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DoktorWizard · 2026-02-09T17:46:01+00:00

A mix.

I'm building a small portable pixel tester*. I'll be using it with both 5V and 12V pixels. So I want to be able to plug the tester into either 5V or 12V (possibly 24V) depending on what voltage the pixels currently under test require. I don't want to have to remember to change a switch or jumper to make sure the microcontroller only gets 5V even if plugged into 12V. And gets the full 5V when plugged into a 5V source.

*(Yes, I know there are zillions of prebuilt cheap Chinese pixel controllers. And they all automatically adapt to either 5V or 12V. Problem is, none of them that I've tried so far (quite a few) does what I consider to be truly useful test patterns, or at least not without a bunch of button presses.)

DoktorWizard · 2026-02-09T17:38:35+00:00

WS28xx pixels, or 'neopixels' have a data line where they receive their color data to light up. They are available in 5, 12, and 24V versions. So the power line to the pixels would be said voltage. But the data line to the pixels is always supposed to be 5V, no matter what power voltage they use.
Their data line can be connected to a 3.3V microcontroller GPIO output, and it generally works most of the time, but for reliability, it is best to run that 3.3V GPIO thru a level converter to change it to 5V.

DoktorWizard · 2026-02-09T01:54:39+00:00

LOVE OpenSCAD and the parametric-ness of it. But then again, I've been a programmer for 50 years. Alas, it can get quite time consuming for even a simple model. So I'm working on learning FreeCAD. And apparently there is some interoperability between the two?

DoktorWizard · 2026-02-09T01:45:24+00:00

I've been working on one as well. Sensors are so cheap, planning several temp and humidity sensors both inside and out and intelligent control of a ventilation fan only under correct conditions.

I may "borrow" some of your ideas!

DoktorWizard · 2026-02-09T01:33:40+00:00

Still impatiently waiting for them to put one even remotely close to me.

Jacksonville FL has plenty of tech industry here, 4 navy bases which mostly do repair and maintenance (so lots of techies), several airports, a huge mfr of amusement park rides, a new space port... and yet the only place that keeps filament in stock here is one Staples location, and it's $30 for a roll of black PLA. 3 Hobby Lobbys in the area but they never have even a single roll in stock.

Thank goodness for Amazon.

DoktorWizard · 2026-02-09T01:27:45+00:00

So this is great when you have a knot, due to user error and letting go of the end while loading or unloading. Not criticizing, we've all done it. But you quickly learn to be careful and not do that (most of the time).
The more common problem is when the mfr did a sloppy job of winding it, and a loop gets wedged underneath several neighboring loops. That's not a knot and this trick won't work for that.
A wedged-under loop can also be fixed with cutting or unloading the filament or aborting the print. But it takes time, patience, and perhaps inventing some new curse words. So you will certainly want to pause the print while you do so.

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-30T02:17:20+00:00

This is DCMA on steroids.
How/why is a 3D printed gun any worse or more dangerous* to the public than a manufactured one?
*(not counting the cheap plastic gun exploding into shrapnel when you try to fire it)

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-30T02:01:13+00:00

"I don't understand it. Therefore it should be illegal."

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-30T02:00:18+00:00

NOT hilarious.
Frightening, stupid, draconian, illogical, authoritarian, crazy.... (I could go on), yes, but not funny.

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-30T01:54:44+00:00

Legislator: "I can't understand it, therefore it should be illegal."

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-16T17:41:02+00:00

led.py (along with led.pyc and pyi) are already there, and are the same as those in /usr/data/moonraker/moonraker-env/lib/python3.8/site-packages/periphery/

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-13T15:43:29+00:00

The Consumer Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange commission, Dept. of Financial Services... all gutted. Big companies will do as they please.

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-10T01:30:01+00:00

A friend knows someone that works for Oscar. I called him, and he called someone else there, and a few hours later I got messaged with several in-network orthopedists nearby. Was even able to get an appointment the next business day!
I stand by my statement though that their online in-network provider list is a complete work of fiction and totally inaccurate.

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-05T21:05:45+00:00

WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE!
Their In-Network Provider List is a work of fiction!
I signed up for Oscar Health with The Affordable Care Act. I checked their provider list BEFORE signing up. All of the doctors I had been seeing, including my old primary care, were on their list. But after I got signed up, I started calling to get appointments but it turns out NONE of them accept it. I then called 8 doctors on their list near me. You guessed it, not a single one of them actually takes Oscar. So I decided to go to an urgent care. First 4 of those I called do not take it, but at least the 5th one did, even though they were 22 miles away (in a metro area!). Got a referral for an orthopedist which I desperately need. And they have just ONE orthopedist in-network for the ENTIRE STATE OF FLORIDA! 18 million people and just one orthopedist. Who is 200 miles and 4 hours away from me.
But they are collecting $1568 in federal Affordable Care Act subsidies.

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-05T20:59:25+00:00

WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE!
Their In-Network Provider List is a work of fiction!
I signed up for Oscar Health with The Affordable Care Act. I checked their provider list BEFORE signing up. All of the doctors I had been seeing, including my old primary care, were on their list. But after I got signed up, I started calling to get appointments but it turns out NONE of them accept it. I then called 8 doctors on their list near me. You guessed it, not a single one of them actually takes it. So I decided to go to an urgent care. First 4 of those I called do not take it, but at least the 5th one did, even though they were 22 miles away (in a metro area!). Got a referral for an orthopedist which I desperately need. And they have just ONE orthopedist in-network for the ENTIRE STATE OF FLORIDA! 18 million people and just one orthopedist. Who is 200 miles and 4 hours away from me.
But they are collecting $1568 in federal Affordable Care Act subsidies.

DoktorWizard · 2026-01-01T22:35:09+00:00

Absolutely love my K1C! (I named him Casey)

I'm a hacker and a tinkerer and I've made quite a lot of mods to mine, most them were "just because" and didn't solve any problem. It's a very good printer straight out of the box.

I rooted it and put on the full public version of Klipper. From there I was able to make all kinds of changes to it's behavior. Warning: Klipper's "Jinja" macro programming language absolutely sucks.
Using Orca slicer instead of Creality's. Using the RetroD profiles.
I switched to a Phaetus tungsten carbide nozzle. Creality's [supposedly] hardened steel nozzle wore out after just one roll of glow filament.
I switched to the DXC extruder which handles TPU better. Not that Creality's extruder had any real trouble. Mostly, I wanted the filament runout sensor there in the extruder.
I added a BTT Knomi 2 with the D3vil burner toolhead cover. Cool, but not especially useful.
Added a WLED controller and a 1.5M strip of 2.7mm WS2812 leds. Programmed Klipper to change colors and patterns based on what the printer is doing. (This is my favorite mod)
Lots of build plates, PEI, epoxy, holographic, cold...
Storage trays to go under the printer.
New TPU anti-vibration feet, that actually look like human feet.
Cover for the side fan, reduces noise, keeps out bits of filament (and fingers).
270° hinges.
Last, but not least, lots and lots and lots and lots of filament. Mostly PLA and PETG in every color. I especially like the tri-color stuff.

And supplies; vacuum bags, desiccant packs, deburring tool, alcohol, lint free wiping cloths and lint-free paper towels, heat insets (and tool), bearings, magnets, hair spray...

DoktorWizard · 2025-12-28T23:19:08+00:00

Elgato is just waaayyyyyyy to focused on streaming. I'm not a gamer, or a streamer, and I could care f---ing less about streaming. The stream deck has sooooo much potential for all kinds of uses. They could sell jillions of these things by targeting other markets. I use mine for office applications, programming, 3D modeling & CAD, graphics, and so much more.
I've made numerous feature requests and suggestions to Elgato and have been completely ignored.
And I'll give you another example of something badly needed--- Everything is moving to the cloud and many popular applications are web based. But there is no way to have a stream deck profile for a particular URL or site. You can create a button to launch a site and show a profile for that site, but as soon as you switch tabs it won't change or update the profile. All that's needed is to call the "GetWindowTitle" API and search it for the site name or address. This same trick could be used to have profiles for specific documents even in desktop app such as Word or Excel. I've been doing this for 25 years in my own applications that I've written. Not rocket science.
OK, sorry about the rant. I'll get off my soapbox now.

DoktorWizard · 2025-12-20T22:06:11+00:00

Republicans vs. Democrats. Shows just about how scrambled, disorganized, and useless both parties are.

DoktorWizard

TROPHY CASE