Creative Blasterkey MP3 External Power Mod
How to use Creative’s BlasterKey MP3 with a dedicated power source.
Power a Laptop without a Dedicated Power Adapter
I am often given laptops for repair/cleanup. However, not everybody brings the power adapter along. Anyone who has ever dealt with laptops knows from experience that pretty much every make/model has a different kind of power socket, even though they pretty much have the same power requirements. In this quick …
GPS/GSM Vehicle Tracker/Recorder
The article below is a detailed description of a GPS and GSM based vehicle tracking solution I have created recently. Its major features: Real time location reports using an onboard GSM modem. Has a micro SD card socket for offline storage on a memory card – this way using a …
Custom Development Boards To Speed up Development
(This article is updated regularly as I create new development boards. The new ones are towards the bottom of this page.) Over the years I have created several development boards and breakout boards. Despite their cost (time, effort, money) they are invaluable investments for development. They simplify and speed up …
WiFi – IR Gateway a.k.a. Give your Dumb (Old) Devices the Smarts!
Some time ago I also completed this project that I never got around to publish. This project is a WiFi-Infrared gateway. I am aware that such commercial products exist, but at the time I needed one for my home the available options all suffered from one or more shortcomings, such …
Mirror LED Clock
I must have thought there were not enough kinds/shapes/etc clocks in the world. Or maybe I thought: “I made one in the eighties, one about 10 years ago, so it is time for another one.” I’m not sure at this stage. What I do know is that I wanted to …
Tutorial: How to Install Home Assistant on a Generic Linux System
Are you as baffled as I am about Home Assistant installation? Got a generic Linux system and are not sure where to begin? Well, look no further, as i am setting out here the necessary steps, as i identified them through my recent research. Home Assistant is one of the …
Staircase Lighting – for a Smarter Home
Introduction Almost a decade ago I made a PIC micro controlled staircase light timer. It has been working really well ever since and now time has come to upgrade it. This time I designed it around the ESP8266 WiFi module as most of my other projects these days. Having WiFi …
Geeking out on a DOA Wifi Smart Light Bulb
Introduction Recently, I have tried a number of cheap WiFi smart bulbs. Usually, they arrive OK from China (although they are in serious need of weeding all the spyware in them), but this particular one failed to do more than a quick flash when I switched it on. No WiFi, …