Category: Blog

  • Maximising the fun in Linux

    Or in other words, I ditch NixOS because it’s awkward and weird, and I install Arch because it’s awkward and weird, but in a different way. And here’s my opinion. So I’ve been playing with NixOS for a few days now and while it does have some interesting features, it’s just a bit weird. I…

  • Making Computers Fun Again

    It’s nearly midnight, I’m supposed to be going to sleep but downstairs my Surface Pro 7+ is busy compiling a Linux kernel while installing NixOS. Getting that far required a lot of fussing about and a desk fan. And it’s great fun. I’ve not had this much entertainment from my computers since they looked like…

  • Well crap, my PC died

    Due to the untimely demise of my main PC, and it being the time of year where I have to get my car serviced, there will be a short break before my next video comes out. My PC that I edit video on is actually dead, it doesn’t even attempt to power up. This is…

  • Soldering a Solar Light in the Sun

    I bought a pair of cheapo outdoor solar lights from Amazon. One is on my shed round the back of the house, the other is on the shed at the front of the house. Yes, I have a bit of a shed obsession. After a few days the front one stopped working. I took it…

  • Sonoff Hacking to install Tasmota

    I bought some of those Sonoff BASIC smart switches off Amazon and flashed them with Tasmota. It’s a pretty painless affair, the programming contacts are right there on the board, and the case comes apart with your fingernails. What you’ve got to watch out for are idiot sellers on eBay trying to game the system…

  • I Just Broke WordPress…

    OK that was pretty strange. I wrote a blog post, hit submit and the front page of my WordPress installation just showed the white screen of death. The admin pages were working fine, but if I went into the post I’d just written to edit it, the edit screen crashed. Removing the post has fixed…

  • Figuring out a better video production workflow

    This is where I figure out a simpler way to make my videos, and it seems really obvious when I explain it. Which generally means it’s a good way to work. So when making videos I’ve gone through a bit of an evolution from loosely edited ramblings to scripted content where I carefully choose my…

  • Custom HomeAssistant display using openHASP

    It’s my opinion that if you’re going to fill your home with smart devices, they need to be easy to control and monitor. Having to pull a phone out a pocket just to switch some lights on is annoying. Equally, having to open a browser just to see the state of everything is equally annoying.…

  • Agon Light Graphics Tests

    It’s the Easter holidays and I’ve got two weeks off work. Amongst highly exciting things like weeding the garden and waiting for a new washing machine to be delivered, I’m doing some programming. After spending a bit too long remembering how my own code works, I managed to create a simple starfield that looks quite…

  • Learning how to draw things on the Agon Light

    I’ve been having a bit of a play around with my Agon Light, trying to come up with some ideas for a future video. I’ve discovered it has quite a nice 320×240 64 colour video mode that has just enough pixels to be interesting. Here’s a little thing I managed to create. It started off…