Weathergotchi – an open-source climate Tamagotchi
76 points
5 hours ago
| 8 comments
| github.com
| HN
world2vec
3 hours ago
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The YouTube video [0] is quite funny, I like when someone doesn't take themselves too seriously.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I44iGj7gLGA

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whacked_new
1 hour ago
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Ouch, shade on the SensorPush. I had 2 and I got 2 more. It requires an app, but they're quite well made imho.

But yes, open source would be better. If physical portability is not a requirement, Xiaomi hygrometer 2 with this custom firmware https://github.com/atc1441/atc_MiThermometer is quite excellent

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eltercero
2 hours ago
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I have no idea what he's talking about most of the time but I can't stop watching.
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DonHopkins
8 minutes ago
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voidUpdate
4 hours ago
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I get the weather- part, but I don't get the -gotchi part... Do you have to keep the device alive by... seeing new types of weather?
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neom
3 hours ago
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Uotchi is the Japanese word for watch. Tamago (egg) and Uotchi (watch) - so here they're implying "Weather Watch", it should probably be Weatherotchi or something, but still works fine imo. Korea and Japan love smashing words together to make new words, for example in Korea "Chimaek" is Chikin (치킨 - fried chicken) + Maekju (맥주 - beer), something Koreans often ask if you'd like to go out for.
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xd1936
3 hours ago
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I think it's evoking "this little smiley face guy on a small monochrome screen", and not implying interactivity.
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mghackerlady
3 hours ago
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It's dumb anyway. Iirc the -gotchi part comes from the Japanese transliteration of the english word "watch". Unless your program's a pocket watch of some kind as well as a virtual pet, it's just a tama
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Waterluvian
4 hours ago
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I’ve been wanting to do some projects like this from the software side. I want an e-ink display + ESP32 inside a case. But I don’t want to do that myself for the nth time as it doesn’t feel novel or interesting. Is there any decent hardware option that begins fully open?

Also: If I take very good care of my Weathergotchi, do I get to change the weather?

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whacked_new
1 hour ago
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Here's one that I just ordered myself: https://www.waveshare.com/esp32-s3-epaper-1.54.htm

temperature, humidity, audio in AND out!!!

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lode
4 hours ago
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M5Stack has black & white (https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5stack-esp32-core-ink-dev...) and color (https://shop.m5stack.com/products/m5paper-color-esp32s3-dev-...) development kits that look like exactly what you're looking for.
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Waterluvian
4 hours ago
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This looks exactly like what I’m seeking! Thank you.
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mghackerlady
3 hours ago
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Adafruit has a pretty cool esp32 based board with a circular touchscreen and dial
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shadowpho
50 minutes ago
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I see the antenna points straight at ground and buttons. Is the wifi ok?
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Neywiny
29 minutes ago
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Other comment says no wifi but even if it did, those antennas don't radiate in a straight line
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nosrepa
42 minutes ago
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It does not use wifi or Bluetooth.
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inigyou
1 hour ago
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As opposed to the climategotchi, which just shows a dead guy on fire.
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zenith605
2 hours ago
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This is charming. E-paper is such a good fit for ambient data like this — always visible, no glow, basically no power. How often do you refresh the display, and does partial refresh ghosting become a problem over time?
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swingboy
3 hours ago
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This doesn’t look as fun as a Tamagotchi.
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latexr
4 hours ago
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Calling this a tamagotchi is silly. The only thing this and tamagotchis have in common is that they’re small electronic devices with a screen (and even that tech is different).

When you compare a project to something that it isn’t, you’re doing it a disservice. The people who are intrigued by the tamagotchi angle are disappointed, while the people who are uninterested in it (but might still like the project) won’t even give it a change. Everybody loses.

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Xirdus
2 hours ago
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It's marketing. Attach yourself to some wildly more popular brand for no reason other than to boost your own popularity. Like JavaScript did with Java.
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latexr
47 minutes ago
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Except the repo doesn’t mention “tamagotchi” even once. Even the “gotchi” in the name only appears once in the README.

I’m talking about the submitted title to HN.

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