Every Smittytone Messes with Micros Post

2026

• October
  • Psion Connectivity in 2026: mclink, plptools and Reconnect

• April
  • Vibe rater: an experiment to assess AI coding assistance

2025

• October
  • Retro LCD screen illumination: no backlight? Try a frontlight
  • Amazing analogue: vernier callipers
  • The most essential Amstrad NC100 accessory? It’s got to be a memory card

• September
  • How to bring Amstrad NC100 screenshots to modern graphics apps
  • How to fix Amstrad NC100 coin cell voltage warnings... with paper
  • PreviewCode 2 brings a new UI and source code line numbers

• August
  • CV as code: scripting to satisfy AI and (with any luck) human hirers
  • Primal Scheme: when Xcode settings vie with each other for supremacy
  • Psion of the times: using a 90s palmtop in the 21st Century
  • Swift Fighting Man: How to duke it out with the Xcode build process and Win!
  • Ancient Palmtops as serial terminals, Part 2: the Psion 5mx and the homelab
  • Unearthing macOS’ Uniform Type Identifiers

• April
  • Hoard of the rings: extracting data from Colmi BLE annular activity trackers

• March
  • How I went kicking and screaming from AppKit to SwiftUI... and why I plan to stay there

• February
  • Retro text encodings and cross-platform compilings
  • New vs Old, King Jim vs Sir Alan: Will the Pomera pummel the NC100?
  • udev, I dev: unique identifiers and aliases for USB serial ports on Linux and macOS
  • How to find the right Pi Pico board or retro tech connected to your Mac or Raspberry Pi
  • Old tech for typing: using 1992's Amstrad NC100 Notepad in 2025

2024

• December
  • How to get a 1990s palmtop communicating 2024-style: connect a Psion 3a to the Interweb
  • How to access and control a Raspberry Pi with a Psion Series 3a
  • Palmy like it’s 1999: how to revive a Psion Series 3a handheld
  • Review: The Raspberry Pi 500 👍
  • How to clone your Raspberry Pi card to an SSD... and add a home partition While you’re about it

• November
  • Review: KKSB SSD-compatible Tall Aluminium Case for Raspberry Pi 5 👍

• September
  • How to intercept STDOUT and STDERR output in Swift CLI code

• August
  • Review: Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 👍

• April
  • Thank you! 🙏

2023

• August
  • Go program the Raspberry Pi Pico... with Go

• June
  • MNU gains user-defined keyboard shortcuts

• April
  • Depot gets Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect support
  • Review: DFRobot Pico Gravity Board 👍🏻

• March
  • Meet Depot, an RP2040-based multi-bus adaptor for Macs and Linux PCs
  • Tailscale: a VPN for the rest of us? You bet!
  • One year on: is the iPad any better for Raspberry Pi Pico development?

• February
  • Pico SDK 1.5.0 revamps IO over USB—and makes it work

2022

• December
  • How to get macOS file previews for non-standard text files

• November
  • Review: Picoprobe PCB Kit 1.0 👎🏻
  • How to use the RP2040’s Flash in CircuitPython apps
  • How to copy files to a Pico on a Ventura Mac error free

• October
  • How to talk to I2C sensors, displays from... Linux
  • Review: Kitronic Pico Pin Breakout 👍🏻
  • How to talk to I2C sensors, displays from a Mac
  • Preview JSON files with macOS’ QuickLook and PreviewJson

• September
  • How to manage multiple serial devices on a Mac

• August
  • ARM Assembly on the Pi Pico: Stack attack

• July
  • The Golden Age of Wireless: Adopting Raspberry Pi’s Pico W
  • Arm Assembly on the Pi Pico: Mnemonics #2

• June
  • ARM Assembly on the Pi Pico: Mnemonics #1
  • Get Started with ARM Assembly on the Pi Pico
  • FreeRTOS and the Pi Pico: timers
  • Notarise macOS command line apps more quickly

• May
  • How to write Unix man pages for macOS command line apps
  • How to do DNS over HTTPS with macOS
  • How to do DNS over HTTPS on a Raspberry Pi

• April
  • PreviewCode 1.2.0 released to support user-requested programming data file types

• March
  • FreeRTOS and the Pi Pico: interrupts, semaphores and notifications
  • FreeRTOS and the Pi Pico: sizing up scheduling

• February
  • How to use FreeRTOS with the Raspberry Pi Pico
  • Pico USB serial communications with CircuitPython

• January
  • Build a Raspberry Pi Pico WiFi IoT Device

2021

• December
  • Recreating the Motorola 6809 in a Raspberry Pi Pico
  • Raspberry Pi Pico development on the iPad Pro: almost, but not quite there

• November
  • Program games on the Pimoroni PicoSystem
  • The microprocessor turns 50: this is how it was conceived

• October
  • How to send data to a Raspberry Pi Pico via USB
  • First look: Pimoroni’s PicoSystem hackable handheld games console
  • Clive Sinclair (1941-2021) Part three—resurgam

• September
  • Clive Sinclair (1940-2021) Part two—Radionics’ last, great hope: the microcomputer
  • Clive Sinclair (1940-2021) Part one—how it all began

• August
  • How to build a cellular IoT device with the Raspberry Pi Pico—part two, the code
  • How to build a cellular IoT device with the Raspberry Pi Pico—part one, the hardware
  • Spectrum, Oric, Dragon... even Enterprise—demanded designs come to smittytone’s retro tech T-shirt store

• July
  • PreviewApps updated
  • How to pop up a Picoprobe from the Adafruit QT Py RP2040
  • Tackle async signal safety in Swift
  • Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Sinclair ZX81 with this multifunction-key-tastic T-shirt
  • Raspberry Pi Pico proxies: the Pimoroni Tiny 2040 and the Adafruit QT Py RP2040

• June
  • Looking for syntax highlighted QuickLook code previews? Look no further
  • Stay ahead of git with this sharp script
  • MNU now supports Mac terminal emulator iTerm2
  • Crop picture files with confidence and pixel-precise offsets, using sips and imageprep

• May
  • How to fix ‘xcodebuild’ macOS Terminal slowdowns
  • Looking for YAML macOS QuickLook file previews? With PreviewYaml 1.0.0, you got ’em!
  • Now available: PreviewMarkdown 1.3.0 with YAML support
  • Take advantage of Xcode’s hidden diagnostics to debug multi-threaded application code

• April
  • Introducing C++ programming on the Raspberry Pi Pico
  • How to use zmv—Z Shell’s super-smart file renamer

• March
  • Phantom Slayer’s spooks get a shot of smarts
  • Enjoy some old school 3D arcade action—courtesy of the Raspberry Pi Pico
  • Hail to the Acorn Atom, the Pi Pico predecessor from 1980

• February
  • Play Hunt the Wumpus, Raspberry Pi Pico style
  • How to share preferences between macOS/iOS apps
  • How to migrate to native Homebrew on an M1 Mac
  • How to debug a Raspberry Pi Pico with a Mac, SWD and... another Pico
  • How to program the Raspberry Pi Pico in C on a Mac

• January
  • A first look at a MicroPython marvel: the Raspberry Pi Pico, in partnership with a Mac
  • Oi, app makers, no! Enough Markdown monkey business!
  • Review: King’s Reach—comics chieftain John Sanders’ marvellous memoir of the Ministry of Magazines

2020

• December
  • Just released: imageprep 6.2.0 with powerful new features
  • How To Write macOS Command Line Tools with Swift
  • Out now: a Swift-ier version of imageprep
  • Double Dabble for a Compact Clock

• November
  • Apple Silicon survival notes—day one with an ARM Mac
  • Look, ma, no SD! Boot a Raspberry Pi from USB only
  • A cure for Raspberry Pi ‘Slow USB Mouse Syndrome’
  • Released: revamped and expanded Python drivers for your micro projects

• October
  • Get to grips with Hugo templates
  • Tap Homebrew to easily install and upgrade your own apps
  • The Serpente R2: a compact CircuitPython controller

• September
  • Add sensors, displays and more to your computer with the I2C Mini breakout board

• August
  • The Valley 1.0.8 released
  • MNU 1.3.0 is out now—and it’s more Shell friendly than ever

• July
  • How to upgrade to the new Nano 5.0 on Mac and Pi
  • Font memories...
  • How to Script macOS Command Line Tool Notarization and Packaging for Distribution
  • How to take control of macOS Finder window sizes

• June
  • Spruce up the Nano text editor with syntax colouring and more
  • Give macOS’ Terminal a better ‘ls’
  • How to quickly package macOS apps for distribution outside the App Store
  • Using the Z shell on the Mac and Pi

• May
  • How to remove a Pi’s login message

• April
  • Want 50 great fonts for your iPad? Get my new free app
  • Easy Ethernet access for a headless Raspberry Pi
  • smittytone’s Retro Tech T-shirts are available now

• March
  • Adjust Apple AirPod Audio
  • Want to bake an Apple Pi? Here’s how you can, for a fiver
  • Mac NeoPixel notification light 2.0

• February
  • How to view a Raspberry Pi desktop on an iPad
  • How to use a mouse with an iPad
  • Run a Raspberry Pi 4 from a USB 3.0 drive
  • How To Flag Recent Content in Hugo
  • Build Web Pages from JSON Data with Hugo
  • Use Hugo to Automate your Website

2019

• November
  • How to provide file icon thumbnails in macOS
  • How to create file previews in macOS

• October
  • How to fix iCloud bookmark sync glitches
  • How to make one PDF from multiple images on macOS
  • macOS image manipulation with sips

2016

• April
  • Review: WD PiDrive, a 314GB hard drive for the Raspberry Pi

• March
  • How to display your Raspberry Pi’s desktop on a Mac

• February
  • Solderless USB for Raspberry Pi Zero spied on Kickstarter
  • Make a Mac ‘Task Done’ NeoPixel notification light
  • Review: Circuitbeard PiZero Hub Case
  • How to toughen up your Pi’s SSH access

2015

• November
  • Review: Google Chromecast 2

• October
  • Alias is Your Friend

• March
  • Review: Slice, the Pi Compute Module-based media player
  • Review: Imagination Technologies’ MIPS Creator CI20

• February
  • Review: the PiFace Real-Time Clock
  • Review: the GrovePi+ Starter Kit
  • Review: Withings Activité Pop
  • (Retro) Review: Raspberry Pi B+

2014

• April
  • Review: Pimoroni/Cyntech Pibrella

• March
  • Review: Pi-Supply Pi-Crust
  • The Sinclair ZX81: a Raspberry Pi retro restyle—Part 2

• February
  • The Sinclair ZX81: a Raspberry Pi retro restyle—Part 1
  • Practise what you preach

2013

• December
  • How to build your own Apple iBeacon... with a Raspberry Pi

• November
  • Review: the Fuze, a Raspberry Pi keyboard case and electronics kit
  • Raspberry Pi Case Review 2: Cyntech and ModMyPi
  • Raspberry Pi Thermal Printing: an update

• September
  • Review: the Pimoroni Pi Hub
  • Hacking a thermal till printer to work with the Raspberry Pi
  • How to program the Pebble smartwatch: Part 3
  • How to program the Pebble smartwatch: Part 2
  • How to program the Pebble smartwatch: Part 1
  • Back-up a Raspberry Pi SD card using a Mac
  • Review: the Pimoroni PiGlow

• July
  • Review: the Ciseco Pi-Lite

• May
  • Retro Review: Thorn EMI Liberator (1985)

• April
  • RIP: Dragon 32 (1982-2013) my first 8-bit colour microcomputer
  • Review: Pibow and SB Components Raspberry Pi Cases
  • Review: Raspberry Pi beginners’ books
  • Connect a Raspberry Pi to a Mac using a USB-Serial adapter

• March
  • Beating a bug in OpenElec 3.0's Mac OS X installation code

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