Makerfocus ESP8266

May 31, 2017May 29, 2017 Nick Momrik5 Comments

One of the recommended products that came up recently for me on Amazon was a set of 2 Makerfocus ESP8266 NodeMCU boards for $15.99. I’m familiar with the chip from using the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 WiFi that came with AdaBox003. That board runs for $16.95 though.

The reviews for these were good and any issues people had were resolved quickly by the seller. I figured it was worth the little bit of risk to try out these boards as a way to have some WiFi capabilities on hand. When they arrived, I ran a few quick tests in the Arduino IDE and had no problems uploading code or connecting to Adafruit IO with some of the example programs. The boards are slightly wider than the Feathers I’m used to working with, so there is just a single row of holes on either side when plugged into a breadboard. One other difference is no JST connector for a Lithium Ion battery.

If you’re looking for a cheap intro to Arduino or a way to get an electronics project on your network, check out these microcontrollers.

Quick, Draw!

May 30, 2017May 29, 2017 Nick MomrikLeave a comment

I’d never heard of Quick, Draw! before. It’s like playing Pictionary with a computer. I played a quick game (?) and hit 5/6.

They’re actually releasing millions of the doodles, which is pretty cool.

Sofia, Bulgaria in Pictures

May 29, 2017May 28, 2017 Nick Momrik1 Comment

I had a wonderful trip to Sofia, Bulgaria last week. I went there to work with my team, HR @ Automattic, which we call The Human League. What made the trip really great was having a local on our team. Petya planned everything for us!

Beer

I drank a Heineken and the Sweet Water on the flight from Detroit to Amsterdam.

I tried to stick to Bulgarian beers once I got there.

Food

Other than spending time with my teammates, my favorite part of the trip by far was the food. I was impressed. Took advantage of trying some things I’ve never seen on a menu.