[Sam Ben-Yaakov] has another lecture online that dives deep into the physics of electronic processes. This time, the subject is magnetic transformers. You probably know that the ratio of current in the primary and secondary is the same (ideally) as the ratio of the turns in each winding. But do you know why? You will after watching the video.

Actually, you will after watching the first two minutes of the video. If you make it to the 44-minute mark, you’ll learn more about Faraday’s law, conservation of energy, and Lenz’s law.

One of our favorite things about the Internet is that you can find great lectures like these online, both from university programs and from individuals like [Dr. Ben-Yaakov]. There was a time when you would have had to enroll in a college to get the kind of education you can just browse through now.

Too much math and technical detail for you? We get it. You don’t need to understand all of this to use a transformer. But if you want to understand the math and the physics behind the things we do, nothing is stopping you. Even if you need to brush up on math, there are plenty of similar lectures to learn about that online, too.

Want a university class that is more practical? We hear you. Prefer simulation to math or solder? We hear you, too.

youtube.com/embed/g7sisyNJk9I?…

hackaday.com/2025/12/15/magnet…

Ever wanted to just plug something in and conveniently read the hostname and IP addresses of a headless board like a Raspberry Pi? Chances are, a free USB port is more accessible than digging up a monitor and keyboard, and that’s where [C4KEW4LK]’s rpi_usb_ip_display comes in. Plug it into a free USB port, and a few moments later, read the built-in display. Handy!

The device is an RP2350 board and a 1.47″ Waveshare LCD, with a simple 3D-printed enclosure. It displays hostname, WiFi interface, Ethernet interface, and whatever others it can identify. There isn’t even a button to push; just plug it in and let it run.

Here’s how it works: once plugged in, the board identifies itself as a USB keyboard and a USB serial port. Then it launches a terminal with Ctrl-Alt-T, and from there it types and runs commands to do the following:

1. Find the serial port that the RP2350 board just created.
2. Get the parsed outputs of hostname, ip -o -4 addr show dev wlan0, ip -o -4 addr show dev eth0, and ip -o -4 addr show to gather up data on active interfaces.
3. Send that information out the serial port to the RP2350 board.
4. Display the information on the LCD.
5. Update periodically.

The only catch is that the host system must be able to respond to launching a new terminal with Ctrl-Alt-T, which typically means the host must have someone logged in.

It’s a pretty nifty little tool, and its operation might remind you, in concept, of how BadUSB attacks happen: a piece of hardware, once plugged into a host, identifies itself to the host as something other than what it appears to be. Then it proceeds to input and execute actions. But in this case, it’s not at all malicious, just convenient and awfully cute.

hackaday.com/2025/12/15/plug-i…

As of Dec. 15, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented 32 detainments or charges against journalists in the U.S. — 28 of those at immigration-related protests — according to a new report released by the Freedom of Press Foundation (FPF) project this week.

The report notes how, unlike most years, the majority of journalists were released without charges or had them soon dropped, with law enforcement instead focusing on deterring news gathering rather than pursuing charges.

• Read the Tracker's 2025 arrest report

Tracker Senior Reporter Stephanie Sugars, who authored the report, said it was “shocking” to see the sharp increase in the number of journalists released without being charged.

“While perhaps a sign that officers know the journalists cannot be charged as protesters, each detention pulls eyes and ears from often chaotic protest scenes, and that may well be the point,” Sugars said.

For journalist Dave Decker, being arrested at an anti-deportation demonstration in Miami last month and held in custody for more than 30 hours was a way to “put the brakes on press freedom,” he told the Tracker.

“News is only news for a couple of hours, when it’s breaking like that,” Decker said. “I would say that there were no wires out there, there were no local people, there were no stand-ups, no TV, no helicopter. There was none of that there. So I was literally the only journalist out there. They effectively stopped the news from getting out.”

In 2025, more than 30 journalists were detained or charged for doing their jobs.

freedom.press/issues/report-mo…

Neopixels and other forms of addressable LEDs have taken the maker world by storm. They make it trivial to add a ton of controllable, glowing LEDs to any project. [Arnov Sharma] has made a great tribute to the WS2812B LED by building the NeoPixel Giant Edition.

The build is simply a recreation of the standard 5mm x 5mm WS2812B, only scaled up to 150 mm x 150 mm. It uses a WS2811 chip inside to make it behave in the same way from a logical perspective, and this controller is hooked up to nine standard RGB LEDs switched with MOSFETs to ensure they can deliver the requisite light output. The components are all assembled on a white PCB in much the same layout as the tiny parts of a WS2812B, which is then installed inside a 3D-printed housing made in white PLA. Large metal terminals were added to the housing, just like a WS2812B, and the lens was then created using a large dose of clear epoxy.

The result is a fully functional, addressable LED that is approximately 30 times larger than the original. You can even daisy-chain them, just like the real thing. We’ve covered all kinds of projects using addressable LEDs over the years, from glowing cubes to fancy nature installations. If you’ve got your own glowable project that the world needs to see, make sure you notify the tips line!

hackaday.com/2025/12/15/giant-…

[Chris Borge] has made (and revised) many of his own tools using a combination of 3D printing and common hardware, and recently decided to try metal casting. Having created his own tapping arm, he tries his hand at aluminum casting to create a much more compact version out of metal. His video (embedded below) really shows off the whole process, and [Chris] freely shares his learning experiences in casting his first metal tool.

The result looks great and is considerably smaller in stature than the 3D-printed version. However, the workflow of casting metal parts is very different. The parts are much stronger, but there is a lot of preparation and post-processing involved.
Metal casting deals with molten metal, but the process is otherwise very accessible, and many resources are available to help anyone with a healthy interest.
The key to making good castings is mold preparation. [Chris] uses green sand (a mixture of fine sand and bentonite clay – one source of the latter is ground-up kitty litter) packed tightly around 3D printed parts inside a frame. The packed sand holds its shape while still allowing the original forms to be removed and channels to be cut, creating a two-part mold.

His first-time castings have a rough surface texture, but are perfectly serviceable. After some CNC operations to smooth some faces and drill some holes, the surface imperfections are nothing filing, filler, and paint can’t handle.

To cast molten metal, there really isn’t any way around needing a forge. Or is there? We have seen some enterprising hackers repurpose microwave ovens for this purpose. One can also use a low-temperature alloy like Rose’s Metal, or eschew molten liquid altogether and do cold casting, which uses a mixture of resin and metal powder instead.

The design files for [Chris]’s tapping arm are available from links in the video description, and he also helpfully provides links to videos and resources he found useful. Watch it in the video, embedded just below.

youtube.com/embed/lp9xzWZWO_U?…

hackaday.com/2025/12/15/3d-pri…

Reposted from the US Pirate Party.

Weeks of voting has come to a conclusion, and it is official: Boston, MA will be the host city for the 2026 Pirate National Conference, taking place on June 6th, 2026.

A single round knockout elimination tournament featuring twelve cities has concluded with Boston defeating fellow finalist city Vicksburg, MS.

The following cities, in addition to Vicksburg, shall remain in permanent consideration for a future conference host city:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Chicago, IL
• Las Vegas, NV
• Louisville, KY
• Mobile, AL
• New Orleans, LA
• Plattsburgh, NY
• Portland, OR
• Providence, RI
• San Francisco, CA*
• Seattle, WA

*San Francisco was host city for the 2025 Pirate National Conference and thus was not in consideration for the 2026 conference
We promised a conference on a boat, and by hell or high water, we will get ourselves a conference on a boat.

Boston being selected as host city not only provides us with an instantly recognizable location, but one so deeply entrenched in U.S. history and struggles against tyranny.

As well, this allows us to honor the Massachusetts Pirate Party properly. The MAPP features some of the hardest working and most dedicated Pirates in the country, so having our conference, one which will mark twenty years of the United States Pirate Party, in their home state is fitting.

There wouldn’t be a twenty years old Pirate Party in existence today without the work of the Massachusetts Pirate Party. For that, I could not think of a more perfect setting.

We look forward to providing you with more details about our conference as the weeks go on. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you in Boston (or online, since it’s a in-person-online hybrid conference).

Boston, Victory is Arrrs.

masspirates.org/blog/2025/12/1…

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is best known as the neurotoxin of the puffer fish, though it also appears in a range of other marine species. You might remember it from an episode of The Simpsons involving a poorly prepared dish at a sushi restaurant. Indeed, it’s a potent thing, as ingesting even tiny amounts can lead to death in short order.

Given its fatal reputation, it might be the last thing you’d expect to be used in a therapeutic context. And yet, tetrodotoxin is proving potentially valuable as a treatment option for dealing with cancer-related pain. It’s a dangerous thing to play with, but it could yet hold promise where other pain relievers simply can’t deliver.

Poison, or…?

A license to prepare fugu (pufferfish) issued by Tokyo authorities. Credit: Nesnad, CC BY SA 3.0
Humans have been aware of the toxicity of the puffer fish and its eggs for thousands of years. It was much later that tetrodotoxin itself was chemically isolated, thanks to the work of Dr. Yoshizumi Tahara in 1909.

Its method of action was proven in 1964, with tetrodotoxin found to bind to and block voltage-gated sodium channels in nerve cell membranes, essentially stopping the nerves from conducting signals as normal. It thus has the effect of inducing paralysis, up to the point where an afflicted individual suffers respiratory failure, and subsequently, death.
Tetrodotoxin is most closely associated with pufferfish, though it’s also present in other deadly species, like the blue-ringed octopus. Thankfully, nobody is crazy enough to try to eat those. Credit: NPS, public domain
It doesn’t take a large dose of tetrodotoxin to kill, either—the median lethal dose in mice is a mere 334 μg per kilogram when ingested. The lethality of tetrodotoxin was historically a prime driver behind Japanese efforts to specially license chefs who wished to prepare and serve pufferfish. Consuming pufferfish that has been inadequately prepared can lead to symptoms in 30 minutes or less, with death following in mere hours as the toxin makes it impossible for the sufferer to breathe. Notably, though, with the correct life support measures, particularly for the airway, or with a sub-fatal dose, it’s possible for a patient to make a full recovery in mere days, without any lingering effects.

The effects that tetrodotoxin has on the nervous system are precisely what may lend it therapeutic benefit, however. By blocking sodium channels in sensory neurons that deal with pain signals, the toxin could act as a potent method of pain relief. Researchers have recently explored whether it could have particular application for dealing with neuropathic pain caused by cancer or chemotherapy treatments. This pain isn’t always easy to manage with traditional pain relief methods, and can even linger after cancer recovery and when chemotherapy has ceased.
Tetrodotoxin is able to block voltage-gated sodium channels, which is the basis of both its pain-relieving abilities and its capacity to paralyze and kill. Credit: research paper
The challenge of using a toxin for pain relief is obvious—there’s always a risk that the negative effects of the toxin will outweigh the supposed therapeutic benefit. In the case of tetrodotoxin, it all comes down to dosage. The levels given to patients in research studies have been on the order of 30 micrograms, well under the multi-milligram dose that would typically cause severe symptoms or death in an adult human. The hope would be to find a level at which tetrodotoxin reduces pain with a minimum of adverse effects, particularly where symptoms like paralysis and respiratory failure are on the table.

A review of various studies worldwide was published in 2023, and highlights that tetrodotoxin pain relief does come with some typical adverse effects, even at tiny clinical doses. The most typical reported symptoms involved nausea, oral numbness, dizziness, and tingling sensations. In many cases, these effects were mild and well-tolerated. A small number of patients in research trials exhibited more serious symptoms, however, such as loss of muscle control, pain, or hypertension. At the same time, the treatment did show positive results — with many patients reporting pain relief for days or even weeks after just a few days of tetrodotoxin injections.

While tetrodotoxin has been studied as a pain reliever for several decades now, it has yet to become a mainstream treatment. There have been no large-scale studies that involved treating more than 200 patients, and no research group or pharmaceutical company has pushed hard to bring a tetrodotoxin-based product to market. Research continues, with a 2025 paper even exploring the use of ultra-low nanogram-scale doses in a topical setting. For now, though, commercial application remains a far-off fantasy. Today, the toxin remains the preserve of pufferfish and a range of other deadly species. Don’t expect to see it in a hospital ward any time soon, despite the promise it shows thus far.

Featured image: “Puffer Fish DSC01257.JPG” by Brocken Inaglory. Actually, not one of the poisonous ones, but it looked cool.

hackaday.com/2025/12/15/puffer…

Weeks of voting has come to a conclusion, and it is official: Boston, MA will be the host city for the 2026 Pirate National Conference, taking place on June 6th, 2026.

A single round knockout elimination tournament featuring twelve cities has concluded with Boston defeating fellow finalist city Vicksburg, MS.

The following cities, in addition to Vicksburg, shall remain in permanent consideration for a future conference host city:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Chicago, IL
• Las Vegas, NV
• Louisville, KY
• Mobile, AL
• New Orleans, LA
• Plattsburgh, NY
• Portland, OR
• Providence, RI
• San Francisco, CA*
• Seattle, WA

*San Francisco was host city for the 2025 Pirate National Conference and thus was not in consideration for the 2026 conference
We promised a conference on a boat, and by hell or high water, we will get ourselves a conference on a boat.

Boston being selected as host city not only provides us with an instantly recognizable location, but one so deeply entrenched in U.S. history and struggles against tyranny.

As well, this allows us to honor the Massachusetts Pirate Party properly. The MAPP features some of the hardest working and most dedicated Pirates in the country, so having our conference, one which will mark twenty years of the United States Pirate Party, in their home state is fitting.

There wouldn’t be a twenty years old Pirate Party in existence today without the work of the Massachusetts Pirate Party. For that, I could not think of a more perfect setting.

We look forward to providing you with more details about our conference as the weeks go on. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you in Boston (or online, since it’s a in-person-online hybrid conference).

Boston, Victory is Arrrs.

uspirates.org/the-2026-pirate-…

noblogo.org/transit/democrazia…

Transit

2025-12-15 13:20:41

Democrazia in ostaggio: l'Italia autoritaria.

(187)

Il ritorno del concetto di #autocrazia nella politica internazionale rappresenta una tendenza sempre più evidente, alimentata anche dall’ascesa di figure come Donald Trump e Elon Musk. Questi personaggi incarnano un modello di leadership che privilegia la decisione rapida, l’efficienza apparente e la disintermediazione digitale, spesso a scapito della partecipazione democratica e dei diritti individuali. La rottura tra #Trump e #Musk, per esempio, non segna il tramonto del #trumpismo, ma piuttosto la sua evoluzione verso una governance più strutturata e meno personalizzata, ma sempre più autoritaria e meno trasparente.​

Negli ultimi anni, il potere politico ha mostrato una tendenza a concentrarsi nelle mani di pochi, spesso con il sostegno di una tecnocrazia privatizzata che utilizza strumenti digitali e algoritmi per governare. Questa convergenza tra potere esecutivo, tecnologia e capitalismo delle piattaforme ha portato a una forma di “autocrazia algoritmica”, in cui le decisioni vengono prese in modo rapido e apparentemente efficace, ma con una sostanziale riduzione della trasparenza e della partecipazione dei cittadini. Il modello è particolarmente visibile negli Stati Uniti, ma ha avuto ripercussioni anche in #Europa e in altri continenti.​

In #Italia, come in molti altri Paesi, si registra una crescente propensione a preferire governi “forti” rispetto a una democrazia più compiuta che richiede la partecipazione attiva di tutti, anche del singolo cittadino. Una ricerca recente ha evidenziato che circa il 24% dei giovani italiani si dichiara favorevole a un regime autoritario, mentre solo il 57% preferisce la democrazia a qualsiasi altra forma di governo. Questa percentuale è simile a quella di Spagna e Francia, ma inferiore rispetto alla Germania, dove la preferenza per la democrazia supera il 70%.

Questa differenza evidenzia come, in Italia, la fiducia nella democrazia sia meno radicata, soprattutto tra i giovani e tra chi si sente economicamente svantaggiato.​

Una delle conseguenze più preoccupanti di questa tendenza è la disponibilità di molti cittadini a rinunciare a parte dei propri diritti in cambio di maggiore sicurezza o stabilità. Il desiderio di governi più radicali e “cattivi” si manifesta anche nella richiesta di misure più severe contro la criminalità, l’immigrazione o le proteste sociali. Questo fenomeno è alimentato da una percezione di crisi economica, sociale e culturale che porta molte persone a cercare soluzioni rapide e apparentemente efficaci, anche a costo di compromettere alcuni principi democratici.

La recessione della democrazia, come viene definita da molti analisti, è quindi legata non solo a scelte politiche, ma anche a una crescente insoddisfazione economica e sociale che spinge le persone a preferire governi autoritari.​

Il vero scandalo per la democrazia italiana è questa resa collettiva, incarnata dal governo Meloni che, nel discorso finale alla kermesse di “Atreyu”, ha dipinto un'Italia monolitica e “forte” dove la partecipazione si riduce a un applauso acritico, mentre si sacrificano diritti e uguaglianza in nome di una fermezza illusoria. Invece di mobilitare i cittadini contro disuguaglianze economiche sempre più abissali (con salari stagnanti e precarietà dilagante), la premier invita a delegare tutto a un esecutivo che si definisce “granitico” e che promette ordine con manganelli e retorica nazionalista, tradendo chi sogna una vera lotta per i diritti.

Questa propaganda autoritaria, che cavalca la stanchezza popolare, non risolve crisi, ma le amplifica, preferendo la stabilità fittizia di un leader onnipotente alla responsabilità condivisa di una democrazia viva e inclusiva. È una beffa: le persone rinunciano a battersi per più diritti, illudendosi che un pugno di ferro le protegga, mentre Meloni consolida un potere che erode le basi stesse della libertà.

#Blog #Opinioni #Politica #Autocrazia #Democrazia #GovernoMeloni

Mastodon: @alda7069@mastodon.unoTelegram: t.me/transitblogFriendica: @danmatt@poliverso.orgBlue Sky: bsky.app/profile/mattiolidanie…Bio Site (tutto in un posto solo, diamine): bio.site/danielemattioli

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Transit

Il blog di Alessandra Corubolo & Daniele Mattioli. On line -in varie forme- dal 2005.

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qui: noblogo.org/differx/il-funzion…

il funzionamento delle *erde colonialiste e genocide:

#sionismo #israhell #genocidio #razzismo