ESP8266 meets NodeMCU
Yesterday, I made great progress on playing around with the ESP8266, the $2 Wifi Module [http://www.ebay.com/itm/151657399118][1]. I will continue to document my progress on this blog. First,
Hello (ESP8266) World
Yesterday, I sat down and played with my shiny new ESP8266 module. I also got the Huzzah Breakout Board [http://adafruit.com/products/2471] from Adafruit, which uses an ESP module. Actually, I'm
Lean Manufacturing, v2
The concept of “Lean Startup” is pretty pervasive in tech. This idea comes from Lean Manufacturing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing], which argues the benefits of small batch production. Smaller batches
Making Custom PCBs
PLEASE NOTE: I've written a new and improved version of this guide [https://blog.nyl.io/hello-world-custom-pcb-fritzing/]. Yeah! Updates!!We've all see something like this before. The simple breadboard with a messy, beautiful
Internet Dog Treat Dispenser (v3)
Once upon a time, a few dog people (people who love dogs, not dog+people hybrids) made a remote controlled dog treat dispenser. You know, because that's what dog people do at hackathons.
Why Ghost
Every year or so, I test out some new blogging platform. It's fun, I suppose. Trying out new technology. For a little over a year, I've been writing on Medium [http://medium.com/
Sightreading
I once heard of a concert pianist who prepare for concerts by reading the scores. On the plane ride over to a particular concert, he will look at the score and think about
Are Brands Becoming Irrelevant?
Last Friday, somebody asked me, “what’s your favorite fashion brand?” This question caught me a bit off guard. It’s a perfectly reasonable question, especially since we were at a talk about
Perfection is Arrogance
We’ve all worked with these people. Perfectionists. Exacting people who want things done a specific way. Their way. The perfect way. At least that’s what they hide behind. This idea that
Ownership to Accessibility
The world is shifting from valuing ownership to valuing accessibility. I use Rdio to access music. I own very few CDs. I use Kindle to access books. I trim down my bookshelf every
Good Design, Bad UX
This parking sign project popped up in my newsfeed a few times last week. LA is piloting this new signage design [http://www.lamayor.org/mayor_garcetti_unveils_new_easy_to_read_parking_
Genuinely Curious
I once sat down at a lunch table with some strangers, and we started chit chatting. It was one of those situations where we talked to fill the silence, because awkward noise beats