Rick O1d ago

I finally published my new project, the Banned Book Library! Think of it as a #Cyberpunk dead drop. Reprogram an #esp32 WiFi light bulb to host a web server with books banned in your community. Screw them in wherever is convenient :D. You can't stop the signal!

https://www.richardosgood.com/posts/banned-book-library/

This was partially inspired after reading @benbrown short story "Library" a while back.

https://benbrown.com/library/

Banned Book Library

OverviewA long while back I had an idea to hack a WiFi smart light bulb to do something more useful to me. Actually, I had a few different ideas of things to do with them. One of these ideas was to mo…

Banned Book Library
Show threadThe 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus1d ago
@rickoooooo @benbrown This is the way! You've built a Projekt B00KM4RK!
Show threadRick O1d ago

@lambdacalculus @benbrown That's cool, I hadn't heard of Projekt B00KM4RK before. It's a very similar idea.

I liked the idea of repurposing a light bulb because it is self powered (as long as the light switch is on) and it blends in and doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary. No need for batteries or solar panels, etc. Also very accessible because you can buy one off the shelf and flash it OTA so you don't need any special tools.

Show threadThe 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus1d ago
@rickoooooo @benbrown Get the summer 2025 issue of 2600 for info on it! But the long and short is it's also an ESP32 based device with a tiny web portal for sharing books and materials, either as a dead drop or as a portable server (which means it's also a Pirate Box!)
Show threadRick O

@lambdacalculus @benbrown

I found some info on ProjektBookmark here
https://slugnoodle.com/zine.php?article=reclaiming-the-shadows

and here
https://github.com/TheSlugNoodle/ProjectBookmark

Reclaiming The Shadows | slugnoodle.com

Jun 15 at 3:35pmWeb
Show threadThe 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus1d ago
@rickoooooo @benbrown That's our homie, @TheSlugNoodle! He's the man who inspired us all!
Show threadChalk Outline Hieroglyph1d ago

@lambdacalculus @rickoooooo @benbrown @TheSlugNoodle

I hope you are happy with yourselves... I have a new project now.

(you should be happy with yourselves)

Show threadbentendo1d ago

@rickoooooo @lambdacalculus I talked about mine here: https://benbrown.com/txt/read/2026-05-11

I never did properly document or release any of the code :p

ESP32 Life

I first learned about the ESP32 chip from my friend Wrew when he initially posted about porting the B00km4rk project . Three important things clicked: a cool project I wanted to be involved with, a f…

benbrown.txt
Show threadRick O1d ago
@benbrown @lambdacalculus I hadn't seen that you'd built something like this already too! Makes sense though as Library partially inspired the idea for me to begin with.