41–50 of 127 posts
Linux Gaming is exciting - because it's been progressing from virtually nothing 10 years ago to being a tangible Windows alternative in 2021. And it keeps getting better.
Perhaps you’re feeling like everything has been done before. Consider a particular area and imagine how it could be if only a few things are changed. For example, we know where social media got us. How did it evolve to get to this point? Is there a better alternative? Build a better experience or work with others to cut a new path of least resistance. You may have enjoyed mining Bitcoin, but there’s more to blockchai…
In fact, in general, make it a habit to revisit 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s technology. Look up old computer magazines, read some articles.
There are TONS of ideas that were pioneered back then that have either been forgotten, have not fully evolved to reach their potential yet, or have evolved in negative ways such that they “lost the thread” (and therefore, provide fertile ground for revisiting and iterating upon).
One of the most monumental mindset shifts I’ve had in my career was looking into the whole Xerox Parc Smalltalk stuff. The concept of a live environment that you can change anything about it, right then and there, was a magical lightbulb that got me thinking about the UIs I build and the data behind them in new ways. It shifted my mind towards user empowerment rather than tight controls and structures.
Rediscovering some of these core ideas in their pure, early forms can be really inspiring.
Technologies that help us take better care of the environment, slow down climate change, make agriculture sustainable and environmentally friendlier, etc.
And the obvious: space exploration, deeper human-computer interfaces (as much as I'm creeped out by Neuralink, it is inevitable).
Cheap solar combined with the electric transport revolution (courtesy of better batteries), and the likely implications towards the architecture of our future power generation and storage. It costs money, but it's now possible to live a first-world lifestyle - sports car and all - without burning any fossil fuels. Houses can be made self-sufficient. The biggest impediment to turning that into a massive distributed gr…
Right now my current off-hours time-consumer is audio-synch’d lights. Specifically I’m working on music sync for Halloween props. This is a lot of warm up for Christmas too. I’m blown away by what’s available in the FOSS space for this stuff.
Do you mind posting some relevant links for us family men? ;)
Xlights: Sequencing and Scheduling software. This is what tells your lights what to do. (https://xlights.org/)
Falcon Pi Player (FPP): This software runs on your controller - A raspberry Pi or a Beaglebone are quite popular. This is what you run your sequences on. In my case, I drive my lights directly from my Pi. (https://github.com/FalconChristmas/fpp and https://falconchristmas.com) Also worth noting: A lot of people use dedicated hardware for this, such as the Falcon line of controllers (https://www.pixelcontroller.com/)
WS2811 Strands: These are probably the most popular lights - they're individually addressable, and pretty dang cheap for what they do. Even cheaper if you plan far ahead and order from China. This link is to my preferred brand, but lots of companies make these. The trick is to choose one company and stick with it, as they'll use the same LEDs across their products and you get good color matching (https://www.amazon.com/BTF-LIGHTING-Diffused-Individually-Ad...)
AusChristmasLighting: I live in the States, but for me this is the best of the online forums for lighting. If for no other reason, the UI is substantially nicer thna others I've come across. (https://auschristmaslighting.com/)
My own blog post about getting started and setting stuff up: (https://aaroneiche.com/2020/12/27/holiday-lights-display/)
Good luck, and if you have questions, feel to ping me.