I’m sure most everything you’ve said here rings true and has merit.
SOME people, of course. Thankfully I retired and got out of tech support at the local ISD with the introduction of Windows 8. Never touched a Windows 10 machine except to blow it away and install Linux Mint… 
I think this probably accounts for the growing popularity of Chromebook in the education space.
That, and it’s dog stupid to give a student a replacement laptop when they inevitably break one. “Log in with your school Gmail account.” Everything else configures automagically.
This has more to do with control than the interface. IT administrators have a HUGE ability to lock down a chromebook. My daughter has a school provided chrome book. I was pretty impressed with how locked down they have it. She can login and do her school work and that’s pretty much it.
Part of me wanted to play around on it and see what I could get away with, but I don’t want her to get in trouble for my curiousity.
You can send me a chrome book for a while and I will lock it down and then you can play with it. It should only take me about a year to fully lock it down 
There’s no security without physical security. You could definitely reformat it and do whatever you want with it. The question is, can you keep what’s on it and be able to run arbitrary code on it. Just encoding the hard drive is enough to make it pretty darn secure.
I agree with this too… along with the consistent interface 
Before my retirement in 2013, I was involved in a disastrous 1:1 netbook deployment at the local ISD for several years… it was a nightmare for administrators and tech support with WindowsXP, malware, and mountains of broken glass/plastic. Then it was IPads… thankfully, it was a few test classrooms in the middle school and I wasn’t involved. Finally, after my retirement, the ISD fully bought into the Google ecosystem (including Classroom), bought a bunch of Chromebooks, and from what I understand they’ve never looked back and couldn’t be happier. I haven’t talked to any of the guys since the Covid outbreak but if they’ve been at all effective with remote/distance learning, etc… I pretty sure Chromebooks are central to the effort.
I personally use Chromebooks almost exclusively now… but I also turn on the built-in Linux(beta) capability which allows me to install and run a host to useful programs such as Inkscape, PrusaSlicer, Lightburn, Freecad, etc. I really like them – though they do have their quirks (mostly with file management on the Linux side) – and after finding out that my seven grandkids were all using them in their school – and with their parents’ permission – I bought them all their own personal Chromebook a couple of years ago. They all really seem to like them as well.
I’m sure I’m the exception… but I find them mostly a joy to use.
I have been considering making my next personal laptop a chromebook. I need a powerhouse computer at work (to run my code before it gets fast) but nit really for home stuff. The kids could probably use it too.
If I hadn’t just built a new desktop and passed down laptops to the kids, I might be considering one too.
My last laptop purchase was a Asus 2 in 1. I thought it’d be cool to have a tablet-like laptop. Quickly discovered I’d never use the laptop as a tablet.
Also quickly discovered that tablets suit me just fine when I’m away from a desk and I’d rather have full desktop power when sitting at the desk.
I am considering one of the micro 7" laptops for traveling on the motorcycle. I need something that can run the basecamp software for the GPS when planning or adjusting the next day’s ride.
That’s tiny. Doesn’t really cover your lap. More like a “LoinTop”
“LapFlap”
, to funny.
They are actually going to offer fiber broadband in the community where our cabin is located. 1gbps in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fjords and tall mountains. Not sure if we’ll jump on the offer, it’s quite a splurge to pay for two high speed connections…
That is awesome! I’ve always loved the Nanoleaf setup and originally started printing a model I found online, but the light diffusion left a lot to be desired. I never completed it, and when the CNC came along, I started getting ideas.
I have NO idea how this all comes together but 
!!!
I LIKE it!
I am working on a new ESP32 project and I went looking for the ones I have and I stumbled on this. Crazy. Now they have a color screen on them and they are still $7.
Meanwhile, the LED control board in my fridge still costs $300.
I ordered two of these (I might have gotten from them from banggood, it was in the US warehouse and cost $11ea). I am working on a PM2.5 air quality sensor I can move around outside or in the house to just give me more info on the air quality.
Or, does anyone want an ESP32 watch? That is a color touch screen…
I get mine from Amazon. Mine don’t have the colored screen.
So… This thread was slightly derailed way back in September just before I got smacked by the COVID bus and hospitalized… And what a glorious derail it was with all of the detailed commentary on electronics and the fun that can be had with them. It’s time to update the thread and keep the discussion going.
My home office doesn’t have enough light. The primary source of light is a ceiling fan light in the center of the room. It’s entirely too localized and gives me headaches. As such, I’ve decided to create a wood and aluminum light bar that mounts about six inches below the ceiling on the perimeter of the room.
This light bar consists of two 3/4" aluminum C-Channels filled with 60 LEDs/m of addressable RGBW LEDs running around the perimeter of the room, controlled by WLED. The top/outermost strip shines up toward the center of the room at a 30 degree angle to wash the ceiling in light and color, while the lower strip is tilted at 10 degrees toward the wall and washes the same color/light down the wall. Both LED strips will run synchronous to each other, so whatever one strip shows, the other will as well. Enjoy a render of what it looks like. The parts are machined, but I have not finished assembly and hanging yet.
I was recently inspired to create a ring lamp similar to a 3D printed design I found on Thingiverse, but I wanted to make it out of wood. I spent a couple of hours this evening mocking up the below design. The ring is approximately 14 inches across, and can be filled with either straight white LED strips, tuneable color, or RGB/W LEDs. I plan to make several of these and gift/sell them. The base of the lamp has an internal pocket for the electronics and will have a DC barrel plug in the back for the power supply. For the RGB/W or Tuneable LEDs there will also be a push button to control the colors/tuning/patterns/etc, and it will be accessible via wireless from a PC/Mobile Device. Enjoy some renders with white light. I have one of these milling on the machine as I write this post. I’m excited to put it together.
The visible holes in the render will be filled with a dowel, and they go all the way through the material to provide alignment pins and strength while the glue sets.
Those both seem like awesome concepts and very fun projects. I am definitely interested in seeing how they turn out.
GREAT ideas. I love led projects, might try your circle myself one day
Wouldn’t it make sense to invert the design so that the strip is on the outside (more light)? Maybe even twist it a little so that the strip faces a little to the back. Would make a great source of indirect light. S-shape led strip would probably be necessary though
