The latest articles on DUMB DEV Community by Amal Mathew (@0xlama). https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3408150%2F23b9300f-3f3e-40c0-949e-972a2a8094af.png https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama en Amal Mathew Mon, 29 Sep 2025 11:24:16 +0000 https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/made-a-resistor-color-code-calculator-2o3f https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/made-a-resistor-color-code-calculator-2o3f <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F2h52q36qmytiugwrxw4p.jpg" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F2h52q36qmytiugwrxw4p.jpg" alt="resistor color code calc" width="800" height="589"></a></p> <p>Yes, I hear you—“there are tons already.”<br> Exactly. That’s why I made it differently.</p> <p>Because I thought: what if it worked both ways?</p> <p>➤ Choose 3–6 bands → get the resistance (standard stuff).<br> ➤ Enter a resistance → get the color code and nearest standard values (E12, E24, E96).<br> ➤ Flip it—match it however you hold the resistor.</p> <p>Check it out: <a href="https://tinkererway.dev/the_dev_calc/resistor_color_code_calc" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://tinkererway.dev/the_dev_calc/resistor_color_code_calc</a></p> electronics webtool project Amal Mathew Sat, 20 Sep 2025 02:31:12 +0000 https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/serial-spotter-because-im-tired-of-hunting-com-ports-4acl https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/serial-spotter-because-im-tired-of-hunting-com-ports-4acl <p>Are you the kind of person who keeps <strong>Device Manager</strong> open just to check which serial (COM) port your board decided to grab this time?<br><br> Yeah… that used to be me. As a firmware engineer, plugging in boards and chasing COM numbers was part of the daily grind—and honestly, pretty boring. </p> <h2> Meet Serial Spotter ⚡ </h2> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fa1ul8yv6njvn2vkjlotj.webp" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fa1ul8yv6njvn2vkjlotj.webp" alt="serial_spotter" width="800" height="477"></a></p> <p>I built a tiny Windows app that instantly lists every connected serial port along with all the juicy details:</p> <ul> <li>COM number </li> <li>USB VID:PID </li> <li>Device Serial info </li> </ul> <p>Just launch the app and boom—everything’s right there.<br><br> Need to refresh after a hardware change? Hit the keyboard shortcut and you’re done. </p> <h2> 🛠 Tech Stack </h2> <ul> <li>Python + Kivy framework </li> <li>Packaged for Windows 7/8/10/11 </li> </ul> <h2> 🚀 Try It Out </h2> <p>🔗 <strong>Download:</strong> [<a href="https://tinkererway.dev/serialspotter" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://tinkererway.dev/serialspotter</a>]<br><br> 💻 <strong>Source Code:</strong> [<a href="https://github.com/tinkererway/serialspotter" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/tinkererway/serialspotter</a>] </p> <p>Because life’s too short to keep staring at Device Manager. 😉</p> firmware python serialport windowsapp Amal Mathew Wed, 17 Sep 2025 18:32:41 +0000 https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/seven-segment-display-creator-3f9j https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/seven-segment-display-creator-3f9j <p>I built this small side project because I needed clean, customizable seven-segment images for project documentation. Couldn’t find anything online that did exactly what I wanted—so I made one.</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fwgnpxgzpnbk8jg6pjsve.JPG" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fwgnpxgzpnbk8jg6pjsve.JPG" alt="webpage_screenshot" width="800" height="840"></a></p> <p>👉 [Try it here] :(<a href="https://tinkererway.dev/the_dev_calc/seven_segment_display_creator" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://tinkererway.dev/the_dev_calc/seven_segment_display_creator</a>)</p> <h3> Features </h3> <ul> <li><p>Up to 10 segments</p></li> <li><p>Add digits (0–9) or custom characters</p></li> <li><p>Change segment colors</p></li> <li><p>Export as PNG</p></li> <li><p>100% free, no ads</p></li> </ul> <p>It lives under <a href="https://tinkererway.dev/the_dev_calc" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Dev Calc</em></a>, a growing set of tools I keep building to solve the little firmware-engineering problems I run into in daily work.</p> <p>Check it out, and let me know if you find it useful.</p> <p><strong>73, Amal</strong></p> firmware documentation webtool Amal Mathew Sun, 24 Aug 2025 08:25:21 +0000 https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/resignation-normal-people-vs-me-bop https://dumb.dev.to/0xlama/resignation-normal-people-vs-me-bop <p><strong>Normal People:</strong><br><br> “Kindly accept my resignation, effective from…” </p> <p><strong>Me (Firmware Engineer):</strong><br><br> “Boss, debugger’s yours now. I’m out.” </p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fxuv49tjikqrrgik2wmoc.jpg" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fxuv49tjikqrrgik2wmoc.jpg" alt="Funny Resignation Meme" width="800" height="533"></a></p> devmeme firmwareengineer