maker community

A maker has customized a pair of jeans by hand-painting them, moving beyond their usual palette to try new colors. They say they are especially pleased with the blue and red combination, sharing the finished custom clothing piece with fellow DIY, punk fashion, and craft enthusiasts.

A developer has released an open-source ad-blocking project built on the ESP32-C3 microcontroller, published on GitHub. The low-cost chip can filter network traffic, potentially blocking ads for devices on a home network without extra software. The project is drawing interest from hobbyists and network enthusiasts who follow affordable, self-hosted hardware solutions.

Eric Pan has now run Seeed Studio for 18 years, and discussed the milestone on The Amp Hour podcast with Chris Gammell. The conversation covered Shenzhen's hardware ecosystem, the company's role in supplying open-source hardware worldwide, and how robotics and physical AI are changing the business model. Listeners in the maker and open hardware community are sharing the interview, with many noting the longevity of Pan's leadership.

A developer who is color blind has launched a web tool that lets people with normal color vision see the world as he does, simulating his form of color blindness. The project was shared on Hacker News under the 'Show HN' format, where makers present their work to the community. It highlights how accessible, personal tools can raise awareness of color vision deficiency.

The developer of Hermes, an open-source AI assistant, has raised $90 million in new funding, according to The Wall Street Journal. The round signals continued investor appetite for open-weight AI models as an alternative to closed systems from major labs. Details on the investors and valuation were not immediately available.

A new project published on Hackster.io details how to build an open-source robot powered by a Raspberry Pi, using AI-assisted coding in its development. The write-up walks through the hardware and software setup, making the design reproducible for hobbyists. Maker communities are following the project as another example of AI tools lowering the barrier to home robotics.

Server maker xFusion has joined the Linux Foundation, announcing the move as a commitment to supporting open source innovation. The company, known for computing infrastructure products, says membership will let it collaborate on open source projects and contribute to the broader Linux ecosystem. The announcement was carried by newswire and technology press, though details on which specific projects xFusion will support have not yet been disclosed.