Suddenly, here we are, 2021! And what a hideous year 2020 was what with coronavirus, insane politics both sides of the Atlantic, a climate emergency and a world turned upside down. I could use all that as an excuse for seemingly abandoning Planet Keef, but that would be too easy. I was actually very busy in the shed in 2020 and started many projects. I just didn't manage to finish any of them as videos. Here's a little rundown of some of the videos that I started but haven't (yet) finished. A SMALL LED VIDEO LIGHT This was intended to be a quick and easy project using an Anglepoise desk lamp as the adjustable stand with a square biscuit tin fixed on as a reflector. My plan was to stuff 10 metres of LED strip inside this, and then cover the front of the tin with some kind of diffusing material. Unfortunately I only got as far as removing the old light and its shade from the stand. I wanted to 3D print a bracket to connect the tin to the stand, but the printer was out of act...

When it comes to streaming TV and Video On Demand, I'm a bit late to the party. Sure, I watch YouTube videos on my computer, iPad and phone, but never before on the actual telly. And the reasons for that? Well firstly I'm not a big consumer of TV - I might watch an hour or two each night, or none - I'm just as happy to read a book. And secondly, we don't have a smart TV and I really didn't understand how it works. But here we are, just getting used to the idea of it being the 21st Century, and now the proud owner owner of not one, but two streaming TV devices. You might think that's a bit excessive, and so do I. Here's what happened... Many moons ago now, Amazon announced it had commissioned a 6-part dramatisation of Good Omens by the late, great Pterry Pratchett and the admirable Neil Gaiman. Others have tried to bring Terry's novels to the screen, but missed the mark by about a million miles - somehow the people involved just didn't get it. B...

When I was a kid - maybe 11 - I got an electronics kit for Christmas. It promised the ability to make all kinds of exciting projects, including building a radio. Of course, being a child I wanted to run before I could walk, so I went straight to the radio project, couldn't make it work, and the kit didn't get used much after that. Now I'm a bit more than a kid, somewhat more patient and methodical, and I've got a new electronics kit. Basically it contains an Arduino Uno R3 and lots of other components including motors, LEDs and LED displays, sensors, buzzers, breadboards and wires. Sadly, it doesn't contain the things you need to make a radio. And I haven't entirely grown out of the learning to walk thing - I wanted to make an LED light up, so I touched the two termini to a 9V battery. And POOM!. It did light up. Briefly. Then a smell of burning pervaded the air. And I had a dead LED. In this video I'm unboxing the kit and then doing my first project....