I attended the AWS New York Summit at the Javits Center. It was a 2 day event that had some really interesting AWS service launches (SageMaker in particular) and some good updates on existing services I’ve used before (Rekognition, Polly and Lex). The biggest eye-catching story of course is how Fortnite runs on AWS managed…
Retro Pie: Make Some Noise!
Added a MAX98357A I2S amp with an 8 ohm speaker just under the screen. This allowed to have a smaller build as I was able to get rid of the USB hub and sound card from the back. I replaced it with a bigger external battery for much longer retro gaming goodness.
The Pimenator
I dusted off my original Pi Racer project that was at one point in time a Particle Photon Racer. Now I plan to turn it into a dual Raspberry Pi setup with a movidius myriad 2 VPU and a camera mounted on a pimoroni pan-tilt hat. I am running Google AIY’s vision ML on one…
Retro Pie: Dead
I think I killed the pi zero running my retro pie. Yep, it’s dead. Good thing I got a ton of these 5 dollars pi zeros from Micro Center.
Retro Pie: v3 (or v4 or are we at v5 now?)
My 10 year old product owner demanded that a case be installed on his retro pie. Business case was that there is high likelihood of liquids or other particulates 10 year olds spew would get into his retro pie when he plays with it during after school. A related business case was that it was…
Pi2-D2 Gets Creepy
My Pi2-D2 can move its head, light up, play sounds and turn appliances on and off. It’s only natural for it to start seeing too. I took apart an old USB webcam from its case and mounted it on its head. Took a bit of elbow grease to poke a hole on that socket and…
Writing Enterprise Software the AWS way
We need to stop writing software like it was the 90s (which unfortunately we still do to this day). Let’s take agile to a new level by making software that is agile enough for business needs. The xp agile methodology requires that we have Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, Courage and Respect as the core principles when…
Kidsplained: How Digital Displays Work
Spent all night working on this so I can show my son how digital displays work. I explained how the led matrix works and how it makes graphics using 256 dots (8×32). I then explained that it’s the exact same concept that powers an iPhone’s display but that has 2 million more dots. 10 year…
Web API controllers, abstraction and unit testing
I’ve had a lot in my mind this cold winter morning so get ready for another rant fest. I’ve been looking for options on how to build a REST based, unit test friendly, cloud future ready (for my purposes, ASP.NET core ready) web API service. I know there is a plethora of options out there…
Smart Lamp Now with Particle Photon Brains
Upgraded my smart lamp from an RPI 3 to a Particle Photon (downgraded if you just look at specs). Also added Alexa integration to it
