gwynplaine

You could put it behind a Wireguard VPN. That way you aren't exposing SSH or the like directly on the internet. Properly-configured SSH with public key authentication is not something I worry about though.

I recommend learning from J Perm. https://jperm.net/ - also on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@JPerm

Interestingly, the official Rubik's cubes are very poor quality.

I have a GAN speedcube and can recommend.

Thanks, lots of helpful links there. Much appreciated. Although quickly checking, I suspect they could be over an order of magnitude more expensive than the hobbiest equivalents.

That answer would depend on the type of motor.

For a DC motor, they are rarely connected directly to the microcontroller. But you can put a diode across the motor terminals to minimise any back EMF.

A stepper would typically have a driver circuit between the microcontroller and the motor.

A small servo would usually just need one signal connection to the microcontroller, there's no back EMF via that path. You would of course also need common ground.

I feel like there's a gap in the hobbiest motor market.

On the one hand there are stepper motors which can withstand lots of radial load thanks to steel shafts and bearings. They also provide some relative position control and no absolute position feedback (at hobbiest prices).

On the other there are servos, which typically have weak components. Plastic gears, shafts and bushings which cannot withstand radial load. But they do allow control of absolute position.

For many robotics projects, a hobbiest has to choose between servos which are physically weak, or steppers which can tear the project apart if they don't home correctly. And of course the hobbiest has to roll their own safety/endstop system every time.

I'd love something physically like a Nema 14/17 stepper but with a servo interface. However I can't find them anywhere at hobbiest prices. Why are there thousands of good value steppers and thousands of models of servos, but nothing in between, I wonder?

The effect of caffeine is controlled by several genes. One is the CYP1A2 gene that encodes for a liver enzyme critical for the metabolism of caffeine. Another is the AHR gene, which controls when and how the CYP1A2 gene is switched on and off. The general population have variants of these genes and so experience different response to similar doses.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777290/

The book Mastering Audio by Bob Katz covers a lot of ground.

Can you recommend any good sources to find out more about this need for electrolytes while fasting? I have been unable to find articles or books that seemed credible to my uneducated eye.

Completely agree, Italian espresso was considered great decades ago, but standards have risen faster elsewhere since then. Italy still makes the best espresso _machines_ such as Simonelli. My experience of coffee there is coffee roasted so dark as to be considered burnt.

See the World Barista Championship winners, not a single Italian yet, unfortunately. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Barista_Championship