The good folk at Seeed Studio have sent me a Rock Pi S to review. Since the original Raspberry Pi came out, there has been an explosion in Single Board Computers - but this one is special. It is miniscule - almost dominated by the Ethernet port. And the specifications are ridiculously good - considering this thing costs US$10 + postage. 256MB RAM USB-C power Ethernet 26 GPIO pins Another 26 pins for voice/audio (I2C, PCM, TDM, PDM, SPDIF, and HDMI ARC) And, of course, it runs Ubuntu! …
Continue reading →
We're all working from home now, right? I got this specific monitor for two reasons only: It rotates to vertical mode It was within my employer's home working budget There are no integrated USB hubs, no TV tuners, no gaming mode, no 4K, no HDR, no smarts. It is just a screen. That happens to rotate. Tech Specs Gloriously boring. For video, there's an HDMI socket. You also get a legacy VGA socket and a DVI. Audio is a 3.5mm jack in and out. That's your lot. It appears to have standard…
Continue reading →
There are lots of celelbrities and famous academics on Twitter. Then there's Professor Richard Feynman. Who died in 1988. Every so often, one of "his" pearls of wisdom is regurgitated into my Twitter feed. Prof. Feynman@ProfFeynmanWhen you are dead, you don't know you are dead. It's pain only for others.It's the same thing when you are stupid.❤️ 19,612💬 139♻️ 013:57 - Sat 22 February 2020 Except - and I hate to be a party pooper - this is a joke by the Belgian comedian Philippe Geluck. It has…
Continue reading →
Mostly notes to myself. My solar panels have an open API. But it's only available if I'm on the same network as the Fronius inverter. I can connect my system to https://www.solarweb.com/ so I can access it anywhere in the world - if I have the right password. SolarWeb has an (optional) guest mode. You can view the panels' performance if you know the secret URl. It looks something like this: https://www.solarweb.com/Home/GuestLogOn?pvSystemid=123-456-789 Visiting that URl sets some…
Continue reading →
Inspired by my friend Meri's WFH Setup Tips, I thought I'd share my home-working setup. We've moved house recently, so I'm still finding my feet - but as I work from home fairly often, and have a bit of RSI, I thought I'd show you what I've got and how I use it. The desk is just a plain IKEA table. Supplemented with a cheap Argos desk which didn't quite fit all my kit - so it becomes a side desk. Floor Much like Alec Guinness, I start with the the shoes. I don't wear any at home, and my…
Continue reading →
How are you enjoying lockdown, gang? I think I'm coping well. Perhaps a little too well… I was having virtual-drinks with some friends, when one of them said "How many people just aren't going to want to go back to commuting after this?" I've always been a bit of a homebody. I work from home a few days a week, so the latest shift hasn't been too disruptive. I used to do all my shopping online. Groceries and gadgets all arrived by courier. So no change there. All my media is electronic - b…
Continue reading →
I have a new Smart Meter to measure my electricity and gas usage. It's the Honeywell AS302P. It's a SMETS2 meter, which means it has a number of interesting features. ALCS (Auxiliary Load Control Switch) - this means that a car charger can be remotely started and stopped based on network demand. DCC connection - this means it can report back to my energy supplier every 30 minutes, and I can swap between providers quickly. High resolution usage - this means I can be charged on multiple time…
Continue reading →
I have solar panels! The UK mandates that my electricity supplier buys the surplus energy off me. They set a minimum price, known as the SEG (Smart Export Guarantee). My supplier - Bulb - pay me 5.38p for every kWh I export. I pay them about 13p for every kWh I import. You notice the discrepancy? When I tweeted about this, some people got angry on my behalf. How could I stand being ripped off like this? Why couldn't I sell electricity to my neighbours at full price? Personally, I'm quite…
Continue reading →
I walked into an unfamiliar toilet recently. You've probably done the same, looking around to find the stalls, work out whether the driers are near the sinks, if there's soap available. I was completely taken aback when I saw this monstrosity of a sink. It's well known that we Brits love our separate hot and cold taps - but I'd never seen anything like this before! Why are the taps so far away from the spigot? This is the Principle of Proximity. One of the oldest principles of…
Continue reading →
Half-a-dozen years ago, I proposed that web developers spend one day a year browsing without JavaScript. It's a great way to see how the web works when things break. Similarly, April 9th is CSS Naked Day. A chance to throw off the shackles of good design, and see the raw beauty of your HTML. Today is intended for websites to remove their own style sheets - as this blog has done. The idea behind this event is to promote Web Standards. Plain and simple. This includes proper use of HTML,…
Continue reading →
My wife wasn't allowed to go for a post-lunch nap yesterday. Our smarthome wouldn't let her... OK! OK! It wasn't as bad as all that. I built an Internet-connected electric blanket so I can yell at the Alexa to pre-warm the bed. One of the IoT switches needed a firmware update. All over and done with in a few minutes. But I can't help wondering how much time we lose to software updates. Every time I turn on my games console, I have to wait for another interminable update. It's practically a…
Continue reading →
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the WiFi router supplied by your ISP is crap. It will be slow, buggy, and have an atrocious user interface. This is especially true of Virgin Media. The Arris manufactured router is so bad that they've released a supplemental app to help you manage your Internet connection. The app mostly reflects the options in the web UI - but adds one piece of new functionality. Pause Connection It lets you, the admin, temporarily suspend the Internet access…
Continue reading →
