jefferson electric co., detail, franklin road, roanoke, virginia, 1982

Whoopie pie has a nice little trot

Whoopie Pie the Skunk , coming through ! Make way for skunk !

I love these little critters. Fortunately, they seem safe from predators, and aren’t spraying or digging up the garden, so the cute little fur balls are welcome to trot through anytime.

(They’d still be welcome if they did, but I’m glad they are good neighbors)

#RoanokeVA #skunk #backyardzoo

I need create a scorecard for the different skinks that come through. We have at least six named and there may be more. King, Prince, Flying V , Queen , Whoopie Pie and Stinkothy are all very different in markings, size,  and behavior.

Bonus video

Once you get this initial setup done, you will never have to do it again for this board. From then on, it’s just copying, pasting, and uploading.

Here is the step-by-step guide to getting your software ready:

### Phase 1: Download the Software
1. Go to the official Arduino website (arduino.cc) and download the **Arduino IDE** (version 2.x).
2. Install it and open the application. It will look like a blank text editor.
### Phase 2: Teach the Software About the ESP32
Out of the box, the Arduino IDE only knows about standard Arduino boards. We have to tell it where to find the “blueprints” for your Seeed Studio ESP32S3 chip.

1. In the Arduino IDE, click on **File > Preferences** (or Arduino IDE > Settings on a Mac).
2. Look for a box near the bottom called **”Additional Boards Manager URLs”**.
3. Copy and paste this exact link into that box:
   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

4. Click **OK**.
5. Now, look at the left-hand sidebar of the software and click on the **Boards Manager** icon (it looks like a circuit board or a stack of books).
6. Type **esp32** into the search bar.
7. Look for the package titled **”esp32 by Espressif Systems”** and click **Install**. (This might take a minute or two to download).

### Phase 3: Select Your Specific Board
Now that the software knows about ESP32 chips, we just need to tell it exactly which one is plugged into your computer.
1. Plug your XIAO ESP32S3 into your computer using a USB-C data cable. *(Make sure the physical switch on the Round Display is pushed to the “ON” position!).*
2. At the very top of the Arduino IDE screen, click the dropdown menu that says **”Select Board”** and click **”Select other board and port…”**
3. In the “Boards” search box, type in **XIAO_ESP32S3** and select it.
4. In the “Ports” column right next to it, select the USB port your board is plugged into (it usually says something like COM3 on Windows, or /dev/tty.usbmodem on Mac). Click **OK**.

### Phase 4: Add the Display Libraries
The screen needs two specific “libraries” (pre-written code files) to draw graphics easily. Seeed Studio has custom-made these to perfectly match the Round Display’s wiring so you don’t have to configure anything.

1. Go to the official **Seeed Studio Round Display Wiki** (search Google for *”Getting Started with Seeed Studio Round Display for XIAO”*).
2. Scroll down to the **Software Preparation** section.
3. Download the two specific ZIP files they link to: the **TFT_eSPI** library and the **RTC** library.
4. Back in the Arduino IDE, click **Sketch > Include Library > Add .ZIP Library…**
5. Select the ZIP files you just downloaded to install them.

### Phase 5: Copy, Paste, Flash!
You are officially ready to go.

On that exact same Seeed Studio Wiki page, scroll down to the **”Hardware Test”** or **”TFT_Clock”** examples. You will see a block of code.

1. Copy that entire block of code.
2. Paste it into your Arduino IDE (deleting the blank code that was already there).
3. Click the **Right-Facing Arrow (Upload)** button in the top left corner of the Arduino IDE.
The software will compile the text, flash it over the USB cable, and your blank screen will activate.

There's a public release of linux installer for jailbroken PS5's. Allowing PS5's to run steam, discord, etc. turning it into a standard gaming pc and it can reportedly play games at 4K60github.com/ps5-linux/ps…

— Scottobear (@scottobear.bsky.social) 2026-04-30T13:06:03.293Z

There’s a public release of linux installer for jailbroken PS5’s.

Allowing PS5’s to run steam, discord, etc. turning it into a standard gaming pc and it can reportedly play games at 4K60

https://github.com/ps5-linux/ps5-linux-loader

Feldgeister (field spirits) or Korndämonen (corn demons) are mythical beings in German folklore that inhabit fields, crops, and trees.

These spirits, often appearing as humans, animals, or hybrids, are believed to protect crops, influence harvests, or bring illnesses. They are tied to the harvest cycle, often taking refuge in the last standing grain stalks before being “trapped” or harvested with the final crop.

Feldgeister Types:

Roggenmuhme (Rye Aunt): A spirit with fire-spouting fingers and a birch rod, known for stealing children.

Bilwis: A barefoot creature, often appearing with a sickle on its toe to cut grain.

Kornwolf (Corn Wolf): A large wolf-like creature with fur resembling cornstalks, believed to inhabit grain fields.

Getreidehahn/Erntehenne (Grain Cock/Harvest Hen): Associated with harvesting, they die when the last stalk is cut.

Feldgeister (field spirits) or Korndämonen (corn demons) are mythical beings in German folklore that inhabit fields, crops, and trees.

— Scottobear (@scottobear.bsky.social) 2026-04-29T18:11:55.621Z

No big critters, but we did get a persistent robin trying to mess with Pearl, and a squirrel briefly.

https://bsky.app/profile/scottobear.bsky.social/post/3mkkvsyyvk22l

We are all duty bound to punch a Nazi when we see one today.

Oh, and it is also national superhero day.

The first sentence will still be accurate tomorrow.

Pearl asking why I am sitting outside with a dumb robin instead of inside with a sweet kitty. I had no good answer.

Drew a tiny thumbnail for my baofeng walkie talkie splash screen

One of the reasons I wanted a Studebaker back in the day

youtu.be/Q6NQcO9KTBY

https://vault.fbi.gov/bigfoot/Bigfoot%20Part%2001%20(Final)/view

Oh, I live for finding this stuff.

First of the season

https://svonberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/console.html

Clunky still. Not bad to have on a tiny screen somewhere as flavor.

Picked up a XIAO 1.28″ round display to use with the Seeed XIAO ESP32S3 Sense chip. It piggybacks beautifully.

So now I have a tiny round capacitive screen that has a built-in camera, mic, Wi-Fi, and low-power Bluetooth.

I’m thinking maybe of putting it into the lid of a little wooden chest I have to make it some kind of “mother box,” something I can get artsy-craftsy with, a little burn or carve on the lid to hide the camera and mic. I’d put a lightweight vision model on it and have it react in some way to events in the room.

Maybe flash it a peace sign to get a weather report… or have the mic detect  a knock pattern to give little visual responses?

Facial recognition? Voice commands?

Seeed Studio’s SenseCraft AI platform has a bunch of pre-trained offline models (like face detection and simple object detection)

https://wiki.seeedstudio.com/sensecraft-ai/overview/

Possible display elements

Went to urgent care

No pneumonia,  get another batch for meds for cough, antibiotics,  etc.

XR CHEST 2 VWS

CLINICAL INDICATION: Productive cough, shortness of breath Dx: Acute cough;

TECHNIQUE: PA and lateral chest radiographs

COMPARISON: None

FINDINGS/IMPRESSION:

Normal cardiomediastinal contours.

Perihilar parabronchial thickening, may be seen with bronchitis or reactive airway disease.

No consolidation, pneumothorax or large pleural effusion.

No acute osseous abnormality.