Jay McGavren
@jaymcgavren.bsky.social
Author of the O'Reilly Media books Head First Ruby and Head First Go. Software developer with 20 years of experience.
Portrait by https://dribbble.com/drawsgood
Portrait by https://dribbble.com/drawsgood
Only remaining question is whether to set the hourly chime.
November 14, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Only remaining question is whether to set the hourly chime.
Thanks to @heatsynclabs.bsky.social , I've got access to a vinyl cutter. Thanks to Costco, I've got 6 blank t-shirts. Time to start some trouble. 😁
October 23, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Thanks to @heatsynclabs.bsky.social , I've got access to a vinyl cutter. Thanks to Costco, I've got 6 blank t-shirts. Time to start some trouble. 😁
D20 nets: A lot of copy/pasting of tabs and slots. Inkscape was a HUGE help getting everything aligned right.
And it looks like it's all working! Can surely be made even easier to assemble, but even now they hold together nicely with zero glue!
And it looks like it's all working! Can surely be made even easier to assemble, but even now they hold together nicely with zero glue!
October 17, 2025 at 7:07 AM
D20 nets: A lot of copy/pasting of tabs and slots. Inkscape was a HUGE help getting everything aligned right.
And it looks like it's all working! Can surely be made even easier to assemble, but even now they hold together nicely with zero glue!
And it looks like it's all working! Can surely be made even easier to assemble, but even now they hold together nicely with zero glue!
The fix works great! 🎉
October 16, 2025 at 3:16 AM
The fix works great! 🎉
On the second prototype of my tab-and-slot design for assembling cardstock icosahedrons. This is showing real promise! The join is incredibly smooth. No glue needed!
Unfortunately it's also a pain to assemble. I couldn't get the hooks on the tab to catch. I know a fix, just need to implement...
Unfortunately it's also a pain to assemble. I couldn't get the hooks on the tab to catch. I know a fix, just need to implement...
October 15, 2025 at 7:19 AM
On the second prototype of my tab-and-slot design for assembling cardstock icosahedrons. This is showing real promise! The join is incredibly smooth. No glue needed!
Unfortunately it's also a pain to assemble. I couldn't get the hooks on the tab to catch. I know a fix, just need to implement...
Unfortunately it's also a pain to assemble. I couldn't get the hooks on the tab to catch. I know a fix, just need to implement...
My new laptop case. Sticker was cut on my second-hand Silhouette Portrait 3.
I didn't feel like waiting for my transfer tape order to come in, so I used a medium-grip cutting mat to do the transfer instead. Worked fine!
I didn't feel like waiting for my transfer tape order to come in, so I used a medium-grip cutting mat to do the transfer instead. Worked fine!
October 4, 2025 at 8:41 AM
My new laptop case. Sticker was cut on my second-hand Silhouette Portrait 3.
I didn't feel like waiting for my transfer tape order to come in, so I used a medium-grip cutting mat to do the transfer instead. Worked fine!
I didn't feel like waiting for my transfer tape order to come in, so I used a medium-grip cutting mat to do the transfer instead. Worked fine!
I made this hasty #LaserCutter tutorial for the spiral shapes I've been doing. If you want your finished laser cut to consist of thin lines, the trick is not to draw thick strokes; you actually need paths on *both* sides of your lines!
![I've been using the laser cutters at my local makerspace to cut lots of spiral shapes like this:
[Photo of 3 plywood pieces, each with a spiral formed out of a different repeating shape laser-cut into it.]
If you want to do the same, you might open Inkscape, make a shape, and scale it and rotate it:
[Screenshot of solid pentagons, each one slightly rotated and smaller than the last. The pentagons are completely filled in.]
Here's the catch. Laser cutter software's kinda dumb - all it can do when cutting is trace the paths (outer lines) of your shapes. So you could feed the above into it, and it would cut it, but what we'd end up with is the smallest pentagon and a bunch of tiny obtuse triangle shards, rather than a connected shape.
In my pieces, the wooden "lines" are actually part of the solid shape; I made them by creating a sort of shape frame using a "difference" operation and then scaling and rotating that. Like so:
[Screenshot of:
- Two solid squares, one nested inside the other, labelled "overlapping shapes".
- A hollow square with a thick, filled-in edge, labelled "difference".
- A spiral pattern made out of these hollow squares, nested and rotated. The places the squares are touching are still separated by strokes. Labeled "transform: rotate and scale repeatedly".
- The same spiral, but all the squares are now fused into a single shape. No strokes are visible at the places the squares touch. Labeled "union".
]
It has to be done this way (as far as I can tell); even if you used a stroke style multiple millimeters thick, the laser would still just cut a 0.1mm line at the center of the stroke. So be sure strokes are drawn on BOTH sides of the wooden struts you want!
--Jay McGavren, September 2025](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hjxzww33epzvppwiq2rmkaff/bafkreic3pfybpxm2yemqmifauxu3yahqtbsj723v5ykomq64pjozqa6dei@jpeg)
September 25, 2025 at 7:31 AM
I made this hasty #LaserCutter tutorial for the spiral shapes I've been doing. If you want your finished laser cut to consist of thin lines, the trick is not to draw thick strokes; you actually need paths on *both* sides of your lines!
You can't make a tool as mind-bogglingly powerful as Inkscape without it becoming intimidating. But wow, the rewards for learning it are rich.
Here's one of the many great tutorials by "Logos by Nick", demonstrating "Pattern Along Path".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jve...
Here's one of the many great tutorials by "Logos by Nick", demonstrating "Pattern Along Path".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jve...
September 20, 2025 at 7:19 AM
You can't make a tool as mind-bogglingly powerful as Inkscape without it becoming intimidating. But wow, the rewards for learning it are rich.
Here's one of the many great tutorials by "Logos by Nick", demonstrating "Pattern Along Path".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jve...
Here's one of the many great tutorials by "Logos by Nick", demonstrating "Pattern Along Path".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jve...
Why would you return that shot? It's clearly going out! #Nintendo #MarioTennisFever
September 13, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Why would you return that shot? It's clearly going out! #Nintendo #MarioTennisFever
3 of the 4 HDMI adapters I have to carry around in my backpack.
Electronics manufacturers, standardize your damn connectors already.
Electronics manufacturers, standardize your damn connectors already.
September 13, 2025 at 12:04 AM
3 of the 4 HDMI adapters I have to carry around in my backpack.
Electronics manufacturers, standardize your damn connectors already.
Electronics manufacturers, standardize your damn connectors already.
To #ChatGPT: "I want to cut stencils of bats and pumpkins out of plywood on a laser cutter. They should be nested to save material. How can I do this?"
ChatGPT offers to make an SVG file FOR me. It asks for a whole series of details, then gives me a download of my "pumpkin" and "bat" stencils... 🤣
ChatGPT offers to make an SVG file FOR me. It asks for a whole series of details, then gives me a download of my "pumpkin" and "bat" stencils... 🤣
September 10, 2025 at 6:30 AM
To #ChatGPT: "I want to cut stencils of bats and pumpkins out of plywood on a laser cutter. They should be nested to save material. How can I do this?"
ChatGPT offers to make an SVG file FOR me. It asks for a whole series of details, then gives me a download of my "pumpkin" and "bat" stencils... 🤣
ChatGPT offers to make an SVG file FOR me. It asks for a whole series of details, then gives me a download of my "pumpkin" and "bat" stencils... 🤣
I, ah, did have to remove a few of the inner layers as the fine spindles literally caught fire in the laser cutter on my first attempt. 😅
September 2, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I, ah, did have to remove a few of the inner layers as the fine spindles literally caught fire in the laser cutter on my first attempt. 😅
Inkscape and LightBurn are a pretty powerful combination for making laser cutter designs. Here we have a simple shape (subtracted with "difference" so it's a frame, I doubt a heavy stroke would have worked on the cutter) and then scaled and rotated repeatedly. "Union" the result, and voila!
September 2, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Inkscape and LightBurn are a pretty powerful combination for making laser cutter designs. Here we have a simple shape (subtracted with "difference" so it's a frame, I doubt a heavy stroke would have worked on the cutter) and then scaled and rotated repeatedly. "Union" the result, and voila!
A toy that only signals my fandom for 1 IP is inefficient. Each of my purchases must show my affinity for at least 2 but ideally 5 different brands.
August 16, 2025 at 7:39 PM
A toy that only signals my fandom for 1 IP is inefficient. Each of my purchases must show my affinity for at least 2 but ideally 5 different brands.
#MacOS #Discord: open a specific channel from a terminal/script
$ open 'discord://discord.com/channels/SERVERID/CHANNELID'
To get the URL:
- Right-click channel in Discord app
- "Copy Link"
- Change "https://" to "discord://" in URL
If you don't change the protocol it will just open in browser.
$ open 'discord://discord.com/channels/SERVERID/CHANNELID'
To get the URL:
- Right-click channel in Discord app
- "Copy Link"
- Change "https://" to "discord://" in URL
If you don't change the protocol it will just open in browser.
July 1, 2025 at 9:59 PM
In the URL 'https://app.slack.com/client/T12345678/C87654321', the channel ID would be C87654321 and the team ID would be T12345678.
When you paste the link to your browser, Slack . app will probably open. You'll need to switch back to your browser to find the "Open this link in your browser" link.
When you paste the link to your browser, Slack . app will probably open. You'll need to switch back to your browser to find the "Open this link in your browser" link.
July 1, 2025 at 7:38 PM
In the URL 'https://app.slack.com/client/T12345678/C87654321', the channel ID would be C87654321 and the team ID would be T12345678.
When you paste the link to your browser, Slack . app will probably open. You'll need to switch back to your browser to find the "Open this link in your browser" link.
When you paste the link to your browser, Slack . app will probably open. You'll need to switch back to your browser to find the "Open this link in your browser" link.
#MacOS #Slack: open a specific channel from a terminal/script
$ open 'slack://channel?id=CHANNELID&team=TEAMID'
To get CHANNELID and TEAMID:
- Right-click channel in Slack app
- "Copy"->"Copy Link"
- Paste link to browser
- Click "Open this link in your browser"
- Get IDs from address bar
$ open 'slack://channel?id=CHANNELID&team=TEAMID'
To get CHANNELID and TEAMID:
- Right-click channel in Slack app
- "Copy"->"Copy Link"
- Paste link to browser
- Click "Open this link in your browser"
- Get IDs from address bar
July 1, 2025 at 7:34 PM
An example of why I don't like putting my face on instructional screencasts. It's a waste of precious screen real estate.
I suspect the people who ask to see cameras are just a vocal minority of beginners bikeshedding the one aspect of the screencast that they understand. Cameras are for PewDiePie.
I suspect the people who ask to see cameras are just a vocal minority of beginners bikeshedding the one aspect of the screencast that they understand. Cameras are for PewDiePie.
![A screenshot from Slack. The messages say:
"[name redacted] Note that my face was covering the buttons in the top right I mentioned, here is a screenshot of what those buttons look like:
image.png
[name redacted]
Yesterday at 4:22 PM
I was specifically pressing the first (far left) button and the third (the one left of the settings cog-wheel) button"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hjxzww33epzvppwiq2rmkaff/bafkreif65ea4lmdlb5wykugudaoftvcmapbazxeqhiqovj7yandmomqrdy@jpeg)
May 30, 2025 at 5:57 PM
An example of why I don't like putting my face on instructional screencasts. It's a waste of precious screen real estate.
I suspect the people who ask to see cameras are just a vocal minority of beginners bikeshedding the one aspect of the screencast that they understand. Cameras are for PewDiePie.
I suspect the people who ask to see cameras are just a vocal minority of beginners bikeshedding the one aspect of the screencast that they understand. Cameras are for PewDiePie.
Moana is playing on the TV at the children's hospital, but the connection is stuttering...
May 16, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Moana is playing on the TV at the children's hospital, but the connection is stuttering...
Do you WANT a zombie apocalypse? Because according to The Last of Us, this is how you get a zombie apocalypse.
March 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Do you WANT a zombie apocalypse? Because according to The Last of Us, this is how you get a zombie apocalypse.
Inflation finally comes for One-A-Day Vitamins
March 4, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Inflation finally comes for One-A-Day Vitamins