deshipu

deshipu, 14 days ago to random

The raspberry pi pico could be 1/3 shorter if you just removed all the extra gnd pins.

deshipu, 9 months ago to random

I have insomnia again, and that means I'm designing PCBs again. I decided to move my design for the µGame 22 handheld console from my original design in Fritzing to EasyEDA. Got most of the largest components placed, now I need to find all the caps, resistors, crystal and flash memory, and also redo the power switching and stabilization – those are actually the new things for me.

a 3d rendering of the handheld console pcb
an assembled earlier version of the handheld console

deshipu, 13 days ago to random

Whenever people learn that I can draw, make computer games, design electronics, and build tiny robots, they always insist that this should be my day job, because it's such a waste for me to be a software engineer.

I usually just tell them that those jobs don't pay well in comparison, and that shuts them up, with a vague complaint about capitalism.

But I'm actually offended that they consider those things more valuable somehow than my problem solving and programming experience and skills.

deshipu, 10 days ago to random

Looking at the state of the software industry, I expect to be forcibly brought back from retirement in some 15-20 years from now, if I will even be allowed to retire.

deshipu, 8 months ago to Electronics

An #electronics question. I have a number of displays that have 0.7mm pitch on their ribbon connector. But searching LCSC, Mouser and Digikey yields no FPC connectors with 0.7mm pitch. There are literally all other pitches, except for 0.7mm. What am I missing? Am I searching wrong? Is this secretly some other pitch? Where and how do I find connectors for those displays?

deshipu, 1 year ago to random

What bothers me about the autistic spectrum is that it's always presented with hardcore, debilitating autism on one end, and "normal" on the other. But that's not how those things usually work, is it? The actual normal is usually somewhere in the middle, and the far end of the spectrum is only called "normal" because it's those people who got to name it.

deshipu, 25 days ago to random

Ever wondered why so many people say "I wish I was born 100 years earlier, back when there were so many opportunities" and almost nobody says "I wish I would be born 50 years later, when the inevitable progress has improved the technology, medicine, and society, and solved most of the problems that I have to deal with today"?

deshipu, 1 year ago to random

For everyone who is annoyed at people not using only real words, I have sad news for you: all words are made up. Every single on one of them.

deshipu, 23 days ago to random

Programming is a lot like other human creative endeavors, but because it's so young, it didn't really break into all those pieces that such things normally do, and so we have a lot of people talking about completely different things over each other. Compare it to music, for example. There are different genres: games, kernels, embedded, websites, servers, abstract problems, etc. and there are different uses: hobbyists, coders, engineers, sysadmins, security, researchers, etc.

deshipu, 7 days ago to random

Traveling for #PyConUS tomorrow. Bringing some #CircuitPython robots and handhelds with me. Catch me if you want to see them and/or talk about Python on microcontrollers.

fluffy bunny spider robot walking

deshipu, 15 days ago to random

When I was a kid, when I was sick I would go to a doctor, who would check the symptoms, tell me exactly what disease it is, and prescribe a medicine that would cure it in a few days.

Today when I'm sick I go to the doctor, who checks the symptoms and shrugs helplessly, then prescribes medicine to alleviate the symptoms which I have to take indefinitely, and I still feel sick.

They surely improved the business model.

deshipu, 16 days ago to random

The PewPew LCD boards arrived, unfortunately the fab house didn't have the microcontrollers or displays in stock, so I will have to add those manually. Luckily it's only 50 units.

deshipu, 1 year ago to random

Industrial design used to follow fads and fashions. Sharp corners/rounded corners. Dark/light colors. Round buttons/square buttons. You could roughly tell what year a device was designed by its looks. That stopped about a decade ago. Today the style is not decided by the designers or users, but by the venture capital billionaires, and those are not changing. Sure, you get variation in styles depending on what it is – one billionaire controls TVs, another controls cars. But no fashion anymore.

deshipu, 1 year ago to random

Maybe I should learn Blender?

deshipu, 1 year ago to random

Should I feel validated about all the things that used to be fashionable in my time that I didn't buy into, that turned out to be extremely bad ideas in the end?

deshipu, 11 months ago to random

We don't care what you wanted to see, if it's not cat photos and communist propaganda, tough luck.

deshipu, 1 year ago to random

I made a 50% version of the Fluffbug #robot, so now it's time to make the 200% version. Got the servos ordered, but before that I made some simple measurements with some old servos I had lying around. This time I will need a much beefier battery, and since it's 2S, no built-in charging, but I will need a buck converter. Not sure if I want to stick to microcontrollers or put an SBC on it.

the weebug, a 50% version of fluffbug
some mocks for the bigbug, a 200% version of fluffbug

deshipu, 8 months ago to random

The web browser situation is really the two party system, isn't it? On one hand you have rampant capitalism and exploitation, and on the other extreme incompetence, arrogance, and disregard for users. And both sponsored by the same lobbyists, working to take away control from the users.

deshipu, 25 days ago to ArtificialIntelligence

I still need to write the assembly instructions for my tiny #robot project Wee Bug (and Moo Bug). Last time I tried IKEA-style instructions, and people struggled. I'm thinking about doing it as a comic book this time around, what do you think?

deshipu, 19 hours ago to random

Remember that automation is not about removing effort, it's all about packaging it in convenient ways so that it can be stored and moved around. Sometimes you get some savings due to bunching up of similar things or economy of scale, but most of the time the perceived savings are simply because the real effort is hidden away or deferred. Whether it's Jacquard looms, language models, github actions, self-driving cars, or robot food delivery, someone is doing (or has done, or will do) the work.

deshipu, 19 days ago to random

What's the point of it all if in the end you arrive at a widely accepted opinion?

deshipu, 10 days ago to random

There were no left-handed people in the 14th century. They were just clumsy.

There were no color-blind people in the 18th century. They were just not paying attention.

There were no people with ADHD in the 20th century. They were just lazy.

As the requirements the society puts on us increase, completely new forms of disability are invented.

deshipu, 19 days ago to random

Should I go eat lunch, or should I continue waiting for a PCB delivery?

deshipu, 7 days ago to random

What if there was a university-developed, EU-sponsored, open source reference implementation of an operating system for consumer devices, and all consumer devices sold in EU had to be compatible with it, in addition to optionally having their own operating system, developed by the manufacturer?

deshipu, 18 days ago to random

disfunctional programming