John T (the GRA is silent)
@grajohnt.bsky.social
280 followers 560 following 410 posts
Vibe Personality Hire Geology PhD, maker of absurd things, radio, and other nonsense. Always interested in how we learn through failure. Also at grajohnt @chaos.social
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grajohnt.bsky.social
A little #RaspberryPiPico project with a DAC for sound effects, some lights, and a PIR for motion sensing.

Should be "fun" for the trick-or-treaters on #halloween!
grajohnt.bsky.social
This is mostly a thought experiment, and LEDs have long been used as useful indicators in oscillator circuits, but LED noodles can be a useful tool to help "see" what's happening in a circuit.
grajohnt.bsky.social
Finally getting the #halloween decor sorted...
grajohnt.bsky.social
It's *my* car now, buddy...

(Yes, this is an invasive #brown #anole #lizard, and there's a constant back and forth war between them and the native green anoles)
grajohnt.bsky.social
Note that the P9P had a clear view of the sky for *hours* before this, and the eTrex hadn't even been turned on in at least a decade.

We've all gotten a bit comfortable with using phone GPS for navigation, but be extremely cautious doing so at the moment if you're on Android 16.
grajohnt.bsky.social
Heads up for any #Google #Pixel9Pro and potentially other #Android users. The Android 16 update seems to have fundamentally broken the ability for the GPS to get a lock in many situations.

Comparison between my ~20 yr old eTrex and my #P9P today - both with same view of the sky.
grajohnt.bsky.social
Cue "dumb ways to die" music. Maybe that's not the vehicle to tailgate, buddy.
grajohnt.bsky.social
The depth of cognitive dissonance it takes to get upset about what someone says about the death of an edgelord you liked really makes my head spin.
grajohnt.bsky.social
Currently being stalked in the cutest way possible (Hopi Chipmunk)
grajohnt.bsky.social
A few of today's arthropod sightings in the Guadalupe Mountains. The last two were particularly chonky.
grajohnt.bsky.social
Desert sunset in thermal infrared pseudocolor - Guadalupe Mountains National Park
grajohnt.bsky.social
I'm not saying I don't use AAA batteries very often, but...these are the ones I just pulled out of the battery box to use.
grajohnt.bsky.social
How it started: How it's going:
grajohnt.bsky.social
Turns out I had been self-medicating with copious coffee for my entire adult life.
grajohnt.bsky.social
I definitely get ebbs and flows, with the occasional couple weeks where it magically relents and I can get a ton done without deadline pressure. Been trying to find the trigger for that for years.

Also, quitting caffeine and being in that situation is what caused me to be diagnosed.
grajohnt.bsky.social
If you want the easy route, modern phone cameras are astonishingly good at it. A stable mount is required (this was just laying flat on a wooden post). Electronically assisted astronomy (like the SeeStar) is also phenomenally good.
grajohnt.bsky.social
The nice thing about the middle of Australia is that it has extremely dark skies, and the center of the galaxy is straight up.

Picture from a Pixel 9 Pro
grajohnt.bsky.social
What is it with commonwealth countries eating their national animals?
grajohnt.bsky.social
I was disappointed that this is actually a camper van rental place
grajohnt.bsky.social
Hackaday #Supercon tickets booked!

Who else is going?
grajohnt.bsky.social
Proposal for a new US economic system: poorest person gets a blue shell.
Reposted by John T (the GRA is silent)
rmartincole.bsky.social
All reports in this thread are from the collections of Northwestern University's Transportation Library. Materials we've digitized can generally be found in HathiTrust. Learn more and search our catalog here: www.library.northwestern.edu/libraries-co...
Text "United States Department of Agriculture. Transporting Watermelons in Bulk and Bin by Truck." Illustration of a semi truck with a watermelon as its trailer.
grajohnt.bsky.social
I've spent the last few days playing with casting, mostly with a lot of humorous failures.

However, I just made the first cast I'm reasonably happy with!

This is bismuth, which has its own casting challenges, but is non-toxic and has a low melting point.