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Thu 05 February 2026

Today: static status pages — easy cases for your KiCad projects — miniature atomic clock — TUI spreadsheets — Bluetooth sensor standard — Steam Machine delayed due to AI — Fediverse hashtags

  • cState is an interesting approach to status pages: Incidents are created using Markdown files with YAML front matter, and built into a specialized static site using a preconfigured Hugo.
  • TurboCase is an open-source command-line utility by Martijn Braam that converts a KiCad PCB file into an OpenSCAD model of a matching case for it, which you can then 3D print. It can automatically create cutouts in the case for connectors, and generate mounting posts and a lid for the case.
  • Microchip's MAC-SA5X series are 5×5 cm miniature atomic clocks with "nanosecond holdover performance for days at a time". For the low price of 1,700 €, you can have one of these in your custom project – and use TurboCase to print a case for it.
  • IronCalc is an open source spreadsheet engine written in Rust (of course), intended to be Excel compatible. It can run in the browser (no live collaboration yet, although it's planned for 2027), but also in the terminal. Which is great news, because before, we only had sc-im, which is really showing its age. It also has Python bindings.
  • In case you're building a sensor that is going to broadcast values over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE): Instead of designing your own data packet format, check out whether BTHome already contains everything you need. I've used it for one of my projects, and having your own sensor auto-discovered in Home Assistant without any configuration whatsoever is just magical. See the easy to read format documentation for all supported data types.

  • Valve's Steam Machine computer and Steam Frame VR headset are being delayed due to the memory and storage shortage caused by "AI".

    When we announced these products in November, we planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now. But the memory and storage shortages you've likely heard about across the industry have rapidly increased since then. The limited availability and growing prices of these critical components mean we must revisit our exact shipping schedule and pricing (especially around Steam Machine and Steam Frame).

  • Fedi.Tips has a list of fun and useful tags on Mastodon and the Fediverse, focusing especially on the ones with a non-straightforward name like #CarryShitOlympics, #ThickTrunkTuesday or #LichenSubscribe.

  • Starfleet Academy's fifth episode, Series Acclimation Mil, came out today, and I loved it (even though it made me cry). I've reviewed it on Trakt. Spoiler warning for the review though!