gadgetoid

I’ve been a hobbyist games and technology writer for over 20 years. I keep the lights on by writing MIT-licensed embedded hardware drivers at Pimoroni in Python, MicroPython and C++.

 Hobbies include music, videogames, skateboarding, baking and making videos about frothing milk.

 Tech @ https://gadgetoid.com 
Software @ Pimoroni
 Pi pinout - https://pinout.xyz
 Pico pinout - https://pico.pinout.xyz 

He/Him. 

#Technology #RaspberryPi #Making #VideoGames #MiniComputers

GitHub: https://github.com/gadgetoid
Alt: https://mastodon.gadgetoid.com/@gadgetoid
Web: https://www.gadgetoid.com
Biz Enquiries: pr@gadgetoid.com

Public Key

npub1jjf3hq0an6gkvr6ujvgaur89ftk2l9qfafmwusaghcswgnetrdvs3hjh0u

NIP-05 Address

gadgetoid_at_fosstodon.org@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsffycms87eaytxpawfxyw7pnj54m90jsy75ahwgw5tug8yfu43kkgxen4a7

Author Public Key

npub1jjf3hq0an6gkvr6ujvgaur89ftk2l9qfafmwusaghcswgnetrdvs3hjh0u

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Last Notes

2024-10-10 09:59:41

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Interesting point, but if I were to run visitor tracking and act upon it... wouldn't I just be running another optimised-for-SEO trashfire?
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/113/282/535/755/530/915/original/402c0c75b3e3284c.png

2024-10-10 09:13:45

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Lmao
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/113/282/356/081/877/653/original/4b674fd1f4ded9ee.jpeg

2024-10-10 08:45:14

Is minimalism an immune response to the nauseating complexity of opulence and luxury?

2024-10-10 08:36:01

Ho ho ho, what’s this, a rare “brand asking me for web stats” occurrence!

2024-09-28 08:10:16

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fundamentally we agree about there being *some* merit to writing assistance, but pitching it as a mask the uneducated or illiterate can use to access educated and literate spaces is probably too emotive an argument to weather any reasonable discussion. Maybe it’s true, but it’s a sad state of affairs we’re in if it’s *necessary*!
Anyway good morning this stuff is way better debated over a beer 🤣

2024-09-28 08:02:14

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you speak pretty good deflection there, though 😜

2024-09-25 12:10:27

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it was my understanding that replacing the cost and complexity of means tested benefits was a key selling point for the bureaucratically and fiscally minded - however upon reflection you’re right, it doesn’t seem to add up.

2024-09-14 16:59:52

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was that in Springfield Wisconsin, Springfield Wisconsin, Springfield Wisconsin or Springfield Wisconsin?

2024-09-11 18:55:30

I’ll care about reducing my carbon footprint exactly the day after every private jet has its wings chopped off and is retrofit into a public library. 🙃

2024-09-11 17:14:19

Anyone want to loan me a PS5 so I can play Astro Bot? 🤣

2024-09-10 07:58:20

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Tbf it wasn’t that big a mystery- the release notes mentioned a couple of big fixes that would tie very closely to my “oh god it’s stopped working did I manage to break it!?” experience.

2024-09-10 07:56:42

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The smart ring I’ve been testing, and took off because it seriously irritated my finger, and then couldn’t get to work again, mysteriously started working, so I put it back on and within 24 hours my finger had blistered up. It’s like dairy gives me an allergic hypersensitivity. Is that a thing?

2024-09-10 07:54:52

Day 3 of allergic reaction to dairy overdose, perhaps it’s time to admit defeat 🫠

2024-09-09 17:00:19

Tagged a new release of MicroPython for our RP2350-based boards, fixes many things and should even improve performance... albeit I've totally lost track of what and how! - https://github.com/pimoroni/pimoroni-pico-rp2350/releases/tag/v0.0.6

2024-09-09 16:14:20

Fixes and tweaks to Pico 2 pinout - https://pico2.pinout.xyz - including clear inter-site links, a new forum link (thanks to a user suggestion), a switch to monospace fonts for the pinout itself, and some fixes to alignment/presentation especially when switching between front and rear view.

2024-09-08 21:32:52

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oooh how far *is* it? I forgot how wide our bedroom is but it throws pretty big (possibly too big, though you can squash the picture down somewhat IIRC) at the length of a standard bed. Mostly gets used throwing 20” on the kitchen wall from a table though 🤣

2024-09-08 20:02:14

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trick question- they don’t because they don’t have any close friends 🫠

2024-08-31 02:23:54

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curses what’s the secret to getting them to reply to your email? 🤣🤣🤣

2024-08-28 16:22:46

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surprised packs of spice mix seem to get less scrutiny 🤣

2024-08-28 15:51:09

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👀 you’re a day early mate 🤣

2024-08-28 15:35:49

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😬😬😬😬 bloody outrage!

2024-08-25 16:25:09

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wouldn’t do that if you greased me up and pulled me through with a rope! Respect 🤣

2024-08-22 18:30:22

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you “release” hounds, merch and gear are dropped 🤣

2024-08-22 13:57:26

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that’s a lot of deeply cursed technologies to connect one cursed technology to another cursed technology…. is Qt5 really *that* bad? 🤣

2024-08-22 13:46:58

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all of those technologies are extremely cursed and should go away 🤣🤣

2024-08-22 11:01:21

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IIRC PiHole wasn’t that tricky, but it’s been many, many years since I’ve tried setting it up! Looks like their installer is simple enough.
Installing Firefox is probably simpler if it’s just one computer!

2024-08-20 20:48:07

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think of all the assembly suffering you’re avoiding though 🤣
(It’s actually not too bad, or at least I imagine it’s not when you have … all the right bolts! Mines still partially held together with 3m tape pads)

2024-08-17 20:08:05

And to think, mere hours ago I didn’t know I needed a Nixie tube shifter knob… https://youtu.be/_gC2J5ZqJfQ?si=xAAQPLUiLPCmDGm_

2024-08-16 19:50:28

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I clearly haven’t lost my ability to identify connectors then!
You’ve definitely out jargoned me, though- not for want of googling. What does it do? 👀

2024-08-16 19:41:08

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reminds me of the Retrode! Though those are presumably not SNES connectors?

2024-08-15 19:59:32

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worth it for the rare occasion someone pipes up and complements a clothing choice 😁

2024-08-15 17:49:02

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should be possible to mux audio into the HDMI signal too, I don’t know how far @npub13m2…sts7 looked into that.

2024-08-15 17:48:06

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ESP32 💀
I guess they left that door wide open… again 😬
At least this time the RP2350 actually outperforms its wifi chip 🤣

2024-07-09 18:58:41

YouTube have thrown down the gauntlet 🤣
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/758/062/175/851/015/original/b539fe550d05d7f1.jpeg

2024-07-02 15:00:43

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No comment on their website appearing to be yet another inscrutable web framework div soup disaster but it's only fitting that all the garbage HTML and Javascript in the world would fail at as simple a task as enabling the "continue" button when all form validation has succeeded.

2024-07-02 14:59:12

smdh at Lyca Mobile taking six days to not even read the support ticket I raised.
Every service should have an "I just want to talk to your web developer" button.
Probably wouldn't work though, they seem to have trouble with buttons...

2024-06-27 14:08:25

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it's awfully tempting but we're already stacked to the gills with soft toys 😆

2024-06-27 09:13:14

Can someone tell Octopus to make a desk mat so I can spend all my points?

2024-06-23 17:24:40

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maybe a bit underdone but too delicious to put back in now 🤣🤣
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/667/094/466/530/489/original/8fdce9a7e57e403a.jpeg
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/667/094/469/533/646/original/fe942f230304904c.jpeg

2024-06-23 16:57:56

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coming in 10-15 minutes! 🤣

2024-06-23 16:52:56

Doesn’t look like much, but D was whipping up a focaccia so I caramelised some onions for the top 😋
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/666/969/472/023/353/original/f75f54515e998399.jpeg

2024-06-23 14:10:43

😬
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/666/331/692/824/377/original/4f6571dd4a66d41d.jpeg

2024-06-23 10:13:30

Printed a bin and gave it to my bin-obsessed 18 month old. He found the weak spots in pretty short order 🤣 pulled the STL into blender and did some patch work. Wish me luck.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/665/394/013/117/045/original/4cf4dbd64698aeb4.jpeg

2024-06-23 00:00:08

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Sure I’m fortunate enough that single-sided deafness is Disability Lite in absolute terms, but that very fact also brings about its own set of problems with which I have spent my entire life trying to gloss over.
Gosh it’s way too 1am for this 😭

2024-06-22 20:56:35

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So yeah, thanks @npub1ep6…dyv5 for a feature I use liberally. Although who knows what corporate hellmouth is eating all my photos in service of accessibility. And yeah the prompt could either:
a. Use some refinement to account for specific descriptive requirements, and prefer accuracy over brevity
b. Maybe use some UI to make this a user choice
I’ve had it cut off mid sentence before, which is quite jarring 🤣
And it’s still hit and miss 🤣
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/662/262/947/561/645/original/5ccafb0ef109bd71.jpeg

2024-06-22 20:47:23

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Prompt being “What’s in this image? Be brief, it’s for image alt description on a social network. Don’t write in the first person.”
This works incredibly well - I’ve used it either verbatim or as a jumping off point for every image I’ve posted since discovering this feature - but the length limit often cuts it off mid sentence, and it isn’t super great at describing people in sufficient detail.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/662/228/064/070/585/original/0569d8e02887aefb.jpeg

2024-06-22 20:43:08

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And maybe if we engage with it, even a little, we’ll stop and read https://dimillian.medium.com/adding-ai-generated-image-description-to-ice-cubes-c4e7990a5915 and see “I found out that with a max limit of 50 tokens and this prompt, I got very good results. The image description is short and concise and looks like a human could write naturally.” and realise that this is incongruous with useful and complete image descriptions and say “hey that’s an awesome feature you added, but it would be great if…”

2024-06-22 20:30:23

Can we get even the tiniest concession that AI is- in fact- a fabulous accessibility tool and that alt text is a solved problem? 😬 #A11y
Editing to list some of the issues:
* AI can and will hallucinate/mislead or be inconsistent
* Some trust is implicit in human interactions - users can ask for clarifications and screen for mutuals who accommodate them
* Client-side description ignores context and authors intent
* The whole world burns

2024-06-22 17:29:50

Really truly exactly what you want out of a low battery warning 💀
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/661/451/822/530/693/original/ac3e15aabfdc70f5.mp4

2024-06-22 09:27:34

I said it once, twice, a hundred times, carousels are still the dumbest UX anti-pattern ever to grace the web and seemingly nobody responsible for putting them online has ever tried to click one 😫

2024-06-21 18:20:55

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Though the Lego keycap design is not mine, I whipped the enclosure up in… Blender 🤣 fit was great but I made it shallower and added some little retaining clips with a mix of calipers and eyeballing. The switch snaps into place and needs a puller to remove it (snapping the retaining clips).
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/655/982/268/264/535/original/c5e94864ffa0705d.jpeg

2024-06-21 18:14:23

I’ll get it eventually, just can’t seem to dial in the settings to stop random gaps or ugliness!
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/655/964/359/187/507/original/eaff19c1ebced16a.jpeg

2024-06-21 14:06:24

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the keys are borrowed off another (normal retail) board so I didn't have much choice 😆
You should see layer 2 😆

2024-06-21 06:17:34

With keycaps and custom MicroPython-based firmware it’s surprisingly usable.
I also used cheap and nasty switches so it’s horrible to type on 😭 maybe the next time I solder 42 of something to a PCB I’ll pick a better something.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/653/142/353/857/573/original/984225c9c67c6b0b.jpeg

2024-06-19 13:57:36

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stabalizers? so my big (normal-sized) chonky spacebar and ISO enter don't wiggle. I wanted to go small, but weirder than ortholinear.

2024-06-19 11:39:04

I done a progress #RaspberryPi #MechanicalKeyboards
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/643/085/835/150/400/original/0c8a32c62c615cc0.jpeg

2024-06-19 09:17:35

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pppffft it doesn't need that pin 😆 (I should probably have warmed the PCB up before diving in)

2024-06-19 09:03:28

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Rate my hand soldered castellations
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/642/474/690/958/302/original/8b4be5940bfd2f17.jpeg

2024-06-19 08:51:35

Bit of a shame the 3m tape holding on the Pico doesn’t make the electrical connections 🤣
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/642/430/349/837/131/original/5d71cf23f896d045.jpeg

2024-06-18 20:26:49

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it is extremely finicky, since it's only a proxy for soil moisture level. I spent an inordinate amount of time with a baby bathtub, plant pots and water trying to dial it in 😭 but then plants will do things like *grow big and touch* and throw everything out of whack. I need to revisit it to fix it for Pi 5, which is a whole different adventure.
Muted alarm should not go off, though 😬

2024-06-18 18:07:13

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you’re going to have to be more specific because I’ve written *a lot* of bad code, and some good good, and also capacitive soil sensors are an adventure even *without* code because touching plants capacitively couple and measurement values are not absolute.

2024-06-18 17:44:09

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👀🤔

2024-06-18 17:27:53

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it would be mostly fine but I suspect VBUS might cause some excitement 🤔

2024-06-18 17:24:58

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it does look like that doesn’t it 🙃

2024-06-18 17:13:10

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👀

2024-06-18 16:43:33

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I got bored after 7 but bonus pre production example board for your viewing pleasure 🤣
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/638/619/485/284/178/original/ee7495b22ed43ab3.jpeg

2024-06-18 15:40:03

Hey I fixed the problem of the #RaspberryPi #Pico never having enough RAM and CPU 🤣
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/638/369/192/572/295/original/594bf50d9bf532a3.jpeg

2024-05-31 23:40:19

Completely re-did and renamed my little keyboard project.
Part soldering kit, part fun way to play with MicroPython's new USB features, but mostly a way for me to learn KiCAD.
https://cdn.fosstodon.org/media_attachments/files/112/538/335/741/586/522/original/fd5a613f658d9bbc.png

2024-05-26 07:24:17

Kids these days be “yeah I love #RetroGaming the PlayStation 2 is my favourite but I also collect Xbox games…”

2024-04-05 16:25:00

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this is why I’ve failed to produce any interesting review commentary on phones- what’s left to say, really? Boring rectangle rectangles. Folding rectangle costs too damned much. Sliding rectangle is unicorns teeth. Only good rectangle is Apple rectangle. Other rectangle just expensive way to play Nintendo games.

2024-03-27 23:01:56

Volume up
https://bbbbbbb1.bandcamp.com/album/shinpi