ESP8266 meets NodeMCU
Yesterday, I made great progress on playing around with the ESP8266, the $2 Wifi Module[1]. I will continue to document my progress on this blog. First, I just want a place to
Hello (ESP8266) World
Yesterday, I sat down and played with my shiny new ESP8266 module. I also got the Huzzah Breakout Board from Adafruit, which uses an ESP module. Actually, I'm still trying to figure out
Lean Manufacturing, v2
The concept of “Lean Startup” is pretty pervasive in tech. This idea comes from Lean Manufacturing, which argues the benefits of small batch production. Smaller batches enables manufacturers to eliminate bottlenecks in production,
Making Custom PCBs
PLEASE NOTE: I've written a new and improved version of this guide.Yeah! Updates!! We've all see something like this before. The simple breadboard with a messy, beautiful rainbow of wires sticking this
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. It was easy.
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. The two problem with the sign? It’s not usable and it
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