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What I'm Doing Now

Lately I’ve been up to: getting rid of 1 thing per day unpacking physically and mentally from a trip a site where u can order custom stickers: waldo.jjv.sh a multi-livestream bot - currently migrating the k8s cluster from digitalocean to oracle cloud free tier Inspired by: https://gergely.imreh.net/now/ https://sive.rs/nowff https://nownownow.com/ https://slashpages.net/#now

Are Computers Binary or Non-Binary?

Are computers binary or non-binary? Depends if the “or” is exclusive or not. Now that I’ve gotten the instinctive pun out of my system… The question kinda sounds paradoxical at first, but after you think about it for 2 seconds, you realize it is a bit non-sensical and maybe invalid because the things being compared have completely different definitions despite their…

Fridge Puns

Stop trying to catch your smart refrigerator. That sam has sung. When you trusted it to keep a tough but flavorful cut of meat, all it gave you was the cold shoulder. You let the beef stew and things slowly got heated, but it just wanted to save it for another time. When the spark shut off, you saw it was a spoiled brat inside. But the energy came back, it always does, and you bought new stuff for…

How I Created jjv.sh

Here We Go Again… Time for the biennial (which I just learned is a word meaning every two years) migrating my website to a new domain name! I haven’t done distro hopped in several years. I haven’t browser hopped in twice that time (yes, I copied my browser files over to the next distro). But I HAVE server hopped my website every few months, mostly keeping the same domain name,…

Stories from 2023

Found some stories in my notes that I wrote down but was too embarrased to put on my blog… until now. Aug 19, 2023 - Trouble Parking? Join the Club After doing my makeup for the 2nd time ever, I felt like it would be a waste to just remove it right after, so I decided to go out to a club I had been to before. (Some might say it was the only club I had been to before…)

Foam Stacker

A mini replica of the arcade stacker game! Uses a knockoff arduino nano (which actually turned out to be a pro mini with USB duct taped on), a 128x64 OLED display, a lighted pushbutton switch, and of course a foam stress toy. Since this arduino can operate from 3-6V, I ran it at 6V by connecting two CR2032 coin cell batteries, of which I have lots of extras for some reason…

Label Printer Fun for the Framework 16

TL;DR The framework 16’s six expansion card slots have different capabilities, for example some can do display out, and some draw more power with a USB-A expansion card. I kept having to look up the compatibility info in the user guide, so instead I printed some handy-dandy stickers with my label printer and attached them to the bottom of the laptop. the bottom side of my framework 16 laptop…

I See Myself

I look in the mirror and I do not see myself. I put on makeup and I do not see myself. I look at old pictures and I do not see myself. I look at devices I’ve made and I see myself. I lose myself in code and I am myself. I search my files and I find myself. My neural pathways mirror the shape of the runtime environment. My intentions externalized as silicon.

Dressember 2023 - Stop Human Trafficking

Dressember is an organization that raises awareness and money to end human trafficking by encouraging people to wear a dress (or tie) every day in December and spread the word. When I started doing Dressember a few years ago, I was afraid of what people would think if I wore a dress, so I opted to wear a tie every day in December instead, and used it as a conversation starter to raise awareness…

Poems from October 2023

i find myself in the cycle again, at a high point but wondering when, it all crashes, ruins, begin again. how can i enjoy what is fleeting, when what is coming will be devasatating why risk trying, scrutinized by eyes prying, just keep lying. caught in a local minimum, feeling stretched thin again, dopamine to the maximum, stuck in my head again mind reduced to sparks and juice, reactive never…

Encoding Text in Boot Laces as Binary Data

TL;DR I found a way to encode text as binary data in boot laces, based on which lace crosses over the other. Read the image below, starting on the bottom left, going up the boot on the left, then back down the boot on the right, and decode it with this tool. boots with laces encoding data: 01010011 01010101 01010011 What?? Here I am, with a pair of boots on my desk, Ian’s Shoelace Site open…

Poems from July 2023

Dreams achieved, powerless to pursue them. Potential unlimited, kinetic unreachable. Care what you think, no thought for self-care. Time passing me, me passing up moments time and time again. Genuine laughter, deeply unsatisfied. Once again I find myself Disturbed by the fact that Cause leads to Effect Leads to past set in Stone. Desire for care-freeness Leads to policing desires Leads to…

How I Created johanv.net: Personal Website with Seamless Livestream

Update 2024-11-03 I have since moved to jjv.sh, read about it here. Keep reading if you want, but most of the links in this article are old. The Backstory Ever since I moved my site to johanv.xyz, some things have been slightly off. When I texted someone a link, they didn’t get it. When I visited it at work, it was blocked (and so I couldn’t link to it on my “about me”…

ATinyGame: A Tiny Inexpensive Nugget for Your Gaming and All Manner of Entertainment

[updated 2026-05-20T23:54:33-4:00] Instructions: Download as SVG or PDF (for v1: old PDF) ATinyGame is a game console that fits in 1 hand, with a program smaller than 1kB, all for $1 ($1.50 now, thanks chip shortage). Read the harrowing tale of its development: The Assembly Instruction that Saved Christmas. Take a look at the circuit diagram and printed circuit board layout on the OSHWLab project.…

The Assembly Instruction that Saved Christmas

Christmas Eve, 5pm-ish. The gifts I’m making for my family are still not done. I’m hunched over my laptop, desperately code-golfing to try and shave 20 bytes off my assembly code to fit within the 1kB of program memory on the ATTiny9. How did we get here? About 5 years ago (I had just graduated high school (I’m done with college now)), I started a project that I thought would be…

Linux: Remap Right Alt & Ctrl to Home & End (and Caps to Ctrl)

I recently got a framework laptop and I have been customizing it, including changing the touchpad swipe gestures and the keyboard layout. I couldn’t find an easy guide on how to re-map the right Alt and Ctrl keys to Home and End, so once I figured it out I decided I’d post it here. I also map Caps Lock to Ctrl, so I have included an optional step here to do that as well.

Videos: Where I Post Them and Why

Here are some of my videos! Since YouTube is very invasive of privacy and tends to censor people, I instead upload my videos to Odysee (also known as LBRY), an awesome video platform that more and more YouTubers are moving to. Odysee is open source, decentralized, privacy-respecting, has a decent and growing user base, and even has a good system for monetization. It doesn’t require a minimum…

Sabbath Podcast: Rethink the Cycle of Work and Rest

My friend recently recommended a series on the sabbath from the Bridgetown Audio Podcast which I have been listening to for the past few weeks and trying to put into practice. Even so far it has been very helpful in improving my mental and spiritual health, and as a result of this I am able to function better on the other 6 days of the week. (Reduced stress can lengthen your life, so I am getting…

Raspberry Pi Dual Audio Output (or: Walmart JACK Audio)

Background (skip if you want) I use the raspberry pi to connect to my thrift store keyboard with a USB MIDI cable so that I can use better software instruments than the crappy ones built in to the keyboard. I have made 2 songs using this so far: MIDI Cable Is Here & Magically Infinite Dank Inspiration In addition to plugging in some headphones to the Pi and hearing the sound, I also wanted the…

How to send MMS messages on the Pinephone with vgmms

Update! While vgmms is not working yet, you can use jmms in the meantime: https://git.sr.ht/~amindfv/jmms Just head to that link and read the instructions for installation. Right now jmms only supports receiving MMS messages (group texts and pictures), not sending. NOTE: this guide is still a work in progress and while installing vgmms works, sending MMS does not work yet. (although you can send…

Beginners Guide to Online Data Privacy

Why? Why should we care about privacy? Most importantly, privacy fosters freedom of thought and speech, which greatly strengthens democracy. It does this by allowing us to hold unpopular opinions without fear of being punished or even killed by those in power, something which has happened many times throughout history and continues today. Being free to express discontent with the current elected…

How To Win Hackathons and Influence Prizes by Andrew Carnegie

I just got back from Hoya Hacks, a hackathon a Georgetown this past weekend. Someone asked me by email what tips I had to win hackathons (since I have won multiple prizes heh heh :), and I responded: Incorporate some hardware, such as Raspberry Pi or Arduino. Hoya Hacks didn’t have a prize for best hardware, but some do and either way, hardware usually makes your project stand out. I like to…

Identity Reflection (a Poem I Wrote at Bridge DC)

This is copied from my journal that I kept during Bridge DC in summer 2019. More info about Bridge DC. I thought I heard my name called in the babbling crowd, but it was just an echo. I thought I saw my face reflected in the shifting mass, but it was just an illusion. I thought I sensed my purpose in the wavering sea, but it was just a manifesto. I took a pause to listen and be still, Away from…

How to Register for Classes at UMD (as of fall 2019)

tl;dr Build a schedule with Courseoff, find ratings on classes and professors on PlanetTerp, and see what requirements you have left on Degree Audit. Talk to your advisor, but also check what they tell you with more experienced people in your major. Once you have decided what classes you will take, make sure you have no registration blocks at Appointment and Registration Status and register for…

ArduinOLED | Software Setup Tutorial

<-Back to ArduinOLED Steps: Installing the Arduino IDE Downloading the Libraries Plug in the Programmer Cable Uploading the Example Sketches Next Steps Installing the Arduino IDE [Back to top] Visit the Arduino Software Page and click on the link for your operating system. I chose 'Windows Installer', but if you don't have admin access, download the 'Windows ZIP file for non admin install'. Click…

Quest v0.6.0: Yet Another Overly Ambitious Roguelike that the Developer Lost Interest In

This is a roguelike I am working on. It is written in Python, using the curses module. Right now it runs fine on Linux, Unix, and Mac terminals, but if you want to run it on Windows, you need Cygwin or Powershell. Downloads The most recent version: Quest v0.6.0 Older versions: Quest v0.5.0

Command-line Calculator: The tool you didn&#39;t know you needed, and in fact, didn&#39;t need!

Download .zip file This is a calculator that you can run in a command line terminal. To run it, you need Python 2 or 3. You can either use argument mode: $ ./calculator.py '1+1' 2 or interpreter mode: $ ./calculator.py Type help for more info. ~ 1+1 2 ~ 123sin(4!rad(56+log4))/(3+ln(3!)) -25.390453736 ~ In both modes, you can assign variables with either of the following: 83->abc 83@abc And access…

GAMES: Glamorous Automatic Multi-game Emulator System

GAMES is a tiny Arduino game system with a 3x3 LED screen and 4 buttons. Version 1 uses an Arduino Pro Mini, which is shown below. Version 2 uses an ATTiny microcontroller, which you can find here here. GAMES

HexaGame: Ever played snake, but with 6 directions?

The HexaGame playing Whack-A-Mole HexaGame is a handheld multi-game system that consists of a hexagon of LEDs with buttons surrounding it, as well as a hex-shaped dpad. Board Designs Version 1.0 on EasyEDA Version 2.0 on EasyEDA More Photos HexaGame 2.0 Printed Circuit Board 5 HexaGames of different colors HexaGame with programming cable The HexaGame HexaGame and programming cable unplugged…

Bridge DC (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Neighbor)

tl;dr (short version) Bridge is a 7-week immersive justice program including an internship (I taught tech classes at Year Up). I learned that serving people can also mean using the gifts God gave me, and doesn&rsquo;t have to be measured in a certain way. I identified some areas where I am self-righteous and became more conscious of what it means to truly love people and not just love part of…

My Config Files (Now Managed with Git and Ansible)

Update: I now manage my config files in this repo. A description of a few of them is below: .tmux.conf I changed the prefix key from Ctrl-B from Ctrl-A since it is closer to the control key, especially with caps lock set to Ctrl. Other settings in .tmux.conf make splitting the window easier to remember with / and \ instead of " and %. .gitconfig My .gitconfig has my name, email, and my gpg key for…

About Me (at least from my perspective)

Hi, I&rsquo;m Jane. I&rsquo;m a tinkerer. I love coding, electronics, servers, Linux, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, etc. I take technologies, s from them, and combine them in fun new ways. In highschool I was a co-programmer on an FTC team. I&rsquo;ve made some electronic games and many software repos. The devices I own do not own me. I believe in user privacy, security, and freedom, and in libre…

asocialsafety.net: escape from social situations with a bluetooth necklace

A Social Safety Net RedTooth: A Social Safety Net for Awkward/Emergency Situations Our Mission We started this hackathon with no real idea for a project, and the intention to build something random and have fun. Then the pieces started coming together. The conversation went something like: 'What should we build?' 'I dunno, what's something that's annoying every day?' 'When people try to talk to…

How I Created johanv.xyz (and subsequently destroyed it)

Update 2024-11-03 I have since moved to jjv.sh, read about it here. Keep reading if you want, but most of the links in this article are old. Update 2022-08-05 I have since moved to johanv.net, read about it here. Keep reading if you want, but most of the links in this article are old. The Backstory A few weeks ago, I was bemoaning the fact that my website URL was too long (johan.

Terminal Tricks: Have Fun with the Linux Command Line

Hello, World! I put together this list of cool Linux terminal commands that can be yours today, for the low price of FREE! Basic Get the weather. curl wttr.in Copy a command output to the clipboard. cat file.txt | xclip -sel clip Serve the current directory on port 8000 as a web server. python -m http.server (The old way was python -m SimpleHTTPServer, which is how it is in the screenshot)

Linux! (or as I&#39;ve recently taken to calling it, GNUbody cares about saying the full name)

My Linux Mint Setup Linux is an operating system, comparable to Windows or MacOS. You can use it to browse the web, run applications, edit files, and all the normal tasks you use computers for. But Linux is fundamentally different from Windows and MacOS in several ways that I find very appealing. This article covers my reasons for using the Linux, and some cool things you can do with it (such as a…

Third Party&#39;s the Charm (essay from 2017):

I wrote an essay last semester at UMD about a proposed system for voting that would allow people to vote for a third party without wasting their votes. Voters would indicate their first, second, and third choices for candidates and the system would evaluate the choices so that if a voter’s first choice candidate did not win, the vote would be reassigned to the second choice, and the count would be…

Why I Switched to ProtonMail (and then to Tutanota a year later, but that&#39;s neither here nor there)

Protonmail Inbox Friends, Romans, Internet Users, lend me your screens. I have known for a while that Google is one of the largest companies with most of us using their services daily. But recently I have realized the extent which they use those services to track you, and some of the negative impacts. One example of this is shown by a tool built by Carnegie Melon called AdFisher, which sends out…

Log.e() - Tales from the electron Volts

FTC Team 7393 Robot (This is a robotics team meeting log for the electron Volts team&rsquo;s 2016-2017 season.) Coder's Log.e() An account follows of a myriad of tales recounting the sundry misadventures and swashbuckling excursions as a member of a high (school) society for the construction of automatons and advancement through treacherous tournaments to victory of glory and splendor most…

My Story by Jane Vandegriff (told through limericks)

Here are some limericks that I wrote for an assignment to tell my story. Jane is one quarter Lebanese, And three quarters white as swiss cheese. He’s spent so long in MoCo, That he’s started to go loco, And he plans to take a trip overseas. In 5th grade he became a Boy Scout, And liked to make fires and camp out. He advanced up in rank, Supportive family to thank, And got Eagle before the time ran…

AlArmPiT: Alarm, servo Arm, raspberry Pi, Turns the lights

AlArmPiT Alarm with a servo Arm connected to a raspberry Pi that Turns on my lights, or AlArmPiT for short. DevPost Click here for more info about the project. Code See the code and 3D printed part design here Demo For a short time, I had a livestream running, and a URL where viewers could go to control my lights and see them change in realtime.

Answermator: More Than Just an Answering Machine

Answermator: More Than Just an Answering Machine answermator Enabling phone call management and home automation while preserving user privacy. bot and phone icon by sobinsergey at The Noun Project About the Product The Answermator is a device that fulfills the role of an answering machine while also laying the groundwork for home automation features. It protects the owner's privacy by not relying…

Contact Me (I might even respond)

How to Contact Me Simply Email me at [click to show] How to Contact Me Securely These are some easy ways to securely send me a message with end-to-end encryption. Tutanota Tutanota is my primary email address, and you can sign up with an account for free at tutanota.com to send me an encrypted message at: [click to show] Protonmail I also have a protonmail account. You can sign up for free at…

Jane Vandegriff | Resume

Jane Vandegriff | Resume Jane Vandegriff Menu home (jjv.sh) games blog ╰ featured ╰ poetry videos gallery resume about now contact I'm a software developer, maker, and Linux nerd. I aim to contribute to software and electronics engineering projects that improve privacy, push for open standards, help people in need, and provide tools and building blocks for other projects. I endorse free (libre)…

Linux Club at UMD | Meeting Times (Archived)

back to main page When Tuesdays 5pm-6:30pm Where UMD ITV Building Room 1111 View Larger Map More info about the room here. What Meeting where we learn different topics, plan events such as hackathons and workshops, and help people with any questions they may have. Days Tuesday, February 18 -- Planning, only leadership and those interested in helping plan Tuesday, February 25 -- First real meeting,…

Linux Club at UMD | Wiki (Archived)

back to main page Turn Caps Lock into Ctrl Add this line to your ~/.profile file and log out and back in: setxkbmap -option 'shift:both_capslock,caps:ctrl_modifier' Caps lock will act as Ctrl, and if you press both Shift keys at the same time, it will toggle caps lock. Bonus: Swap Home/End with Page Up/Down If you have a keyboard with page up/down keys next to your arrow keys but find that you…

VandyLand (oh god the CSS is broken)

VandyLand (oh god the CSS is broken) vandy land This site is under construction. Indeed, it will soon be the Vandegriff family website. Check back later for some awesome stuff! Heading 1 Laudantium laboriosam repellendus officiis cupiditate voluptatem. Saepe cumque ut ipsam vitae aut sit. Numquam esse ab exercitationem velit sequi voluptatem. Et eveniet tenetur laboriosam quaerat ut iure. Heading…

Walrus Cloud: The Next Generation of Confuzer Technology that Will Never be Completed

(coming soon) We provide file storage and sync with Nextcloud, an open source collaboration platform. In addition to files, it comes with many other features including calendars, contacts, encrypted video calls, notes, polls, and RSS feeds. For photo sharing, we also host a Piwigo instance where you can post photos in public and private albums. All your files are encrypted and stored on…