April (Snow) Showers

April 4, 2018 Nick Momrik1 Comment

Will this winter ever fucking end?

Trashed Wheel

April 3, 2018 Nick Momrik1 Comment

Dear Garbage Truck,

Thanks for running over the wheel that had fallen off my garbage can.

Bring an Old Foot Switch Back to Life

April 2, 2018March 31, 2018 Nick Momrik1 Comment

Last week I showed an old foot switch/pedal I bought at an estate sale. As expected, it didn’t take much to rewire it.

For more details of the process and to see if it actually works check out the video.

Link Dump – 2018/04/01

April 1, 2018March 31, 2018 Nick MomrikLeave a comment

Tiger Woods tops our list of the most dominant athletes of the past 20 years
I’ve followed more golf in the last month than I have in the last several years. It’s good to have Tiger back in the game. Only a few days until Masters week!
Apple is an exception to nearly every rule
Your company is not Apple and you can’t be.
Sara Sigmundsdottir: Perseverance | Ep.1
The CrossFit women from Iceland are incredible. Time to start drinking Icelandic water?
Silver Spirit cut in half: Why do this to a cruise ship? ⇒
It’s going to take about 450,000 man hours. I can’t even wrap my head around that. Think about the engineering just to be able to cut the ship in half.
Repairs: The Joy and Frustration
Even with the limited amount of things I’ve tried to open up I’ve run into a bunch of problems getting inside.
Make a Functional Kitchen Knife out of Aluminum Foil ⇒
Mind. Blown.
NHL stunner: A 36-year-old accountant who has never played pro stars in Blackhawks win ⇒
If this happened on April 1st I’d think it was a joke.

Boldport: Pips (#23)

March 31, 2018February 16, 2021 Nick Momrik1 Comment

When I was thinking about cancelling my AdaBox subscription I came across Boldport Club.

As a member of the Boldport Club you’ll receive an electronics project once a month. Our projects are designed to be engaging, challenging, entertaining, collectable, and to promote exploration and discovery through the use of electronics.

Weird timing that AdaBox007 actually included the Cad Sticker set from Boldport Club.

Over the last year or I’ve come to realize I really enjoy little soldering kits. Time will tell if the Boldport Club is satisfying and worth the cost. Each project looks unique and really well designed. I paid for a year up front, which comes out to pretty much the same as a year of AdaBox and I get something every month instead of quarterly.

Here’s a time-lapse of my assembly of Boldport Club #23: Pips.

It was a fun assembly and works as advertised. Not sure I’ll get any future use out of it though.

Photo Challenge: Rise/Set

March 29, 2018March 29, 2018 Nick Momrik1 Comment

I’m rarely up early enough to see a sunrise, so I obviously prefer a good sunset.

I love that you can search for “sunrise” in Apple Photos and Google Photos. Here are some of my favorites on the water.

AdaBox007: Spy

March 28, 2018 Nick Momrik1 Comment

When Adafruit hinted that AdaBox #007 would have a spy theme I was excited. I did a time-lapse of the unboxing this time since they do their own unboxing (scheduled some time next week) which is much better than listening to me talk.

This box has more content than any other box so far.

Large Padlock & 9 Piece Lockpick Kit
Software Defined Radio USB Receiver with Antenna
Adafruit GEMMA M0
USB Cable – 6″ A/MicroB
AAA Battery Holder with On/Off Switch
3 AAA Batteries
Fast Vibration Sensor Switch
Piezo Buzzer
Panel Mount 10K Potentiometer + Knob
Invisible Ink Pen
5mm Purple UVA LED
IR (Infrared) Receiver Sensor
5mm Super-bright IR LED
0.1mm Magnet Wire
Digikey Digi-Keyer Puzzle
Digikey Web Cam Cover
EFF Multisticker Sheet
2600 Magazine: The Hacker Quarterly
Hackspace Magazine
Boldport Club Cad Sticker

I’ve always wanted a lock pick set and the clear padlock seems like a cool way to learn. I’ll have to make some videos once I start learning how to pick locks.

Even with this box being one of the better ones, I think I’m going to cancel because I have built up quite a collection of Adafruit microcontrollers and other components. I need to start building projects that I actually use around the house instead of just tinkering and taking everything apart after I learn. I like the subscription, but they’ve left me wanting more because it really is focused on the beginner. Not saying I’m an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I have so many of the things included in most of the boxes now.

I can’t help myself and have already subscribed to a different monthly electronics kit. More on that in a few days.

Trimmed Out Garage Window

March 27, 2018March 27, 2018 Nick MomrikLeave a comment

I finished the inside of the garage window. I wish I had leveled the side framing with some shims before getting to the trim because the hole in the wall isn’t square. I already had the framing nailed in when I noticed, so I didn’t want to mess with it. I made sure to put the trim on square though. Learned a good lesson and it looks fine for a garage window.