https://mrpjevans.com/ A blog about stuff en https://mrpjevans.com/115745709827276599 Your new favourite Christmas tune is here: https://youtu.be/2Fe11OlMiz8?si=pPKHcQjQ-2Yt5w9j #StraightNoChaser #Africa Fri, 19 Dec 2025 10:16:11 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115745709827276599 https://mrpjevans.com/115745460743653421 A WILD PALLET APPEARS! Big day at Evans Towers as we have 10kWh worth of batteries installed. Gonna capture all those delicious photons. Fri, 19 Dec 2025 09:12:50 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115745460743653421 https://mrpjevans.com/115722862733049790 Anyone else at that time of year where *everything* looks like a 2026 problem? Mon, 15 Dec 2025 09:25:52 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115722862733049790 https://mrpjevans.com/115679079990482021 Just discovered that the first plant machinery has arrived and has started clearing at the new Universal Studios site near Bedford (and me!). 53 years old and ridiculously excited. Sun, 07 Dec 2025 15:51:20 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115679079990482021 https://mrpjevans.com/115679063606422605 Well done Lando. I wasn’t rooting for him but it was great to see a fair and just championship win. No team orders, messed up pit stops or other shenanigans; just great racing. #F1 Sun, 07 Dec 2025 15:47:10 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115679063606422605 https://mrpjevans.com/115600408903414498 RE: https://mastodon.social/@anon_opin/115600294403741980I’ve witnessed this first hand. Choose wisely. Sun, 23 Nov 2025 18:24:14 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115600408903414498 https://mrpjevans.com/115594267074209639 Just booked our motorhome for @emf 2026. This signals the start seven months of minor chaos for the Evans family (nothing compared to what most of the orga go through). Here we go again… #emfcamp Sat, 22 Nov 2025 16:22:18 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115594267074209639 https://mrpjevans.com/115549043996992694 I have gone to the pub. The pub has several leaks in the roof. I am worried for the pub’s wellbeing and will be staying here to provide emotional support. #Kindness #GivingNotTaking Fri, 14 Nov 2025 16:41:28 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115549043996992694 https://mrpjevans.com/115520384376617142 Tried #Geocaching for the first time today. Found two in Milton Keynes. Fun, rewarding and gets me some exercise. Sun, 09 Nov 2025 15:12:57 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115520384376617142 https://mrpjevans.com/115498546755387318 Ding dong the EBacc’s dead https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cddr3v6j9mmo Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:39:21 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115498546755387318 https://mrpjevans.com/115480445030508183 Great times at #PottonPiAndPints yesterday. Great to see so many lovely people geeking out. My personal faves were Brian Corteill’s Giant Unicorn Hat and this cool train set powered by Micro:Bits. Sun, 02 Nov 2025 13:55:51 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115480445030508183 https://mrpjevans.com/115474032352408133 Fry-up underway as we take on sustenance for #PottonPiAndPints this afternoon. Excite! Sat, 01 Nov 2025 10:45:01 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115474032352408133 https://mrpjevans.com/115407778999789007 Brighton is my happy place. #TransRightsAreHumanRights Mon, 20 Oct 2025 18:55:55 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115407778999789007 https://mrpjevans.com/115367442565671684 So, anyone else had their afternoon cut short by Vodafone? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yldldx659o Mon, 13 Oct 2025 15:57:50 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115367442565671684 https://mrpjevans.com/115361583791969415 Great to see Tommy Flowers getting some recognition. The father of computers (not computing, that was Turing).... Sun, 12 Oct 2025 15:07:52 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115361583791969415 https://mrpjevans.com/115339945313532305 I AM NaN! I AM A FREE MAN! Wed, 08 Oct 2025 19:24:56 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115339945313532305 https://mrpjevans.com/115338061903593066 Take my job! I'm leaving my current position in November and Kingfisher (B&Q, Screwfix) are looking for my replacement. Want a challenge working in EPOS as a Principal Engineer? Need some JS... Wed, 08 Oct 2025 11:25:57 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115338061903593066 https://mrpjevans.com/the-oatmeal-on-ai-art https://theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_artA true opus from The Oatmeal. I think that was the point. Tue, 07 Oct 2025 17:49:30 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-oatmeal-on-ai-art https://mrpjevans.com/115318191280919536 The Doofus has retired to her box for #Caturday Sat, 04 Oct 2025 23:12:35 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115318191280919536 https://mrpjevans.com/115281983693681099 Grab your popcorn and turn your pager to silent, the film is about to start… @hackers #HackThePlanet Sun, 28 Sep 2025 13:44:31 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115281983693681099 https://mrpjevans.com/115260062456986304 I want to play the world’s widest game of Pong on this screen. Wed, 24 Sep 2025 16:49:40 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115260062456986304 https://mrpjevans.com/115259201375328668 Protein pills only please Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:10:41 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115259201375328668 https://mrpjevans.com/115258747259337026 I’m at a conference at Google HQ London today. Whatever you think of them you can’t deny they’re good at post-it art. Wed, 24 Sep 2025 11:15:12 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115258747259337026 https://mrpjevans.com/115220524932343285 If you’re suffering trying to read this Liquid Glass silliness, you can make notifications opaque in Settings, Accessibility, Reduce Transparency. Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:14:45 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115220524932343285 https://mrpjevans.com/115196674805013333 Son went to see Coldplay last night, so I now own a xyloband. :) Sat, 13 Sep 2025 12:09:21 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115196674805013333 https://mrpjevans.com/webgl-fluid-simulation https://paveldogreat.github.io/WebGL-Fluid-Simulation/How beautiful is this? And in a browser! I could lose hours and probably will. Wed, 10 Sep 2025 22:01:23 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/webgl-fluid-simulation https://mrpjevans.com/115170848067249440 We continue to create critical infrastructure on a house of cards… https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-hijack-npm-packages-with-2-billion-weekly-downloads-in-supply-chain-attack/ Mon, 08 Sep 2025 22:41:16 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115170848067249440 https://mrpjevans.com/mynoise https://mynoise.netA wonderful place that dynamically creates background noise. The level of control is incredible. An ambient must. Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:09:47 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/mynoise https://mrpjevans.com/115163116580802872 Watched F1 The Movie last night. Oh dear, oh dear… If you want to watch a good racing movie, try Rush or Le Mans ‘66. Sun, 07 Sep 2025 13:55:03 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/115163116580802872 https://mrpjevans.com/look-at-those-curves It’s been an amazing few days for solar Fri, 02 May 2025 01:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/look-at-those-curves https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-145 This month I continue my series on building the ultimate private cloud server. Now we have file storage with the help of OpenMediaVault, we now explore how you can access files from anywhere in the... Sun, 25 Aug 2024 01:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-145 https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-144 It's The MagPi issue #144! This is the start of a new series on taking back control of your infrastructure and build you own personal private cloud server. Over the coming months we'll take a deep... Thu, 25 Jul 2024 01:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-144 https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-141 In the latest MagPi - Issue #141 - I have a chat with Oscar Vermeulen who has just launched his PiDP-10 kit, the latest in a series of Raspberry Pi-based DEC computer recreations. This is his most... Fri, 26 Apr 2024 01:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-141 https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-140 The latest version of The MagPi is now available in all good booksellers (and probably some bad ones too). In this issue I cover the basics of learning to code. This can often be a intimidating... Mon, 15 Apr 2024 01:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-140 https://mrpjevans.com/raspberry-pi-and-nvme-ssd-not-working With the arrival of Raspberry Pi 5 it's a brave new world for my favourite little computer. The new shiny PCI-Express header allows super-duper-fast peripherals to bypass the bottleneck that is USB.... Wed, 13 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/raspberry-pi-and-nvme-ssd-not-working https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-139 The MagPi issue 139 is now available, specially release to coincide with Raspberry Pi's third birthday. (That's right, third, Raspberry Pi is a leap-year baby!)I've been busy in this one. Firstly the... Thu, 29 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-magpi-issue-139 https://mrpjevans.com/much-secure-very-secrets Yes. Very secure. Well done you. Fri, 16 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/much-secure-very-secrets https://mrpjevans.com/retro-gaming-with-raspberry-pi-3rd-edition Just out is the third edition of Retro Gaming With Raspberry Pi. This 170+ page tome tell you everything you need to know about bringing the old games back to life. There's so much more than 'download... Mon, 12 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/retro-gaming-with-raspberry-pi-3rd-edition https://mrpjevans.com/whatever Spotted at Smokeworks in Cambridge, UK Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/whatever https://mrpjevans.com/whats-the-point A cautionary tale of a bug that wasn’t (yet was) I’m currently working with a team helping an industrial textile manufacturer based in Lyon, France. Part of the job is working with a CSV file (isn’t... Mon, 05 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/whats-the-point https://mrpjevans.com/joto-the-internet-of-whiteboards A friend was having a bit of a KonMarie moment and decided to remove some of the technology from her life. One item, which she had only just received, was a Joto. This robotic device is a neat spin on... Wed, 19 Jun 2019 18:47:32 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/joto-the-internet-of-whiteboards https://mrpjevans.com/magpi-77 In this month's MagPi I do unspeakable things to my front door as part of an ongoing SmartDoor project (more on that soon at this very 'ere blog). Also, I review the beautiful PiDP-11 kit. Available... Sat, 22 Dec 2018 18:34:44 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/magpi-77 https://mrpjevans.com/magpi-76 The rather wonderful MagPi issue 76 is out today. In this issue I'm turning up twice. First as part of the SuperGuide with a look at the Raspberry Pi Desktop and how to use it, along with some... Thu, 29 Nov 2018 11:02:15 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/magpi-76 https://mrpjevans.com/so-we-bought-a-leaf-four-years-on New Toy! New Toy!It has come as a bit of a surprise to me that the most popular post on this ‘ere site has been my original guide to owning an electric car in the UK. Mind you, when I think back to... Tue, 29 May 2018 12:53:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/so-we-bought-a-leaf-four-years-on https://mrpjevans.com/do-you-want-to-build-a-strandbeest A time-lapse showing the construction of Just Add Sharks‘ Mini Strandbeest kit which I picked up at EMF Camp 2016. It’s a great kit and took about 90 minutes to put together.And here’s the result... Wed, 25 Apr 2018 14:05:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/do-you-want-to-build-a-strandbeest https://mrpjevans.com/the-great-digital-race-or-a-15-second-fib Connie 1, WITCH 0You can keep your Winter Olympics with all it’s competitive falling and sliding. The real action was last Saturday at The National Museum of Computing where you could witness the... Tue, 20 Feb 2018 12:03:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-great-digital-race-or-a-15-second-fib https://mrpjevans.com/raspberry-pi-icade WAKKA WAKKA WAKKAWay back when, I bought an iCade. This bartop-style arcade machine was actually a very pretty bluetooth controller. Simply slot your first-generation iPad into the ‘screen’ and pair.... Tue, 05 Dec 2017 12:25:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/raspberry-pi-icade https://mrpjevans.com/re-capping-a-zx-spectrum ZX Spectrums tend to suffer from two major problems. The earlier keyboard membranes were made from the finest Japanese rice paper and would shatter into a million pieces should a flea with a penchant... Sun, 29 Oct 2017 12:41:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/re-capping-a-zx-spectrum https://mrpjevans.com/zx-raspberry-version-2 In which our hero downsizes radicallyA couple of months ago we held the first in the ‘regeneration’ of the Milton Keynes Raspberry Jam. I took along my ZX Raspberry for all to see and wonder over. One... Wed, 27 Sep 2017 13:48:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/zx-raspberry-version-2 https://mrpjevans.com/an-atari-2600-in-a-cartridge You know when you’re having that long-overdue clean-out and you find a few things stashed away you’d forgotten about? From when you said “that’ll make a great project one day” then tossed it in your... Sat, 24 Jun 2017 13:54:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/an-atari-2600-in-a-cartridge https://mrpjevans.com/emf-camp-2016-in-3d EMF Camp is a bi-annual gathering of creatives, geeks, makers and anyone with a passion for, well, anything. Over three days in a Guildford field we attended (and gave) talks, learnt new skills in... Fri, 12 Aug 2016 14:10:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/emf-camp-2016-in-3d https://mrpjevans.com/building_zx_raspberry_part_4 In which our hero is unable to leave well aloneA little epilogue to the ZX Raspberry project. I came into possession of a very dead ZX Spectrum+ and, following my own personal rule of ‘it gets fixed... Wed, 17 Feb 2016 13:17:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/building_zx_raspberry_part_4 https://mrpjevans.com/bbc-micro-model-b-memory-repair So, what do you do when your BBC Model B looks like this?Oh dear…You throw it in the skip of course!Nah, just kidding, you Google like a mad thing. What you learn is that screen corruption like this... Thu, 14 Jan 2016 13:20:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/bbc-micro-model-b-memory-repair https://mrpjevans.com/building-the-zx-raspberry-part-three In which our hero triumphs over excessive wiringBack in Part 2, I completed the USB keyboard conversion of an old, abandoned ZX Spectrum. The next, and final, step is to add in a Raspberry PI so that... Sun, 27 Dec 2015 13:37:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/building-the-zx-raspberry-part-three https://mrpjevans.com/building-the-zx-raspberry-part-two In which our hero enters the (keyboard) matrix…Ok, time to burn stuff. After hatching a plan in Part One, I’m now ready to proceed with my Frankenspeccy. But first, some more planning – what am I... Tue, 15 Dec 2015 13:48:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/building-the-zx-raspberry-part-two https://mrpjevans.com/building-the-zx-raspberry-part-one In which our hero plans and schemesDespite wanting to convert a ZX Spectrum into a USB keyboard for some time, I held off to wait for the unlikely duo of the ZX Spectrum Vega and the Recreated ZX... Tue, 08 Dec 2015 13:55:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/building-the-zx-raspberry-part-one https://mrpjevans.com/restoring-a-vic-20 I purchased this poor thing last week. After some initial mucking about, life was breathed into it once more. I had a a bit of fun getting the keyboard working but now she’s 100% operational and a... Sun, 29 Mar 2015 15:02:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/restoring-a-vic-20 https://mrpjevans.com/the-imitation-game-fact-and-fiction To many of us in the technical community, the story of Alan Turing is well known; a tragedy of a tortured genius who saved a world that may well have killed him in return. With this new film, the... Thu, 20 Nov 2014 14:05:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/the-imitation-game-fact-and-fiction https://mrpjevans.com/electric-cars-faq So, you like the sound of going electric, but how does it all work? When Mrs E and I started considering an ‘EV’ (as the cool kids will insist on calling it) we quickly realised we had no idea how the... Wed, 28 May 2014 15:07:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/electric-cars-faq https://mrpjevans.com/composite-modding-the-atari-2600 Buoyed on by my successful project to add a composite video output to a 1976 Pong game, I decided to move to my next target, the Atari 2600. Now, this little beauty needs no introduction, a classic... Mon, 19 May 2014 15:17:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/composite-modding-the-atari-2600 https://mrpjevans.com/binatone-composite-mod Pong! What more could a young child want in 1978? Despite my formative years, I was already hooked on my friend’s magic-filled box of delights he described as a ‘TV Game’ (for ‘console’ was a word of... Tue, 13 May 2014 15:27:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/binatone-composite-mod https://mrpjevans.com/binatone-pong The first computer game I ever owned was this Binatone ‘TV Master MK IV’ – a simple unit that could play the standard Pong variants with a pair of analogue paddles. Yes, it may be simple, but I had... Mon, 28 Apr 2014 15:33:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/binatone-pong https://mrpjevans.com/rs232-on-the-raspberry-pi-to-a-psion-5 The Raspberry Pi’s General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) connector consists of 26 pins that are a hacker’s delight, allowing for some serious analogue and digital tomfoolery. When drooling over the... Wed, 10 Oct 2012 19:36:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/rs232-on-the-raspberry-pi-to-a-psion-5 https://mrpjevans.com/papercraft-enigma This has been doing the rounds on Twitter but I thought I’d show off my own attempt.UK security firm Franklin Heath have put together an Enigma machine made out of paper. This really goes to show that... Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:25:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/papercraft-enigma https://mrpjevans.com/colossus-cinemagram Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:24:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/colossus-cinemagram https://mrpjevans.com/clear-printable-raspberry-pi-case Does your Raspberry Pi need a case? Mine too. I’ve looked at a few options and intend to make a selection. However, my first attempt may well be my favourite. Behold the ‘Raspberry Pi Fold-Up Case’... Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:21:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/clear-printable-raspberry-pi-case https://mrpjevans.com/why-ten-pairs As you may know, the German military made a significant addition to the original Enigma design by adding the plugboard, or steckerbrett. The board has twenty-six sockets, one for every letter in the... Mon, 18 Jun 2012 19:17:00 GMT PJ Evans https://mrpjevans.com/why-ten-pairs