Tools

Docker Builders for Easy Updates

One of the most frustrating things for me is when a new version of a software is released with a fix, feature, or otherwise useful addition I’d like to use, but the package maintainers for my Linux distro haven’t caught up yet. Some of the packages are so far behind it’s silly. I recently decided that for software I use regularly, and is updated regularly, I was going to start using a Docker container to build it and keep my…

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Take notes using Joplin

The hunt for a self-hosted notes system To be honest, I love self-hosting tools. I think it has to do with my love of learning, but I digress. I know there are gobs of note-taking/sharing/synchronizing apps out there, many of them free, but they all lacked features, and I wanted to self-host. What I Was Looking For I wanted a note-taking app, with the following capabilities: Self-hosted Synchronization across devices E2EE (end-to-end encryption) Rich media note-taking ability Markdown style note-taking…

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Raspberry Pi

JTAG On the Cheap with the FTDI FT232R

JTAG 101 What is it? JTAG stands for the Joint Test Action Group, and the TAP or Test Access Port this group defined is one of the most (if not the most) common way to program and debug embedded devices and computers of all flavors. For the professional, JTAG devices are bountiful and usually not too much of a strain on the commercial budget. But for the hobbyist, things aren’t so peachy. A Segger J-Link EDU can be had for…

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SpeedCrunch: the better cross-platform calculator

I often find myself using a calculator in my day job to convert large numbers between base-10 and hexadecimal. Windows’ built-in calculator can do it, but painfully. Linux Mint’s calculator is better, but only marginally so. Enter SpeedCrunch. SpeedCrunch is so incredibly feature-packed, and has such an intuitive interface, that I could hardly believe that it’s a free tool! Working with numbers Using the built-in functions hex and bin, numbers are easily converted into various representations. Very useful for programmers.…

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