James Newton
@jamesmnewton.bsky.social
Lucky to know brilliant people. Tech generalist; sees how it fits together & often what's coming. Roboticist. Educator. Wrongologist / fascinated by (bad & good) failure. Collaborator. Asteroids are our future. Escondido, CA
https://github.com/JamesNewton
https://github.com/JamesNewton
Pinned
James Newton
@jamesmnewton.bsky.social
· Jan 18
10 years later
YouTube video by Andrey Rudenko
www.youtube.com
In 2013, Andrey had come up with a cement that could be extruded, and I made a powerful, but low cost, open source stepper driver that I showed could work with standard RAMPS Marlin 3D printers. With those, he built THE FIRST 3D Cement house printer in the USA!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD4J...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD4J...
I had a thought about these engines:
bsky.app/profile/jame...
bsky.app/profile/jame...
Random thought about Stirling Hot Air Engines: Why don't people use rotary displacers? Unlike rotary engines, you don't need to worry about the seals. And using a different density of materials, the displacer can be balanced; removing a common source of vibration...
February 19, 2026 at 3:51 AM
I had a thought about these engines:
bsky.app/profile/jame...
bsky.app/profile/jame...
Apparently some work was done on this idea under the name SWATT.
February 19, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Apparently some work was done on this idea under the name SWATT.
The connection between the displacement volume and the power piston can be take off at any point, including along the displacer shaft, so no external seals would be required other than the power piston.
February 19, 2026 at 3:49 AM
The connection between the displacement volume and the power piston can be take off at any point, including along the displacer shaft, so no external seals would be required other than the power piston.
...The displacer can be a set of plates separated for the working fluid to pass through as a heat exchanger. The hot side and cold side can be plates that interlock, transferring energy efficiently...
February 19, 2026 at 3:49 AM
...The displacer can be a set of plates separated for the working fluid to pass through as a heat exchanger. The hot side and cold side can be plates that interlock, transferring energy efficiently...
Random thought about Stirling Hot Air Engines: Why don't people use rotary displacers? Unlike rotary engines, you don't need to worry about the seals. And using a different density of materials, the displacer can be balanced; removing a common source of vibration...
February 19, 2026 at 3:49 AM
Random thought about Stirling Hot Air Engines: Why don't people use rotary displacers? Unlike rotary engines, you don't need to worry about the seals. And using a different density of materials, the displacer can be balanced; removing a common source of vibration...
Great "The Rest is Science". Apparently only ONE non-human animal has ever asked a question (vs making a request). A grey parrot, Alex, saw itself in a mirror for the first time, and knowing about color, but not "grey", asked "What color?". There is no other documented example! Wow!
February 17, 2026 at 4:57 AM
Great "The Rest is Science". Apparently only ONE non-human animal has ever asked a question (vs making a request). A grey parrot, Alex, saw itself in a mirror for the first time, and knowing about color, but not "grey", asked "What color?". There is no other documented example! Wow!
Please ignore if unwanted, but: How about a flag that causes parsing errors to reject the input during study, but log the failure if not studying? We react differently when things don't make sense to us during a conversation (ask for correction), vs when reading a text (skip it, replace the text)
February 17, 2026 at 12:26 AM
Please ignore if unwanted, but: How about a flag that causes parsing errors to reject the input during study, but log the failure if not studying? We react differently when things don't make sense to us during a conversation (ask for correction), vs when reading a text (skip it, replace the text)
Brushed DC forever!
February 16, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Brushed DC forever!
I've ended up doing 50 -> 12 -> 5 before e.g. with a 7812 and a 7805 before and that works amazingly well. I don't remember exactly, but I know it worked a lot better than 24 to 5.
February 16, 2026 at 5:33 AM
I've ended up doing 50 -> 12 -> 5 before e.g. with a 7812 and a 7805 before and that works amazingly well. I don't remember exactly, but I know it worked a lot better than 24 to 5.
Thank you for keeping the faith. I really REALLY, desperately, want to believe that.
February 13, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Thank you for keeping the faith. I really REALLY, desperately, want to believe that.
Ha! But the question I have is what is consciousness and why do we think we are the be all and end all of it?
People go on about how horrible AI is and I'm like... "Have you met US!?"
Of course, when I say that to wonderful people, they don't get it. But most people aren't wonderful. Sad. True.
People go on about how horrible AI is and I'm like... "Have you met US!?"
Of course, when I say that to wonderful people, they don't get it. But most people aren't wonderful. Sad. True.
February 13, 2026 at 6:07 AM
Ha! But the question I have is what is consciousness and why do we think we are the be all and end all of it?
People go on about how horrible AI is and I'm like... "Have you met US!?"
Of course, when I say that to wonderful people, they don't get it. But most people aren't wonderful. Sad. True.
People go on about how horrible AI is and I'm like... "Have you met US!?"
Of course, when I say that to wonderful people, they don't get it. But most people aren't wonderful. Sad. True.
Existing electric cars can't be converted to this because they must be stopped and in park before they will allow charging. I'm guessing they re-used some of the electronics between charge and run?
February 12, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Existing electric cars can't be converted to this because they must be stopped and in park before they will allow charging. I'm guessing they re-used some of the electronics between charge and run?
So apparently the early Chevy Volts were like this, but some also had a direct ICE to wheel connection (not a full transmission) for higher efficiency at hwy speeds.
February 12, 2026 at 9:04 PM
So apparently the early Chevy Volts were like this, but some also had a direct ICE to wheel connection (not a full transmission) for higher efficiency at hwy speeds.
youtu.be/MIj0wmxheKE
What's this style of music called?
What's this style of music called?
Benjamin Pinkerton - Dark Matter Closing Theme (Extended Version)
YouTube video by Vista Records
youtu.be
February 12, 2026 at 2:45 AM
youtu.be/MIj0wmxheKE
What's this style of music called?
What's this style of music called?
TIL, the brachistochrone cycloid is a starting point for efficient rocket trajectories; although effects of drag, and changes in mass, etc... are also important. So rolling a ball down a ramp can teach you about launch trajectories. Amazing!
February 11, 2026 at 6:02 PM
TIL, the brachistochrone cycloid is a starting point for efficient rocket trajectories; although effects of drag, and changes in mass, etc... are also important. So rolling a ball down a ramp can teach you about launch trajectories. Amazing!
My favorite is "That's easy, just ask an AI!"
February 10, 2026 at 5:55 AM
My favorite is "That's easy, just ask an AI!"
So this is interesting. If everyone here was old, I'd say "It's sort of like Napster for apps and data", but people probably won't get that. There are some good videos that explain it better. No DNS, no cloud servers, no way to censor (wait, what?) A true decentralized sharing internet.
freenet.org
freenet.org
Freenet
freenet.org
February 9, 2026 at 3:24 AM
So this is interesting. If everyone here was old, I'd say "It's sort of like Napster for apps and data", but people probably won't get that. There are some good videos that explain it better. No DNS, no cloud servers, no way to censor (wait, what?) A true decentralized sharing internet.
freenet.org
freenet.org
This graph is slide 9 of my 20 slide presentation on this topic. But slide 5 is also pretty interesting:
docs.google.com/presentation...
docs.google.com/presentation...
February 8, 2026 at 4:06 AM
This graph is slide 9 of my 20 slide presentation on this topic. But slide 5 is also pretty interesting:
docs.google.com/presentation...
docs.google.com/presentation...
So few people realize this. THIS is the reason for "Cheap Chinese Labor": It's not labor, it's automation. Apple transferred an amazing amount of knowledge to Chinese workers... about how to automate things (while outsourcing the iPhone factories).
February 8, 2026 at 3:57 AM
So few people realize this. THIS is the reason for "Cheap Chinese Labor": It's not labor, it's automation. Apple transferred an amazing amount of knowledge to Chinese workers... about how to automate things (while outsourcing the iPhone factories).
TIL code in your git commit comment can change your code. (!!!)
mas.to/@zekjur/1160...
mas.to/@zekjur/1160...
Michael Stapelberg 🐧🐹😺 (@zekjur@mas.to)
Attached: 4 images
PSA: Did you know that it’s **unsafe** to put code diffs into your commit messages?
Like https://github.com/i3/i3/pull/6564 for example
Such diffs will be applied by patch(1) (al...
mas.to
February 7, 2026 at 3:10 AM
TIL code in your git commit comment can change your code. (!!!)
mas.to/@zekjur/1160...
mas.to/@zekjur/1160...
"An EREV — or REEV, as Ram calls it — is a “series hybrid.” On most hybrid vehicles, both the gas-burning engine and battery-powered motors drive the wheels. On a series hybrid, the engine only charges the battery."
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/05/f...
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/05/f...
‘700 miles of range’: What Ford and Ram replaced their EV pickups with
Automakers seeing US EV demand fall short expectations try out a new kind of vehicle--an extended range EV--that critics say is a hybrid with a different name
www.cnbc.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:21 AM
"An EREV — or REEV, as Ram calls it — is a “series hybrid.” On most hybrid vehicles, both the gas-burning engine and battery-powered motors drive the wheels. On a series hybrid, the engine only charges the battery."
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/05/f...
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/05/f...
what are the analog capture devices for? If you reading all those pots, can't you just direct connect them to a set of uC ADC lines and then connect the uCs to a central uC to aggrigate?
February 5, 2026 at 9:40 PM
what are the analog capture devices for? If you reading all those pots, can't you just direct connect them to a set of uC ADC lines and then connect the uCs to a central uC to aggrigate?
Useful for building a second copy of something that you want to move with these instead of the servos used in the original, and then moving the copy while logging the voltages, which then get used to drive the servos in the original.
February 4, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Useful for building a second copy of something that you want to move with these instead of the servos used in the original, and then moving the copy while logging the voltages, which then get used to drive the servos in the original.
Well this is... "fun"? Not sure what word to use. "Cool"? It's a bit overwhelmed and very slow, but it does seem to work:
github.com/maxandrews/E...
github.com/maxandrews/E...
GitHub - maxandrews/Epstein-doc-explorer: a graph explorer of the Epstein emails
a graph explorer of the Epstein emails. Contribute to maxandrews/Epstein-doc-explorer development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Well this is... "fun"? Not sure what word to use. "Cool"? It's a bit overwhelmed and very slow, but it does seem to work:
github.com/maxandrews/E...
github.com/maxandrews/E...