Tony Smith, Tech Writer and Software Engineer on smittytone’s software stack

Depot

site@smittytone.net (Tony Smith) — Mon, 10 Aug 2026

About Depot

Depot comprises firmware and client code that allows you to connect a multi-bus adaptor board to your Mac or Linux computer and communicate with I²C and 1-Wire peripheral devices wired up to the adaptor.

The adaptor is a Raspberry Pi RP2040-based board, such as the Pico, running the Depot firmware. The adaptor relays commands from client apps to peripheral devices, be they sensors, displays, actuators, storage chips, or whatever.

dlist

site@smittytone.net (Tony Smith) — Thu, 13 Aug 2026

About dlist

dlist (dee-list) is a macOS/Linux CLI utility that lists MCU boards, such Raspberry Pi Picos. and USB-to-Serial adaptors connected to your computer. It can be used for informational purposes and to pipe a device’s path into other CLI tools, such as serial comms utilities. It is written Swift.

How to Use dlist

Run dlist to get a list of connected MCUs.

HT16K33 Python

site@smittytone.net (Tony Smith) — Fri, 17 Jul 2026

About HT16K33 Python

This library provides a hardware driver for a variety of displays bases on the Holtek KT16K33 controller chip, including four-digit, seven-segment LEDs; four-digit, 14-segment LEDs; 8x8 and 16x8 monochrome matrix LEDs; and bi-colour 8x8 matrix LEDs. It also supports four-digit, 14-segment LEDs based on the VK16K33 controller from Freenove.

The library also supports generic seven-segment displays wired up to an HT16K33, which can drive up to eight these LEDs. The HT16K33 may be on a board of your own design, or on a third-part one, such as the Adafruit 16x8 LED Matrix Driver Backpack. LED units you can connect range from single digits up to combinations of multi-digit units.

PreviewCode

site@smittytone.net (Tony Smith) — Thu, 06 Aug 2026

How to Use PreviewCode

Install the app and run it. This will register the availability of the app’s QuickLook extensions, Code Previewer and Code Thumbnailer. You can now quit the app — just click Quit:

To use QuickLook in Finder, select a source code file and press space. This will pop up a rendered preview of the file, using a dark theme…