Tweets
It’s hard to overstate how stoked I feel every time I see someone assemble their own Open Book :) https://twitter.com/stephen_hawes_/status/1366487259915182090
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Replying to @_nitz
this reminds me of a found art object that I saw on display recently.
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Replying to @commonmodechonk
According to Reddit, if it didn’t burn up (which, sure, it probably did), it could have had enough velocity to escape the solar system? big if true :) https://old.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/7qh5gc/self_no_that_nuclear_manhole_cover_didnt_make_it/
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Replying to @josecastillo
another footnote: that Soviet probe, “Luna-1”, reached heliocentric orbit by mistake. They meant to crash it into the moon, but it missed by 4000 miles, living out that popular quote: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/luna-01/in-depth/
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Replying to @josecastillo
to be clear I’m exaggerating a bit. the “grenade” was an explosive charge adapted from WWII-era anti-tank grenades. And there was science behind it; the hope was to use bits that fell to earth to study re-entry. still, interesting footnote in space history https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/1957-two-tiny-pellets-were-first-man-made-objects-escape-earths-gravity-180954622/
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The 1st craft to escape Earth was a Soviet probe in 1959. Technically tho it’s the 2nd manmade thing to do this: in 1957, 12 days post-Sputnik, the US launched a grenade into space & blew it up, hoping a fragment would escape and give us bragging rights. This feels very on-brand.
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Replying to @apocraphilia
I enjoyed this greatly :)
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Replying to @bikerglen
(I’m not saying that this is the definitive date when you could call us a spacefaring society, just giving it as a potential example)
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Replying to @bikerglen
Perhaps not an absolute zero for the universe, but maybe for the planet or the solar system? Could tie it to a celestial event, or something historical. Like our spacefaring epoch began in 1959, when we first sent a craft out of Earth’s gravity well. That’d make this the year 62.
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thinking about time. Epoch, really; starting points. Most folks count time using a religious calendar, where the year is either 2021, 5781 or 1442, depending on your affiliation. Wondering if there’s a candidate for a better beginning, a more universally relevant point of origin.
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Replying to @RWB93174525 and @oshpark
Even without sensors, I’m also stoked on different methods of timekeeping; it could be fun to have Earth time and Mars time on the same wristwatch :) https://www.planetary.org/articles/20130606-programmable-mars-watch
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weird flex but ok. let’s see how this goes! (may need to apply some nail polish to those exposed test pads, but otherwise everything seems to fit so far)
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Replying to @josecastillo
(for the record: if I’m ever tempted to charge money for my useless tweets, I promise to figure out how to block myself from this hellsite before I visit that particular nonsense on any of y’all)
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twitter should just let us set our own prices for everything, wild west style like the iphone app store circa 2008. let me charge $999.99 for one exclusive tweet that ends up being garbage. i get rich, they get rich, everyone else learns to live with disappointment. https://twitter.com/verge/status/1365005189070147590
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personally I think tweets should cost money to post. the dumber your shitposts, the more you have to pay — and the profits go to the people dunking on your garbage take. want to write a seventeen-part thread getting upset about genderless potato head? fine. that’ll be $5,000. https://twitter.com/verge/status/1365005189070147590
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Post an image of yourself as the final boss without downloading new pics.
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Replying to @josecastillo
(as a side note, none of these people or homes are real)
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prove you’re human.
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Replying to @chip_space and @james_oliver
This was super helpful, as a matter of fact; thanks for the links!!
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I know we’re all geeking out over @NASAPersevere’s landing, but let’s not forget that we have another whole-ass rover on Mars. @MarsCuriosity has been off-roading like a beast for 8 years, sending back epic stuff like this 214 megapixel panorama last month https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25512/curiositys-view-of-benches-on-mars/?site=msl
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Replying to @james_oliver
The one I want to wear involves a temperature sensor for long hikes; take it off and put it outside the tent, log overnight lows while camping. Other ideas: step counter, compass, TOTP generator. With Percy on Mars tho, I might do some math next week to have it show Martian time.
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Replying to @_ptrks and @MicrochipMakes
Awesome! I would definitely take a look at @travisgoodspeed and @GregDavill’s work in this space; I learned a lot from their designs: https://github.com/travisgoodspeed/goodwatch/ https://github.com/gregdavill/advent-calendar-of-circuits-2020/tree/main/arm-watch
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Replying to @_ptrks and @MicrochipMakes
SAM L22 J, I should say, the 64QFN version. The N variant has 48 SLCD pins, but I think you’d have to use the BGA package to fit it inside a watch.
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Replying to @_ptrks
Thanks! I used the @MicrochipMakes SAM L22 in a QFN package. It has 31 segment LCD pins, which is plenty for the F91-W’s three common and 24 segment pins. Which Casio watch were you considering?
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Replying to @robocallaghan
The buttons do work, but I also have a little extension board on the way that would let me add a low power accelerometer. I was imagining it could sleep after a period of time without any motion.
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when I was a kid I was always taking things apart. sometimes they even got put back together! This watch has been sitting in pieces in an envelope for weeks. now it’s back together, with a total brain replacement in the form of a low power ARM microcontroller. still, not done yet
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Replying to @bateskecom
My thought is less around radios and more around native USB, which (for me, anyway) would be a point in favor of RP2040 or ESP32-S2. I think native USB opens up a lot of possibilities.
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Replying to @bateskecom
Original ESP32, or ESP32-S2?
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Replying to @fast_code_r_us
I imagine so; there’s been mention of an automated pipeline that converts and posts the images. I think (though I’m not an expert) that the raw data that gets downlinked is JPEG, or a JPEG-like format called ICER. And the video will be encoded with FFmpeg: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-020-00765-9
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Replying to @josecastillo
really wish @twitter would stop algorithmically cropping and just let us specify where the action is. like, long shadows from the rocks and pebbles are cool, but the best part is the martian sun dipping below distant, ancient hills on the horizon.
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ok this is amazing. The raw #Perseverance images (linked) are coming down one channel at a time in black & white, but you can combine them into color images yourself. I think this was the rover’s first Martian sunset. (note: I did lighten this image a bit) https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/ https://twitter.com/BeckePhysics/status/1363657930885771268
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Replying to @arturo182 and @witnessmenow
this is why I will never have more than a fleeting presence on youtube
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Replying to @josecastillo
that should take me to summer, and a chance to see how all is going and take stock again.
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Replying to @josecastillo
so my thinking is: focus on sensor watch. it lacks the broad appeal of the open book, but it’s something I can do now, and a first step from selling bare PCB’s to full widgets. Open Book next, in two variants: the Feather-compatible main one, and the Pi Pico “Abridged Edition”.
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Replying to @josecastillo
the third is Pycorder. it will look different; the touch matrix gives good demo, but a navigation joystick will be easier to use. This one also makes sense, I think. Alas, the display piece is so expensive that it doesn’t really make sense to make and sell them at my small scale.
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Replying to @josecastillo
the second is Sensor Watch. it’ll require that I nail down a TON of software support, but I have the whole platform in my head; the thing makes enormous sense to me. it’s also a simple enough design that I could assemble them a panel at a time in the shop and drop them on tindie.
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taking stock today. I’ve made a few Oddly Specific Objects over the last year or two, but there are three that feel like they make sense to put forward in the world. The first (Open Book) I have, to some extent, though that’s on hold until the world’s less upside down (maybe Q2?)
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Replying to @RWB93174525
I don’t but that’s a great question! I’ll measure that today.
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Replying to @GammaGames
Sounds like sounds of the city, I’ve been in Brooklyn so long I don’t even notice a stray siren :)
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Replying to @josecastillo
This is with the ultra low power 32K oscillator, which won’t keep time as well as an external crystal; that’ll probably draw another µA. I also imagine firing up I²C devices on occasion. But I could also turn off the LCD from time to time too. Good start, but could go up or down.
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this is fantastic. A colleague was kind enough to lend me his Atmel Power Debugger, so I have better power numbers for the watch. Updating the screen once per second and sleeping in between draws ~14µA on average. Which means… 10 months of battery life? Not a bad starting point.
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In under four hours, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised a million dollars for struggling Texans. Not to make political hay of this, but it could be such good hay for @tedcruz to activate his network of supporters, ask them to give to food banks and relief orgs as well. https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1362595095489429505
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.@AOC is trying to raise $1M by midnight to help vulnerable people in Texas. I just gave. 100% of your donation goes to: the Houston Food Bank, Feeding Texas, Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, Family Eldercare, & the Bridge Homeless Recovery Center. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/aoc-social-20210218/ https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1362561593779892225
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what a time to be alive. Raw feed from mission control here; we’re attempting to land on Mars within the hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPrbJ63qUc4
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Austin Fire Department also warns that hydrants may not be working due to the low water pressure. https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/02/18/some-fire-hydrants-austin-may-not-working-lack-water-pressure-winter-storm-texas/6796213002/ https://twitter.com/LuckieKathy/status/1362389129854480385
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from later in the thread: “This is our Katrina.” Why are we not talking about a massive FEMA mobilization to Texas? Yes they’re sending blankets and generators. But people are freezing to death, pipes are burst, systems are failing. And it’s going to hit 20° tonight (-7° C). https://twitter.com/ConorKenny/status/1362274022709420033
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fortune favors the prepared.
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RT @M_uh_lee: I am so worried about my family and friends back home. Some are also losing access to water due to burst pipes. This is indee…
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Replying to @bigjoshlevine
more immediately, i wonder if there’s some way to hasten that process so we don’t pointlessly burn more terawatt-hours between now and then.
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Replying to @m03da
Custom board replacement! With a low power ARM Cortex M0 microcontroller.
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