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gallaugher

@gallaugher

Tech & Business professor @ Boston College. Teaches SwiftUI, iOS YouTube.com/profgallaugher, Physical Computing with CircuitPython, Electronics, robots, YouTube.com/@BuildWithProfG, advisor to collegiate entrepreneurs. Textbook https://gallaugher.com/book

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27.03.2023
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Latest posts by gallaugher @gallaugher

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Very very very slowly trying to get some fitness back. This was from the year of the bombing when I made it to mile 22 before it was shut down. Finished with the “BC Bandit” marathon the next year & ran Gold Coast in Oz after that. That was my last one. No where near able to do that today… yet.

07.03.2026 16:16 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Build a Polyphonic DJ Board for Raspberry Pi Pico (CircuitPython School) Build a multi-tone DJ board using a Raspberry Pi Pico, a few inexpensive components, and drag and drop files! This lesson will show you how to use a Raspberry Pi Pico configured to run CircuitPython, along with a low-cost Adafruit Cowbell (to hold gigabytes of sound & provide a STEMMA-QT port), plus an MPR121 12 pad capacitive touch sensor to create a DJ-style board that will play sounds when a finger is held on a touch point. A great classroom example, fun and funky build, with everything you need at the repo: https://github.com/gallaugher/pico_12_pad_dj_board If you don't have a pico configured for CircuitPython, you can find a tutorial on how to set this up at: https://bit.ly/pico-school Part of Prof. John Gallaugher's university course: Physical Computing: Art, Robotics, and Tech for Good. EVERYONE (including teachers) are welcome to use this with their own courses. Just PLEASE let me know so that I can tell if I'm having an impact. Hack on and funk away! #RaspberryPiPico #pico2 #pico2w #adafruit #circuitpython #DJboard #DJ #board #sounds #audio #touch #sensor #mpr121 #capacitive #tutorial #fun #classroom #example #university #college #course #class #audiomixer #loop #track

Diplo on your Pico! Build a polyphonic multi-sound DJ board on a sheet of paper using CircuitPython and a RaspberryPi Pico! bit.ly/pico-dj-board a super fun classroom build for the #CSed fam.

05.03.2026 19:22 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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This Is the Most Beautiful College Campus in America — Travel + Leisure Sewanee’s Gothic architecture and sweeping Cumberland Plateau views earned top marks.

Yeah this is a really terrible list. Rutgers? BU? The those are fine institutions. I’ve spent quite a bit of time at each. But “most beautiful”? apple.news/APvmKjyd-RPe...

05.03.2026 15:31 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Iceland Defeats Iceland: A U.K. Supermarket Ends a Trademark Dispute Can a company trademark the name of a country? In the case of Iceland, the British grocery store, the answer is no.

Iceland, the Nordic nation, has prevailed over Iceland, the British supermarket chain specializing in frozen foods, ending a decadelong legal dispute over the supermarket’s exclusive rights to the “Iceland” name.

05.03.2026 15:00 👍 76 🔁 16 💬 10 📌 8

Re: comps
- Information Systems
- International Business
And curiously had my first macular hemorrhage during comps. Second during dissertation defense. Didn’t kill me, but scarred.

05.03.2026 11:36 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I was forced to watch TV news when I had breakfast in a diner recently and I strongly resonated with the sentiment that being an intelligent person in America today is like being awake during a surgery.

05.03.2026 11:14 👍 1153 🔁 217 💬 20 📌 13
a pack of kittens closes in a a large dog standing on a chair

a pack of kittens closes in a a large dog standing on a chair

David Attenborough [whispering]:

“As the predators close in on their helpless prey, we can only watch in silent horror, for it is not man’s role to interfere in the hierarchy of nature.”

04.03.2026 13:08 👍 8400 🔁 1730 💬 153 📌 76

Russian word for snow is “sneg” which to me carries the same energy. I switch to it when we’ve had plenty and it’s March. All the sneg is finally melting now that temps are above freezing here.

05.03.2026 06:22 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I appreciate your work! Is there a lot of heavy lifting? Had no idea. I often check it to get a sense of what's happening in the community. I've abandoned X a while back, so this & the CircuitPython newsletter are my primary ways of getting pinged for coolness. I do check Adafruit Discord, too. Thx!

04.03.2026 19:47 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

If you see the feed from my profile I think I have CircuitPython in the message. There have been others. I see this message in the feed but not the prior one - dj board asking for feedback - in case that’s useful in helping your diagnosis.

04.03.2026 19:28 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

I was going to message @gadgetoid.com to see if there is anything special one needs to do to get into the MicroPython feed since I haven’t see my CircuitPython posts go through but they don’t have messages open. Ideas?

04.03.2026 18:28 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
DJ Board Demo - first draft, one crash showing
DJ Board Demo - first draft, one crash showing YouTube video by Build With Prof. G.

Latest CircuitPython Raspberry Pi Pico DJ board. Some crashes (30 sec) but watchdog restarts & more reliable. Repo has current code, files, wiring diagram. Would love feedback especially. if you have improvement/fix ideas #CSed :
www.youtube.com/shorts/b_Bwa...
Repo: github.com/gallaugher/p...

04.03.2026 18:16 👍 7 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

That was great advice. Seemed to fix things. Thank you!

03.03.2026 23:50 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Apple intros M5 Pro and Max MacBook Pros and its first new monitors in years New laptops come with more storage but also higher starting prices.

I had not expected an iPhone and MacBook Pro announcement BEFORE the special event in Wed. #Apple arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...

03.03.2026 15:25 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Bald man with ample gray beard smiling as he poorly works a bow at a pottery wheel.

Bald man with ample gray beard smiling as he poorly works a bow at a pottery wheel.

Trying something new today. Don’t tell my wife - it’ll be a Mother’s Day gift. Good thing I’m an undesirable troll man, or coming home with my wedding ring off and jumping right in the shower would be sketchy.

02.03.2026 23:00 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thanks! I’m sure you’re right. I need to be more comfortable with frogging. When I’ve tried before I seem to have always made things worse but I’m sure practice helps. I’m nearly the end of a blanket (it’s now about 4.5ft long) so I’m trying to find a “low potential damage” approach.

02.03.2026 18:40 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Oh, neat. So I’d use a short piece of yarn, knit that through while keeping working yarn where it is. Then return to the working yarn and continue but it should have a repaired row now below it? Do I have that right? Kind of you to offer advice. Thanks!

02.03.2026 17:20 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

That second pic, where the badness began, likely means I should have somehow worked backwards to the right & added that lost row, but I have no idea how I could have done that. Thanks for your wisdom!

02.03.2026 16:51 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
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I don't want to tink or frog - it's an 85 stitch-ish blanket row. I can likely knit through & it won't be too noticeable, but I'm wondering if there is an easier recommended fix. And any idea what I did wrong & how I should have fixed things? Below is when I started losing the row I think. 2/3

02.03.2026 16:51 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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02.03.2026 16:51 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

New & seeking knit fix advice: ~6 stitches slipped off my blanket & my working yarn looked about 6 stitches in. I put those stitches on the right needle and continued knitting. Now that I turned around I can see that those stitches (now on the left) are one row lower than the ones on the right. 1/3

02.03.2026 16:51 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
Pico DJ Board! Use an Adalogger CowBell to Boost Storage w/a microSD card (CircuitPython School)
Pico DJ Board! Use an Adalogger CowBell to Boost Storage w/a microSD card (CircuitPython School) YouTube video by Build With Prof. G.

Fun lesson - Build a @raspberrypi.com pico DJ board while learning to use the @adafruit.com $8 Adalogger Cowbell to expand file storage to 32GB, & add a STEMMA-QT port with no wiring! My students built this in the MakerSpace last class & it was a blast! youtu.be/yZdR7oGbTX8?... #CircuitPython #CSEd

02.03.2026 02:29 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Looks like AirDrop broke with the latest macOS upgrade. I'd never used the Image Capture app on the Mac to drag & drop files from my iPhone to my Mac, but this is a temporary quick fix when attaching a USB-C cable.

01.03.2026 17:06 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Tabs is enjoying the big fluffy snowflakes this Boston Sunday AM.

01.03.2026 15:24 👍 23 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Kitty’s gonna nap. ‘Specially on #Caturday.

01.03.2026 01:24 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Working on a pico dj board using CircuitPython and the Adalogger CowBell. 128bpm wav files are mixing without crashing. DJs & beat-bosses, point me to a slot of 12 beats that mix well & get students slappin’! Will post code & build vid when thoroughly texted.

28.02.2026 21:08 👍 12 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

“Low key” is the new “like”. It’s in almost every sentence a person under 20 says. If I had a transcript of conversations I overheard in the lab this week and had to black out every sentence with “low key” or “bro” it would look like an Epstein file.

28.02.2026 15:32 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Spent the day prepping a dozen kits for our MakerSpace CircuitPython on the Raspberry Pi Pico workshops. In 90 mins we’ll copy & paste then describe code as we wire & run NeoPixels, sound, a potentiometer, and servo.

28.02.2026 00:37 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I neither drive nor partake in “the herb” but am shocked at how many toke drivers there are. Every time I walk down Hammond Street there are one to five cars that absolutely reek. Makes me wonder how many are driving drunk. I know it’s not the same thing, but it’s clearly not ideal public safety.

27.02.2026 23:53 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Yell-mumbled at by the neighborhood wanderer again. Only thing I could make out was “…on vacation from the North Pole!” He remains committed to the idea that I look like Santa. He’s sad, harmless, and I must admit this is weirdly flattering, as being mistaken for Santa carries a bit of cachet.

27.02.2026 17:15 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0