Navarre Bartz – WindowsTechs.com

Sleeper E-bike has Solenoid Display

Posted on August 22, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

Brown wrapped chrome handlebars leaning against a light grey wall. Near the stem, a series of four small pins protrude from the bars to indicate a full battery charge of 100%.

[GRMNT] decided to bring his grandpa’s beautiful road bike into the future by making a sleeper e-bike conversion. Going into the project, [GRMNT] didn’t really know what he was working …read more Continue reading Sleeper E-bike has Solenoid Display→

Team Repair Breaks Things to Teach People How to Fix Them

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A cardboard box (top left), set of instructions (top right), and a disassembled gaming console (bottom half) are strewn across a light blue tabletop, giving the impression that repair is impending.

Would you buy a broken device, fix it, then return the repaired item? [Team Repair] hopes you will. Many people would rather repair what they have than have to get …read more Continue reading Team Repair Breaks Things to Teach People How to Fix Them→

ICCU Monitor Logs Data in E-GMP EV Failures

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A baby blue hatchback with red accents drives down a road with blurry trees and a blue sky in the background.

EVs are less mechanically complicated than their combustion kin, but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to component failure. The Integrated Charge Control Unit (ICCU) has been the main failure point …read more Continue reading ICCU Monitor Logs Data in E-GMP EV Failures→

Keeping Mosquitoes Away with Catnip-Based Repellent

Posted on July 24, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

An image of a brown, red, and black mosquito on light human skin

Despite their small size, mosquitoes are one of the deadliest creatures on Earth, and keeping them away from you is one of the best ways to stay safe. DEET has …read more Continue reading Keeping Mosquitoes Away with Catnip-Based Repellent→

An LLM in the Kitchen

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A zoomed out screenshot of a flow chart recipe. It is made of 8 bit ingredient icons with their name and amounts moving through steps to the finished "Vegan Chicken Parmy Feast."

Have you ever been looking up a recipe for something new and been stymied by the directions being a wall of text, especially to find that one detail right when …read more Continue reading An LLM in the Kitchen→

A Smarter DIY Air Filter

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A vaguely perforated metal cylinder sits on a wooden box with a grey cylinder and LCD display atop it. There are holes in the top of the grey cylinder for air to flow through.

As predominantly indoor creatures, it’s important to maintain a healthy habitat for the hacker. [Kishan Pratap Singh] designed a clever solution in AirSense, an ESP32-powered air filter. If you’re thinking …read more Continue reading A Smarter DIY Air Filter→

Who’s Building that Data Center?

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A map of the lower 48 US States with an overlay of various colorful bubbles indicating data center developments, whether proposed, contested, under construction, or operational. There are a lot of bubbles! Hawaii isn't pictured, but looks to have one project currently, but nothing in Alaska for now.

One of the biggest “David versus Goliath” stories in tech right now is the towns beset by AI data center projects they may or may not have asked for. Powered …read more Continue reading Who’s Building that Data Center?→

Google Maps Killed the Restaurant Star

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

Two maps of London turned into hexagonal regions heat mapped from white to peach to purple. The left map is according to: density, ratings, surprise, cuisine diversity, and independent share. The map on the right of merged data assigns the dominant hub type in a region. Purple is assigned a value of "Elite", reddish orange is "Strong", peach is "Everyday", and white/grey is "Weak." The five locations deemed to be the highest scorers were Ealing-Acton, Kingston Upon Thames, Enfield, Bromley, and Havering.

We all know that Google and other big players pick and choose what information people see, but we sometimes overlook it outside of the search and social media space. [Lauren …read more Continue reading Google Maps Killed the Restaurant Star→

Echolocation for Drones

Posted on July 20, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A quadcopter with a clear, U-shaped shield up front and red propellers navigates between a close stand of moss-covered trees.

Bats are remarkable creatures, able to fly at night or inside the confines of caves without light to guide their way. A team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) …read more Continue reading Echolocation for Drones→

A Pop-Up Truck Camper for Less

Posted on July 19, 2026 by Navarre Bartz

A black pickup sits in front of a snow-capped mountain range in the background. It has a white camper shell with a sci-fi looking "01" emblazoned on the side in black text. An orange, wedge-shaped tent pops up above the campershell and truck roof.

We live in a veritable Cambrian Explosion of camping options, ranging from a tarp on the ground to multi-million dollar RVs. Somewhere around the middle is the pop-up truck camper, …read more Continue reading A Pop-Up Truck Camper for Less→