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d-winker.bsky.social
DWink
@d-winker.bsky.social
670 followers 59 following 640 posts
An electrical engineer who likes to make things
https://d-winker.github.io/
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d-winker.bsky.social
I bought this candle specifically to see if the melted wax would follow the spiral as it fell down.

The wax does not melt!
A gree corkscrew candle, lit. The flame at the top is blinding. It's in front of an empty fireplace.
December 14, 2025 at 9:33 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
The production of The Nutcracker that I saw had a background curtain of a room with things from the performance, like an elephant, a bull, a dragon, a unicorn, and of course a nutcracker. It also had a Whimshurst electrostatic generator! I have no idea *why* it was there, but I love it so much!
A Whimshurst machine being cranked by a hand from out io frame. It's two big clear disks with metal foil on them, two foiled jars, two balls with a spark between them, and a base and support structure. A closeup of the spark gap in a Whimshurst machine.
December 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
d-winker.bsky.social
Can you tell when the sun hit my garage door?
A plot of the temperature in my garage from noon to midnight. It slowly rises from noon to around 2:30, then suddenly rises steeply until around 4:30, after which it falls back down. The garage door faces west.
December 2, 2025 at 11:35 AM
d-winker.bsky.social
The compression artifacts in the video are pretty bad. Here are some pictures.
November 30, 2025 at 3:38 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
Christmas in Florida last year. There were ibises hanging out in the back yard!
November 30, 2025 at 3:36 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
This is so cool: When I parked in my garage yesterday afternoon, no carbon monoxide was detected (orange), but other emissions were (green). When I left this morning, CO *was* detected.

The engine and catalytic converter produce more CO from a cold start, and almost none after warming up!
A plot from November 18th around 11 am to November 19th around 4 pm. The vertical axis is two slightly ambiguous measures of "gas" sensing. The green plot, from a BME688, is a broad gas sensor that has some kind of slow trend high to low across the plot. It spikes up around 3 pm on the 18th, and again (but smaller) around 9 am on the 19th. The orange line, from an MiCS5524, is spiky, unclear why, but it doesn't spike up on the 18th. Then, on the 19th, there's a big spike coincident with the spike in the green graph.
November 19, 2025 at 9:40 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
This is the first time I've seen a praying mantis at my house.
A brown praying mantis with a flash of bright green showing along its back. It has one leg splayed out over some bamboo. There's a brown leaf to the left.
November 16, 2025 at 6:14 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
Happy Halloween!
Two jack o lanterns on a concrete porch. The left is a Lububu face (lu boo boo), and the right is Darwin and Gumball from The Amazing World of Gumball.
November 1, 2025 at 12:34 AM
d-winker.bsky.social
I forgot one! The temperature in the garage rose as the car warmed it up. The car was in the sun. The engine had only been running for a few seconds.

The MiCS gas sensor is still high.
A plot of temperature over the course of three hours. Around noon it suddenly, sharply rises from 60.5F to 61.6F. It continues rising, likely because the sun is on the garage.
October 31, 2025 at 5:28 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
My new garage sensor got its first real test - I parked in the garage! There was an immediate spike in gas sensor data (nominally carbon monoxide) and a change in the magnetic field sensor reading. The CO2 measurement also changed and there was a drop in humidity - likely just from outside air.
A plot showing data from a BME688 and an MiCS5524 gas sensor. Both spike around 11:48 when a car is parked near them. The BME (right axis) spikes, then falls back to baseline after about 45 minutes. The MiCS (left axis) spikes, dips, then rises back up and apparently levels off. A plot of x axis (I'm not sure what this corresponds to physically) magnetometer data. It starts at 98.4 microtesla and rises up to 99.1 microtesla when a car is parked nearby. A CO2 measurement over time. There is a valley around 11:45 which corresponds to the garage door being open. A humidity measurement over an hour. Around 11:45 it drops from 51% to 45%, when the garage door was opened. At 12 it begins a steady upward trend, suggesting it will return to baseline now that the garage door is closed. Why is my garage more humid than outdoors? No clue. Maybe my garbage can is steamy.
October 31, 2025 at 5:25 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
IT'S ALMOST HALLOWEEN, TIME TO GET SPOOKY!

2021 pumpkins. "He is happy without eyes" (David Shrigley), Cookie Cat (he left his family behind!), and a bee!
Three lit jack o lanterns in the dark. Left to right, the painting He is happy without eyes, carved into a pumpkin - a cartoon dog whose eyes are gaping holes. Cookie Cat, a cheshire-cat-esque character from Stephen Universe, with a two tone face split down the middle. A tiny pumpkin with a bee carved into the skin. This was my cat's pumpkin! The pumpkin is so small that the whole thing is glowing.
October 26, 2025 at 12:50 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
It looks like their scales are inverted, but they seem to agree something was in my garage last night.
A plot over 24 hours showing the output of the two gas sensors. The BME data is a smooth green line that dipped last night and has been rising back up. The MiCS is a yellow line thag spiked a lot last night, but is generally flat (zero).
October 24, 2025 at 1:56 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
New sensors! I have CO2, temperature, pressure, humidity, "gas," and a three axis magnetometer. These are in my garage. I recently improved the garage door's seal, so I want to see how it maintains temperature and if it holds any considerable amount of carbon monixide ("gas" sensor) after I park.
A 3D printed white enclosure mounted to a wall. There's a striped black and silver USB cable on the left. Inside the box is an ESP32, to the right an SCD41 CO2 sensor, below that a MiCS5524 gas sensor, to it's left an MMC56x3 three axis magnetometer, and finally to it's left a BME688 temperature, pressure, humidity, and gas sensor. Same as the first image, but powered on. There are three green LEDs lit. Same as the previous, but with a slotted white cover over top. Same as the previous, but in the dark.
October 24, 2025 at 1:47 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky! 2023's Kirby in a Cauldron pumpkin.
A jack o lantern on a concrete step with a window in the background and a bush to the left. A depiction of Kirby in a cauldron with stars and bats around is cut into the surface.
October 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
It's almost Halloween.... time to get spooky! (2019 pumpkins)
Two jack o lanterns on brick steps. Left: Woodman from Hilda. Right: Scary clown!
October 21, 2025 at 1:57 AM
d-winker.bsky.social
It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky! Pumpkins from 2018.
Two pumpkins on brick steps. The first has the faces of Finn and Jake from Adventure Time as well as Lucy from Disenchantment cut into the skin so it's translucent, and the second (back) has a classic worried looking ghost.
October 17, 2025 at 7:48 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
Another picture where the Korok's left arm is still in tact.
Three lit pumpkins in a dark room. Left to right: Woodman (face), a Korok, a goofy pumpkin with two big buck teeth - the candle in its mouth is visible.
October 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky! These are last year's pumpkins: A Korok from Breath of the Wild, Woodman from Hilda, and an original piece from @jbarrow.bsky.social titled Skibidi Pumpkin
Lit pumpkins in the dark. Left to right: Korok, Woodman (face), and a goofy pumpkin with two big buck teeth.
October 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
I love the CO2 information Numi provides on their teas.
The bottom of two packages of Numi Tea. The top is Matcha Toasted Rice, it says .039 kg CO2e per tea bag. Ingredients, 25%, packaging 17%, transport 12%, boiling water 46%. The bottom is Honeybush, it says .036 kg CO2e per tea bag. Ingredients, 18%, packaging 18%, transport 14%, boiling water 50%.
October 14, 2025 at 12:21 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
Two new layers for the bin. This baby can hold so much compost!
A rectangular compost bin in front of a fence, between two short trees. The bottom three layers of the bin are aged gray. The top two are fresh wood (beige-ish, pine maybe).
October 2, 2025 at 11:05 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
I have a deep-seated urge to try chip flavors that I haven't had. The most recent was Argentinian Style Steak Lays; the aroma was on point, taste was like beef stew, and after four or five chips, it was just muddled chip flavor.

I have no recollection of the chips in this photo from...*2022*
A purplish bag of Sabor a Jamón Ruffles chips.
September 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
It's almost Halloween, time to get spooky!

(This was one of last year's pumpkins)
A korok from the legend of Zelda, breath of the wild, carved into a pumpkin. It has a five pointed leaf for a face, it's mouth is slightly open, and it's raising its tiny arms into the air.
September 16, 2025 at 11:04 AM
d-winker.bsky.social
I love those clear beehive things they have at museums
September 5, 2025 at 12:09 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
Look at these sheep! (The one in the third picture is screaming because its friend is off getting sheared).

(This was at the 53rd Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival back in May. These were the sheep of the year: the valais blacknose.)
Two small sheep huddled together A small sheep with short horns curling out from its head A small sheep turned away from the camera, it's mouth is hanging open
August 29, 2025 at 12:40 PM
d-winker.bsky.social
I love when my phone's weather app says this. I think it's so funny.
A blue rectangle with an eye icon and the text Visibility Unlimited visibility Unlimited
August 26, 2025 at 11:57 AM