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Author: tommy

Control Two Independent Stepper Motors with an Arduino

Posted on July 31, 2021January 18, 2023 by tommy

I work with stepper motors a lot. My projects typically include multiple motors running off of a single microcontroller. Everything is great when you’re running all of them at the same speed. But what if you need each motor to run at a different speed? at a different time? or you need to do something…

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Public Key Authentication with PuTTY

Posted on April 4, 2021August 29, 2021 by tommy

Public Key authentication is one of the safest ways to log into a server. Instead of using a plain text password, Public Key authentication uses a Public/Private key pair to identify authorized users. The target server stores the Public Key while the user holds the Private Key. Step 1: Generating Public / Private Keys with…

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Connecting UPS WorldShip to MySQL

Posted on December 24, 2019April 3, 2023 by tommy

If your business uses an e-commerce solution or ERP that records customer shipping information, then chances are you can integrate your shipping database with the UPS shipping platform, WorldShip®. Simply put, you can ship packages by keying in order numbers or any unique reference number. All relevant fields can be customized to automatically populate from…

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Integrating PayPal with Perl

Posted on November 3, 2019May 11, 2023 by tommy

The method described in this article, ‘DoDirectPayment,’ is depricated. It will work for existing users, but no new users are allowed. Important: PayPal isn’t accepting new users for this feature, and we require existing users to upgrade to our Advanced Debit and Credit solution that supports EMV 3DS (3DS 2.0) for PSD2. Our Advanced Debit…

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Creating PDF’s with Perl

Posted on April 14, 2019April 19, 2026 by tommy

I’ve long been a user of PDF::API2, a module available for Perl. I use it everyday at work and along with a few other modules, it has made Perl an invaluable tool for me. Being able to generate PDF’s for reports and documents allow for a bevy of automation shortcuts where traditional Data Merging, or…

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Wiring A Simple Null Modem

Posted on March 1, 2019April 17, 2019 by tommy

A few months ago, I found myself needing a null modem cable to connect to a server, the Dell Poweredge R810. I had to figure out why it wasn’t booting (a RAID issue). At the time I didn’t have a VGA cable for video out, but luckily I did have a regular straight through serial…

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Linux on the 1st Generation Apple TV – Part 2

Posted on October 13, 2018April 29, 2025 by tommy

If you’re looking for a full, bootable Linux image my post RetroArch on the 1st Generation Apple TV has a Debian Stretch build available. You have two options for Linux. OSMC (https://osmc.tv/download/). Downloading the Apple TV images to a USB drive and booting is the easiest path to get Linux on the Apple TV. It…

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Linux on the 1st Generation Apple TV – Part 1

Posted on October 10, 2018April 12, 2025 by tommy

The original Apple TV released in 2007. By the time these went on sale, Apple computers were already in transition-mode to Intel processors. Although Apple’s mainstream lineup carried Intel’s then-new “Core” processors, the Apple TV was relegated to a lower cost, low-powered Pentium M chip (not to be confused with the terrible Pentium 4 Mobile…

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  • Previous
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  • OS X System Image for 1st Generation Apple TV
    April 14, 2026
  • Salvaging a Laptop Camera for Octoprint
    March 27, 2026
  • RetroArch on the 1st Generation Apple TV
    April 29, 2025
  • Modifying an Inkjet Printer for DTF Printing
    March 28, 2025
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