Social Stats Tracker for Twitter, Instagram, Instructables

Frame your followers! Here’s how to build a social media stats tracker display using the a wifi arduino-compatible ESP8266 microcontroller board and several seven-segment displays. This project is an extension of my YouTube Subscriber Counter project, but uses one “brain” to track and display multiple networks. Easily omit the left (large digits) displays for any stat under 10k to bring the cost of components down.

Before attempting this project, you should be generally familiar with uploading new programs to your Arduino board and installing code libraries, both of which you can learn for free in my Arduino Class, though you really don’t have to understand much of the actual Arduino code to get this project running.

For a more in-depth introduction to the ESP8266 board (and its installation and setup), check out my free Internet of Things Class.

Supplies

For this project, you will need the following materials:

and the following tools:

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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YouTube Subscriber Counter With ESP8266

Version 2 of my YouTube Subscriber counter is here and it goes to eleve– I mean 99999999!

I was inspired by the Play Button awards YouTube sends out for subscriber milestones and built this circuit to display my realtime subscriber count using an ESP8266 wifi board and seven-segment display. I built this one to celebrate surpassing 10k subscribers, so this is an upgrade to my previous counter, which only supports counts up to 9999. Personalize the code to work with your channel! For tracking other social media stats, check out my multi social tracker project.

Before attempting this project, you should be generally familiar with uploading new programs to your Arduino board and installing code libraries, both of which you can learn for free in my Arduino Class, though you really don’t have to understand any of the actual Arduino code to get this project running.

For a more in-depth introduction to the ESP8266 board (and its installation and setup), check out my free Internet of Things Class.

For this project, you will need the following materials:

and the following tools:

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NYC Rental Apartment Hunting and Moving Survival Guide

In my 13 years of New York City residence, I’ve moved a lot. Mostly close to the first time I moved here in the summer of 2003 for college at Parsons. I moved away for grad school in 2007, then back in 2009, racking up a total of 10 in-town moves and two moves to NYC from out of state. I learned something new from every one. Here I will share some tips I’ve learned that help make searching for and moving into a new apartment as pain-free as possible (or at least below a tolerable threshold 🙃). Although I’m biased towards living alone or with a partner, these tips can apply to those spearheading a search with roommates already in mind.

map of some of my previous NYC apartments

3-12 Months Before Your Move: Research

Do research on the types of apartments you’re looking for well in advance of your move-in date. As you browse listings online, don’t get too specific at first, but bookmark/save the listings you like, and try to find common threads in your taste. Be open-minded about geography/neighborhood, and type of apartment. It’s just as important to notice what turns you off to a place as it is its attractive qualities. Keep an open mind because photos can make a place look dark or unappealing, and usually the glossier the photos, the more overhead you will pay.

You can find apartment listings on aggregator sites like StreetEasy, Craigslist, Apartments.com, The New York Times, and Trulia, many of which can be set up to send you notifications when apartments matching your search criteria show up. You can also look for apartments at major real estate brokerage firm sites like Citi Habitats, Halstead Property, Corcoran, Triplemint, Douglas Elliman, Compass, etc.

Take stock of your research-informed priorities, and write them down. Look slightly outside your budget, which can help you characterize the current market and spot a good deal when it shows up in your price range. All members of your household should be involved in this research phase, so everyone’s priorities can be considered when narrowing your search. Also discuss what features are low priority, because these can be used as tradeoffs to get what you really want out of an apartment.

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Everything I Made in 2017, 2017 Supercut

Here’s a supercut/ sizzle reel of 2017 top projects!

Here’s a feature-length video containing every project I documented in 2017. In case you missed any, catch up here and find more info at each project’s link:

  1. 2017 Notebook
  2. Ring Remake
  3. Custom Overalls
  4. Internet Valentine
  5. Moto Mani
  6. Wifi Weather Display
  7. YouTube Subscriber Counter
  8. Scrunchie
  9. Motorcycle Seat pt 1
  10. Pencil Case
  11. Motorcycle Seat pt 2
  12. Motorcycle Seat pt 3
  13. Motorcycle Seat pt 4
  14. Paracord Zipper Pull
  15. Beaded Wrap Bracelet
  16. Bluetooth LED Sign
  17. Wire Wrapped Earrings
  18. Bullet Journal
  19. Brandied Cherries
  20. Embroidered Cat Patches
  21. First Watercolors
  22. 5 Documentation Tips
  23. Amazon Echo Lamp
  24. Moto Tank Painting
  25. Leather Flexi-8
  26. Moto Chain Tension Adjust
  27. Concrete Planters
  28. Petcock Replacement
  29. Helmet Stickers
  30. Wine Cork Trivet
  31. Raspberry Pi GIF Camera
  32. 3 Beginner Arduino Mistakes
  33. Cable Splicing
  34. Solar Balloon
  35. Solar USB Charger
  36. Solar Engraving
  37. Solar Soil Moisture Meter
  38. 3D Printer Filament Dry Box
  39. Guitar Pedal

In case you are curious what videos didn’t make the cut, they are these random/nonproject videos:

Ring Mod Guitar Pedal

I made this guitar pedal following my friend Randy Sarafan’s design. It is a gift for my brother’s 40th birthday, and since I don’t have an electric guitar to test it with, I had to use our pocket piano. =D

3D Printer Filament Dry Box

This tutorial describes how I made a dry box for my 3D printing filament. It protects the PLA from absorbing moisture from the air, which can lead to failed prints and nozzle clogs. The dry box dispenses the filament to the 3D printer too, providing convenient storage.

This box fits four standard rolls of filament. This is an easy project that takes less than an afternoon to complete, and then you’ll reap the filament-preserving benefits for countless days to come!

You’ll need a gasketed plastic container that’s at least as tall and deep as a roll of filament, and as long as you want to accommodate your shelf space or filament collection.

Besides the box, you’ll need a piece of PVC pipe or closet rod to match the length of your box (I cut mine with a hand saw), some teflon tubing to feed your filament to the printer, some silica gel packets to absorb moisture from the air inside the box, a step drill and screw gun, some O-rings and screws (with appropriate drivers), and some 3D printed parts I found on Thingiverse.

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Solar Soil Moisture Meter with ESP8266

In this project, we’re making a solar-powered soil moisture monitor. It uses an ESP8266 wifi microcontroller running low power code, and everything’s waterproof so it can be left outside. You can follow this recipe exactly, or take from it the useful techniques for your own projects.

If you’re new to microcontroller programming, please check out my Arduino Class and Internet of Things Class to get caught up on the basics of wiring, coding, and connecting to the internet.

This project is part of my free Solar Class, where you can learn more ways to harness the sun’s energy through engraving and solar panels.

Supplies

You’ll need a solar battery charging board and ESP8266 breakout such as the NodeMCU ESP8266 or Huzzah, as well as a soil sensor, battery, power switch, some wire, and an enclosure to put your circuit inside.

Here are the components and materials used for the soil moisture monitor:

Here are the tools you’ll need:

You’ll need free accounts on cloud data sites io.adafruit.com and IFTTT.

To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.

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