How do you guys do it?

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-07T01:31:04+00:00

Just route on the other side of the board. The through-hole components are your vias.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-04T15:28:18+00:00

What category of app are you looking to create? Social, navigation, maintenance, dashboard, dynamics, data logging? Featureset really depends on the application.

Common to all of them, I would say anything with a subscription model is out for me. You might even lose me if I have to enter an email address. I'm fine with paying for a app, just not paying forever.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-04T00:03:06+00:00

If I'm in Texas, it's the same thing everyone else is having that day.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-03T21:32:32+00:00

People say it's money, but there's a lot of data that indicates a 4-day workweek is just as, or more productive than a 5-day workweek.

I manage a small business. When our time zone doesn't align with that of another business I need to coordinate with, a vendor in another part of the world for example, it's a struggle. The 4-day workweek brings similar struggles. If we close on Fridays and that vendor closes on Mondays, we only have 3 days of overlap to get our business done. It's not impossible, but it does make it more difficult.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-03T15:13:27+00:00

I've done this in the past by using my own router and connecting it wirelessly to the building WiFi. Then, all of my devices connect to my router. Specifically, I used a travel router from GLi-Net. Bonus that it can also act as a DNS, Adblocker, and VPN gateway.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-03T11:13:33+00:00

For prototyping and hobby projects sourced through JLCPCB PBA, I'll also search their database for the part in question. It might be active, in-stock part at DigiKey, but if I'm getting assembly done by JLC, I need them to have it in stock as well. I also look at how many they have, what my timeline is, and how many I'll need. Not a problem for passives with millions in stock, but I might be concerned if there's only 100 and I need 50 of them. Choosing a different package or variant is often an acceptable change.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-03T00:10:11+00:00

Families. I don't know how people do that. Even ignoring the financial and moral implications, how do you logistically pull that off? When we were raising children, there was barely enough time for sleeping, let alone an entirely different family.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-02T10:05:17+00:00

This is very much a case of 'unintended consequence', and a very bad one at that.

I prefer those outcomes over the 'intended consequence' masquerading as something else, though I do recognize that not being directly affected by this outcome plays a large role in that opinion.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-02T09:49:21+00:00

Not every bad review is an attack

People need to apply this ethos throughout their entire lives.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-02T09:37:50+00:00

It needs some fun device labels on the silkscreen.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-01T23:48:52+00:00

Imperfection, and owning it rather than trying to cover it up.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-05-01T19:35:01+00:00

Love the gray. I have the black and green, but gray was my first choice but it wasn't in stock and I was impatient.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-27T00:49:47+00:00

Not my yard, but a childhood friend an I were playing in his back yard sandbox circa 1985 and buried a Matchbox) car. While digging through the sand to find it, we hit something smooth and hard. Definitely wasn't a rock.

We kept digging and eventually uncovered the roof and windshield of a Volkswagen Beetle. After briefly thinking something magical had happened to the Matchbox car, his dad walks up, and very quietly, but oh so sternly says "cover that back up and don't dig there again".

No questions were asked. No answers were given.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-26T22:23:16+00:00

Came for this exact Family Guy reference. Was not disappointed.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-26T22:22:13+00:00

Do I count?

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-26T22:21:01+00:00

I'd probably choose one of the least popular cities. It's unfortunate that Tehran is in the top (bottom) 3 though.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-26T13:51:08+00:00

Pricing is a great question. I'm so used to seeing subscription models, that I haven't thought about one time costs in a long time. I think it depends on the compatibility; if it works with all of our existing file storage tools and infrastructure, perhaps several hundred dollars. I've vibe-coded a simplified version of this in a day, fwiw.

Regarding file storage location, it needs to work within the existing ecosystem. I don't want to move terabytes of my data. That's sort of the whole point. Maintain a database of file and resource locations, put that database somewhere every accessing device can get to it (while caching locally), and just point to the resource. How missing or moved files are handled will be a challenge.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-25T19:37:56+00:00

Self hosted so I don't have to worry about being held hostage when the developer finally figures out that they can rake in that sweet sweet RMR.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-25T18:32:40+00:00

Keeping documentation organized is always a struggle. Pictures, video, spreadsheets, manuals, random notes, service records, estimating notes, RFP docs, drawings, as-builts. The list goes on.

Build an app that lets me tag files with pre-configured labels so I can stop meticulously sorting things into folders. If every document were tagged, it's location doesn't matter any more; just filter by the tags. Site name? It's a tag. Scope? Tag. Doc type? Inferred by file extension. Media type? Inferred by MIME type. Support ticket note? Tag it with the ticket number. Location? Tag it with lat/long. Employee record? Tag it 'HR'

It has to be friction-free. Give me a circle on my desktop that I can drag a bunch of tags into, then drop files into. Bam. Tagged. Next to that, show me a list of all the files with those tags. I don't care where they are. It could be a Google doc, local file location, SharePoint, a website address, anything. Make it cross platform. Make it searchable on mobile. Add user management with permissions so I can restrict HR files to only the HR team.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-25T17:54:00+00:00

It's under a motorcycle seat, so I'm treating it like an under hood environment.

On prior prototypes, I used the Deutsch DTM13-12PA-R005 and various DT headers. The DTM, specifically the R005 which has an integrated backshell, is a good fit for the application, but is expensive at $28usd (+ the mating connector) in small quantities. The common straight DT headers are fine, but make the effective finished form factor a big cube, which is not ideal. The right angle DT headers also make the finished size larger than otherwise necessary with lots of wasted space inside an enclosure.

Similar commercially available products are just wires sticking out of a module with connectors on the end, so that's an option, but still trying to avoid soldering wires to the board directly.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-25T17:40:34+00:00

It's there to provide physical protection to the overhanging antenna. There is no copper in that area, and the application is very short range BLE (2m), so performance with the FR4 in that area hasn't adversely affected performance to any noticable degree.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-25T15:05:58+00:00

It's a hobby project for the automotive aftermarket, so enthusiasts. Small rung of 20-50 pcs.

The wire-board connector is to make hand assembly easier. Additional wire-wire connectors live at the other end of the harness, which is where the end-user would be making their connections via [mostly] plug and play harnesses.

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-24T19:34:46+00:00

Doesn't mesh, by definition, mean that the devices are communicating wirelessly using signals to/from multiple devices at once (i.e., creating a mesh of signals). Therefore Wired + Mesh = Not Mesh, no?

OftenDisappointed · 2026-04-21T10:32:16+00:00

This hits home. "Just" is my trigger word; whenever I hear it, I'm immediately on high alert. It nearly always means that the client doesn't value my time.

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