iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

When did I buy these LEDs?? Why??? (There are more important things going on in the world today, so: the term "light emitting diode" appears in at least thirteen of the Epstein files. It seems to be in documents about his jet and the construction of his properties. www.justice.gov/epstein/search)

A four by five sheet of star LEDs. They're white, rated at 1 watt each. They're held by an alligator clips from a pair of helping hands. The background is full of clutter.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

I tried making okonomiyaki a few years ago. The cabbage wasn't chopped finely enough, but I had already mixed it with everything else, so I tried cutting it in the bowl. With a ceramic knife. The bowl suddenly exploded! Glass and ceramics don't mix!

The shattered pieces of a glass bowl, a pile of yellowish cabbage and batter mix, a white ceramic knife. On a black stovetop.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

A nice-looking accidentally obtained LiPo discharge curve.

A graph of the voltage of a mobile sensor's lithium battery vs time. It's poorly calibrated, so it starts at a level 3.8V when plugged in, but it was likely 4.2V. It falls in an almost linear fashion for 27 hours. There's a slight upward curve to it - the slope decreases as the voltage decreases. Then it suddenly falls sharply after hitting about 3.3V. It stops reading at 2.8V.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

I found a cool plant growing on a tree!

A tree with a leafy green plant in the crook where the trunk branches off. The plant has a long stem covered in pink and white flowers hanging down.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

I think something happened to these gingerbread people.

Three small gingerbread people, cookies, on a purple coaster. Their eyes are perfect circles and their mouths are agape, just big ovals.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

I got some dremel router bits for Christmas, so I made a soap dish! It's rough, but I'm happy enough with it. I also recommend not buying the router bits unless your dremel is bigger than the 800, and you're using a soft wood. This is pine. Edges came out ok, inside cuts did not.

A square piece of wood with parallel drainage slots routed through its length. The front edge is chamfered and the other edges are filleted. The fillets are smooth, but the internal channels are not straight. The bit chattered so much that it cut them wide and left random gouges. It also burned the wood in spots.

The same piece of wood with a pink piece of soap shaped like a rabbit holidng a guitar on it.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Insulation from space! It's a dozen or so layers of metalized plastic separated by thin netting. It's specially designed to block radiative heat transmission, i.e., infrared. If you zoom in, you can see it's full of holes, but that's okay because there's no air in space. The layers are separated...

A golden crinkled rectangle lying on a wolden floor. The right side is ripped exposing the silvery metal inside.

A side view of the insulation. The layers are visible, crammed together, and the netting is also visible.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Some neat lenticular "holograms" from NASA. (More in the comments).

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

This switch is so clicky. So cheaply made, but it feels great, and actuates in something like 2 milliseconds!

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

This is a light gun from one of those knockoff "10,000 Games in One" toys, for games like Duck Hunt. When you pull the trigger the screen turns black for a moment, except it turns white where the target was. The lens focuses onto a light sensor, so it can tell if you're on target.

Half of the plastic housing of a light gun. Theres a plastic lens at the end of the barrel, a photodiode, a small circuit board, a cheap switch, and some wires.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

I'm cleaning up and found the calendars I used in high school - they're all Get Fuzzy. It still holds up.

The September 2008 Get Fuzzy comic panel. A man in a backwards baseball cap is rubbing his eyes asking, "How do I get sucked into these conversations?" His cat replies, "Maybe you're sucking so hard that the conversations are drawn to you."

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

I bought this candle specifically to see if the melted wax would follow the spiral as it fell down. The wax does not melt!

A gree corkscrew candle, lit. The flame at the top is blinding. It's in front of an empty fireplace.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

The production of The Nutcracker that I saw had a background curtain of a room with things from the performance, like an elephant, a bull, a dragon, a unicorn, and of course a nutcracker. It also had a Whimshurst electrostatic generator! I have no idea *why* it was there, but I love it so much!

A Whimshurst machine being cranked by a hand from out io frame. It's two big clear disks with metal foil on them, two foiled jars, two balls with a spark between them, and a base and support structure.

A closeup of the spark gap in a Whimshurst machine.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Can you tell when the sun hit my garage door?

A plot of the temperature in my garage from noon to midnight. It slowly rises from noon to around 2:30, then suddenly rises steeply until around 4:30, after which it falls back down. The garage door faces west.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

The compression artifacts in the video are pretty bad. Here are some pictures.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Christmas in Florida last year. There were ibises hanging out in the back yard!

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

This is so cool: When I parked in my garage yesterday afternoon, no carbon monoxide was detected (orange), but other emissions were (green). When I left this morning, CO *was* detected. The engine and catalytic converter produce more CO from a cold start, and almost none after warming up!

A plot from November 18th around 11 am to November 19th around 4 pm. The vertical axis is two slightly ambiguous measures of "gas" sensing. The green plot, from a BME688, is a broad gas sensor that has some kind of slow trend high to low across the plot. It spikes up around 3 pm on the 18th, and again (but smaller) around 9 am on the 19th. The orange line, from an MiCS5524, is spiky, unclear why, but it doesn't spike up on the 18th. Then, on the 19th, there's a big spike coincident with the spike in the green graph.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

This is the first time I've seen a praying mantis at my house.

A brown praying mantis with a flash of bright green showing along its back. It has one leg splayed out over some bamboo. There's a brown leaf to the left.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

I forgot one! The temperature in the garage rose as the car warmed it up. The car was in the sun. The engine had only been running for a few seconds. The MiCS gas sensor is still high.

A plot of temperature over the course of three hours. Around noon it suddenly, sharply rises from 60.5F to 61.6F. It continues rising, likely because the sun is on the garage.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

My new garage sensor got its first real test - I parked in the garage! There was an immediate spike in gas sensor data (nominally carbon monoxide) and a change in the magnetic field sensor reading. The CO2 measurement also changed and there was a drop in humidity - likely just from outside air.

A plot showing data from a BME688 and an MiCS5524 gas sensor. Both spike around 11:48 when a car is parked near them. The BME (right axis) spikes, then falls back to baseline after about 45 minutes. The MiCS (left axis) spikes, dips, then rises back up and apparently levels off.

A plot of x axis (I'm not sure what this corresponds to physically) magnetometer data. It starts at 98.4 microtesla and rises up to 99.1 microtesla when a car is parked nearby.

A CO2 measurement over time. There is a valley around 11:45 which corresponds to the garage door being open.

A humidity measurement over an hour. Around 11:45 it drops from 51% to 45%, when the garage door was opened. At 12 it begins a steady upward trend, suggesting it will return to baseline now that the garage door is closed. Why is my garage more humid than outdoors? No clue. Maybe my garbage can is steamy.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

IT'S ALMOST HALLOWEEN, TIME TO GET SPOOKY! 2021 pumpkins. "He is happy without eyes" (David Shrigley), Cookie Cat (he left his family behind!), and a bee!

Three lit jack o lanterns in the dark. Left to right, the painting He is happy without eyes, carved into a pumpkin - a cartoon dog whose eyes are gaping holes. Cookie Cat, a cheshire-cat-esque character from Stephen Universe, with a two tone face split down the middle. A tiny pumpkin with a bee carved into the skin. This was my cat's pumpkin! The pumpkin is so small that the whole thing is glowing.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

It looks like their scales are inverted, but they seem to agree something was in my garage last night.

A plot over 24 hours showing the output of the two gas sensors. The BME data is a smooth green line that dipped last night and has been rising back up. The MiCS is a yellow line thag spiked a lot last night, but is generally flat (zero).

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

New sensors! I have CO2, temperature, pressure, humidity, "gas," and a three axis magnetometer. These are in my garage. I recently improved the garage door's seal, so I want to see how it maintains temperature and if it holds any considerable amount of carbon monixide ("gas" sensor) after I park.

A 3D printed white enclosure mounted to a wall. There's a striped black and silver USB cable on the left. Inside the box is an ESP32, to the right an SCD41 CO2 sensor, below that a MiCS5524 gas sensor, to it's left an MMC56x3 three axis magnetometer, and finally to it's left a BME688 temperature, pressure, humidity, and gas sensor.

Same as the first image, but powered on. There are three green LEDs lit.

Same as the previous, but with a slotted white cover over top.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky! 2023's Kirby in a Cauldron pumpkin.

A jack o lantern on a concrete step with a window in the background and a bush to the left. A depiction of Kirby in a cauldron with stars and bats around is cut into the surface.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

It's almost Halloween.... time to get spooky! (2019 pumpkins)

Two jack o lanterns on brick steps. Left: Woodman from Hilda. Right: Scary clown!

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky! Pumpkins from 2018.

Two pumpkins on brick steps. The first has the faces of Finn and Jake from Adventure Time as well as Lucy from Disenchantment cut into the skin so it's translucent, and the second (back) has a classic worried looking ghost.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Another picture where the Korok's left arm is still in tact.

Three lit pumpkins in a dark room. Left to right: Woodman (face), a Korok, a goofy pumpkin with two big buck teeth - the candle in its mouth is visible.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky! These are last year's pumpkins: A Korok from Breath of the Wild, Woodman from Hilda, and an original piece from @jbarrow.bsky.social titled Skibidi Pumpkin

Lit pumpkins in the dark. Left to right: Korok, Woodman (face), and a goofy pumpkin with two big buck teeth.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

I love the CO2 information Numi provides on their teas.

The bottom of two packages of Numi Tea. The top is Matcha Toasted Rice, it says .039 kg CO2e per tea bag. Ingredients, 25%, packaging 17%, transport 12%, boiling water 46%. The bottom is Honeybush, it says .036 kg CO2e per tea bag. Ingredients, 18%, packaging 18%, transport 14%, boiling water 50%.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Two new layers for the bin. This baby can hold so much compost!

A rectangular compost bin in front of a fence, between two short trees. The bottom three layers of the bin are aged gray. The top two are fresh wood (beige-ish, pine maybe).

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

I have a deep-seated urge to try chip flavors that I haven't had. The most recent was Argentinian Style Steak Lays; the aroma was on point, taste was like beef stew, and after four or five chips, it was just muddled chip flavor. I have no recollection of the chips in this photo from...*2022*

A purplish bag of Sabor a Jamón Ruffles chips.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky! (This was one of last year's pumpkins)

A korok from the legend of Zelda, breath of the wild, carved into a pumpkin. It has a five pointed leaf for a face, it's mouth is slightly open, and it's raising its tiny arms into the air.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

I love those clear beehive things they have at museums

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Look at these sheep! (The one in the third picture is screaming because its friend is off getting sheared). (This was at the 53rd Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival back in May. These were the sheep of the year: the valais blacknose.)

A small sheep with short horns curling out from its head

A small sheep turned away from the camera, it's mouth is hanging open

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

I love when my phone's weather app says this. I think it's so funny.

A blue rectangle with an eye icon and the text
Visibility
Unlimited visibility
Unlimited

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

I went to get a tomato from the garden and only found one, then I found a bunch of beans! The bean plant is taking over the tomato plant! I also got some mosquito bites, as I do.

A small yellow and red, not yet ripe tomato in the lower left, and a much larger pile of green beans. They're are two overripe bananas in the background.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Here's a nice flower I saw in Japan back in March.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

I went to a fancy Greek place for dinner a few months ago and had octopus for the first time (outside of takoyaki). I don't usually like seafood, but it was good! It reminded me of crab.

A plate with lemon slices, a small cup of some dressing, a quinoa pile, some kind of salad, and an octopus tentacle in the middle.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

I replaced the battery in my toothbrush and upgraded to a bigger one! And it works!

Bottom to top: a green NiMH battery. An electric toothbrush, without its housing, with a slightly larger orange NiMH battery inside it. The toothbrush housing.

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DWink @d-winker.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

I did a big home insulation upgrade a couple months ago and I'm starting to analyze the data: Did my power bill go down? In June, yes! About 15% lower. In July? No, it was the same to within a few cents, but this July was much hotter than last July. Win again! Power vs Temp is unexpected (cont.)

A messy plot showing hourly electricity usage in kWh vs Outdoor-Indoor temperature difference in Fahrenheit. Data in blue is before the insulation upgrade, data in green is after. There are trendlines fit to each set of data.

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