iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Pondering the future of the Internet.

“Kombucha Girl” meme: on the left, a picture of a woman making a face as if she's tasted something sour: “SSO TAX”; on the right, a picture of the same woman thoughtfully considering: “IPv4 TAX”.

Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 21/09/2026

The project was a card for my wife. Now that she's seen it, I suppose it's probably alright if you do, too. I ended up having to do a lot of manual path operations to get this to work, which I'd like to avoid in future, but cutting directly out of Inkscape is […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

The front of a greeting card. It says “Happy Anniversary” in a curly, very '70s typeface, with three accent bands underneath. The card has a fabric texture, and the visual elements have been drawn in pen.

The back of the card. The accent bands from the front have wrapped around the card's spine and move up the back of the card in a zig-zag squiggle shape. With more surface area, it's easier to tell that the three bands have been filled in with texture: the blue band with chevrons, the yellow with miniature lightning bolts, and the orange one with small circles.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 28/08/2026

I am very upset that the Silverstone FLP02 case doesn't have any 3 ¹∕₂″ drive bays. “FLoPpy” is even in the name!

A fetching beige box computer case. It has almost all of the affordances one would expect of a case from 1993: 2×7-segment LEDs for displaying clock frequency, a barrel lock, a vertical grille, three 5 ¹∕₄″ drive bays with weird blanking plates that look like fake floppy drives, but... no 3 ¹∕₂″ bays!

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

In a fascinating twist I was really not expecting (based on that forum thread I linked earlier), the firmware on the controller seems to correctly support hard limit switches!

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

There we go, leads made up and all plumbed in: now when I realize I've made a mistake and have to take it apart again, I'll get to enjoy cutting all those cable ties off. No, your eyes deceive you not; I brought the NC signal from the switches as far as the […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

The board is a little different than I expected (from forum.lightburnsoftware.com/t/issue…), but it's similar enough that I'm not really worried. the JST XH headers for the X/Y limit switches are where I […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026

I have several things I really must do today (like finish the work week), and so of course my brain only wants to think about this. Right, let's pop the controller enclosure apart, then...

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

I am hamming it up considerably. Burning a 3mm hole for an M3 screw means the hole is pretty willing to help hold onto the threads for you. Not something that would hold over repeat disassembly and reassembly, but good enough for me! As is the hold. Being […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

And then stack on a middle piece, slide it over the bar, and awkwardly hold the bottom piece and washer in place while trying to get the nut to thread on please just thread on I am begging you I do not want to do this again again please

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

Let's see if this works. M2 machine screws go up through the top piece and through the switches... (Yes, they're supposed to be mirrored.)

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

I've cut out these pieces based on the dimensions of the bars and the switches. I'm “just” going to try to clamp them around the bars, and hope that the moving bits don't crash into them so hard that they move much over time. Or actually, moving over time isn't […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

So I got these roller switches from CPC, and put some tails on them, and now I'm going to try to mount them to the engraver's frame.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026

Time to put some limit switches on the laser engraver!

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 16/05/2026

Hey, d'y'all think this oven element needs to be replaced?

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 16/04/2026

With the front panel off, two layers of felt wedged in along the top of the dust filter causes enough pressure distributed across its surface to suppress the vibrations. Unfortunately, with the front panel on, there's not enough space on the right hand side for […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 15/04/2026

I stitched a felt pad together, used a nail as a makeshift awl to make a hole large enough to pass an M3 machine screw, and screwed it into a spare standoff inside the front case panel. Unfortunately, it's not really positioned right to put pressure on the spot […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 15/04/2026

The Node 804 case is noisy, and it's driving me crazy. I've narrowed it down to the front dust filters. While the drives are active, enough vibration is transferred through the case that the filters rattle in their slots.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

Entirely predictably, the hot glue failed almost immediately (one within days, the other within weeks; good bonding to the plastic blanking plates, very poor to the metal mounting plates). After five months of guiltily averting my eyes from the APs dangling from […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

That's it all back together again at least, ready for me to biff it off the nightstand again. In all honesty, I don't think it'll go back into service – at least not right away. It's just too annoying. Like, no wonder I keep knocking it over; the snooze button […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

Anyway. “Fixing” the thing we came here to fix is “just” a matter of holding the top two buttons in place while folding the back piece closed, while the stars align and Lucifer gives Michael a back rub. If it still looks depressed, it is (and so am I): the […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

While we're in here anyway, we can see that the micro driving the show is a PIC18F46K22: 64 KB flash, 3.8 KB RAM. Dunno how fast they're clocking it; could be up to 64 MHz.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

This is the back of the “mode” switch that pushed in. It's simply part of the injection-moulded back housing, articulating on two plastic spars that they're betting won't eventually wear and crack, I guess. It rebounds off this tactile switch on the PCB. With […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

The two plastic button inserts fall out when you open it – that's a classic case of poor design for manufacture. The other thing that fell out for me was this magnet. It's one of a pair mounted to the bottom of the main case, akin to another pair recessed into […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

I think the failure happens because the enclosure is screwed together at the top, and (poorly) clipped together at the bottom. I keep knocking it over while flailing for the snooze button on the top, and so the case eventually pops apart, so the “mode” button […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026

The “mode” button on the back of my (wife's) Lumie Zest SAD lamp + alarm clock has gotten stuck pushed in. This is the second time this has happened. Hey, fun fact: if your product isn't very good, harping on about how it's designed and made in Britain just makes you look like a gammon.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/12/2025

It's tryin'. I wouldn't say it's tryin' hard, but it's tryin'.

“It's taking a bit longer than expected, but we’ll get there as fast as we can”

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 30/12/2025

Windows 10 about as frustrated to be running under libvirt as I am to be installing it.

A screenshot of the Windows 10 OOBE running in libvirt Virtual Machine Manager. It says “OK, we got through this part of setup.”

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 23/10/2025

@glyph I have started three different responses and all three times my train of thought has gone like this. Good luck; God is not with you.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2025

@Edent Alack alas, and as is tradition, mobile Safari disappoints.

A screenshot of three different configurations of HTML meters. Despite surrounding text describing their supposed styling differences, they are styled identically.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 20/09/2025

Every time I drive over to the west coast of Scotland, I get a real kick out of this telephone exchange and adjoining telephone box in the middle of nowhere. (It is on the A86, about half a mile outside of Tulloch.)

A telephone exchange beside a worn rural road. A microwave tower stands in front; a red telephone box behind. Purple heather frames the foreground as dark skies loom overhead.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 24/08/2025

“Huh, I wonder what's taking up all the disk on this old laptop?”

A screenshot of GrandPerspective visualizing large files on a Mac. One single item is conspicuously responsible for about 25% of used disk space: it's Google Chrome, occupying 43.62 GB.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 04/08/2025

Accomplished: extremely gruesome UK wall mounts for my new MikroTik wAP ax units.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 26/05/2025

I use an ad blocker, so of course it makes sense for this retailer (Wayfair) to block me from browsing (and potentially spending money on) their online store. Like I get it, they're not actually trying to block ad blockers; their concern is really scrapers, and […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

A screenshot of an error webpage. It says (in extremely low-contrast text) “Before we continue... Press & Hold to confirm you are a human (and not a bot).” and has a disabled button labeled “Press & Hold”. Below the button is a vibrant red error message that reads “Please check your internet connection or disable your ad-blocker.”

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 10/02/2025

What did you do with your Sunday afternoon yesterday? I wrote a terrible AutoHotKey script to rip all of the lyrics out of an even-worse old desktop hymnal viewer application. I haven't really ever used AutoHotKey before, knowing of it only by reputation. I'm […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 29/01/2025

@ifixcoinops The largest I have is 40MB, practically all of which is two extremely large font files. As you can see here, of 252 epubs, the vast majority are under 5MB (which IMO is still pretty big). My Kobo has I think 8GB of storage and it (and its kin) is […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

Histogram chart labeled “epub sizes”. Y-axis goes to 100, X-axis goes to 4.0e7 (40MB). The bins (which are around 0.9 units/91KB in width) show a sharp exponential decline in book size over the first 10MB of sizes.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

And that's it, I think I'm done for now! As @jimfl pointed out, there's lots of stuff visible in the background of these photos that has nothing to do with laser engraving. Lots of gardening tools, etc. This space is as much storage as workshop, and the laser […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

Well, the firmware sees the storage device, but it doesn't list it as a (UEFI) boot source. I wonder if I just set up Grub wrong when I installed Debian on it a few weeks ago?

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

“Cable management”, but it's all in there.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

The t520 has 100mm VESA mounting holes on its side, so I've fitted a low-profile mounting bracket (the same one as I'm using for the monitor, actually) and I'll fit its other half to the underside of the shelf. For the adapter, I've got perforated metal […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

Back at it. A little off level, and the wire into the outlet isn't as straight as I'd like, but good clearance for an adapter now. Let's get the computer mounted.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

At least it's wired correctly! Time for bed. I'll try to get the rest squared away tomorrow, including getting a small fanless computer (thin client, HP t520) mounted under the shelf.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

Third one in, but, d'oh, it's mounted too low to plug in a wall wart. I'll see if I've got enough slack on the cable to move it up; if not, I'll have to flip it upside down.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

Detour: had to pull the filing cabinet out and jump (figuratively to get in, literally to get out) down behind it to be able to swing the hammer to get the cable clips in. These ones do matter a bit more, because they're visible (or, ideally, not!) to anyone who wanders into the workshop.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

2/3. Of course, it wasn't until I'd punched out holes on the sides of both backing boxes that I realized it would be futile to attempt to clip the cable to the particleboard shelf, but also, it's under a shelf, no one's going to see this. Well, no one but the Internet.

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

And that's the first one in! I hope I've done the right thing by orienting it as if “up” were toward the back of the shelf. It doesn't leave a ton of room for the two plugs that are supposed to go in here, but I think it'll be neater this way. I should've […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 19/01/2025

(Looks like this post from twenty minutes ago didn't make it – the joys of poor Wi-Fi out here. That's the next project...) Now onto the bit that I've been looking forward to least: contorting myself over backwards to get the under-shelf outlets in place. No […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

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Empterdose @mrdos.hachyderm.io.ap.brid.gy · 18/01/2025

I have been planning this project for long enough that, shockingly, I've remembered to buy screws short enough that they won't go through the top shelf.

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