This is my multimeter. Don’t let the yellow livery fool you: it’s nothing fancy. This model is listed at just under CA$11 from a local computer supply shop. For what I do, though, it works well enough. Or it used to. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This meter has two lead sockets for measuring current. The leftmost socket is for 0-20A, and is unprotected, while the socket just left of the common connection is for the 0-200mA range, and is protected by a 200mA fuse. Read more

A simple chord keyboard. Chord keyboards are pretty neat. They’re smaller and more portable than conventional keyboards, they can be more ergonomic, and (legend has it) they allow faster typing. I’ve wanted to build one for a while, mostly just for the fun of it, but also because I want a tool for one-handed data entry. When I’m laying out a sketch in FreeCAD, for instance, I often find myself switching my right hand between the mouse, for manipulating lines, curves, constraints, etc. Read more