Here’s a list of books I read in 2023 (a year later!). The ones in bold I recommend.

• All the Skills 1 by Honour Rae
• All The Skills 2 by Honour Rae
• (Alpha Physics, Book 1) Wagga by Alex Kozlowski
• (Alpha Physics, Book 2) Delay by Mr Alex Kozlowski
• (Alpha Physics, Book 3) Disquiet by Mr Alex Kozlowski
• (Alpha Physics, Book 4) Albury by Alex Kozlowski
• (Alpha Physics, Book 5) Dungeon by Alex Kozlowski
• (Alpha Physics, Book 6) Home Bound by Alex Kozlowski
• The Amber Project by J.N. Chaney
• Amelia The Level Zero Hero 1 by V.A. Lewis, Melas Delta
• Among Strangers by Robert Silverberg
• (Arcane Ascension, Book 1) Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
• (Arcane Ascension, Book 2) On the Shoulders of Titans by Andrew Rowe
• (Arcane Ascension, Book 2) The Torch that Ignites the Stars by Andrew Rowe
• (Arcane Awakening, Book 1) Imperial Wizard by J Parsons
• (Arcane Awakening, Book 2) Imperial Wizard 2: Ambitions by J Parsons, Niki Prince
• Armada by Ernest Cline
• (Astra Academy, Book 1) Academy Arcanist by Shami Stovall
• (Astra Academy, Book 2) Mimic Arcanist by Shami Stovall
• The Atlantis Gene by A.G. Riddle
• (Body Electric, Book 3) Hardware by Electra Shepherd
• Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
• (Brightest Shadow, Book 1) The Brightest Shadow by Sarah Lin
• (Brightest Shadow, Book 3) The Unnecessary Victory by Sarah Lin
• (Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World, Book 1) Small Town in Southern Illvaria by Acaswell
• Brute Force by Scott Meyer
• The Chemist By Stephanie Meyer
• Clear (Comixology Originals) by Scott Snyder, Will Dennis, Francis Manapul, AndWorld Design
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 1) Ritualist by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 2) Regicide by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 3) Rexus, Side Quest by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 4) Raze by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 5) Ruthless by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 6) Inflame by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 7) Invent by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 8) Implode by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 9) Tenacity by Dakota Krout
• (Completionist Chronicles, Book 10) Thesaurize by Dakota Krout
• Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland
• (Cradle, Book 12) Waybound by Will Wight
• Dawn of the Void 1 by Phil Tucker
• Dawn of the Void 2 by Phil Tucker
• Dawn of the Void 3 by Phil Tucker
• Dead Tired 1 by RavensDagger
• (Divine Dungeon, Book 1) Dungeon Born by Dakota Krout
• (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 1) Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
• (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 2) Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
• (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 3) The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
• (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 4) The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman
• (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 4) The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman
• (Dungeon Crawler Carl, Book 6) The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman
• (Dungeon from the Void, Book 1) The Void Dungeon by Shane Purdy
• (Dungeon from the Void, Book 2) The Dungeon Delve by Shane Purdy
• (Dungeon from the Void, Book 3) The Dungeon Assault by Shane Purdy
• (Dungeon from the Void, Book 4) The Neutral Nation by Shane Purdy
• (Elemental Magic, Book 1) SORCERER by Michael Nowotny, Mark Woodhouse, Trent Landt
• Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
• Emergency Skin by N. K. Jemisin
• Enter System (Natural Laws Apocalypse Book 1) by Tom Larcombe
• (Evander Tailer, Book 1) The Enchanter by Tobias Begley
• (Evander Tailer, Book 2) The Diviner by Tobias Begley
• The Extractionist by Kimberly Unger
• The Final Decree by Shami Stovall
• First Contact by D. L. Harrison
• (Galactogon, Book 1) Start the Game by Vasily Mahanenko
• (Gild, Book 1) Gild by Raven Kennedy
• (Gild, Book 2) Glint by Raven Kennedy
• (Gild, Book 3) Gleam by Raven Kennedy
• (Good Guys, Book 1) One More Last Time by Eric Ugland
• The Good Samaritan by John Marrs
• (Grand Game, Book 1) The Grand Game by Tom Elliot
• (Grand Game, Book 2) Way of the Wolf by Tom Elliot
• (Grand Game, Book 3) World Nexus by Tom Elliot
• (Grand Game, Book 4) House Wolf by Tom Elliot
• (Heavenly Throne, Book 1) Force Cultivation by Yuri Ajin
• The Hedge Wizard by Alex Maher
• The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
• How Long Til Black Future Month by NK Jemisin
• Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi
• (Immortal Great Souls, Book 1) Bastion by Phil Tucker
• (Immortal Great Souls, book 2) The Rascor Plains by Phil Tucker
• (Iron Widow, Book 1) Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
• The Killing Moon by NK Jemisin
• The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay
• (Last Horizon, Book 1) The Captain by Will Wight
• Ledge by Stacey McEwan
• Machine of Death, edited by Matthew Bennardo and Ryan North
• (Mage Errant, Book 1) Into the Labyrinth by John Bierce
• Mage Stones: Part 1 by D.J. Dammeyer
• (Magic 2.0, Book 1) Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer, Liz Pulido
• (Menocht Loop, Book 2) The False Ascendant by Lorne Ryburn, caerulex, Silas Sontag
• (Menochy Loop, Book 1) The Menocht Loop by Lorne Ryburn, caerulex, Silas Sontag
• Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton
• (Millenial Mage, Book 1) Mageling by J.L. Mullins
• (Millenial Mage, Book 2) Mage by J.L. Mullins
• (Millenial Mage, Book 3) Binding by J.L. Mullins
• (Millenial Mage, Book 5) Bound by J.L. Mullins
• (Millenial Mage, Book 5) Fusing by J.L. Mullins
• (Millenial Mage, Book 6) Fused by J.L. Mullins
• (Monarch, Book 1) Monarch: A Prince Out of Time by J. McCoy, Eligos
• (Murderbot, Book 1) All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• (Naga Brides, Book 1) Viper by Naomi Lucas
• Natural History of Hell by Jeffrey Ford
• Nettle & Bone by T Kingfisher
• Never Lie by Freida McFadden
• (Nexus Games, Book 2) The Nexus Gamesby Shami Stovall
• (Nexus Games, Book 2) The Nexus Knight by Shami Stovall
• (Nexus Games, Book 3) The Nexus Challenge by Shami Stovall
• (Nothing Mage, Book 1) The Nothing Mage by J. P. Valentine
• (Nothing Mage, Book 2) Untolled by J. P. Valentine
• The One by John Marrs
• One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
• Page Keeper 1 by Dante King
• (Paranoid Mage, Book 1) Paranoid Mage 1 by Inadvisably Compelled
• (Paranoid Mage, Book 2) Renegade Mage 2 by Inadvisably Compelled
• (Paranoid Mage, Book 3) Heretic Mage 3 by Inadvisably Compelled
• The Perfect Run by Maxime J. Durand
• Poor Man's Fight by Elliott Kay
• Quantum Radio by A.G. Riddle
• Randomize by Andy Weir
• (Reckoners, Book 1) Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
• (Reckoners, Book 2) Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
• (Reckoners, Book 3) Calamity by Brandin Sanderson
• (Resonance Cycle, Book 1) Divine Invasion by Aaron Renfroe
• Rueberry Orchard by Michele Notaro
• (Selection, Book 1) The Selection by Kiera Cass
• (Selection, Book 2) The Elite by Kiera Cass
• (Selection, Book 3) The One by Kiera Cass
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
• The Silver Queendom by Dan Koboldt
• (Solar Clipper, Book 1) Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell
• (Solar Clipper, Book 2) Half Share by Nathan Lowell
• (Solar Clipper, Book 3) Full Share by Nathan Lowell
• Spell Thief: A Deck Building LitRPG Adventure (Tower of Cards Book 1) by J Pal
• Starter Villain by John Scalzi
• (Sybil, Book 1) Primordial Ascension by Azrie
• (System Universe, Book 1) System Change by SunriseCV
• (System Universe, Book 2) Torith by SunriseCV
• (System Universe, Book 3) Savannah by SunriseCV
• Teleport by Joshua T. Calvert
• The Thinking Machine by Jaques Futrelle
• (This Trilogy is Broken, Book 1) This Quest is Bullshit! by J. P. Valentine
• (This Trilogy is Broken, Book 2) This Class is Bonkers! by J. P. Valentine
• (This Trilogy is Broken, Book 3) This Guild is Batty! by J. P. Valentine
• (This Trilogy is Broken, Book 4) This Plot is Bananas! by J. P. Valentine
• (Thomas Covenant, Book 1) Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
• (Titan, Book 1) Nova Terra: Titan by Seth Ring
• (Titan, Book 2) Nova Terra: Greymane by Seth Ring
• (Undying Magician, Book 1) The Arcane Academy by Shane Purdy
• (Undying Magician, Book 2) Kingdom of the Fallen by Shane Purdy
• (Warformed, Book 1) Iron Prince by Bryce O'Connor, Luke Chmilenko
• (Warformed, Book 2) Fire and Ice by ?
• The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
• (Weirdest Noob, Book 1) The Weirdest Noob by Arthur Stone, Mark Berelekhis, Mikhail Yagupov
• (Weirkey, Book 2) Rainhorn by Sarah Lin
• (Weirkey, Book 3) Archcrafter by Sarah Lin
• (Weirkey, Book 4) Chasmfall by Sarah Lin
• (Weirkey, Book 5) Bondsfungi by Sarah Lin
• (Weirkey, Book 6) Bloodcrete by Sarah Lin
• (Whimbrel House, Book 1) Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg
• (Whimbrel House, Book 2) Heir of Uncertain Magic by Charlie N. Holmberg
• The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell
• You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles

Non-Fiction

• Be Slightly Evil by Venkatesh Rao (of Ribbonfarm)
• Toki Pona: The Language of Good by Sonja Lang
• The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book edited by James D'Amato

• Year 0 – I filled 10 32-GB Kingston flash drives with random data.
• Year 1 – Tested drive 1, zero bit rot. Re-wrote drive 1 with the same data.
• Year 2 – Tested drive 2, zero bit rot. Re-tested drive 1, zero bit rot. Re-wrote drives 1-2 with the same data.
• Year 3 – Tested drive 3, zero bit rot. Re-tested drives 1-2, zero bit rot. Re-wrote drives 1-3 with the same data.
• Year 4 – Tested drive 4, zero bit rot. Re-tested drives 1-3, zero bit rot. Re-wrote drives 1-4 with the same data.
• Year 5 - Re-tested drives 1-3, zero bit rot. Re-wrote drives 1-3 with the same data.

Will report back in 1 more year when I test drive 5.

The full test plan is available in the year 4 blog post

FAQ: https://blog.za3k.com/usb-flash-longevity-testing-year-2/

We want to generate some random numbers. For simplicity, we'll assume we want a random number between 1 and 100. We want our random-number generator to be:

• Public (everyone knows the same random numbers, at roughly the same time)
• Fair (every number has the same odds of coming up)
• Trustable (everyone knows it's fair--it should be above doubt)
• Fast (we want to generate as many numbers as possible, as often as possible)
• Unpredictable (you shouldn't be able to guess the result before it's revealed)

Some security experts suggest that a trustable system should also be:

• Decentralized (no single person, organization, or computer picking the numbers). This is because a central trusted group requires faith in that group and its security.

One for this in the real world was the "Numbers Game", a popular illegal lottery in the 1800s, in the USA. The winning numbers were selected at random each day, like most lotteries--by the mob. After complaints about rigged lotteries, the winning numbers started to be picked more transparently. For example, it might be the closing price of the New York Stock Exchange--just the cents value. For a hundred dollar lottery, you would be crazy to worry about someone messing with the New York Stock Exchange. (But if it became a billion- or trillion-dollar lottery, you should worry again.)

The biggest problem with using a stock exchange that it's slow. You only get one set of numbers a day.

Can you come up with a better random-number generator?

Using electrical tape, I split a whiteboard into sections. Voila, whiteboard calendar.

A teacher friend of mine already knew exactly how to do this--apparently it's common knowledge among teachers.

I did look if there were either large, disposable calendars (no) or existing whiteboard calendars (they're laminated posters that don't actually erase). A 3ft x 2ft (1m x 0.6m) whiteboard costs $30, and you can get electrical tape for $1.

The stickers look bad--I half-assed them. I need tons of big stickers or none at all. This was way too tentative. I do want some kind of decoration, though.

In 2022, 2023, and 2024, I did "Hack-a-Day", a challenge to myself to do one project a day for all of November. It's vaguely modelled off NaNoWriMo, a challenge to write a book in November.

This year, I completed 21 projects in 30 days. On average, I worked 7.5 hours per project. My expenses for the month were $130, divided over only three projects--ingredients for Project L.E.M.B.A.S. ($85), aluminium to mill for soma cubes ($28), and missing parts for my TODO whiteboard ($19).

To see a list of all projects from this year and previous ones, check out my hack-a-day website.

Having prepped my ESP-32, I decided to make an LED fireplace today.

The plan was to put an LED strip on a piece of cardboard, and have slowly shifting red, orange, and yellow lights going up and down, somewhat like a music visualizer. I knew the bare LEDs wouldn't look good, so the plan was to put the cardboard somewhat deep into the fireplace, and add some translucent tissue paper layers in front to diffuse the lights.

Sadly, of my three ESP-32s, two were broken. I ended up instead using an ESP-8266, since I had several laying around. Annoyingly, the boards I have are so wide it's impossible to breadboard the, so I used perfboard instead.

Having carefully set up the circuit, I flipped the on switch and... nothing happened. It was about 10pm at this point, and I was starting to run out of energy, so I gave up.

Very late that night, I found the problem was the resistor I added--the LED strip has a built-in resistor as well, and apparently the two together were too much. I eventually got the lights to turn on, but too late to finish the project for the day.

A while back, I was trying to set up a power monitoring system, and I mistakenly bought the wrong ESP dev board. The ones I ended up are sold by some fake-named Chinese manufacturer. They seem pretty fine, much like any other ESP32 dev board, but they have an unusual 30-pin layout.

I tried to add some electronics to my whiteboard hack earlier this month, but got frustrated pretty quickly, failing to program the microcontroller, and with no idea what the pinout was.

Today I decided to take it slower. I'd figure out how to program it, and understand the pins. If I had any time left over, I'd do a project.

First, I got flashing the chip to work. It turns out my main problem from the first time was a bad upload serial rate. I debugged the problem with the help of friendly folks on IRC. Espressif (the ESP32 manufacturer) has helpful troubleshooting instructions, which suggest using the python serial terminal, miniterm. By taking a step at a time, I got the microcontroller working.

Next, I installed and set up platformio, which I had never used before. My experience was that it was pretty good once set up, but a little hard to get started on the command line. Still, I'm happy, and will probably use it again. Platformio has two options--the popular Arduino framework libraries, or the Espressif-provided esp-idf libraries. Based on the small code samples I found, I'll most likely use the Arduino libraries, but some specialty features are just not available on Arduino.

Finally, I set up platformio one last time, with the VS-Code based PlatformIO IDE. Again my experience was pretty good. Sadly, the open-source VS-Code does not show the same set of extensions, and I had to use the binary version. (Aside: Come on, vs-code. Don't call your package and program code. That's a dick move.)

The writeup of how to get your dev environment set up is on github.

Finally, I made the below pinout diagram with the rest of my night.

Happy hacking!

Today I made a minecraft mod, using Fabric. Modding sure has changed a lot since I last tried it in Forge, maybe ten years ago! Java's changed a little too, even.

My mod adds a dirt slab, that's it. I didn't really have time to get past the basics, but I think the occasional hack that's just a learning experience is okay.

Code and mod download are both on github this time.

Fabric is well-documented and friendly. The main downside is that there's no "abstraction later" between Minecraft and the mod. This means your mod will work with exactly one minecraft version on release. Additionally, when a new version of minecraft is released, you need to update and re-release your mod (and there are usually actual changes to be made).

Tutorials used:

• Fabric wiki
• Fabric documentation
• Changelog
• Fabric Discord Server

I made a coding challenge, vaguely tied up as a game. Your goal is to complete simple coding challenges, with a major twist--you only get one try. You can only hit RUN once. (Well, actually you can hit RUN more than once. But it gets marked as failed.)

It put together about 10 challenges, together with some story narration.

The game problems are now tested.

You can play online. The code is on github

Today I made a Go "screensaver".

You can see it online here. The source code is on github.

Games are taken from OGS, and played real-time. Provided are a selection of 1000 random games from OGS, a popular Go server. Games play in real time, the same as when they were originally played.

I made this to have a screensaver for my mantel.

Hope you enjoy.