pho4cexa @pho4cexa@tiny.tilde.website

therecently, i hooked up a usb isp programmer to the pro micro and made the mistake of connecting its vcc pin to the pin marked vcc on the pro micro (i should have connected it to "raw.")

the pro micro started smoking!

welp, this means i can go back to using a 5v

so i got that put together and decided to try connecting a 5 cent speaker. did, enabled the option in the firmware, and now my ergonomic wireless mechanical keyboard plays a happy song when it turns on! it was surprisingly simple!

i've been envying @vilmibm's new mitosis because it has a low profile neoprene base, compared to a bulky acrylic case on mine

i thought i couldn't simply remove my case, because the screws that attach it could not be extracted from the plate/pcb sandwich without unsoldering all the switches.

i just learned through experimentation that they recede into the board just enough that (although i can't get them out) they don't rattle around or short circuit

so now my mitosis is low profile too 👍

glamour shot of @vilmibm's new mitosis. look at that slim profile just look at it.

we sat in the sun painstakingly cleaning up every knockout on the plates with strips of abrasive paper. fiberglass dust? yolo.
we diagnosed and repaired a solder bridge that formed behind tiny pins, under the wireless module.
we (re)learned how to convince belligerent software to do the thing.
we breathed too much solder smoke.
the results speak for themselves.
teamwork y'all
#mechanicalkeyboards

heck yeah i had a great time helping my friend @vilmibm bring another mitosis into the world #mechanicalkeyboards

and i'm kinda jealous, his with neoprene base and kailh box navy thick clicky bois is more cybre than mine!

neon moon for scale

#mechanicalkeyboards experimenting

this is the left side of a split keyboard that fits within 10cm square

the goal here was to tweak the layout of the mitosis such that all keys are reachable without moving the wrist

i'm grumpy about photos of collections of #mechanicalkeyboards in display cases

it's like framing expensive running shoes or circular saws on the wall

they're tools! better tools than their mass-manufactured counterparts, and they're too expensive for many people who would otherwise enjoy using them

most of their appeal is in the layout, keyfeel, firmware features, led effects, and hackability

they should be used!

give (or sell at a discount) your extra to someone who needs it!

harumph

there's a billboard near my place proclaiming "discover the forest" (https://www.discovertheforest.org)

i'm mad at it

they put it there just to taunt me

there's no fucking forests here!

it's all shrubbery, cacti, and dirt mounds the color of dead grass

i have to drive an hour up a mountain to find sufficient quantities of trees to blot out the malevolent daystar, and consider myself lucky that's so close

meanwhile, 5 minutes from downtown portland, you can almost smell it through the screen:

Tip for new Mastodon users:
1. Do a search for a hashtag (try #introductions or #mastoart)
2. Pin it as a column
3. Filter that same hashtag out of your Home column so you don't see its toots twice

I'm a copyleft nut but I've got plenty of critiques of the FSF and I don't uncritically revere Richard Stallman, really I don't,

but wow do I love this artwork

Illustrator: Nathan Fox http://www.ba-reps.com/illustrators/nathan-fox

Published in: https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201611/are-we-forfeiting-control-over-our-digital-lives

who would win
frugality and responsible budgeting
or many box navy thick clacky bois

well

Neon Moon, a retro-futuristic cyberpunk tarot deck by @PixelOccult featuring original illustrations for all 78 cards, is now crowdfunding:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixeloccult/neon-moon-tarot

Passed a booth at PyCon for the AstroHaus Freewrite, a Kickstarter-backed "distraction-free writing tool" combining a small e-ink screen with a mechanical keyboard in a fixed plastic shell for a whopping $550.

I inquired about the firmware.

"Actually it runs Debian!" said the dude.

"Oh! So I could install ssh and..."

"No," he said incredulously, "we're not going to give people root!"

TFW name-dropping one of the most freedom-focused OSes to sell a device that restricts those same freedoms.

TIL

1. the ErgoDox EZ is hardware-compatible with the o.g. ErgoDox because it replicates the Teensy2.0 circuit on its own PCB(!)

2. …except for this circuit of capacitors and… is that an inductor? and there's more than one. what the heck is that for

3. the power from a USB port is quite noisy

4. LC (inductor-capacitor) circuits are used as bandpass filters

5. If you have a lot of capacitors for filtering, you risk an initial "inrush of current"

but every answer brings 3 new questions…

from 2005
that's *counts on fingers*
13!? years ago
dang i got old
also CGA-ified, seems appropriate for such an ancient photo

In 2016 I learned the Overwatch backstory has machines, in relationships with humans, struggling for personhood. I got too old for FPS but that right there is my jam.

I still haven't played it though. Have they fleshed out that part of the story at all?

Also pls recommend to me any #scifi stories you like that include this thematic element kthx.

I don't use mice but this is fascinating from a design perspective. The "Statial Mouse," an adjustable mouse chassis, printed fully assembled, designed to replace the stock top chassis of the $9 Logitech M100: http://www.pyottdesign.com/statial01.html

Got this copy of "Computers and Thought" (1963) free from a rack of books about to be pulped while dropping off a stack of cardboard at the recycling center today.

summoning up a new friend from the nether

or sweet DIY mesh network

(ty https://hackers.town/@thegibson/99175730000033866 )

brain: hey i got a great idea
me: busy
brain: it'll change the world
me: later
brain: it'll fix all the things you hate about the internet
me: okay fine what is it
brain: so it's just like this except
me: gtfo

me: what is it, brain, can't you see I have a lot to do?

brain: i maked these

[trips, giant xanadu-esque all-thought-consuming abstract unrealistic blue-sky project ideas spill all over the table]