Edwards, Otehake, and Hawdon ValleysNovember 11, 2022These three valleys in Arthur's Pass are connected by Tarn Col and straddle the border between Cantebury and the West Coast
Albert Burn HutOctober 15, 2022Remote hut reachable by boating across Lake Wānaka or inland via the Matukituki Valley
Driving a high-quality LED strip with ESPHome and ESP32-C3May 26, 2022Combining the new ElectroDragon control board with COB LEDs
Pfeifer Biv and Otehake Hot PoolsApril 15, 2022Stunning mountain hut and natural hot spring in northern Arthur's Pass
Camping at Lake MinchinJanuary 14, 2022Hike to a remote lake near the Casey-Binser track and Poulter valley in Arthur's Pass, Canterbury
Paddy's TrackJuly 23, 2021Part of Mt Robert loop up Pourangahau / Mt Robert near Lake Rotoiti and St Arnaud
Aotea TrackJune 20, 2021Three-day tramp on Great Barrier Island visiting Kaiaraara Hut, Mt Heale Hut and Kaitoke hot springs
St James Walkway to Boyle Flat HutJune 06, 2021Southernmost day of St James Walkway in Lewis Pass, to and from Boyle Flat Hut
Mt Oxford and Ryde Falls TracksMarch 13, 2021Epic run along the Mt Oxford tops, a short drive from Christchurch
Kaituna Valley to Mt Herbert / Te Ahu PatikiFebruary 27, 2021The tallest peak on Banks Penninsula, accessed from the south
Running the WUU2K marathon route for Wellington Anniversary DayJanuary 25, 2021In my final week in Wellington, I pay my respects by breaking my body
Holdsworth-Jumbo CircuitJanuary 08, 2021Overnight tramp in Tararua Range with outrageously good views
Adventures in headphonesNovember 14, 2020Detailing the headphones I've tried over the last 10 years: Sennheiser, Grado, Audio-Technica, Superlux and HiFiMan.
Migrating from ESPHome to WLED, the easy over-the-air wayOctober 18, 2020Moving from ESPHome to WLED can be done without wires or worries
Upgrading branded IoT devices with tuya-convert and ESPHomeJuly 11, 2020Or how my Kogan smart plug gained superpowers over-the-air
Using three-stage Dockerfile for accessing build outputJuly 09, 2020How to make builds consistent and flexible with a single Dockerfile
Remote controlling a computer with home automationJune 11, 2020Developing a simple Go application to solve a problem
Smart home architecture - DIY vs off-the-shelf home automation setupApril 11, 2020Why smart homes can be a mess, and why there's a better way
Lakes Kohangapiripiri and KohangateraMarch 08, 2020Exploring the secret lakes of Wellington's Pencarrow coastline
Making a custom multi-click push button using ESPHomeFebruary 17, 2020Or how I abandoned custom firmware because somebody else was doing it better
A better alarm clock, powered by LED strips and sleep scienceFebruary 17, 2020I’m currently reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. There’s an interesting section where he discusses the potential of technology and…
Automating amplifiers with an IR blaster and Google HomeDecember 08, 2019Dumb speakers made smart with Home Assistant and Node-RED
Using browsers as IoT screens with React and MQTT.jsNovember 02, 2019When it comes to smart home displays, I’ve seen two main options: Use a small 1-inch OLED screen with a microcontroller. Buy a tablet, nail…
Using ESPHome on a Raspberry Pi with DockerJuly 13, 2019Moving old devices to a powerful new platform
How to Reverse Engineer a Heat Pump UnitJune 14, 2019Cracking the code and paving the way to automation
Using MQTT for Availability and Retained StateJanuary 03, 2019One of the crucial aspects of MQTT is the broker. Among other things, the broker manages connected clients, ensuring messages are received…
Improving LED lighting with ESP8226 and custom firmwareJune 19, 2018Getting to grips with IoT networking
Adventures with the MERN StackJuly 04, 2017Beautifully generic. Never fear: Hex Solutions isn’t an actual company. Rather, I imagined the overly vague company in a recent project…
Castle HillJune 26, 2017The flat took a day trip to this strange stony place, and plenty of adventures were had. It was easy to explore between the large boulders…
Piano VisionMay 14, 2017In an effort to focus more of my attention on coding, I managed to pick up two computer science papers at the start of the year to add to my…
ObfuscatorNovember 05, 2016Highlighting the potentially hilarious flaws of modern computer translators
Back to the MusicAugust 30, 2015The world of music today is a brave new one indeed. Every time I blink it seems that a new streaming service is born. People are using these…
Going OpenDecember 24, 2014Recently I decided to upgrade my computer audio experience to match my improving and expanding music library. So I bought a DAC and some new…
