Posts
2023
uBlacklist for the win! (Blocks specific sites from appearing in search results)
https://github.com/iorate/ublacklist
Next step: DNS blackhole these domains!
We have a relatively modern RV, from 2021, and yet it still came with an archaic analog Coleman-Mach thermostat. It turns out, upgrading an RV thermostat to something halfway modern isn’t trivial as it runs on 12V DC, along with most everything else in the travel trailer.
Guidestones were placed at forks in roads to direct travelers to their destinations. Today, you can still find beautiful guidestones in Japanese gardens performing a similar function. Here, a minimal number of guidestones lead visitors through the garden to areas of interest.
I picked up an old silver-face, wood cabinet Yamaha CR-640 receiver on Facebook Marketplace a couple of weeks ago. I got a great deal on it as the seller wasn’t sure if everything worked and it hadn’t been used for a while. But it looked great and I have some skills with electronics, so I figured I would give it a shot and bought it on faith.
If someone is working in their garage on a project, they may choose to leave the door open to let in natural light and fresh air.
The Pinecil Smart Mini Portable Soldering Iron is a great, compact soldering iron that can be powered via a USB-C cable, including PD (Power Delivery). It’s practically weightless, yet it runs an actual Open Source firmware, IronOS, that manages the temperature, sleep mode, and other features. It has a tiny OLED display to show you the tip temperature, up to 400° C. If you need a temperature boost, just hold down the “+” button and it will increase the tip temp. You can flip the display if you are left-handed, too. If you set it down, it will go into sleep mode to conserve power. When you pick it back up again, it ramps the temperature back up within a few short seconds. The tip is replaceable/interchangeable. It’s a great soldering iron for delicate electronics, quick fixes, and remote use with a battery pack.
I have been accumulating a few Dell OptiPlex Micro systems to use as worker nodes in my HomeLab. They are roughly 8"x8"x1.5" and they have room for M.2 SDD storage, 2.5" storage, Intel 6-core i5 processors, and up to 32GB of RAM. They run Linux very nicely and sip power.
“Learning in public” refers to the process of openly sharing one’s learning experiences, progress, and failures with a wider audience. This approach emphasizes the idea of transparency, vulnerability, and community-building in the learning process. The concept has gained momentum in recent years as social media platforms have made it easier for people to share their learning journeys with a global audience.
This is my initial HomeLab configuration.
While I have certainly had plenty of servers and devices at home over the years, I had taken a few years off from noodling at home and focused on consumer hardware from Apple, Eero, etc. Playing with Linux was relegated to VMware or Parallels virtual machines on my Macs, and I hosted my websites on Linux hosts at DigitalOcean and later AWS Lightsail. What little Windows I have played with has been virtualized on my Macs, as well.
Atlantic Ocean in the foreground. Caribbean Sea beyond the point, which is the northernmost point of Barbados. Taken from inside the Animal Flower Cave. #Barbados
Oops! #iOS beta 16.4 (20E5212f) broke my banking app. That hasn’t happened in a while.
Raspberry Pi SBC’s may be #unobtainium, but I can still have fun with some of their Pico W microcontrollers! Can’t wait to see how I can leverage the onboard #WiFi for these. #RaspberryPI #PicoW
I had to laugh at this article today, because I too have been stashing #eggnog! I just opened my last container for the year.
https://boingboing.net/2023/02/07/confessing-to-hoarding-the-eggnog-in-february.html
I love the variety of things that can be accomplished with a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller! I just picked one up recently and it brings back fond memories of building electronic circuits and coding from decades ago. Here I’m experimenting with one as a temperature monitor for my homelab rack. #RaspberryPi #Pico #HomeLab #Maker
