Andrew Schmelyun
@aschmelyun.com
Software engineer with too many ideas and poor impulse control
🔗 aschmelyun.com
🔗 aschmelyun.com
Pinned
Andrew Schmelyun
@aschmelyun.com
· Oct 25
Andrew Schmelyun
Practical and accessible web development tutorials using PHP and JavaScript!
youtube.com
Hello! 👋
I’m a lead software engineer and content creator who loves making practical tutorials for PHP, JavaScript, Docker, and more.
I have also proudly taken the top spot on HN with my hardware experiments, twice!
YouTube: youtube.com/aschmelyun
Courses: aschmelyun.gumroad.com
I’m a lead software engineer and content creator who loves making practical tutorials for PHP, JavaScript, Docker, and more.
I have also proudly taken the top spot on HN with my hardware experiments, twice!
YouTube: youtube.com/aschmelyun
Courses: aschmelyun.gumroad.com
This gas pump is a giant tablet, 0/10 experience.
June 18, 2026 at 4:49 PM
This gas pump is a giant tablet, 0/10 experience.
If someone wants to sponsor me I have ideas for this pay phone I saw at a Tennessee thrift store
June 17, 2026 at 12:21 AM
If someone wants to sponsor me I have ideas for this pay phone I saw at a Tennessee thrift store
Reposted by Andrew Schmelyun
Working on creating a demo visualisation of my Kubernetes cluster that runs in the browser. Just got network visualisation working. Each image is its own actual bit of running code using a fetch-like API to talk to other pods, and the network emits events when this happens.
June 12, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Working on creating a demo visualisation of my Kubernetes cluster that runs in the browser. Just got network visualisation working. Each image is its own actual bit of running code using a fetch-like API to talk to other pods, and the network emits events when this happens.
I unironically love websites like this.
No https, content straight to the point, loads in milliseconds, tiling background of cool rocks.
This is peak.
No https, content straight to the point, loads in milliseconds, tiling background of cool rocks.
This is peak.
June 7, 2026 at 5:54 PM
I unironically love websites like this.
No https, content straight to the point, loads in milliseconds, tiling background of cool rocks.
This is peak.
No https, content straight to the point, loads in milliseconds, tiling background of cool rocks.
This is peak.
Reposted by Andrew Schmelyun
I may have finally found the Python-in-a-sandbox solution I've been looking for... here's my latest experiment, this time running MicroPython in WebAssembly inside my Python applications simonwillison.net/2026/Jun/6/m...
Running Python code in a sandbox with MicroPython and WASM
I’ve been experimenting with different approaches to running code in a sandbox for several years now, but my latest attempt feels like it might finally have all of the characteristics …
simonwillison.net
June 6, 2026 at 4:32 AM
I may have finally found the Python-in-a-sandbox solution I've been looking for... here's my latest experiment, this time running MicroPython in WebAssembly inside my Python applications simonwillison.net/2026/Jun/6/m...
You can just do things
Like manually set the bytes being sent to a receipt printer
Like manually set the bytes being sent to a receipt printer
June 4, 2026 at 5:51 AM
You can just do things
Like manually set the bytes being sent to a receipt printer
Like manually set the bytes being sent to a receipt printer
Think I’m close to getting a single letter printed out
June 2, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Think I’m close to getting a single letter printed out
Fun fact: there are 11 unused pins in a parallel cord between the host and peripheral, mostly duplicate grounds
May 30, 2026 at 4:49 AM
Fun fact: there are 11 unused pins in a parallel cord between the host and peripheral, mostly duplicate grounds
This stopped being fun like 15 mins ago
May 26, 2026 at 10:01 PM
This stopped being fun like 15 mins ago
The cheap parallel to usb adapters I've bought aren't reliably working with my dot matrix receipt printer.
Oh well, time to dive into the spec and wire a raspberry pi to communicate directly with the port instead!
Oh well, time to dive into the spec and wire a raspberry pi to communicate directly with the port instead!
May 25, 2026 at 6:11 PM
The cheap parallel to usb adapters I've bought aren't reliably working with my dot matrix receipt printer.
Oh well, time to dive into the spec and wire a raspberry pi to communicate directly with the port instead!
Oh well, time to dive into the spec and wire a raspberry pi to communicate directly with the port instead!
Reposted by Andrew Schmelyun
The intrusive thoughts overwhelmed my last two brain cells
May 4, 2026 at 11:59 AM
The intrusive thoughts overwhelmed my last two brain cells
Settling towards this design for my new forum, more "embrace tradition".
What do you think?
What do you think?
April 27, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Settling towards this design for my new forum, more "embrace tradition".
What do you think?
What do you think?
Made a website that converts text to a 2-layer STL that I can make faux screen printing stencils with.
There’s a pause between the layers where I sandwich in some tulle fabric.
There’s a pause between the layers where I sandwich in some tulle fabric.
April 21, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Made a website that converts text to a 2-layer STL that I can make faux screen printing stencils with.
There’s a pause between the layers where I sandwich in some tulle fabric.
There’s a pause between the layers where I sandwich in some tulle fabric.
Reposted by Andrew Schmelyun
I built an interactive guide on how Shazam (the music identification app) works!
This is the next installment in my newly coined "How The Heck?" series, where we explore everyday tech that can feel like magic (QR Codes, GPS, and now this one).
Hope you enjoy it!
perthirtysix.com/how-the-heck...
This is the next installment in my newly coined "How The Heck?" series, where we explore everyday tech that can feel like magic (QR Codes, GPS, and now this one).
Hope you enjoy it!
perthirtysix.com/how-the-heck...
April 20, 2026 at 1:24 PM
I built an interactive guide on how Shazam (the music identification app) works!
This is the next installment in my newly coined "How The Heck?" series, where we explore everyday tech that can feel like magic (QR Codes, GPS, and now this one).
Hope you enjoy it!
perthirtysix.com/how-the-heck...
This is the next installment in my newly coined "How The Heck?" series, where we explore everyday tech that can feel like magic (QR Codes, GPS, and now this one).
Hope you enjoy it!
perthirtysix.com/how-the-heck...
I’ve been on a kick of collecting old recipe books, and I don’t think this sounds Italian or particularly delightful
April 18, 2026 at 3:11 PM
I’ve been on a kick of collecting old recipe books, and I don’t think this sounds Italian or particularly delightful
My wife baked cookies for Easter and needed a specific half moon cookie cutter.
I threw together a site that uses Three.js to design a parametric one and export the STL to be 3D printed.
Custom cookie cutter in ~10 mins!
I threw together a site that uses Three.js to design a parametric one and export the STL to be 3D printed.
Custom cookie cutter in ~10 mins!
April 6, 2026 at 5:04 PM
My wife baked cookies for Easter and needed a specific half moon cookie cutter.
I threw together a site that uses Three.js to design a parametric one and export the STL to be 3D printed.
Custom cookie cutter in ~10 mins!
I threw together a site that uses Three.js to design a parametric one and export the STL to be 3D printed.
Custom cookie cutter in ~10 mins!
Reposted by Andrew Schmelyun
Take a Joy-Con and connect it with WebHID, draw a picture in the air and capture it with the sensors. Create an SVG path and insert in the DOM. Apply CSS styling. Sample the DOM and use WebUSB to convert to ILDA and send it to a laser projector.
I created the worlds most complicated laserpointer…
I created the worlds most complicated laserpointer…
April 5, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Take a Joy-Con and connect it with WebHID, draw a picture in the air and capture it with the sensors. Create an SVG path and insert in the DOM. Apply CSS styling. Sample the DOM and use WebUSB to convert to ILDA and send it to a laser projector.
I created the worlds most complicated laserpointer…
I created the worlds most complicated laserpointer…
This is a fully functioning Laravel application and playground rendered on a static Cloudflare page.
The entire app is sandboxed to your client, all files are editable, and you can even run artisan commands.
The entire app is sandboxed to your client, all files are editable, and you can even run artisan commands.
February 10, 2026 at 6:30 PM
This is a fully functioning Laravel application and playground rendered on a static Cloudflare page.
The entire app is sandboxed to your client, all files are editable, and you can even run artisan commands.
The entire app is sandboxed to your client, all files are editable, and you can even run artisan commands.
I turned my old receipt printer into a ticker tape for stocks.
Here's 2 hours of AMZN activity condensed down to 30 seconds:
Here's 2 hours of AMZN activity condensed down to 30 seconds:
February 7, 2026 at 6:44 PM
I turned my old receipt printer into a ticker tape for stocks.
Here's 2 hours of AMZN activity condensed down to 30 seconds:
Here's 2 hours of AMZN activity condensed down to 30 seconds:
Coming soon to a terminal near you
January 27, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Coming soon to a terminal near you
Despite the overhype, there's a group of people building software right now who have never touched a line of code and don't care what their applications are written in.
I kind of envy them, so I talked about it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEFx...
I kind of envy them, so I talked about it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEFx...
This software will never scale (and that's the point)
YouTube video by Andrew Schmelyun
www.youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Despite the overhype, there's a group of people building software right now who have never touched a line of code and don't care what their applications are written in.
I kind of envy them, so I talked about it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEFx...
I kind of envy them, so I talked about it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEFx...
Both of these are running the same shared C codebase, isn’t that neat?
January 21, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Both of these are running the same shared C codebase, isn’t that neat?
Little concept I tinkered with yesterday, trying to mimic the feel of a dice getting rolled.
It's part of a larger project I'm still toying with, but I'll need a few more buttons!
It's part of a larger project I'm still toying with, but I'll need a few more buttons!
January 19, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Little concept I tinkered with yesterday, trying to mimic the feel of a dice getting rolled.
It's part of a larger project I'm still toying with, but I'll need a few more buttons!
It's part of a larger project I'm still toying with, but I'll need a few more buttons!
I have random one-off ideas for apps, experiments, packages, etc. that normally I'd have to shove in a backlog for "someday".
But the last couple of weeks I've tried just sloppin' out a working MVP and see if I want to continue with it. Most fun I've had in a very long time!
But the last couple of weeks I've tried just sloppin' out a working MVP and see if I want to continue with it. Most fun I've had in a very long time!
January 16, 2026 at 12:02 AM
I have random one-off ideas for apps, experiments, packages, etc. that normally I'd have to shove in a backlog for "someday".
But the last couple of weeks I've tried just sloppin' out a working MVP and see if I want to continue with it. Most fun I've had in a very long time!
But the last couple of weeks I've tried just sloppin' out a working MVP and see if I want to continue with it. Most fun I've had in a very long time!
New home has one of these bad boys in it, thinking of repurposing it to use for Home Assistant commands.
What do you think, y/n?
What do you think, y/n?
December 14, 2025 at 2:54 AM
New home has one of these bad boys in it, thinking of repurposing it to use for Home Assistant commands.
What do you think, y/n?
What do you think, y/n?