TechnologyIQ

We’ve covered the Sonoff a few times–a very inexpensive box with an ESP8266, a power supply, and an AC relay along with a way to tap into a power cord. Very inexpensive means $5 or $6. The supplied software will work with several systems (including, recently, Alexa). But what self-respecting hacker wants to run the stock firmware on something with an ESP8266 inside? [Tzapu] certainly didn’t. But he also knew he didn’t want to start from scratch every time he wanted to deploy a switch. So he built SonoffBoilerplate and put the code on GitHub. The code manages taking configuration (including network settings) using a web-portal, can update itself over the air, and integrates with Blynk and MQTT. If you don’t like that code base, there are other choices including one that has a failsafe reconfiguration mode. Read Son of Sonoff via hack a day ESP8266 and Sonoff products at Amazon   * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be ...

Read Douglas E. Welch 's answer to If I'm trying to subscribe to various, but specific blogs (RSS Feeds). Is FeedBurner the right place, or is FB specifically for your personal blog analytics? on Quora

I love projects that bridge the gap between the digital and the physical world. I remember seeing something similar to this year’s ago when I first visited Maker Faire Bay Area. I’ve linked a video of that project below, too. — Douglas The Japanese rock garden, or simply zen garden, has become a popular desk toy, but the folks over at Makr Toolbox have taken it to the next level with an Arduino system that lets you draw in the sand at the press of a button. The system works with a gantry that sits below the sandbox. Powered by a pair of motors, the gantry works much like those on a 3D printer, something the creator of this project has experiance with, but without the Z axis. In the middle of the gantry there is a magnet that moves a ball bearing across the sand. Read This Arduino zen garden lets you draw in the sand remotely via htxt.africa My video from Maker Faire Bay Area 2008 of a similar project * A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** M...