Some TODOs for the new site
As I prepare to make this new version of dzombak.com live, I wanted to make a note of some things that are left for me to do.
Featured Posts ★
Know Your Birds: Red-Headed Woodpecker
The Red-Headed Woodpecker is, at least here in Michigan, a commonly misidentified bird.
Sunset over Canyonlands National Park, viewed from BLM's Needles Overlook in Utah.
Recent Posts
Keep your software up and running on the Raspberry Pi
This post reviews some of the options for keeping a systemd-managed service running persistently on a Raspberry Pi, or really any other Linux system.
Disable or remove unneeded services and software to help keep your Raspberry Pi online
On long-running, single-purpose Raspberry Pis, I like to disable and/or remove some scheduled tasks, services, and other software. This may help with a few different reliability concerns.
Consider the risks before making any dramatic changes to your Raspberry Pi setup
In my blog posts about making long-running Raspberry Pis more reliable, I've suggested a number of changes. Some of these are pretty large, dramatic changes; others are tiny and unremarkable. With any intervention, it's important to consider the risks involved and weigh them against your personal r…
Choosing the right SD card for your Pi
There are thousands of dirt-cheap, no-name microSD cards available. Don't use them.
Fixing excessive Pi-hole lighttpd access log size when Netdata is installed
Part of the Raspberry Pi Reliability series.
Not running out of disk space is an important aspect of keeping tiny Linux machines with limited storage and RAM running reliably for extended time periods.
On most Raspberry Pis and similar devices, I keep /var/log in RAM, either with a straightforward …
A complete table of Nikon 1 system battery compatibility
It took me a while to get this data together, so I thought it might be useful for other camera hoarders collectors:
Nikon 1 Camera Model
Battery Type
Compatible Charger
V1
EN-EL15
MH-25
J1
EN-EL20
MH-27
J2
EN-EL20
MH-27
S1
EN-EL20
MH-27
V2
EN-EL21
MH-28
J3
EN-EL20
MH-27
S2
EN-EL22 …
From Pinboard to Raindrop
Migrating my personal bookmarking to Raindrop.io from Pinboard.
Photo sequence of Bald Eagles hunting, from Nov. 2022
In November of last year, I was lucky to observe a lot of bald eagle activity around a lake near my home. (In total I observed 5 eagles: 3 adults and 2 juveniles.)
Content warning: this post includes photos, from a distance, of a dead bird.
One Saturday morning, I …
New IDs resulted in many “new” posts in Ann Arbor FOIA RSS feed
Subscribers to my RSS feed (or JSON feed) of Ann Arbor FOIA requests will have noticed that yesterday their feed readers showed a large number of "new" posts, which were not actually new and dated from weeks ago.
RSS feeds require each entry to have a unique ID, …
Thinking about cardboard
I produce a fair amount of cardboard waste, which all goes into the recycling. Can I recycle it myself, into useful material for my hobby projects?
Hacking slightly better sum types without Go generics
Go doesn't have real sum types, but we can at least hack together an exhaustive switch helper, without requiring generics.
3D Printing Recommendation: Plasti-Dip Spray Rubberized Coating
I've now completed several 3D printing projects which need to sit more-or-less still on a desktop or other work surface. I've seen a few different approaches to this, but I wanted to note that I've had good luck so far with clear Plasti-Dip rubberized …
Reconsidering Netdata
Reconsidering where and how I install the open-source system monitoring tool, Netdata.
TDS220 Oscilloscope Refurbishment: Rotary Encoders & Backlight
Part of the Project Logs series.
For years, my oscilloscope has been a Tektronix TDS220 (2-channel, 100 MHz) scope. I bought it used, fairly inexpensively, a little while after graduating from college. (You'll see some photos of this scope's screen in my atomic clock project post. …