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When it comes to building interactive props, you have always had two main areas where there is going to be tons of work and problem solving. There’s the physical structure and look, then there’s the interactive electronics. For many, learning the techniques for shaping foam or 3d printing came naturally, but the electronics were still a hurdle. There’s a lot to learn!

Adafruit has been listening and has just released the Prop-Maker FeatherWing. This is an add-on board to their feather microcontrollers that has some easy to use features specifically for adding lights and sound to your prop.  Check out this quick video of a light saber built using the system.

As I’ve mentioned each time I talk about the feather ecosystem, I love that this uses Circuit Python, which means you don’t need a compiler installed. You just plug this into any computer (or phone!) and open it like a storage device, then edit the text file that is there. That’s all. As for sound, you just drop .wav files onto it.

 

from the product description:

We looked at hundreds of prop builds, and thought about what would make for a great low-cost (but well-designed) add-on for our Feather boards. Here’s what we came up with:

• Snap-in NeoPixel port – With a 3-pin JST connector, you can plug in one of our JST-wired NeoPixel strips directly, or use a 3-pin JST connector to wire up your favorite shape of addressable NeoPixel LEDs. This port provides high current drive from either the Feather Lipoly or USB port, whichever is higher. A level shifter gives you a clean voltage signal to reduce glitchiness no matter what chip you’re using
• 3W RGB LED drivers – 3 high current MOSFETs will let you connect a 3W RGB LED for powerful eye-blasting glory. For most Feathers, the 3 pins are PWM capable so you can generate any color you like. Available as pin breakouts plus strain-relief holes
• Triple-Axis Accelerometer with Tap Detection – The LIS3DH is our favorite accelerometer, you can use this for detection motion, tilt or taps. Here’s an example of a light saber that makes sounds when swung or hit. We have code for this chip in both Arduino and CircuitPython.
• Class D Audio Amplifier – Drive a 8Ω 1Watt speaker or 4Ω 3W speaker for sound effects. Plug and play with our cute and slim oval speaker, or connect a picoblade cable for your favorite speaker. For use only with Feathers that have analog audio out such as the Feather M0 Express and M4 series.
• Low power mode! The power system for the RGB LED, NeoPixels and speaker amplifier can be controlled by a pin to cut power to them, so you have lower power usage when the prop is in sleep or off mode (but can wake up fast by listening to the button press or accelerometer data). When the power pin is set low, the current draw for just the wing is under 1mA and no there’s current draw from any attached NeoPixels – normally they’re about 1mA even when not lit.
• Breakouts plus strain-relief hole for the enable pin and ground (for a mechanical switch that will power down the whole board)
• Breakouts plus strain-relief holes for an external switch pin and ground (for a mechanical mode button)

David Hogg needs to come to understand that just because some people he went to school with were shot, he’s not really an expert on anything relating to guns, gun control, the Second Amendment, or anything else. Tragic as Parkland was, it didn’t mystically convey wisdom to either him or any of his cohorts.

At least former fellow-traveler Cameron Kasky has figured that out.

Hogg, however, hasn’t.

In a video, he commented that he believes gun control should have been addressed centuries ago.

Townhall‘s Katie Pavlich gave the perfect response to that.

It was: July 4, 1776 🇺🇸 https://t.co/9kTsoajAUM

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) October 23, 2018

Honestly, what more needs to be said?

Pavlich mimics a Paveway smart bomb by lowering the boom on Hogg’s pretentions of moral superiority on the issue of guns. More importantly, her point is 100 percent correct.

The Founding Fathers didn’t want gun control. They wanted unfettered access to military-grade arms, if not better. Remember that the British were shooting smoothbore muskets during the Revolution while many colonists were armed with rifled weapons. They were all muzzleloaders, but the colonists’ weapons had superior range. Civilian weapons were generally better than the military’s arms.

Our founders liked that. They knew that a government with the ability to restrict arms would soon use that ability to restrict other civil rights.

Pavlich clearly understands this.

Hogg, however, believes he is somehow more enlightened than the brilliant men who created our system of government. Based on what I’ve seen of the twit, that’s not hard to believe. I’ve seen a lot of arrogance come from the other side before, but it pales in comparison to Hogg’s.

In case the young Mr. Hogg sees this, let me lay a few things out very clearly.

The Founding Fathers wanted an armed populace. They didn’t want guns to be the exclusive domain of the government. More importantly, though, they wanted military-grade or better weapons in our hands because the purpose of the Second Amendment is, in part, to keep the government in check. While I’m sure they’d have found shootings like Parkland tragic, they’d have also pointed out that all of those shootings were carried out by damaged individuals and there was no reason to undo the Constitution because of what are really just isolated, though horrific, events.

When the Revolution was over and decided something better than the Articles of Confederation were needed, the Constitution was crafted and then, almost immediately, the Bill of Rights was created and ratified. It encoded precisely what our Founding Fathers intended when it came to guns. Their own writings make their intentions clear. They wanted us to be heavily armed and ready to shoot on a moment’s notice.

So yeah, they did take care of this stuff centuries ago. The fact that you don’t care for their solution doesn’t change that reality. Be a tinpot twit if you want–because you’ll never amass the power to become a tinpot dictator despite any lofty pretensions you may have–but the truth is what it is. No amount of rhetoric or hysterics will ever change that.

Thank God.

Spatulas are workhorses in the kitchen. They need to be able to lift and support heavy items while maneuvering around delicate foods in tight spaces. Tracey Seaman, test kitchen director for Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine, said cooks should think about “what kind of pan you’re using and what you’re going to use as your tool.” While the thin, sharp edges of a fish spatula are perfect on cast iron or stainless steel, they can do damage to the coating on a nonstick pan. However, some of the plastic spatulas that work well on nonstick aren’t thin enough to slip easily under cookies. And neither of these can scrape down the walls of a saucepan with thickening pastry cream.

All of our experts agreed on one thing—if you have one spatula, make it a fish spatula. “I’d say that the majority of our guys use fish spatulas, slotted so it looks like a rake. I think everyone has that in their bag. It’s probably the most used savory spatula,” said chef Brian Huston of Boltwood. And it’s not just for fish, though “We do tend to use it for burgers and protein on the grill if we’re searing,” he admitted. Chef Howie Velie, Associate Dean of Culinary Specializations at the Culinary Institute of America, confirmed the multiuse importance of fish spatulas in pro kitchens. He told us, “The spatula doesn’t know that it’s made for fish. For me and for a lot of other chefs, it’s kind of an all-purpose, light spatula. I use it for everything.”

Aside from metal fish spatulas, we also looked at plastic spatulas for use on nonstick cookware. When cooking with nonstick pans, it’s important to only use plastic, wood, or silicone utensils to avoid scratching the coating on the pan. Like metal spatulas, the best plastic spatulas have a thin edge that can slip under foods. They also maintain flexibility for maneuvering and strength for lifting. Where many plastic spatulas fail is in thickness, as many are just too thick to slide under delicate foods without breaking them. We looked for plastic spatulas that had tapered edges and thin blades.

We also searched for plastic spatulas that were heat resistant. You could argue that plastic spatulas shouldn’t have to resist high heat since they’re generally being used on nonstick pans, which also deteriorate over high heat. But heat resistance is always a nice feature that won’t limit you to low-temperature cooking.

We also tested silicone spatulas, sometimes called “rubber spatulas,” which are best for scraping down bowls and insuring that custards don’t stick to the bottom of a pan. Silicone has become the material of choice because it’s food-safe and can withstand a much higher heat than its rubber predecessor, which means they are great for cooking eggs as well as preparing pastry-cream and ice-cream bases.

A great silicone spatula can scrape down both the straight sides of a saute pan and get into the rounded bottom of a bowl. It should be stiff and thick enough to press dough together, but flexible enough to wipe down a bowl with ease. It should also be wide and thin enough for folding ingredients together. The experts we spoke to suggested all-silicone, one-piece spatulas were easier to keep clean than those with crevices.

While the light, elegant fish spatula really does a great job in almost every situation, when you’re working with metal pans or on a grill, sometimes a heftier metal turner is the best tool for the job. A metal turner surpasses the fish spatula in its ability to cut sharp, even lines through bar cookies and easily lift heavy pieces of food.

Because metal turners are complementary to the fish spatula, we chose ones that offered different desirable attributes— an offset for comfortable lifting and leverage, a comfortable stiffness for strength, a flat, non-slotted blade for evenly smashing down burgers or pressing grilled cheese sandwiches flat. We also found that a shorter handle allows for great control in flipping, lifting, and carrying.

We also looked at wooden “spatulas,” or turners, which have an angled flat edge for removing fond from the bottom of a pan. Wooden spatulas are also the best tool to use with a Dutch oven since they won’t scratch the enamel the way metal can. Some have rounded corners for use on sloped-sided pans. On his website, Michael Ruhlman denounced the traditional round wooden spoon for its inability in covering a wide surface area on the bottom of a pan. Ruhlman says, “if you had a flat-edge wooden spoon, you scrape everything off the pan, you stir it, you get into the corners.” Since bamboo utensils have a tendency to splinter slightly with prolonged use, we looked for other wooden spatulas made from beechwood and olive wood.

Finally, another multitasking spatula worth adding to your arsenal is an offset spatula. These thin, narrow offset palette knives are designed for bakers who want to add polish to cakes and spread thick batters into the corners of pans, but people often use them for handling delicate tasks of all kinds. The Kitchn’s Emma Christensen calls it a favorite kitchen tool: “Whenever we need to handle hot foods gently, this spatula become an extension of our hands and fingers.”

Fine Cooking’s Abigail Johnson Dodge says of her small, narrow offset spatula, “Because the blade is offset from the handle, I can spread the sides evenly and swirl the top beautifully without my hand getting in the way. It’s also great for spreading mustard or mayo on sandwiches, too.”

In 2016, we also looked at offset spatulas. These include mini spatulas with blades about 4½ inches long, which are great for detailed work like icing cookies or cupcakes; and longer offset spatulas with blades around 9 inches long, which cover more surface area and are essential for quickly and evenly frosting a cake.

The System Preferences app in macOS offers quite a few settings to customize your Mac. When those are not enough, you’d normally have to rustle up a few Terminal commands to make visual as well as functional changes.

But what if you aren’t keen on fiddling with the Terminal app? You can still make the required changes with the following point-and-click tools. These tools make many built-in macOS features easily accessible without text commands.

1. TinkerTool

TinkerTool enables a few macOS features by default. For example, it adds a Quit Finder option to the Finder menu and programs the Backspace key to go back one page in Safari.

You’ll find the settings organized in logical panes such as Dock, Safari, Desktop, iTunes, etc. It’s best to tackle these panes one at a time to keep track of the tweaks that you’re making.

Any changes you make with the app stay restricted to your user account. Unlike the other apps on this list, TinkerTool doesn’t ask you for admin credentials to modify settings.

Here’s a short list of some of the useful changes you can make with TinkerTool:

• Insert separators in the Dock
• Change the default save location of Mac screenshots and their format too
• Enable single application mode, which hides all background apps when you switch to a new app
• Change the number of entries that show up in Recent Items menus

Worried about messing up crucial macOS settings with TinkerTool and having no way of going back? Rest assured that you can revert all the changes you make with the app and restore settings to their original state. All it takes is a click of the Reset to pre-TinkerTool state button on the Reset pane of the app.

Here, you’ll also find a Reset to defaults button in case you want to start using TinkerTool with a clean slate.

Download: TinkerTool (Free)

2. Onyx

Onyx is part maintenance app and part tinkering tool. It can help you detect and fix common macOS problems and improve macOS with visual and functional changes. Let’s focus on the tinkering part for now.

Accordingly, the Parameters pane of Onyx is all that concerns us. Here, you’ll find quite a few settings listed under various categories like Finder, Dock, Login, and Safari.

Using these settings, you can, for example:

• Hide or display various Finder menu items
• Enable half-star ratings in iTunes
• Add a System Preferences pane for the built-in Archive Utility
• Configure screen capture functions

The developers of Onyx have a couple of other apps to handle the maintenance and personalization features of Onyx. They’re called Maintenance and Deeper respectively.

Maintenance gives you tools for tasks like cleaning system caches and running scripts. Deeper lets you customize hidden macOS functions, much like the Parameters pane of Onyx does.

However, Maintenance and Deeper haven’t been updated to work on macOS Mojave yet. The developers strictly advise against using non-compatible versions of these apps. So be sure to keep an eye out for their Mojave-compatible versions.

Download: Onyx (Free)

3. MacPilot

If you want granular control over your Mac’s features, MacPilot can hand it over to you. You can do a lot with this app!

For starters, you can:

• Add spacers to the Dock
• Configure Dock auto-hide delay
• Disable Notification Center and Mission Control
• Disable all animations
• Add a Quit Finder option to the Finder menu
• Change the format and location of macOS screenshots
• Erase files securely
• Force a specific display resolution

That’s a fraction of what you can do with MacPilot. No wonder the app comes across as a bit overwhelming—it lists so many settings.

It’s useful that MacPilot is well organized. You’ll find the major categories divided into panes; each pane further has nested categories that appear as a sidebar menu.

We recommend that you take your time going through each settings pane instead of making changes at random. It’ll help you avoid unnecessary confusion. Also, when in doubt about a setting, leave it alone until you research it well and know what you’re doing.

Even without its system maintenance features, MacPilot is worth paying for. Since it comes with a “try before you buy” policy, why not give it a shot?

Download: MacPilot ($30, free trial available)

4. Cocktail

Like Onyx and MacPilot above, Cocktail has maintenance and personalization tools bundled into one app. Its Interface pane holds the settings you need to tweak elements in Finder, Dock, the login screen, and more.

Cocktail lets you disable window zooming, display the full folder path in the window title, and lock Dock icons and their sizes. Plus, you can configure Finder menu items, disable various animations, and enable half-star ratings in iTunes.

The app also allows you to prevent the Photos app from opening automatically when you connect a device. By the way, you can also do this using your Mac’s Image Capture app.

Pick Cocktail only if you’re planning to use its system maintenance features also. Otherwise, it’ll prove to be a costly purchase.

Download: Cocktail ($30, demo mode available)

Don’t Want to Use the Terminal? Ignore It

The apps above allow you to make many useful changes without disabling SIP (System Integrity Protection). Of course, with SIP enabled, you lose the ability to make certain advanced tweaks. You can still go ahead with them by disabling SIP (but we don’t recommend it)


What Is SIP? macOS System Integrity Protection Explained




What Is SIP? macOS System Integrity Protection Explained
What is System Integrity Protection on your Mac? We explain what SIP does and how it affects macOS software.
Read More

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userid@somehost:~ % testssl.sh

 

testssl.sh <options>

 

     –h, —help                    what you‘re looking at

     -b, –banner                  displays banner + version of testssl.sh

     -v, –version                 same as previous

     -V, –local                   pretty print all local ciphers

     -V, –local <pattern>         which local ciphers with <pattern> are available?

                                   (if pattern not a number: word match)

 

testssl.sh <options> URI    (“testssl.sh URI” does everything except -E)

 

     -e, –each-cipher             checks each local cipher remotely

     -E, –cipher-per-proto        checks those per protocol

     -f, –ciphers                 checks common cipher suites

     -p, –protocols               checks TLS/SSL protocols (including SPDY/HTTP2)

     -y, –spdy, –npn             checks for SPDY/NPN

     -Y, –http2, –alpn           checks for HTTP2/ALPN

     -S, –server-defaults         displays the server’s default picks and certificate info

     –P, —server–preference       displays the server‘s picks: protocol+cipher

     -x, –single-cipher <pattern> tests matched <pattern> of ciphers

                                   (if <pattern> not a number: word match)

     -c, –client-simulation       test client simulations, see which client negotiates with cipher and protocol

     -H, –header, –headers       tests HSTS, HPKP, server/app banner, security headers, cookie, reverse proxy, IPv4 address

 

     -U, –vulnerable              tests all vulnerabilities

     -B, –heartbleed              tests for heartbleed vulnerability

     -I, –ccs, –ccs-injection    tests for CCS injection vulnerability

     -R, –renegotiation           tests for renegotiation vulnerabilities

     -C, –compression, –crime    tests for CRIME vulnerability

     -T, –breach                  tests for BREACH vulnerability

     -O, –poodle                  tests for POODLE (SSL) vulnerability

     -Z, –tls-fallback            checks TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV mitigation

     -F, –freak                   tests for FREAK vulnerability

     -A, –beast                   tests for BEAST vulnerability

     -J, –logjam                  tests for LOGJAM vulnerability

     -D, –drown                   tests for DROWN vulnerability

     -s, –pfs, –fs, –nsa        checks (perfect) forward secrecy settings

     -4, –rc4, –appelbaum        which RC4 ciphers are being offered?

 

special invocations:

     -t, –starttls <protocol>     does a default run against a STARTTLS enabled <protocol>

     –xmpphost <to_domain>        for STARTTLS enabled XMPP it supplies the XML stream to-‘‘ domain — sometimes needed

     –mx <domain/host>            tests MX records from high to low priority (STARTTLS, port 25)

     –ip <ip>                     a) tests the supplied <ip> v4 or v6 address instead of resolving host(s) in URI

                                   b) arg “one” means: just test the first DNS returns (useful for multiple IPs)

     –file <fname>                mass testing option: Reads command lines from <fname>, one line per instance.

                                   Comments via # allowed, EOF signals end of <fname>. Implicitly turns on “–warnings batch”

 

partly mandatory parameters:

     URI                           host|host:port|URL|URL:port   (port 443 is assumed unless otherwise specified)

     pattern                       an ignore case word pattern of cipher hexcode or any other string in the name, kx or bits

     protocol                      is one of the STARTTLS protocols ftp,smtp,pop3,imap,xmpp,telnet,ldap

                                   (for the latter two you need e.g. the supplied openssl)

 

tuning options (can also be preset via environment variables):

     –bugs                        enables the “-bugs” option of s_client, needed e.g. for some buggy F5s

     –assume-http                 if protocol check fails it assumes HTTP protocol and enforces HTTP checks

     –ssl-native                  fallback to checks with OpenSSL where sockets are normally used

     –openssl <PATH>              use this openssl binary (default: look in $PATH, $RUN_DIR of testssl.sh)

     –proxy <host>:<port>         connect via the specified HTTP proxy

     -6                            use also IPv6. Works only with supporting OpenSSL version and IPv6 connectivity

     –sneaky                      leave less traces in target logs: user agent, referer

 

output options (can also be preset via environment variables):

     –warnings <batch|off|false>  ”batch” doesn’t wait for keypress, “off” or “false” skips connection warning

     —quiet                       don‘t output the banner. By doing this you acknowledge usage terms normally appearing in the banner

     –wide                        wide output for tests like RC4, BEAST. PFS also with hexcode, kx, strength, RFC name

     –show-each                   for wide outputs: display all ciphers tested — not only succeeded ones

     –mapping <no-rfc>            don’t display the RFC Cipher Suite Name

     —color <0|1|2>               0: no escape or other codes,  1: b/w escape codes,  2: color (default)

     —colorblind                  swap green and blue in the output

     —debug <0–6>                 1: screen output normal but keeps debug output in /tmp/.  2–6: see “grep -A 5 ‘^DEBUG=’ testssl.sh”

 

file output options (can also be preset via environment variables):

     —log, —logging              logs stdout to <NODE–YYYYMMDD–HHMM.log> in current working directory

     —logfile <logfile>           logs stdout to <file/NODE–YYYYMMDD–HHMM.log> if file is a dir or to specified log file

     —json                        additional output of findings to JSON file <NODE–YYYYMMDD–HHMM.json> in cwd

     —jsonfile <jsonfile>         additional output to JSON and output JSON to the specified file

     —csv                         additional output of findings to CSV file  <NODE–YYYYMMDD–HHMM.csv> in cwd

     —csvfile <csvfile>           set output to CSV and output CSV to the specified file

     —append                      if <csvfile> or <jsonfile> exists rather append then overwrite

 

All options requiring a value can also be called with ‘=’ e.g. testssl.sh –t=smtp —wide —openssl=/usr/bin/openssl <URI>.

 

<URI> is always the last parameter.

 

Need HTML output? Just pipe through “aha” (ANSI HTML Adapter: github.com/theZiz/aha) like

 

   “testssl.sh <options> <URI> | aha >output.html”

 

userid@somehost:~ %