam, high exam fees, considerably long learning hours to pass the exam in first attempt.

Though I am aware of PMP for 10+ years, I have made my first attempt in 2012 (registered for PMI membership but dropped off the idea after couple of months). It was the time when PMBOK 5th edition was released. With the help of my company, finished an online course and got the required 35 PDU. But couldn’t spend enough time, so dropped the idea.

After that I had a feeling of giving one more attempt late last year. So, searched for online courses to get 35 PDU. Looked for some in-person classes in my city. Compared to in person, online was cheaper. I was able to get a udemy 35 PDU course (PMI REP provider) for ~1% of the in person class cost. Bought the course but took my own sweet time to finish the course. Talked to couple of friends, they suggested to pay the fees and block the date so that I will not drop like last time 🙂 Good suggestion, so registered for PMI after new year like a new resolution and submitted the required details to PMI. Since I am already working as a project manager and the Udemy course completion satisfied all the pre-req for the application. Got approval from PMI to proceed.

Like last time, I am in the similar boat as exam change to new edition. I looked for a Saturday to book the exam (little shy to take OOF for exam) and blocked a day this month. This triggered anxiety because the price is $400+ on top of PMI membership. Retake is another $200+. So, slowly reviewed the udemy course contents and was taking quizzes. My office travel time is ~1hr from my house. So, I got less time everyday for studying for the exam. Pressure mounted on me in the last 10 days which made me to work in a different way which helped me a lot. That is what I have listed down.

Tips:

1. Have an aim to pass the exam not just to appear for exam. This is more important.
2. Out of 47 processes (I have taken PMBOK 5th edition based exam), ~12 processes contribute more than 60% of the questions (Initiation, Closing, Execution). So, memorize the ITTO of these.
3. PMP math cheat sheets (FV, EV*, Communication Channels, PTA, Critical Path)
4. Charts and tools – why do we have to use, when to use, which process does it belong to
5. Quiz / Questions – do as many questions you can take (free, paid). Understand the options given in the questions so that you can understand the concepts on the go.
6. 4 hrs exam – keep an eye on time (aim to do 60 questions per hour so that you will have some time for review). If you are running slow, have a plan to decide fast on some questions if you feel that you need to think a lot.
7. I got many questions in risk and close (what do you do in this situation, lessons learned related, etc.).

References:

https://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/project-management-pmp

https://www.scribd.com/document/364412602/CAPM-PMP-Cheat-Sheets

https://edward-designer.com/web/pmp/ (good notes; there are several such notes sites)

https://www.simplilearn.com/pmp-exam-prep-free-practice-test

https://www.udemy.com/pmp-pmbok6-35-pdus/ (I have used 5th Edition)

https://www.udemy.com/project-management-professional-pmp-practice-tests/

https://www.udemy.com/pmp-exam-training-project-selection-methods-in-detail/

–Several free PMP questions (beginner, advanced level) in youtube

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Read other people experiences from web / facebook:

1. Joseph’s Udemy Course and Cram course
2. Joesph’s 3 X100 questions
3. Simple Learn 200 Questions
3. Rita Book all chapter(only started this two weeks before exam and realized what i was missing)
4. PMBOK for only clarifications.
5. Few more Sample questions from mobile apps
6. ITTO Game on my phone
7. Saket Bansal Videos (This was a big help to clear how the processes are linked)

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Few Android apps like Exam Mentor, PMP exam Prep

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TechKB

It is becoming difficult to keep track of small but good timely tips I come across. Apart from me, few more may get benefit of this. So, listing down for compiling aspect.

IE11 – YouTube was not playing in IE11. Looked for the details in internet and found out that if I change a setting in IE11, it works. IE11 – Internet Options – Advanced tab –  Accelerated graphics – ‘enable’ the option to use software rendering instead of GPU rendering.

iPhone photos copy to PC was having some issues. It was throwing error as ‘a device attached to the system is not functioning’. Upon searching and attempting several tips, only the info given in this website helped (keep original format while transferring photos from iPhone to PC). https://www.guidingtech.com/fix-device-attached-to-the-system-is-not-functioning-error-iphone/

 

MacOS Windows bridge

I had couple of Windows based USB drives (NTFS format). When I got my mac, I wanted to use those for transferring files between Mac and Windows using USB. By default, Mac will allow to read contents from NTFS based drives but it won’t allow to write to it. Came across couple of websites to do that. But there is a way to enable this ‘beta’ / non-GA method to write into such NTFS drives.

In terminal windows, type the following command.

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add the following line after getting the drive name and save it (^o then <enter> then ^x). You can add more lines – one per drive.

LABEL=<replace drive NAME> none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse

Note: If drive name has space in between, replace space with \040   For instance, if the label is “USB DISK”, the Name to enter in fstab file will be: “USB\040DISK”.

References:

https://askmacos.com/writing-ntfs-disk-macos-hight-sierra-previous-version/

http://macdrug.com/write-ntfs-drive-macos-sierra/