And the auto-submitting TOTP entry form where you’re apparently not allowed to make a typo. And obscuring the TOTP number like it’s a password or state secret.

TIL and nice bit of trivia!

I used to buy their stuff and use tuya-convert to flash Tasmota onto them. But they kept updating the firmware to lock that out, and I ended up returning a batch of 15 smart plugs because none of them would flash. They were too much of a PITA to try to crack open and flash the ESP8266 manually so I returned the whole batch as defective, left a scathing review, and blackballed the whole brand.

Nice. I’ve got the Anker version but it’s half the capacity at 1 KWh. It charges exclusively from 800W of PV input (though it can only handle 600W input) and can push out 2,000 W continuous and 3000 peak.

I’ve got a splitter from the PV that goes to both the Anker and a DC-DC converter which then goes to a few 12v -> USB power delivery adapters. Those can use the excess from the PV to charge power banks, phones, laptops, etc while the rest goes to the Anker (doesn’t seem to affect the MPPT unless there’s basically just no sunlight at all). Without the splitter, anything above 600W is wasted until I expand my setup later this spring.

All I can say for it is that it absolutely rocks! On sunny days, I run my entire homelab from it, my work-from-home office, charge all my devices, and run my refrigerator from it if I feel like running an extension cord). It’s setup downstairs, so I also plug my washing machine into it and can get a few loads of laundry done as well.

All from its solar input.

Personally, I love that layout.

I’m always at a loss for what to put up as wall decorations, and I hate rats nests of cables. Win-win!

Loops finally seems usable now. I tried the beta a while back and it was kinda “Meh” but it’s improved significantly since. And you can browse on the website now, too. I’m not into short form videos, but credit where it’s due.

Well, I do like short form videos, but I hate panning for the gems and just let my friends send me the ones that rise to top.

It’s so common for “anti-censorship” to be code for “Nazi-friendly” that I’m immediately suspicious of any platform that uses that as a selling point.

I’m similarly suspicious, but it’s not just code for “nazi-friendly” but also crackpots, maladaptives, etc. Rational people who read and say “anti-censorship” in this context know it means that it’s not beholden to corporate or government interests. But everyone else seems to want to interpret that as “I can say whatever I want! How dare you mod anything I say?! Freeze-peach, y’all!”

I wish they’d pick a different term for these non-corporate alternatives, but I don’t have a better suggestion to offer right now.

I asked similar a few weeks ago: https://startrek.website/post/33957879

The answers were all pretty much what you’ve already listed: FreeCAD/OpenSCAD for parametric parts and Blender for sculpted shapes.

The only one not covered in that post was OnShape because I was specifically asking for ones that weren’t SaaS/cloud based.

The irony of Lennart “let’s change everything about Linux because I know better” Poettering creating a company called Amutable is not lost on me.

But also, that tracks because now it’s “I know better so now you can’t change anything” which is pretty on brand.

That’s why I’m planning on investing in a solar+battery system for my home this spring. Well, that, and because my electric rate keeps rising.

Maybe not PSU shortages, but definitely power supply shortages.

https://cardinalnews.org/2025/04/11/energy-demand-will-outstrip-supply-in-virginia-as-data-centers-proliferate/

This is her when she was younger (about 7 y/o). Don’t have any recent ones I can post right now where I wouldn’t have to blur out the background, etc. Blame the AI tools that let you feed pictures in and return a location. Grr…lol

My 11 year old dog still gets the zoomies.

The “Cuatro Leches” is like the jackasses on The Price is Right who, seeing you’ve bid $500, bids $501.

They should be. I have never seen them anywhere in my neck of the woods, but I did find a vape juice that’s “Tres Leches” flavored. It’s pretty amazing.

If I couldn’t pull out because some little Urkel car did that, I’d be pissed. Pissed enough to call a buddy to help me pick it up and move it onto the sidewalk. 😅

I don’t disagree, but prioritize to what people need to know in daily use instead of burying the lede in a sea of boilerplate.

I’m old, so I remember product info/safety labels before they turned into this. If you need gloves for something, step 1 was usually “Put on gloves”.

Exactly. And cut that in half if you’ve consumed any alcohol in the last ~12-24 hours.

That’s the kind of information that should be front and center without having to search the tiny text in the whole label.