iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Mark J. Koch

InfoWars @realinfowars.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

The only way to use the toilet safely and without fear is to bring one with you wherever you go. Buy a portable AMERICAN bathroom now.

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Reposted by Mark J. Koch

Tomality! @tomality.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Cyberpunk fan? Get the Cyberpunk Runners music pack, along with other sci-fi and electro tracks, to use in your games, videos, streams, and more - less than $5 each! Catch it now: itch.io/s/188173/lev... ----- #GameDev #IndieGameDev #Cyberpunk #RoyaltyFreeMusic #Vtuber

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

A couple months ago I discovered a quaint anime called One Piece and I can stop watching any time I want. #onepiece #anime #bingewatching #netflix

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Most of the SPAM mail I receive dropped to zero when the #Iran war started (and anytime the US has had a conflict with someone). Today it all shot back up on many accounts I manage. It makes me hopeful that an agreement has been reached.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

My well practiced percussive desoldering technique has fractured the LCD screen. Thankful for next day Amazon delivery. Lesson learned. #soldering #electronics

LCD screen showing a faint hairline crack the glass as a result of mishandling.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

I've made a lot of progress on my #neuromancerpc restoration and it's largely playable (let's call it alpha), but I'm not done reverse engineering the original game's data files... #neuromancer #java #javafx #retrogaming #gamedev

Screen shot of a marked up hex editor view of one of Neuromancer PC's data files. The top of the file has offset locations as two bytes and those offset locations are pointed at to get the actual game data. So much more to decode in this game.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Here's a video tour of my Rack Synth progress. Pretty much working and making noises. Lot's of tuning to do but it works!!! Will spend the next two months documenting on GIThub. #asmr-synth #electronics #synth #eurorack

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Now that my multi-day cooking adventure is done, soldering up the fourth #PCB in my modular #synth project. Hope to have a working sound machine in a couple more days. #asmr-synth #soldering #electronics

ASMR synth rack with modules resting on table below

Modular module showing 3D printed face plate colored with a sharpie.

Modulator module wired up onto a proto PCB with a CHIPz op amp circuit board.

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Reposted by Mark J. Koch

Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 19/11/2025

I wrote an obituary of celebrated game developer Rebecca Heineman for Ars Technica: arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...

arstechnica.com

Celebrated game developer Rebecca Heineman dies at age 62

The gaming community mourns a beloved mentor and LGBTQ+ advocate with a storied career.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

My end of the year goal is to make this pile of circuits into a working analog #synth. Then, and only then, am I allowed to go back to #gamedev on my #javafx #neuromancer PC remake while sipping egg nog. Too many hobbies.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

One of my for-fun #gamedev projects involves restoring an old PC game called #neuromancer which is based loosely on the book by William Gibson. One of the folks who worked on the original is Rebecca Heineman @burgerbecky.bsky.social , who passed away this week. RIP Rebecca. You are not forgotten.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

A nice way to end the week! Got my #synth module working. Based on an open source design by Hagiwo. #RasPi #Pico2 based and using Arduino libraries, generates waves from tables or math. I added OLED and UI code. I think the PCB components need work as the output looks a little funky. #asmr-synth

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

#synth rack progress! One regulator wouldn't start up, so it took a deeper read into the data sheet to realize I'd missed some components needed for voltages above 5V (a zener and cap). #Zener ended up being a stack of Zeners to achieve desired value. Not my prettiest fix. #pcb #kicad #electronics

My quad output power supply for my Eurorack alternative idea. Many engineers don't know it but you can make a typical buck regulator put out negative voltage if you swap the ground and Vout lines. The Vout is grounded and the common lines inside the circuit will output a negative potential of the desired output voltage. Feels unintuitive when designing, but works well. Also, this design uses the HUSB power negotiation chip to allow the board to be powered with a USB-PD capable laptop supply. Using the HUSB chip, those supplies can negotiate a range of output voltages like 5, 9, 12, 18 and 20V at 3 or more amperes. I'm using 20V in this design to then generate the +15, -15 and 5V needed for analog synthesizer circuits.

This bodge is the missing Zener. I needed a zener of around 11.5V but only had some 3.2V laying around. So I hooked four SOT023 type in series to get close to the value I wanted. Kicking myself for not studying the data sheet more at design time. It's right there.

The data sheet for this buck regulator shows that for output voltages above 12V, a zener is needed to bring the boost voltage into proper range. Once I did this, the whole thing just worked.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

I don’t have a #Mouser parts purchasing problem! I can stop any time I want. #kicad #pcb #engineering

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Upon finding this stainless steel bowl at #ikea that looks suspiciously like a half scale #R2D2 head…. Challenge accepted!

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

My #JLCPCB bounty included my prototype #PCB s for a new type of rack #synth that I am thinking about. Think #eurorack but dragged into the new millennium. Backplane has two #I2C busses, slot detection, and 32 negotiated patch signals. Slightly larger such that old ER modules can nest inside.

ASMR Synth Rack backplane, ten slot, featuring PCI-type edge connectors. Not actually PCI. Mine has four voltages, 18-24V, +15, -15 and 5V. There's two I2C busses, slot detection and 32 undefined "patch" lines. The inserted synth cards can negotiate the use of the patch lines for analog audio/control voltage and digital uses. Back plane can be up to 16 slots. Currently working on a 100% 3D printable chassis design. It will be 100% open source.

ASMR two slot backplane for bench development purposes.

Prototype ASMR hardware as received from the PCB fabrication service. Bottom is 10 slot backplane. Bottom right is a two slot back plane. Center is three experimental boards: top is a breadboard experimenters board, middle is a power supply (USB-PD in, +/-15V and 5V out) and bottom is an implementation of Hagiwo's amazing MOD2 synth module ( I added a one inch OLED display). Right are two face plates for the rack system: The breadboard PCB faceplate and the power supply faceplate.

Example of how the ASMR cards plug into the backplane. A rack chassis will be made soon to bring it all together.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Yay! The main #PCB for my MOS #KIM-1 replica arrived today from #JLCPCB! The sub-boards seem to fit. Bringup will take awhile since there's a gross chip-pin-numbering error on one of the smaller boards and I'll have to re-fab it. But I'll be able to partially assemble it and test a few things.

My KIM-1 replica, affectionately named "KIM-1000". An all surface mount version based on the original 1970's schematic. I attempted to add a Cyberpunk-ish style to the edges.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

When your latest #PCB uses a #PCI connector (super dirt cheap) and you want the customer to know that they should not even be tempted to plug it into a PC. I used the connector but the pinout and voltages are nowhere near those of PC Cards. At least the warning will be entertaining. #KiCAD

A Printed Circuit Board with what looks like a PCI connector edge. There is a warning imprinted onto the board that states, "Absolutely NOT PCI! Do NOT attempt to use in a computer. SMOKE, FIRE or SMELLS MAY OCCUR."

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

It's alive! Keypad/Display #PCB module for my #kim-1 replica is working! Mostly based on the original 1970s #schematic, using modern parts. I wrote a PCB test fixture using Arduino and #rp2040 #raspberrypipico module from #adafruit. My first time using a rp2040 was mostly painless. #65C02

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Tracking the person delivering my #UPS package. This individual should get a job in professional gerrymandering. Has driven past my neighborhood twice already and returned to multiple places they were before. Package is also an hour after the original delivery window. This is performance art.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

When a billionaire/celebrity/philanthropist looks at your profile on LinkedIn and you’re not sure if you should be elated or worried.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

My #analytical brain, every time I touch something and get a #shock: "I've been sitting still for five minutes! Why am I loosing so many #electrons so quickly? Is there something I can do about it?" #zap

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

That #feeling you have when you do a #GIT commit before going to help a family member with something for almost six hours. My day is gone but ideas in my head are check-pointed. #codelife

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

This is a public service announcement for you to support your local PBS station! #PBS #RickSteves

World Traveller, Rick Steves, as a pickle! Support your local PBS station to keep getting more Rick.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

My @oshpark.bsky.social PCBs arrived. They are part of my #kicad project to create a #KIM-1 #65c02 computer replica, with a twist. I started with the original schematic but broke it into SMT modules. Each module is a castellated #PCB "stamp" for a larger main board that I'm finishing up.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

If they ever reboot "Back to the Future", they should use the #CyberTruck. Except, on this new set of movies, to activate time travel, you'd have to rear-end the CyberTruck using a different vehicle at 88MPH. It would help add one more metaphor to the "Back" part of the name in the title.

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Reposted by Mark J. Koch

Sarah Petkus @spetku.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Midsummer is upon us. May we all find something sticky and delicious to adorn our skin with this week🍉 #summer

An illustrated comic of three humans garbed in bed sheets and crowns made from long feather-like leaves. Arms outstretched in offering to the crescent moon, devoured watermelon rinds also in the same crescent shape. They celebrate the middle of summer by enjoying fruit.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Me repeatedly asking my partner if they want to go to Sushi: "I don't know. Maybe next week." Me asking my partner once about attending a ham radio meetup: "Yes! Let's go!" Someday little nigiri, some day soon.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Ughhh! That 2 degree twist on the audio jack. Thanks #kicad! And thus I kick off the official open source version of my custom "tuned" KiCAD library. I can't be that harsh since #EagleCAD included libraries were full of this kind of anomalous shenanigans that gave me trust issues. #PCB

PCB showing the mounted TRS audio jack with a slight 2 degree turn. It turns out that the KiCAD supplied library footprint has multiple inaccurate dimensions.

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Reposted by Mark J. Koch

David Lindsey Pittman @dphrygian.com · 05/06/2025

Engineers have opinions about coordinate spaces.

A young woman assisting an older woman with a walker.
Older woman: "Z is up"
Young woman: "Sure grandma"

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Managed to finish this #STEAM project today. "Matrix Flowers 1", based on cheap #LED segment modules from #Amazon with an added custom @oshpark.bsky.social PCB using a #ATmega328p GitHub: github.com/CircuitMonke... #electronics #flowers #LEDs #arduino #microcontroller youtu.be/2mtg5pHPPw4?...

youtu.be

Matrix Flowers 1

YouTube video by Mark Koch

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

There's nothing like learning #kicad by Googling each and every thing you're trying to accomplish, waiting a month to start another board and then Googling all the same steps again. The UI is a hot mess compared to #EagleCAD.

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Reposted by Mark J. Koch

Nauti @nautigames.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Maybe I'm just a masochist? #gamedev #indiedev #programming

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Wrapping up my week by getting some good results from my current project. I got a #Adafruit Qualia #ESP32 dev board which is made for interfacing to the newer IPS LCD displays. It has a touch screen as well! Had to crash learn some #CircuitPython and was able to code a working GUI Widget set.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Me: <drinking a liter of water before heading to the phlebotomist> I wanna be juicy for my lady!

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I'm used to doing projects in #Java and a slick IDE but currently doing an embedded LCD project with #Mu and #CircuitPython and the workflow/debugging process is flooding my 1970s #BASIC nostalgia neurons while watching the screen paint line by line.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

#Amazon sellers never cease to entertain. The idea of Tungsten Carbide blades by "Star Ribs" took me to a whole new place in my demented brain...

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Reposted by Mark J. Koch

Line Bering @bering.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

I swear this must be how other folks see me! 😆 But this year, there is no turning back! 👀💦 I can't be the only one like this, right??? #gamedev #meme #dkgame

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

While my last post involved some nostalgic smut I'd come across in my junk pile, I spent the evening sorting another old relic in my lab space. My 40 year old kit of #electronics parts from college! Everything was jumbled into tackle boxes and I sorted them out. Almost everything is still usable!

From random piles of resistors, capacitors, jumper wires, chips and other electronics prototyping components, I sorted the contents of two tackle boxes into this pile of things that have nice homes in my current sorting system. Now, when I need something specific, I can look in one place instead of many. I'll find some new use for the tackle boxes.

The sorted parts were previously jumbled up in these trays with no particular order to them. I left the larger tool items in there for now to show a smidge of the chaos I'd come across.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

If you're a fan of, or researching #erotica from the early days of the #internet, then you owe it to yourself to track down this edition of Forum magazine which had multiple articles on the emerging use of online #BBS for the #horny folks. #Penthouse Forum December 1988, Vol. 18, Num. 4. #retro

December 1988 edition of Penthouse Forum, a Reader's Digest for horny people. A small sized magazine that was usually chock full of erotic stories and discussions, this particular edition covered the emerging use of "The Newest & Wildest Sex Underground", computers, internet and BBS to share ideas involving subjects of a sexual nature. There's even one article in here that covers the meaning of many online jargon words like "Compusex", "Emoticon", "On Line", "Lurker", "Handle", etc. Of all the old crap I'm throwing out, I'm keeping this one.

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Mark J. Koch @markjkoch.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Took a break from #gamedev the last few weeks to get a hardware idea out of my head. These electronic flowers can be placed into a vase that has voltage wired into two layers that make contact with copper on the stems. #steam #electronics #techart #arduino Thank you to @oshpark.bsky.social

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