Programming What happened to all the programming posts? This blog has been lacking content for awhile. The main reason is that last October, I accepted a transfer and promotion within the state government to a new position. I am no longer
keyboards New Cherry MX Black Keyboard I got a new keyboard for Christmas. It has Cherry MX Black switches. I'm noticing that my typing has fewer errors with this linear switch. It feels amazing to type on. I think
Retro Computers Retro Computing - My first retro computer kit build I got my SC126 Z180 computer kit in the mail a few nights ago. After two nights of soldering after work, I finally got it assembled. Having a flux pen was helpful, even
Retro Computers Retro Computing - Getting Started I've been investigating getting into retro computing using old CPUs like the 6502 or the Z80. Ben Eater is doing a series on building your own 6502 computer on a breadboard, but I
keyboards Mechanical Keyboard Frenzy I recently discovered the mechanical keyboard community. Wow, what a bunch. The demand for a great keyboard kit is higher than the supply, so the market is totally out of balance. For all
Programming Dynamic database driven authorization policies in .NET Core 3.0 (Blazor) Assume we had a requirement to dynamically load our authorization policies from a database. To make things easy, let's make the policies specific to a given resource, or page. Different pages can share
Programming Baremetal programming, Assembly Language, and FPGAs I've been exploring how to program in assembly language lately. It's been a fun experience. I just ordered a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB of RAM from Adafruit. It should be here by
Light up LEDs on an Arduino UNO using Assembly Language I've been exploring assembly language the past few weeks. As a .NET developer, I've never really been all that careful with memory (why worry? Just put more RAM sticks in it). Assembly language
Driving the Max7219 7-Segment Display Device from a TinyFPGA using Verilog I recently bought a TinyFPGA to replace my Mojo FPGA. The primary reason for this was the outdated toolset required by the Mojo (Xilinx ISE Web doesn't properly run on Windows 10 without
FPGA Installing TinyFPGA BX Requirements (APIO) on macos Sierra I recently purchased a TinyFPGA BX. I thought I would go ahead and install the prerequisite software while I'm waiting on it to arrive. I didn't expect it to go so bad. It
Simple Max7219 7-Segment Timer on Arduino Uno I was just playing around today and thought I'd write an Arduino Uno program that increments a timer displayed on a MAX7219 7-Segment Display. It was a pretty straight forward process. I had
Music Reason won't load my VST plugin (Softube modular) - macos In this post, I discuss how I solved the issue of not being able to load a VST in Reason 10.
Programming Getting Started with microservices the sane way. Part 4: Tying it all together with logstash Tying rabbitMq to logstash and integrating with elasticsearch and kibana
Programming Getting Started with microservices the sane way. Part 3: ElasticSearch and Kibana Set up a basic kibana and elasticsearch docker instance in order to explore the demo data and see how they work.
Programming Getting Started with microservices the sane way. Part 2: RabbitMq Minimal setup for a rabbitMq instance running in a Docker Container.
Programming Getting started with Microservices the sane way. Part 1: Introduction When thinking about microservices you have to think beyond the APIs. Maintaining communication and consistency is where it starts getting complicated.
Programming Useful docker and docker-compose commands Commonly used docker commands that I sometimes take for granted until I forget one of them.
Reading Keep Your Child Reading Every Day The traditional bedtime story may work for your family, but don’t worry if it’s not a good fit. There are so many other reading opportunities throughout any given day.
3D Printing Handling Extrusion Issues on the Ender 3 The Ender 3 is a great 3D printer. It is inexpensive and is a good starting printer (as well as a great reliable printer for more advanced users). It is easy to upgrade
drones DJI Spark Drone - Our newest acquistition We picked up a DJI Spark drone yesterday so we could create some aerial photography. It's a lot of fun to fly. It's also very easy to fly. All you have to do is hit the takeoff button and it will hover 4 feet in the air. When you raise altitude, it will maintain it when you stop.
Michael As a programmer, I tend to see the world as broken, and I don't like how that makes me feel I've been trying to be more positive lately. I can sometimes be a real downer with my wife and I'm recognizing that. In trying to narrow down why my brain sees everything in
3D Printing Is 3D Printed Terrain the Future, or just a passing Fad? I have to admit, I bought my second 3D printer (an Ender 3 Pro) with the sole purpose of using it to print terrain for a Pathfinder game that I am the GM
3D Printing Ender 3 Woes - Time for maintenance I recently started printing some large objects. The prints were taking between 14 and 16 hours. After printing 2 pieces (I'm printing an update of this Shuttle from the 2nd Dynasty Starship III
3D Printing Setting up Klipper with Ender 3 and BLTouch In a previous post, I discussed installing a BLTouch Auto bed leveling sensor onto my Ender 3 Pro 3D printer. In this post, I will discuss how I got faster print speeds using
3D Printing Getting things to stick to a glass bed on my Ender 3 So, today I printed a 3.25 hour print. it took me three failed attempts using a brim (the brim kept coming off the bed) on my glass bed. I tried to raise
