Author Archives: Steve

About Steve

When it comes to the desktop, Steve is a former Amiga, Windows, and Linux user, and as of six years ago, a die-hard Mac head (who, for once, isn't thinking of changing platforms again any time soon). When it comes to the server, Linux is pretty much the only game he plays. He also enjoys hardware hacking, and shouldn't be allowed near a keyboard after the sun sets (or for that matter, after it rises. Don't say I didn't warn you).

Good Memories: Battlebots 5.0

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Steve

Battlebots just got brought up over on Hackaday, and I couldn’t help but remember the 2002 season, where I attended as a competitor. Those were some good times, even if my silly wedge bot got utterly destroyed by the evil … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

How To Make Linux VNC Servers Show Up In Finder

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Steve

Someone saw my older post on Avahi, and wondered how to make it work with VNC and Apple’s Screen Sharing in OSX. I was too lazy to figure it out myself, but Steve Purcell over at sanity, inc. figured it … Continue reading →

Posted in Bonjour, Linux | Comments Off

AVR For PIC People, Part 1: The Basics

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Steve

If you followed TuneConsole, you know I’m a PIC guy. Unfortunately for me, Microchip hasn’t kept up with the times: their toolchain feels like late ’80s Borland tools, and that’s a very generous comparison. Turbo C was never this bug-ridden, and … Continue reading →

Posted in AVR, Hardware Hacking | 2 Comments

Centering A Dialog Under A Status Item In Cocoa

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Steve

So you have an NSStatusItem, and you want it to pop a dialog for whatever reason, perhaps a settings window. Where should that dialog be positioned? If you’re not placing it centered on the main screen, you probably want it … Continue reading →

Posted in Cocoa, Mac Hacking | 11 Comments

Radiance: Stupid Developer Tricks

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Steve

As some of you likely know now, I’ve been working on Radiance 2.0, which will hopefully be a significant improvement. The current application is a hack at best; I wrote it for me rather than for the masses. I’m working … Continue reading →

Posted in Mac Hacking, Radiance | Comments Off

The Macdweller Part Storage System

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Steve

Proper storage of electronic parts is a pain in the neck, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Every serious hacker has to deal with this at some point, and the solutions are all over the map, ranging … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware Hacking | 10 Comments

Locking And Unlocking Files From Terminal

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Steve

Ever needed to change finder’s lock bit on a file from the command line? Well, it isn’t really a finder thing. To wit: # Lock a file $ chflags uchg /my/favorite/file # Unlock a file $ chflags nouchg /my/favorite/file I … Continue reading →

Posted in Mac Hacking | Comments Off

Radiance 1.2: Now Supporting Mountain Lion

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Steve

So I finally got around to updating Radiance for Mountain Lion, which was more difficult than it sounds. The old version used the undocumented O3Manager API to control display brightness, but Apple removed it in 10.8. External displays can’t be … Continue reading →

Posted in Mac Hacking, Mountain Lion Hacks, Radiance | Comments Off

Review: Gold Phoenix PCB

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Steve

The Breakout Fin is here! Since the boards were coming from China, I expected it to take a lot longer to get them – if nothing else, due to customs and shipping delays. Apparently, I was wrong. They arrived on … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware Hacking | 3 Comments

The Double-Sided Breakout Fin

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Steve

Arduino has its shields. Raspberry Pi apparently now has Pi Plates. BeagleBone has capes. I’ve now decided that my toys shall be called Fins! Hah! But I digress.

Posted in Hardware Hacking | 2 Comments