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robotguyon Our interfaces have lost their senses

Yeah, I immediately noticed the extra arm in this one:

https://wattenberger.com/thoughts/our-interfaces-have-lost-t...

Seeing the disk IO animation reminded me of Melvin Kaye[0]:

  Mel never wrote time-delay loops, either, even when the balky Flexowriter
  required a delay between output characters to work right.
  He just located instructions on the drum
  so each successive one was just past the read head when it was needed;
  the drum had to execute another complete revolution to find the next instruction.

[0] https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/cs354/Fall2008/notes/The...

robotguyon The Return of Digg, a Star of an Earlier Internet Era

Same here, but I'm still using (glances left, glances right) Alien Blue on iOS (Shhhh...). I have NEVER seen an ad on mobile Reddit. Someday they'll do something so that it stops working and I'll be off Reddit.

robotguyon Ask HN: What are you working on? (February 2025)

I'm building a functional 1:12 scale scientific weather station:

https://imgur.com/a/miniature-weather-station-kkw7RLI

The data path will be the same as my DIY full-size weather station; ESP32(MQTT)-->WiFi-->Rpi-->Node Red-->InfluxDB-->Grafana

https://imgur.com/a/diynot-weather-station-zHAcpzX

robotguyon Anatomy of Oscillation

Reminded me of Control Systems classes back in my EE days. Just in case anyone else wants to nerd it up, here's the nostalgia-induced Wikipedia rabbit hole I went down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping#Oscillation_cases

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overshoot_(signal)

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang%E2%80%93bang_control

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latency_(engineering)

robotguyon I've acquired a new superpower

When auto stereograms were all the rage in the late 80's I had a program on my Mac Plus that let me make/edit them and I used to edit for hours WHILE looking at them in 3D. Then one time I was walking down a hallway with a repetitive wallpaper pattern, my eyes did the thing, the entire hallway appeared to shift in front of me, and I stumbled and fell. Still to this day my eyes will sometimes automatically snap into 'alternate' focus when viewing a repetitive pattern.

robotguyon Ask HN: What's your favorite text-based adventure game?

I tend to like games for their individual puzzles/tricks. I fondly remember the babel fish puzzle in HHGTTG, but my favorite was Leather Goddesses of Phobos. It was a bit risque (usually a draw for a teen), and the game "knew" if the player was male or female without ever asking. Took me several playthroughs to figure out how it managed to do that.

robotguyon Map with public fruit trees

Reminds me of a saying I heard while living in upstate New York as a kid:

You know you live in a small town when, if you leave your windows rolled down in your car at the supermarket, you come back out to find a bag of zucchini on your front seat.

robotguyon A Real Life Off-by-One Error

>once in a while my eyes and brain will snap onto repetitive patterns like grid paper or just text without any intention to do so.

When autostereograms were all the rage in the late 80's I had a program on my Mac Plus that let me make/edit them and I used to edit for hours WHILE looking at them in 3D. Then one time I was walking down a hallway with a repetitive wallpaper pattern, my eyes did the thing, the entire hallway appeared to shift in front of me, and I stumbled and fell.

robotguyon Ask HN: What cool podcasts are you listening to?

Excerpts from my list that might be popular here:

Embedded - a podcast about making and loving gadgets. It is for hardware and software engineers, makers, and hobbyists.

No Such Thing as a Fish - QI researchers Dan Schreiber, James Harkin, Anna Ptaszynski and Andrew Hunter Murray share the most bizarre, extraordinary and hilarious facts they’ve discovered over the last seven days.

A Problem Squared - dedicated to solving problems of all kinds

Imaginary Worlds - an episodic science fiction and fantasy podcast that deconstructs the genres and their themes.

Twenty Thousand Hertz - stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.

Sidedoor - With the help of biologists, artists, historians, archaeologists, zookeepers, and astrophysicists, host Lizzie Peabody sneaks listeners through Smithsonian’s side door to search for stories that can’t be found anywhere else.

99% Invisible - a sound-rich, narrative podcast hosted by Roman Mars about all the thought that goes into the things we don't think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.

Psychology of Video Games - Examining the intersection of psychology and video games

robotguyon The album art of Phil Hartmann (2022)

Whenever I want to baffle someone with terminology, I always lead with “Well, I may be just an unfrozen caveman engineer but…” and then launch into as many TLAs as possible.

robotguyon Hard work wins in business (a.k.a. it ain't just about luck)

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ― Seneca

I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have. -Coleman Cox

“If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.” ― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men

Hard work lets you capitalize on small opportunities. Without it you'd need a 3-sigma occurrence to benefit. Of course, those are the types you hear about, because they make great stories.

robotguyon Own a weather station? We want your data

https://imgur.com/a/zHAcpzX

I built my own using sensors from Sparkfun (also available elsewhere, it’s a pretty standard kit). It uses an ESP32 to read the sensors and submit the data to MQTT, then Node Red on a Pi to push the data to InfluxDB, and finally Grafana for visualization. I love having direct control over everything, and since I built the whole system I can easily expand it with other sensors like the Geiger counter in my garage (luckily that’s a boring sensor to watch) and simple displays:

https://imgur.com/a/FiygpoS

robotguyon The Engineering of Duct Tape [video]

From experience: several layers of self-amalgamating tape and liquid electrical tape will produce a wire splice that is waterproof to 6000 meters.

robotguyon Seven Dyson Sphere Candidates

Is anyone else here old enough for this comment section to trigger nostalgia for alt.rec.science-fiction.science?

robotguyon Ask HN: What have you built with ESPHome, ESP8266 or similar hardware

I would be interested in hearing about what kind of "programming" you considered for the "Home". I have been over-ambitiously thinking about a project like this (been calling it my "Building X" project) using an RPi and small screen in the window. I was planning to basically run a soap opera, where the system would usually run idle loops (like a screensaver[1]) but elements of plot could play occasionally when a presence detector verified someone was around to watch. I was envisioning users being able to subscribe to the type of story they wanted to see; murder mystery, rom-com, scifi, etc. Unfortunately I'm a hardware guy, not a TV producer so I never got anywhere.

The frosted windows and NeoPixels are brilliant!

[1] Johnny Castaway: The story! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVgGfKY91Lg

robotguyon First ever autonomous car race in Abu Dhabi finishes despite issues

From what I understand, F1 is about "emphasizing the importance of driver talent and creating a level playing field", hence the ban of tech like traction control. As an engineer, I'd love to see what the technology could do if unleashed. However, it's probably expensive and I doubt will catch the interest of anyone but uberNerds like me.

robotguyon Ask HN: What have you built with ESPHome, ESP8266 or similar hardware

I built a meter so I can see at a glance how many people are on the Minecraft server where I play:

https://imgur.com/a/QHpVbY1

White dots at the bottom are WS2812 LEDs that light up when specific players are online.

robotguyon Descent: A classic 3-D first-person shooter (2012)

In the late 90’s I worked for an inventor prototyping a 6dof controller. We spent many hours “testing” in Descent. Good times…

robotguyon Pi Day

A bit late but a note for next year:

Entemann’s snack pies are square…

robotguyon Kākāpō – A web bundler for Nix strings with context

I’m a big Adam’s fan and Last Chance to See is my favorite book of his. It’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the title.

If you’re interested, try the audiobook. It’s narrated by Adam’s himself.

robotguyon Phones track everything but their role in car wrecks

At my last job, subsidiary of a pretty large corporation, it was not only against company policy to use a phone while driving on-the-clock , it was forbidden to text or even call someone if you knew they were driving. Not very enforceable, but at least it established the intent.

robotguyon Why do some people feel tired all the time?

Oh man, I had something like that as a kid, for my overbite. It was called a bionator and was like a retainer on steroids.

robotguyon Ask HN: Recommendations for videos/documentaries about building things

Furniture restorers, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and all manner of skilled craftsmen and women have been brought together in one extraordinary space to restore much loved possessions to their former glory.

BBC show but also on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@TheRepairShop

robotguyon Lessons learned from bringing promotional sweets to a conference

Malicious charger = Trojan horse?

robotguyon Enthusiasts struggle to keep model railway industry on track

https://www.miniatua.com/work/ibm1401/

robotguyon Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

You might check out the Platinum Pro Use II.

https://www.jetpens.com/Platinum-Pro-Use-II-05-Drafting-Penc...

They’re out of production and even more expensive than a Rotring, but it’s my fave (even more than my R800). You can get them occasionally on EBay.

robotguyon Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

>I realized I was being a little ridiculous

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing...

robotguyon Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

I got into it watching Adam Savage. The method he uses is really easy; glue & staples, build all 6 sides, cut off the top with the table saw.

One Day Builds: Adam Savage Makes Something Wonderful from Scratch https://youtu.be/-tUHJnl8qPM?si=d8eQ99XiqqKUzWRe

Here's a few of mine:

https://imgur.com/a/O9ybg

https://imgur.com/a/ChgDJ

https://imgur.com/a/U4XSO

https://imgur.com/a/e3ZG0

https://imgur.com/a/DMdMS

robotguyon Ask HN: What are your hobbies?

I have moved beyond hobbies into METAHOBBIES.

Specifically: Collecting Hobbies.

I find that following my ADHD hyperfocus until the next shiny thing comes along has led to a massively diverse array of introductory knowledge and mediocre skills (as well as a garage stuffed full with bins of unfinished projects). Specifically in the last two years I have dabbled in:

  home automation (incl. Node Red, LoRa, MQTT on Raspberry Pi)

  weather stations

  terrariums

  greenhouse climate control

  making wooden boxes

  Minecraft

  mechanical pencils

  fountain pens

  notebooks

  bookbinding (custom notebooks)

  Dungeons & Dragons

I realized years ago that I had to embrace the change and I try to dip my toe into any hobby that appeals at the time with as minimal monetary outlay as possible. I find interests tend to resurface after a while, and the skills/tools/materials for one can generally be used somewhere else down the road.

I have found that I learn something and increase my skillset with every unfinished project. That leads to, over the long run, being able to get more accomplished in less time on newer projects. The real treasures are the friends you made ^h^h^h^h^h things you learned along the way.