Blog

First Steps with Winlink

Written on Sunday 20 Aug 2023

Just in time for this week, I saw a post from W0RMT advertising a Friday Winlink net, and figured I should take part! Winlink is a digital radio system that I’d not really considered using before. In terms of digital ham radio modes I’ve mostly played with the likes of...

Read more »
Spring, Year Four

Written on Friday 5 May 2023

Spring, year four. Just like each of the last thirty-something years, the blooming of the lilac trees brings with it May Day, my birthday, and the acceleration of Spring into the coming Summer. For the first time since I was three years old, one of those lilacs is in my...

Read more »
Making Meteograms in Python

Written on Sunday 9 Apr 2023

I have a couple of Raspberry Pi computers sitting around, and given the recent situation I figured I ought to at least use one for something. I thought I would have a go at some kind of passive information display, and discovered these ultra-widescreen displays which look pretty cool. At...

Read more »
Getting the Boat Back Together

Written on Sunday 26 Mar 2023

After seven years sat in storage, I have finally decided to dig my old RC boat out and have another go at it. I last touched it seven years ago, when I got it working as a remote control toy, but stopped short of getting it fully autonomous. There were...

Read more »
Look Mum, I made an AI!

Written on Saturday 4 Mar 2023

All the cool kids are making AI these days, and probably dooming the human race or whatever, so I made one too. Caveat: might just be a Markov chain bot? Ten years ago (ten years?!) I took part in something called NaNoGenMo—National Novel Generation Month. An alternative to its much...

Read more »
Rejecting the Infinite Scroll

Written on Saturday 28 Jan 2023

In an effort to be more conscious about time spent idly scrolling through “content” on my phone every day, I’ve decided on a new policy for apps: no infinite scroll. By this I mean making an effort not to use any app that offers an endless feed of posts or...

Read more »
Winter, Year Three

Written on Sunday 22 Jan 2023

Winter, Year Three. The cats put up with the frozen ground, while the foxes snooze on tarpaulin covering soil fertilised ready for the year to come.

Read more »
Weird Stuff from the Archives: ArmJoe

Written on Tuesday 20 Dec 2022

Over the years I have tried to preserve some of the weirdest software, videos etc I came into contact with, just in case someone years from now asks “hey, do you remember that…” and not only do I remember, I still have a copy. Today on “Weird Stuff from the...

Read more »
Ghost in the Machine: "Haunted WiFi" with Home Assistant

Written on Saturday 10 Dec 2022

Since starting to play with Home Assistant, it’s consistently impressed me with just how many possible integrations it has. From the things you’d expect, like Google Home, Siri, and smart lights, to the unexpected, like cars and smoke detectors, to the downright strange—it warms my weird little heart that I...

Read more »
A New Home Server Setup

Written on Saturday 10 Dec 2022

In a move that feels almost heretical, given my history with the devices, I am moving away from using Raspberry Pi computers for my various “home server” projects. This has been driven in particular by a desire to tidy up the area of desk used for Plane/Sailing by powering all...

Read more »

« Older Posts