Notices by Leah Rowe is not a Rowebot (libreleah@mas.to)

Good news! I've finished setting up the new lab for my company: https://
minifree.org/

This is the new HQ. I sell computers with Libreboot preinstalled, which replaces proprietary BIOS/UEFI. I run the project, and I use sales to fund it. This new lab is both Minifree and Libreboot HQ!

It's a *very* small space, so organising it efficiently has been a fun technical challenge. I have as much storage and workspace as I was actually *using* in the older, much bigger lab, but I'm now being ruthlessly efficient with space.

I'm only using 1/3 of the space. Those drawers are empty. A highly organised space.

Those black rubbish bags actually contain bubble-wrap, which I used to pack everything for the move. Waste not, want not; I'm using it for shipments next week.

I'm very happy with how this turned out. Thank you to all who were patient with me. I will start shipping Minifree orders now. I moved everything here to cut costs, because I was spending too much money keeping the other place.

Good news! I've finished setting up the new lab for my company: https://minifree.org/

This is the new HQ. I sell computers with Libreboot preinstalled, which replaces proprietary BIOS/UEFI. I run the project, and I use sales to fund it. This new lab is both Minifree and Libreboot HQ!

It's a *very* small space, so organising it efficiently has been a fun technical challenge. I have as much storage and workspace as I was actually *using* in the older, much bigger lab, but I'm now being ruthlessly efficient with space.

Those black rubbish bags actually contain bubble-wrap, which I used to pack everything for the move. Waste not, want not; I'm using it for shipments next week.

I'm very happy with it. Thank you to all who were patient with me. I will start shipping Minifree orders. I moved everything here to cut costs, because I was spending too much money keeping the other place.

I'm only using 1/3 of the space. Everything tucked away neat. I could store about 100 computers in here.

@giuseppesec pretty well. i often install it for people. there's nothing qubes does that really needs UEFI for example; linux runs bare metal.

These computers are in a *separate* room. They are not the ones I sell, but I have a *lot* of computers, for Libreboot testing. I test Libreboot ROM images on machines for each Libreboot release. Some of these (and there are more of them not shown here, a lot more) are not supported yet, but support will be added.

I decided to do it this way. Keep the main lab for Minifree. But I actually have two labs at my new location: a small one, and a really small one.

@MarkDW @ebinger Ich verkaufe Libreboot und Libreboot-Zubehör

I'm setting up a brand new lab for my company: https://minifree.org/

This is the new Minifree HQ, work-in-progress. I sell computers with Libreboot preinstalled, which replaces proprietary BIOS/UEFI. I run the project, and I use sales to fund it. This new lab is both Minifree and Libreboot HQ. Cosy!

My new lab is nearly complete. This is a work in progress. It's a *very* small space, so organising it efficiently has been a fun technical challenge. I have about as much storage and workspace as I was actually *using* in the older, much bigger lab, but I'm now being ruthlessly efficient with space.

Those black rubbish bags actually contain bubble-wrap, which I used to pack everything for the move. Waste not, want not; I will be using these when I resume shipping, which should hopefully be by the end of this week.

It has taken longer than expected (my about a week longer), but I'm pleased with how it's turning out. I will post the completed lab pics when I've finished organising it.

my new lab is nearly complete. i finished wiring everything now, and nearly finished unpacking everything. a final sort will be conducted over the next 24 hours.

yes, by monday, i'll have an extremely efficient new lab setup. will post pics.

i should probably update my personal photo on minifree.org too (about page). that one was taken when i was 27. i'm 34 now and i have grey hair :P

@kaidenshi I do try!

RE: https://mas.to/@libreleah/117065286023181667

Update: I have everything at the new lab since yesterday. Everything fully moved yesterday. I'm setting up the new lab right now. I should hopefully be fully set up tonight, and I'll start working on orders again during the weekend, ready for next week.

Thank you to all who have been patient with me. Yes, the photo I showed four days ago was my old lab, in an office I was renting; as part of a general cost cutting, I've gotten rid of that office entirely. I finished cleaning it yesterday! Will give that shithole back to the landlord.

I *will* probably show photos of the new lab when it's fully set up. My old lab was the size (in terms of meters squared) of a large three-bedroom house.

My new lab is... about the size of a small caravan. It's all the space I need to do everything.

Yeah, having a big office made me extremely inflexible. I decided to cut costs to shield myself from global AI-driven price shocks for parts, and the new arrangement gives me more time to hack on projects.

@fasnix if you're also buying a laptop from regular stock, I can additionally flash whatever you send me at a reduced cost.

@fasnix send-in service is shown here: https://minifree.org/product/installation-service.html

email me if interested

@fasnix Yes. Request it when ordering and I will do it - and happilyi. I'm always happy when someone requests BSD, as I consider it to be superior in every way.

I normally promote my own products on Mastodon, but I am so moved emotionally, that I feel compelled to promote someone else's product in this instance:

Moondrop ARIA 2 In-ear headphones are the *best* headphones I've ever listened to music on, ever. They sound even better than my AKG K 702 HD headphones, and *THAT IS GENUINELY FUCKING IMPRESSIVE*.

I'm a huge snob about audio. I have extremely sensitive hearing. I hear every detail.

I'm using these on my DragonFly Cobalt USB DAC. I actually made a point of listening to the same songs (FLAC files) on my Moondrops and then my AKGs.

I *prefer* my Moondrops. Best fucking headphones I've ever had. Really cheap too. The Chinese know how to make a good product when they want to.

Absolutely 100% recommended, to anyone who wants really great sound. The only downside is they're a bit heavy, and my ears get very waxy. Make sure to keep these and your ears dry or else they'll just fall out.

They're reasonably comfortable. My ears don't hurt.

I tnry not to be political on mastodon, because I mostly be professional on mastodon. Libreboot/Minifree and so on.

Today's political worry I have is this: immigration. We need more of it. The UK has massive skills shortages in all key industries, and a low birth rate, so we need lots of fit young people.

I see the cruelty on the media talking about stopping so-called "small boats", but the reason people cross the English channel in rubber... boats, yes let's call inflatable dingies boats.

It costs thousands of £ a year to be a legal immigrant in the UK, for visa fees and various legal fees. You must submit regularly to a police station, like a criminal, and the bureaucracy is intense. It's all too easy to fall through the cracks.

We crack down on *legal* immigration, which is the reason why people smugglers can viably profit from such exploitation. Get rid of these hurdles, and then people stop drowning in the English channel because people smuggling becomes commercially unviable.

@hipolito well i was able to kill god on it. twice.

@hipolito like, a snes psu is just a transformer incased in plastic. really really nice.

@hipolito what i like about the SNES is that the full bridge rectifier is on the mainboard instead of the power supply, from a repair perspective this is great. gutting an old sega power supply is such a pain in the ass. the SNES design means that the power supply outputs 9V AC and the DC conversion is on the board. makes replacing that big cap much easier, and then i never need to worry about the power supply.

yeah, these old consoles use linear power supplies. there's a giant heatsink inside these machines, to deal with heat from the LM7805 (does 9v -> 5v).

i could probably wire in a switching regulator instead, but eh. i don't mind burning a few extra watts.

@hipolito one mod i forgot to mention: on PAL super neintendos, there is a 12v pin on the multi-out. this wires to the voltage select pin on a SCART cable. i swapped it with 5V instead. this forces a widescreen CRT into 4:3 mode unless overridden, because that voltage is used precisely to select what aspect ratio on such TV sets.

i also generally cleaned the console, and restored it to factory condition. i didn't test the work RAM yet, but games seem to run fine. there's a stress test ROM you can run on the console, to check the opperation of the machine.

i just wanted to play Shin Megami Tensei, so yeah :)

@hipolito my SNES is heavily modified. i did the mods myself during 2020. the mods are:

* replaced all electrolytic capacitors

* de-jitter mod, which also provides a correct NTSC master clock (games run at correct speed, instead of 0.1% slower like most NTSC-modded PAL consoles)

* hard-wired S-PPU to NTSC mode. PAL is a sin.

* superCIC region-free modchip. now i can play games from any region. i play a lot of japanese (super famicom) games

* composite video output circitry modified to match an NTSC console; SRGB hard-wired to NTSC mode, and one capacitor value changed. based on my own reading of schematics.

* added a 3.5mm line-out jack, directly wired (no buffering, but there is the requisite series 10uF capacitor on the line, low ESR). i can just plug an amp into it for headphones and such. this replacges the RF modulator, which I unsoldered.

i basically converted my PAL SNES into a NTSC-J console (Super Famicom). cheaper than importing from Japan, to modify a european one.

@hipolito yeah, i'm taking my SNES, PS1s and PS2s with me. i can't play them on anything other than composite video, on a small CRT. i'm a purist.