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rolfus

131 karmajoined 4 years ago

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rolfus
·4 days ago·discuss
Thanks for linking that comment! I wasn't familiar with the term, but it perfectly describes the pattern that manifests in every single HN thread about certain topics. The Grok announcement thread that is on the main page today is another perfect example.
rolfus
·6 days ago·discuss
Yeah, it's amazing how fast the transition has been. Many gas stations are or have already reallocated space from gas pumps to charging stations, and new stations are designed to accommodate EV's. Take a look at this station as an example - it's already five years old at this point: https://tinyurl.com/4y8u36m2

I should have been more accurate in my "majority" claim; it refers to EV's being the most common type of car compared to gas or diesel. Source: https://tinyurl.com/ycke45dy
rolfus
·8 days ago·discuss
We had much of the same skepticism and anti-EV propaganda here in Norway a decade ago, when EV's started becoming popular. The usual claims was that the batteries would have to be replaced every five years, the cars would stop working in the winters, the batteries are fire hazards, the power grid won't support everyone buying EV's, etc.. All of which turned out to not be true.

Today the market share for EV's is 98% and they account for the majority of the total number of cars on the road! The people who bough 1st. generation EV's as a number two car a decade ago chose EV's as their main car before long. My own vehicles are 7 and 12 years old and holding up well, despite the 12 year old having inferior battery chemistry compared to modern cars.

Change isn't always easy or smooth, but this one is inevitable.
rolfus
·10 days ago·discuss
There's a documentary about that, in the form of the game 'Motherload'

https://www.crazygames.com/game/motherload
rolfus
·5 months ago·discuss
I source most of my components from aliexpress. It's been a while, but these are the components I used:

Microcontroller: FireBeetle 2 ESP32

Display: Generic 10" e-Paper display with driver board included

Timekeeping: DS3231 Real Time Clock Module

Temperature and humidity: BME280 module

Charging: Type-C USB 2S Li-ion BMS

That, along with a breadboard, two 18650 batteries, some resistors and capacitors make up the hardware. I modelled and 3D printed the case. I used the PlatformIO plugin (available for VSCode-based IDEs) for programming and transferring code to the esp32.

Weather API: https://openweathermap.org

For actual firmware I'd take a look at matada's github for inspiration (see the other reply in this thread). My own code isn't of the photogenic sort.
rolfus
·5 months ago·discuss
The sun is greeting you! I drew these freehand, kind of quickly. And while I personally like the style and think it's a good fit for us, I did intend to make several sets of weather icons. At the very least I need to make the sun symbols adapt to the seasons - we don't really have a full sun during the darkest months of the year where I live.
rolfus
·5 months ago·discuss
Yes, I think so. Electronics prototyping is so accessible now, and there's such a deluge of inspirational projects out there to learn from. YouTube is a gold mine, and I'll leave links to a few channels I follow, below.

If you get an Arduino or Esp32 microcontroller (maybe in one of those starter-kits with various sensors), some breadboards, assorted jumper-cables and a kit with electronic components (resistors, caps) you'll be good to go. A device like a wall clock most likely won't require soldering, since it won't be jostled or moved around much.

Ben Eater: https://www.youtube.com/@BenEater/videos

Paul McWhorter: https://www.youtube.com/@paulmcwhorter/videos

Huy Vector: https://www.youtube.com/@huyvector/videos

I'd also take a look at the other DIY projects that people have linked in this discussion.
rolfus
·5 months ago·discuss
Thanks! I intentionaly made the weather symbols somewhat "childlike" to give it some personality and also make it obvious that it's a custom device, and not some off the shelf gadget. Works well as a conversation starter!
rolfus
·5 months ago·discuss
I made this thing [1] for us, it uses a cheap 10" e-paper display off aliexpress, an ESP32 and a couple of I2C sensors. The case is 3D-printed. It runs on two 18650 batteries, and all in all it cost less than 100$. The OpenWeather API is free for personal use.

[1] https://mjones-foui.no/img/wall_clock_1.png
rolfus
·5 months ago·discuss
I used to play GTA on my 133 mhz Pentium, running windows 95. I distinctly remember the game running smooth and at a reasonably high resolution! My memory must have betrayed me because playing this now is hard to stomach. I just can't get over the jaggy motion of the hardlocked framerate (especially while driving at high speeds).
rolfus
·7 months ago·discuss
Agreed. I have a bunch of little command-line apps that I use 0.3 to 3 times a year* and I'm never going to memorize the commands or syntax for those. I'll be happy to remember the names of these tools, so I can actually find them on my own computer.

* - Just a few days ago I used ImageMagick for the first time in at least three years. I downloaded it just to find that I already had it installed.
rolfus
·7 months ago·discuss
I get what you're saying - I personally scratch that itch by doing woodworking and hobby electronics; I just love doing it and the end product is often just a means to an end; to craft something and enjoying the process of it.

But programming doesn't give me that same feeling, and honestly; the scope of doing and learning everything needed to make my projects without LLM's are just way out of reach. Learning these things would not be relevant to my career or my other hobbies. So, for me I use LLM's the way a person who's not into carpentry might buy the services of a carpenter, despite the possibility of them doing the project themselves after investing tons of time into learning how.
rolfus
·7 months ago·discuss
This resonates with me. I'm not a programmer, and before LLM's I could only make basic hello world apps and simple websites. Now I am developing my own versions of various apps that I've used but maybe have limitations that I've become frustrated with. For example, I didn't like how the fitness tracker Strava didn't allow me to customize audio announcements, so now I have my own (and in my own eyes) better version of Strava that I use instead. It's absolutely blowing my mind that this is possible and available today, and not some tech-optimists wet dream about an impossible future.
rolfus
·8 months ago·discuss
Audiologist and hearing aid user here. It's a great time to be looking for new hearing aids! Speech in noise capabilities have improved massively this generation, and I can personally attest to this. For me, the most important performance metric is speech perception in noisy / challenging listening situations. For you there might be other considerations, so keep that in mind.

With that said, my recommendation are the new Phonak Infinio Sphere devices with with their "Spheric speech in noise" feature. It's a complete game changer in terms of speech perception in loud noise. Activating this program in a noisy situation feels like turning off the background noise, leaving only (nearby) voices.

The caveat is that to achieve this they use a separate, power-hungry processor and compensate by increasing the battery size (making the whole hearing aid bigger than other, similar hearing aids). The upside to this is that if you're _not_ using the spherical program, you'll have really good battery life. I use mine for exactly 16 hours a day and if I'm careful I can make them last almost three full days. The charger is much better than the previous ones; they use magnets to keep the devices in place instead of relying on plastic friction.

The Oticon Intent and new Starkey AI aids are also great. You should always try more than one model before you make a decision.

Happy to answer any questions!
rolfus
·11 months ago·discuss
I'm one of those excited people! We haven't lost anything with this new technology, only gained.

The way I see it, most people aren't creative. And the people who are creatives are mostly creating for the love of it. Most books that are published are read exclusively by the friends and family of the author. Most musicians, most stand-up comedians, most artist get to show off their works for small groups of people and make no money doing so. But they do it anyway. I draw terrible portraits, make little inventions and sometimes I build something for the home, knowing full well that I do these things for my own enjoyment and whatever ego boost I get from showing these things off to people I know.

I'm doing a marathon later and I've been working my ass off for the prospect of crossing the finishing line as number four thousand and something, and I'll do it again next year.
rolfus
·last year·discuss
In cold climates the humidity can drop to uncomfortable levels during the winter (sub 30% where I live). Especially when combined with wood fired stoves.