Bulgaria’s pleasingly laid-back capital, Sofia is often overlooked by tourists heading straight to the coast or the ski resorts, but they’re missing something special. It’s no grand metropolis, true, but it’s a largely modern, youthful city, while its old east-meets-west atmosphere is still very much evident, with a scattering of onion-domed churches, Ottoman mosques and …
Saeva Dupka Cave
The Sаeva Dupka Cave is one of nine developed caves in Bulgaria. It is located near the village of Brestnitsa in the Lovech region. The cave’s name comes from the names of two brothers, Syu and Seyu, who hid in the cave during the time of Ottoman rule. The cave opened for visitors in 1967, …
Rila Monastery & Mountains
The Monastery Bulgaria’s largest and most renowned monastery emerges abruptly out of a forested valley in the Rila Mountains. It’s a major attraction for both Bulgarian pilgrims and foreign tourists and one of the most famous Bulgarian symbols. Not only is it the biggest monastery in Bulgaria, but also it is the most influential spiritual centre in …
Dubai & Abu Dhabi
[su_quote cite=”Unknown”]Dubai, the city that has whatever you can dream, and if they don’t have it yet they are building it or building an island to build it on.[/su_quote] During a BBQ yesterday me and Tom Rademaker were reminiscing over the trip me and Michiel Rademaker took two years ago to visit Tom who was …
On Air: Clarifying ESP8266 OTA
So those ESP8266 are awesome but I never quite figured out how to get the over the air (OTA) updating to work due to the lack of guides on how to do it. The SDK supports it and there is some decent information available on the Espressif forums, but it lacked an easy oversight on …
Anodizing Choices
For our LightSaga project we recently met up with Mr. Baas from Aldor BV, a company dedicated to anodizing and chromating aluminum. It’s amazing how many options and choices there are when it comes to anodizing aluminum, both in pre processing the material, the color selection and the finish. But what does anodizing do in the first …
London Calling
Rain pouring down, trying to drown us in the streets of London was our first experience coming from the tube after a short flight over the Channel. The excellent hotel (citizenM) provided umbrellas but these were simply no match for summer storm passing over. Things improve a bit though as a local was able to …
Beachmasters Costa Brava
Stretching north to the French border, the Costa Brava, or ‘rugged coast’, is by far the prettiest and classiest of Spain’s three principal holiday coasts. Though you’ll find plenty of overdevelopment and English breakfasts, there are also unspoiled coves, charming seaside towns with quality restaurants, spectacular scenery, and some of Spain’s best diving. I had …
The OSH Park Experience
For the LightSaga project we have designed some custom boards that will house the Photons, light sensor, some capacitors for stability and a logic level converter. Nothing too fancy but a good chance to let these prototypes be produced by OSH Park, well known for their purple PCBs. One of the really awesome features of …
Champagne
[su_quote cite=”Lily Bollinger” url=”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollinger#Expansion_under_Lilly_Bollinger”]I only drink champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.[/su_quote] Champagne arouses …