iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/09/2026

If I have to see one more of the most cringy grok bot ads on the internet I will flip.

Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 25/09/2026

Overheard walking outside: “I am trying to pivot my career, so I asked an AI. Truly it just made my confusion even worse brah.”

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 24/09/2026

My main premise is that most engineering teams don’t actually want to be good, but some do and I love helping them. I do a lot of coaching / mentoring / consulting on that and I love it. If I was better at marketing myself maybe I could just do speaking / do that full time.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 21/09/2026

One day I hope that I'll be able to just work on whatever I want and create things that are useful or needed, but would never get built because capitalism.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 21/09/2026

Had a meeting today where someone validated and then talked about the next steps for an idea I've been working on for over five years. It's taken a long time to find the right fit, but some ideas just take that long.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 21/09/2026

Being a non delusional, optimistic technologist is one of the hardest things, but if you can walk the line, then you will do amazing things.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026

It's not real cad if yu don't spend time spinning it around. This board is a bit goody as it uses huge connectors to ensure it can be hand soldered and is very high current.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026

Sending a new PCB for sea otter conservation robot out to fab today. So fulfilling to do great engineering for good causes.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026

I need access asap to whatever that blue tool is.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026

Of all the things I could not have predicted this year, seeing T-Pain become a dad cave, basement lair 3d printing enthusiast is at the top of that list

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 19/09/2026

If I have learned anything today it’s that the internet likes sea otters, robots, and especially the combination thereof.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026

I’ll be impressed with new software tools when this class of bug is fully solved and no one thinks of it anymore haha

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026

Wishing all products I used came with such a concise and awesome info sheet like this:

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 18/09/2026

Just heard someone say: "The internet, it's not all bad"

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 17/09/2026

Been working on this nice little easy to hand solder pcb for the seattle aquarium in between other harder EE projects for secret clients.

A pcb for controller some LEDs inside a watertight enclosure

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026

Had to call a customer support. Got passed between three separate AI support bots which had to interact with in different ways (voice, numeric entry, and then voice again). They each had unique hold music. This is a new kind of support hell.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026

My main technical niche seems to now be helping out robotics and sensing teams that have raised a lot of money, built a prototype and have not a lot of ideas how to make it reliable next.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 16/09/2026

Is it possible to create something of a mobile electronics lab? With a o-scope, e-load, soldering stuff, power supply etc to bring around to client sites for board bring up etc? What’s the best way?

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 15/09/2026

Was just notified by the burger place I sometimes get takeout from that my info was exposed in a data breach.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 15/09/2026

It has become very obvious that most engineering companies do not understand the difference between a prototype and a product, how to move between them, or really design either very well.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 15/09/2026

When I was little I wanted a grappling hook for my birthday. I did not receive a grappling hook.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 14/09/2026

At this point of the pcb layout:

A grid of resistors and capacitors on a kicad pcb layout

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 14/09/2026

Hoping the next macbook has an amphenol D38999 port

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 14/09/2026

AI but for chopping the salad ingredients so you get to skip to the good part of final salad assembly.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 14/09/2026

I see a lot of people claiming to have shipped pcb's made with AI, but not a lot of examples how how they did it or if they actually worked.

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Reposted by Keenan Johnson

Thomas Fuchs 🫯 @thomasfuchs.at · 14/09/2026

Hoping the MacBook Ultra has a HDI30 port

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 11/09/2026

That fact that epox-ing in USB connectors is still a common practice in robotics is frankly mindlblowing.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 11/09/2026

I need a new fiction book to read. What's the best thing you've read this year (fiction)?

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 11/09/2026

My robot vacuum keeps doing this thing where it just drives into the no go zone and says "I entered this no go zone by mistake, please help." Like have you considered not doing that vacuum?

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 11/09/2026

All air traffic was halted over London this week for many hours due tooo.... a software error :(

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 08/09/2026

pcb people. I find myself generating this kind of connector callout doc all the time. I used to mark them up by hand all the time, but finally started making a little tool that can do it automatically. What do you think?

kicad pcb rendering with connector callouts

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 08/09/2026

The only downside is that literally 75% of restaurants in touristy places have AI generated looking menus / signs.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 08/09/2026

Just got back home from a few weeks in Copenhagen / Stockholm. Just a lovely time and place.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 05/09/2026

I love some of the google reviews that make no sense. “i can't really leave an accurate review. tried to enter this bar, the atmosphere looked cool, but the security guard was a pigeon and i just couldn't enter...????...”

Google review i can't really leave an accurate review. tried to enter this bar, the atmosphere looked cool, but the security guard was a pigeon and i just couldn't enter...????...

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 31/08/2026

Heading to Copenhagen for a few days. Any suggestions?

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 30/08/2026

Starting my first kicad 10 project.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 30/08/2026

It's hard to overstate how much of the maker knowledge is held in random little terribly formatted HTML websites like this one which documents the dewalt battery interface: www.gearhack.com/myink/ViewPa...

gearhack.com

DeWALT 20V MAX Power Tools Battery Interface

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/08/2026

Having a debate with a friend on whether we have built all the engineering type tools needed (software excluded) or not. What do you think? Is there some sort of tool you wish existed but doesn’t or are we done?

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/08/2026

Wow so many new followers since I said I would post about more nerdy electronics stuff, guess bluesky does like it. Time to get to posting for me haha

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/08/2026

Me: Not in the food industry. Email: Would you (or a colleague) be open to speaking at the FOOD PACKAGING SUMMIT USA 2027 in Anaheim, California? Me: Have I got a talk for you.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 26/08/2026

Honestly kicad is the most amazing piece of software I use on the regular. Only a few years ago I used to spend so much time negotiating and justifying cost of software licenses for paid pcba tools, but now that stress is just gone.

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 25/08/2026

Where my pcb / circuit board design people's at? Is bsky a place for that or nah?

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 25/08/2026

Just remembered this fun elevator simulator game from quite a few years ago: play.elevatorsaga.com

play.elevatorsaga.com

Elevator Saga - the elevator programming game

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Keenan Johnson @keenanjohnson.com · 25/08/2026

Just had to install java for a boring work reason and woow. I guess it's good to know some things don't change.

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