Having moved my gaming pc back to Windows (yes I know…) due to a big upgrade in processor and graphics card (9800X3D and RTX 5080) I have been setting up a stats screen using AIDA64. One area that was lacking however was the ability for me to pull in MQTT data and display it on the sensor panel. Time to fire up Visual Studio.
Having just taken the rhe jump from Arch linux over to Fedora 40 (due to some recent AMD related graphics issues,) on my gaming pc Euclid, I needed to document the quirks of my system so the next time I swap around it will be less painful!
I love living by the Seaside, I have lived near it all of my life and I do not think I would ever want to leave it behind.
I have deployed websites using Wordpress for many years, I have hosted this site and draytronics.co.uk using Wordpress. But as for all the upsides of convenience and familiarity, as time has gone on I have been less and less happy with security, performance and bloat. Even the simplicity of editing has taken a backwards step over the years.
So I have taken the opportunity to reconsider and move this site over to Hugo, and run it on some low power hardware with a vintage and fun twist.
When I was idly browsing Instagram I came across an advert for (in my opinion) an incredibly expensive (€139) glass brick light. I can’t find the original advert but I believe this article shows the light from the same company.
The light used manual filters to change the colour, was not smart and I think was a lot for what is mainly one glass brick. I thought I could do better and for a lot cheaper, so I did.
This is a relatively complete guide on how to build a mechanical keyboard prototype and get it functioning with QMK. Two different microcontrollers will be demonstrated (ATMegs32A, ATMega328P) and it should provide a solid starting point for anyone wishing to build a keyboard from the ground up. This is going to the the base I build on with an aim to designing, testing and producing a selection of full keyboards.
The subject of this blog is a build log, that will cover my build of a 3D printed hand wired 40% keyboard. It will include basic details on 3D printing, hand wiring, general assembly and software programming with QMK along with references to the guides I used.
Building a NeoPixel LED Controller with MQTT and HomeKit support. Expanding on my previous project to add LED lighting to my work area, I wanted to investigate a lower voltage and more customisable LED system. I had read about WS2812B or NeoPixel LEDs but had not built anything with them.
I have a work area that I wanted to provide some additional lighting for, and like everything else in my home I wanted it to work with Apple HomeKit. I did not want to spend a large amount of money buying something like a Phillips Hue Strip so I thought I would build my own. This will be a short guide to how I built a HomeKit Enabled WiFi LED Strip and the software I wrote to run it.
Classic Mac Emulation On macOS, having just resurrected my 2008 Mac Pro from the doldrums, it has now become a permanent feature in the office / retro basement. Giving me the opportunity to play about with some emulation options without disturbing my main work Mac.