the16bitgamer

I love the idea of it, and I love how tiny it is. Will probably get one when money isn’t so tight.

But I was curious if the power button was accessible without lifting it. And it genuinely isn’t. Why does Apple like shoving important IO and buttons underneath the device. Good thing it’s light?

Oh and a funny thing was the staff had to loosen its mount on the table so you could turn it on.

Got this in an email today… oh my

It’s a slight modification to my existing design which can be found here: https://www.printables.com/model/261466-apple-pencil-gen-1-case-mkii

The two tone was originally created by accident as we were running out of light blue and I decided to go all out on the top side.

She is very happy with the results.

This came in a form of an email and isn’t on their website yet.

Canada Post committed to reaching negotiated agreements as CUPW strike continues

With the support of the special mediator, discussions have continued with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) this week, with the intent to reach negotiated agreements.

Canada Post is now in day seven of CUPW’s national strike which has shut down our operations across the country during the critical holiday period. Our plan has always been to continue operating and maintain this vital service, even in the event of rotating strikes by the union.

We have seen a significant impact in our volumes across the network. The strike activity has also created serious challenges for businesses of all sizes including yours, at the busiest time of year. 

What to expect

Mail and parcels have not been processed or delivered since the start of the national strike and some post offices have been closed. All mail and parcels in the postal network are secure and will be delivered as quickly as possible once operations resume. Service guarantees will be impacted for items already in the postal network. And no new items will be accepted until the national disruption is over, except for parcel returns – which continue to be accepted at post offices that remain open.

A national strike of any length will impact service to Canadians well after the strike activity ends. Processing and delivery will take some time to fully return to normal and your business should expect delays.

What we’ve offered

Canada Post is at a critical juncture. Even with losses mounting since 2018, we have continued to put forward offers that protect and enhance what’s important to our current employees. We’ve offered competitive wage increases and additional paid leave, while protecting the defined benefit pension and job security provisions. To help secure the future of the company and meet your business needs, Canada Post has put forward proposals to offer seven-day-a-week parcel delivery and other important improvements while allowing more competitive pricing. This new delivery model is essential for the future of the company, and critical to our ability to afford the offers.

Our commitment

We thank you for your patience at a time when we know you need certainty, and we value the trust you place in us to deliver for your business. We know you are looking for details to make informed decisions and will ensure you have the details you need to plan and prepare for when our operations resume.

This is so that it’s easier to plugin old and new consoles without having to go on my hands and knees to Plug and unplug consoles.

So what's the problem.

eBay, purveyor of buying and selling the stuff from your Grandma's house, or from China. Has a IMHO terrible fee structure which works like this.

You sell the item you want (S), then it gets taxed (T). That taxed sale then has two additional fees applied to it, one for transaction (E), another for international (I). Finally a static fee is needed for the listing itself (F). Oh and all of this is taxed.

This results in the following Formula to calculate how much you will actually make from a sale (P).

S - ST - ([ES*(1+T)])T - ([IS*(1+T)])T - F(1+T) = P

This is stupid, and I shouldn't be taxed on my tax, but whatever. I just need to math my way out of this. It took all evening but I was able to take the formula above and isolate S

P+F+F(1*T)

------------------------------------------- = S

1-T-E-E*(2T+T^2 )-I-I(2*T+T^2 )

The result of this is a sale prince which accounts for eBay's fees

I've attached a screenshot to my excel sheet to prove that it works. I'm going to bed.

I’ve tried the dev branch of FreeCAD for a while now, but backed off due to how unpolished it felt. But when I saw FreeCAD V1 RC2 pre-release on GitHub Id thought to try it out.

My first impressions didn’t blow me away, sure there were nice UI touches here and there. But nothing really stood out to me. But that changed when I started cading.

It’s not a major overhaul to my eyes. But the nice touches are everywhere. Like adding a TinkerCAD navigation controls option for beginners, and smart snapping and auto constraints enabled by default. So, so nice especially for noobs who don’t know that >.< is a centre constraint in the tool bar.

But I had a quick project, tonight. Redesign an older model from scratch to add in new parts. My original designs were some of the first real work I did in FreeCAD so it was nice to see the improvements. Out side of legacy bugs like attaching a 3 point arc to a line still being present, the process was smooth, not as pain free as Fusion, but better.

Then at the end when I was adding text to my part. I got to see the best update of them all. If you aren’t aware, adding text to a model is annoying. Especially if you want it a distance from a side or in the middle. You needed to use the measuring tool to get deltas and re measure after every change. I was using the new measuring tool like that too, and thank you devs for adding manual controls and deltas. But at the end, I left the measurements on the text, updated the values, and noticed the numbers updated on me… OMG best feature of all time 10/10 best CAD software in the world. This makes my life soooooo much easier now.

If you haven’t already try the RC versions of FreeCAD do so. Sure there is still some open source jank in it, but it’s so much more polished than before that I feel this upcoming release deserves the V1 moniker.

While for the most part this kind of damage is fine (this game is playable), it's questionable for how much longer. If you have the hardware or the capability, always remember to back up your physical games.

So my trusty USB-C Dongle which I use to connect my switch to a TV on the road is dying. The cable has frayed and I don't want to touch it any more.

So I decided to turn it into a USB-C Hub... basically give it a shell to hide away the cable.

Designed the part in FreeCAD in 30 min, and BOOM

Needed to do a bit of a redesign after the first print, what you see here is the V2. The Lid slides on and the USB-C to C female connector is slotted in. Needed to heat it up to get it to fit.

But I am very pleased with the design. Works well (now the slots are bigger. And I can safely throw it into a bag without risk of self destruction.

Sure I do need more cables but this also means I can upgrade/replace cables when they ware down.

5/7 would recommend!

So I'm going to an evening event which requires clear concert bags if you wanted to bring one. The max size is 12"x12"x6".

If I was going clear I at least wanted RGB, so I looked it up and it was $75CAD... Ouch, bags are like $20CAD.

So I thought about it and I wondered if I could make one.

So I got this bag and a 16.5ft string of fairy lights. I busted out the misses sewing needles and stitched in the wires to the fabric seme and this was the result.

I am extremely pleased with it. Next time I think I'd move the battery pack to the edge where the zipper starts or ends. Otherwise would recommend.

Bag was $19CAD and the LED's were $13CAD

After Event Edit:

So we came, we saw, we kicked it's ass... OK I did no such thing but adding LEDs certainly was a benefit. I made 2 of these bags, and honestly having big glowing somethings on your friends makes them insanely easy to find in a crowd. Especially for a night event which I went too.

The LEDs were even helpful when I was looking for a specific color of candy in the bag, or illuminating people for pictures.

My stitching was good and the wiring didn't get loose, but the same cannot be said for them bags themselves. As one of the straps on the bottom which holds a loop deteriorated and almost came off. I expected this, but it does sting non the less.

Going forward I am making these bags for everyone I'm going with. They are just so helpful.

I was asked to fix a new Garmin not charging. I asked what cable they were using and was told it was their old cable. This is what the old cable looked like.

Fun fact, what killed their last Garmin was corrosion on the pads in the same position.

TL:DR, made some Icons for 3D Models, turned them into a banner for social media, liked it so I made it into this wallpaper.

So over the years I've made various icons for controllers and systems for my 3D Printable Display Stands. These Icon and cut into the model to know which part belongs together.

Anyways I needed a new Banner on YouTube so I took them, threw them into Inkscape and turn it into this.

I am very pleased with the results, and kind of wished I had more icons to make it more detailed.