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    <title type="text">blog</title>
    <subtitle type="text">blog:</subtitle>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/index.php" />
    <link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://flashgamer.com/feeds/atom" />
    <updated>2026-10-22T14:16:31Z</updated>
    <rights>Copyright (c) 2026, jensa</rights>
    <generator uri="http://expressionengine.com/" version="7.4.0">ExpressionEngine</generator>

    <entry>
      <title>Ubuntu upgrade and PHP bug</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/ubuntu-upgrade-and-php-bug" />
      <id>tag:https:,2026:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.452</id>
      <published>2026-10-22T13:38:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-10-22T14:16:31Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Programming"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/programming"
        label="Programming" />
      <category term="Web"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/web"
        label="Web" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        I use the command line every day, but I prefer using a GUI. I don&apos;t do much server&#45;stuff, but I have friends helping me out when I&apos;m in too deep. Thanks to the nice UI tools at DigitalOcean, I got through yesterdays update of PHP reasonably well. Here are some notes from the process.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>What happened to electronics consulting?</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/what-happened-to-electronics-consulting-the-last-15-years" />
      <id>tag:https:,2026:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.451</id>
      <published>2026-10-18T09:30:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-10-19T07:53:31Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="AI"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/ai"
        label="AI" />
      <category term="Misc"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/misc"
        label="Misc" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        Just before summer 2025, I realized that most my friends that were consulting in electronics had taken up fulltime positions. At the same time I had gone from 15 years of knowing what to do the next 6 months &#45; to having absolutely no projects. What happened?
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Simple car battery monitoring circuit</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/simple-car-battery-monitoring-circuit" />
      <id>tag:https:,2026:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.450</id>
      <published>2026-08-26T10:08:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-08-31T13:08:44Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Sensors"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/sensors"
        label="Sensors" />
      <category term="Solar"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/solar"
        label="Solar" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        For a project running off a car battery, I need to know if the battery has a high enough voltage for me to start my electronics. There are tons of Battery gauge chips out there, but they&apos;re all very advanced and quite expensive. All I need to know is that the voltage is above 12V or I&apos;ll put my microcontroller to sleep and not turn on any peripherals.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Tiny Microchip MCU&#8217;s reference boards</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/tiny-microchip-mcus-reference-boards" />
      <id>tag:https:,2026:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.449</id>
      <published>2026-05-23T13:13:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-05-23T20:51:40Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Microcontrollers"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/microcontrollers"
        label="Microcontrollers" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        Some months ago I started a project where I needed a microcontroller with just a few pins and a DAC. After some digging, I came across the ATTiny1&#45;series from Microchip. Worked great for the task and after finishing that project I found it&apos;s &quot;cousin MCU&quot; series &#45; the AVR64DD14. Both are very good on price/performance and they exist in 14&#45;pin SOIC packages, making them DIY friendly.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Finding a reasonably priced distance sensor</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/finding-a-reasonably-priced-distance-sensor" />
      <id>tag:https:,2026:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.447</id>
      <published>2026-04-19T17:50:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-05-03T16:53:43Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Sensors"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/sensors"
        label="Sensors" />
      <category term="Products"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/products"
        label="Products" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        For a new product, I&apos;m making a very simple IoT distance sensor. Initially I thought this whould be a quick project, but finding the right sensor proved more difficult than expected. This is what I learned from the project.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>New microcontroller reference board</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/microcontroller-reference-boards" />
      <id>tag:https:,2026:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.446</id>
      <published>2026-02-22T16:44:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-03-01T13:50:35Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Microcontrollers"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/microcontrollers"
        label="Microcontrollers" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        Throughout the years I&apos;ve made several Kicad reference&#45;designs that others can use as starting points for their own custom boards and today I&apos;ve published a new one for the popular RP2350 sereies, based on the RP2354A that has 2Mb builtin Flash.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Why will two connected USB Type C cables not provide power?</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/why-will-two-usb-type-c-cables-not-provide-power" />
      <id>tag:https:,2026:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.445</id>
      <published>2026-01-31T16:35:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-04-19T19:27:25Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Connections"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/connections"
        label="Connections" />
      <category term="Hacking/Making"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/hacking-making"
        label="Hacking/Making" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        I just made a nifty little board for use with my Joulescope that will let me plug any USB dev board into it to precisely measure power. But it wasn&apos;t just as smooth as this? It only worked half the time? I was puzzled. Did I forget something?
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Screentime going bananas? Here&#8217;s why!</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/screentime-going-bananas-heres-why" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.443</id>
      <published>2025-12-04T12:40:00Z</published>
      <updated>2025-12-05T16:03:44Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Programming"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/programming"
        label="Programming" />
      <category term="Mobile"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/mobile"
        label="Mobile" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        I was discussing phone usage with some friends the other day and we compared our ScreenTime. I almost fell off the chair and the others were seriously shocked as well: 8+ hours of screen time per day? What on earth had happened to me? I was certain that I had used my phone less than average that week, and the next week it was even worse.&amp;nbsp;
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Not so Smart Features from Google</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/not-so-smart-features-from-google" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.442</id>
      <published>2025-11-09T14:33:00Z</published>
      <updated>2025-11-09T14:58:09Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Misc"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/misc"
        label="Misc" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        I recently got a new kind of spam &#45; entries added automatically to my calendar &#45; without me ever doing anything. Here&apos;s how to fix it.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Fix for ESP32 serial device not working when recompiling</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/fix-for-esp32-serial-device-not-working-when-recompiling" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.440</id>
      <published>2025-09-14T20:10:00Z</published>
      <updated>2025-09-14T20:42:01Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Microcontrollers"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/microcontrollers"
        label="Microcontrollers" />
      <category term="Sensors"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/sensors"
        label="Sensors" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        I just published the first major firmware update for my radar sensor and while doing that, I stubled upon what seems like a significant change in the Arduino&#45;esp32 integration. This took me some time to figure, so time to post it for others to find.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>In Norway, we&#8217;re living in the future</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/in-norway-were-living-in-the-future" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.439</id>
      <published>2025-08-05T09:23:00Z</published>
      <updated>2025-08-05T11:24:32Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Misc"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/misc"
        label="Misc" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        President Trump has had an “alternating” relationship to electric cars in the first six months of his second precidency. He really do not want to support them in any way and rather the opposite &#45; he wants to support the fossil fuel industry to Make America Great Again. Meanwhile, I just discovered that we now have Petrol stations without Petrol?
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>ESP32&#45;S3 strapping pins</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/esp32-s3-strapping-pins" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.438</id>
      <published>2025-06-24T21:26:00Z</published>
      <updated>2025-06-24T22:08:31Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Microcontrollers"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/microcontrollers"
        label="Microcontrollers" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        Just had a gotcha with a custom board based on ESP32 S3, so I&apos;m posting for this for future me (and anyone else that may need it).
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Web retrospective: Mumseby (1999&#45;2003)</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/web-retrospective-mumseby-1999-2003" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.437</id>
      <published>2025-05-29T11:08:00Z</published>
      <updated>2025-05-29T13:14:59Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Misc"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/misc"
        label="Misc" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        What would you say if I told you the biggest social media site in 2002 was owned by a chocolate manufacturer? It wouldn&apos;t sound plausible at all, would it? Yet it&apos;s true and I was part of it. The name of this blog is even related to it.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Thoughts on Vibe Coding with AI</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/thoughts-on-vibe-coding-with-ai" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.436</id>
      <published>2025-04-20T11:00:00Z</published>
      <updated>2026-10-18T22:05:31Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Programming"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/programming"
        label="Programming" />
      <category term="AI"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/ai"
        label="AI" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        In my feed, there keeps popping up stories about “Vibe coders”. At Bitraf there is currently an influx of new members that never would code unless AI enabled them to do so. These are “hardware vibe coders” that trust that AI can help them solve hardware problems. Is AI coding for either software or hardware currently viable? And is Vibe&#45;coding possible beyond the first prototype?
      ]]></content>
    </entry>    <entry>
      <title>Missed opportunity (or why I never finished my LEGO light controller)</title>
      <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://flashgamer.com/blog/comments/missed-oppourtunity-or-why-i-never-finished-my-lego-light-controller" />
      <id>tag:https:,2025:/flashgamer.com/index.php/1.435</id>
      <published>2025-04-02T19:40:00Z</published>
      <updated>2025-11-09T19:23:50Z</updated>
      <author>
            <name>jensa</name>
            <email>dont.want@spam.com</email>
            
      </author>

      <category term="Electronics"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/electronics"
        label="Electronics" />
      <category term="Blinky!"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/blinky"
        label="Blinky!" />
      <category term="RF"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/rf"
        label="RF" />
      <category term="Products"
        scheme="https://flashgamer.com/blog/category/products"
        label="Products" />
      <content type="html"><![CDATA[
        When you work as a consultant, you have to work when there is work. Having a side&#45;project that you can develop during downtime and then later sell is nice. I&apos;m happy with how the RadSense product has developed, but there is one project where I recently missed my opportunity &#45; making better lighting for LEGO and model projects.
      ]]></content>
    </entry>

</feed>