# NotHans.com > Life, Comedy, Games, Tech, Marketing, and Community — a blog by Hans Scharler. Hans Scharler is an inventor, blogger, community manager, and maker. He founded ioBridge, Light Fun Games, and Trademark BBQ. He created ThingSpeak, CheerLights, and @MyToaster (an internet-connected toaster on Twitter). He founded the first Internet of Things community, growing it to over 500,000 developers worldwide. He currently leads community strategy for MathWorks, overseeing millions of users from undergraduate education through industrial applications, including work with NASA's Artemis program. Over the past decade, he has worked on documentaries and feature films about games and board games. Featured in TIME, Wired, and Hackaday. Recognized as a Top IoT Industry Key Opinion Leader by Onalytica. ## Categories - [AI](https://nothans.com/category/ai): Agentic coding, AI models, prompting strategies, the agentic web, protocol wars (MCP, A2A, llms.txt), and the future of software engineering - [Software](https://nothans.com/category/software): Development tools, coding tutorials, engineering practices, and developer workflows - [IoT](https://nothans.com/category/iot): Internet of Things projects, Arduino, ESP32, WLED, ThingSpeak, and hardware hacking - [CheerLights](https://nothans.com/category/cheerlights): The global IoT art project that synchronizes lights around the world using social media and connected devices - [Games](https://nothans.com/category/games): Pinball machines (Stern, Jersey Jack), 3D-printed mods, board games, tabletop RPGs, Dungeons & Dragons, and collecting - [BBQ](https://nothans.com/category/bbq): Texas brisket, smoked turkey, burnt ends from chuck roast, rub recipes, and cocktail pairings - [Life](https://nothans.com/category/life): Surfing, mindfulness, curiosity, self-reflection, travel, minimalism, and personal essays - [Community](https://nothans.com/category/community): Building and managing developer communities at scale ## Posts ### AI and Agentic Engineering - [Welcome to the Agentic Web](https://nothans.com/welcome-to-the-agentic-web): AI agents now account for the majority of web traffic. Developers must adapt by prioritizing structured data, implementing protocols like MCP and llms.txt, and measuring success through agent interactions rather than human traffic metrics. - [Twenty Prototypes](https://nothans.com/twenty-prototypes): When building costs minutes instead of days, planning is waste. Build multiple working versions, compare real options, pick the best. Toyota called this set-based concurrent engineering. - [Claude Code and Agent Skills for Electron App Development](https://nothans.com/claude-code-and-agent-skills-for-electron-app-development-your-desktop-app-just-got-a-cheat-code): Agent Skills encode reusable knowledge patterns into standardized files, eliminating repetitive setup across Electron projects and demonstrating compound engineering in practice. - [Compound Engineering](https://nothans.com/compound-engineering-what-if-every-project-made-the-next-one-easier): Work environments should learn and evolve over time. Capture workflows, skills, and knowledge so each project makes the next one easier — compound interest for engineering. - [Happy Birthday, Claude Code](https://nothans.com/happy-birthday-claude-code-the-agentic-coding-platform-turns-one): Reflecting on one year of Claude Code since its February 2025 launch and the compounding benefits of adopting agentic coding tools early. - [Claude Opus 4.5 vs. Gemini 3 Pro: What a Week](https://nothans.com/claude-opus-4-5-vs-gemini-3-pro-what-a-week): Comparing two major AI model releases. Gemini 3 Pro excels at reasoning and multimodal tasks. Opus 4.5 focuses on coding efficiency with standout features like tool search for on-demand tool loading. - [Google's New Antigravity Agentic IDE has a Brain (folder)](https://nothans.com/google-new-antigravity-has-a-brain): Google's Antigravity IDE uses a "brain" markdown file to maintain context throughout a project, addressing the context window challenge in AI coding assistants. - [AI Engineer Code Summit](https://nothans.com/ai-engineer-code-summit-2025): Coverage of the AI Engineer Code Summit in NYC. - [Introducing Clause Code](https://nothans.com/introducing-clause-code): A Christmas-themed coding agent. - [The Engineering Super Stack: MATLAB + VS Code + Claude Code](https://nothans.com/the-engineering-super-stack-matlab-visual-studio-code-claude-code): Combining MATLAB, Visual Studio Code, and Claude Code into an integrated engineering development workflow. - [Claude Code Launches v2.0.0](https://nothans.com/claude-code-lanches-v2-0-0-v2-0-1-i-mean-v2-0-2): Coverage of the Claude Code v2.0 release. - [Letting Gemini Nano Banana and Claude Build My Site from 1995](https://nothans.com/letting-gemini-nano-banana-and-claude-build-my-site-from-1995): Using AI models to rebuild a website from scratch. - [Preparing for GPT-5: New Prompting Mindset for Advanced Models](https://nothans.com/preparing-for-gpt-5-new-prompting-mindset-for-advanced-models): How prompting strategies need to evolve as AI models become more capable. - [Learn How to Create Your Own MCP Server](https://nothans.com/learn-how-to-create-your-own-mcp-server-for-claude-desktop-and-windsurf): Step-by-step tutorial on building an MCP server for Claude Desktop and Windsurf. - [Empathic AI Prompting for Programmers](https://nothans.com/empathic-ai-prompting-for-programmers-treating-your-ai-as-a-coding-buddy): Treating your AI as a coding buddy rather than a command line to get better results. - [OpenAI: GPT-4.5 has entered the Chat](https://nothans.com/openai-gpt-4-5-has-entered-the-chat): Coverage of the GPT-4.5 release. - [Five years from now: The Future of AI and Programming](https://nothans.com/five-years-from-now-the-future-of-ai-and-programming): Predictions about where AI and programming are headed. - [It's Shipmas: The Summary of the 12 Days of OpenAI 2024](https://nothans.com/the-summary-of-the-12-days-of-openai-2024): Recap of OpenAI's 12 Days event. - [OpenAI o1: Finally an AI Model That You Can Reason With](https://nothans.com/openai-o1-finally-an-ai-model-that-you-can-reason-with): Coverage of the OpenAI o1 reasoning model. - [I've Moved from a Futurist to a Near-Futurist to a Todayist](https://nothans.com/ive-moved-from-a-futurist-to-a-near-futurist-to-a-todayist): Shifting focus from predicting the future to building with what's available today. ### IoT and Hardware - [Official Arduino Library for CheerLights](https://nothans.com/official-arduino-library-for-cheerlights): The official Arduino library for the CheerLights global IoT project. - [Updating WLED Binary on ESP32-C3 Devices](https://nothans.com/updating-wled-binary-on-esp32-c3-devices): Tutorial on updating WLED firmware on ESP32-C3 boards. - [Learning How to Use the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi Board](https://nothans.com/learning-how-to-use-the-arduino-uno-r4-wifi-board): Getting started with the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi. ### Games and Pinball - [3D Printed Godzilla Pinball Mod](https://nothans.com/3d-printed-godzilla-pinball-mod): 3D-printed mod for a Stern Godzilla pinball machine. - [Pinball Mods: King Kong vs. Godzilla](https://nothans.com/king-kong-vs-godzilla-mod-for-stern-godzilla-pinball-machine): Another Godzilla pinball mod. - [The Next Stern Pinball Machine: Dungeons & Dragons](https://nothans.com/the-next-stern-pinball-machine-dungeons-dragons-the-tyrants-eye): Coverage of the D&D Tyrant's Eye pinball machine. - [Playing Avatar Pinball at Hometown Arcade](https://nothans.com/playing-avatar-the-battle-for-pandora-pinball-at-hometown-arcade): Review of the Jersey Jack Avatar pinball machine. - [DIY TV Riser for RPG Gaming Table](https://nothans.com/diy-tv-riser-for-rpg-gaming-table): Building a TV riser for tabletop RPG gaming. - [Searching for Hans: Garbage Pail Kids Card Collecting](https://nothans.com/searching-for-hans-garbage-pail-kids-card-collecting): Collecting Garbage Pail Kids cards. ### BBQ and Food - [Making Burnt Ends From Chuck Roast](https://nothans.com/making-burnt-ends-from-chuck-roast): How to make burnt ends using chuck roast instead of brisket. - [Texas Brisket Rub Recipe](https://nothans.com/texas-brisket-rub-recipe): A Texas-style brisket rub recipe. - [Have BBQ Smoked Turkey for Thanksgiving](https://nothans.com/have-bbq-smoked-turkey-for-thanksgiving): Smoking a turkey for Thanksgiving. - [The Merry Manhattan Redux](https://nothans.com/the-merry-manhattan-redux): A smoked cherry and rosemary cocktail for the holidays. ### Life and Personal - [Build Confidence in Yourself By Learning to Surf](https://nothans.com/build-confidence-in-yourself-by-learning-to-surf): Lessons about confidence through learning to surf. - [Removing Junk; Being Okay with Less](https://nothans.com/removing-junk-being-okay-with-less): On minimalism and decluttering. - [I Went to Paris, and I Didn't Go to the Louvre](https://nothans.com/i-went-to-paris-and-i-didnt-go-to-the-louvre-to-take-a-photo-of-the-mona-lisa): Travel essay about experiencing Paris differently. - [Filling Back Up](https://nothans.com/filling-back-up-an-evening-currated-by-a-great-friend): An evening curated by a great friend. - [The Unlocked Life](https://nothans.com/the-unlocked-life-a-new-blog-series): A series on mindfulness, curiosity, habits, and self-reflection. ### Software and Tutorials - [How to Use CSS Custom Properties](https://nothans.com/til-how-to-use-css-custom-properties-or-css-variables): Tutorial on CSS variables. - [How to Use Live Server in VS Code](https://nothans.com/til-how-to-use-live-server-in-visual-studio-code): Tutorial on the Live Server extension. - [Ode to Perl and Larry Wall](https://nothans.com/ode-to-perl-and-larry-wall): A tribute to Perl and its creator. ### Video and Media - [Elephants Wear Fancy Hats: Google Gemini Veo 2](https://nothans.com/elephants-wear-fancy-hats-to-a-party-google-gemini-advanced-veo-2-video-generation-model): Testing Google's Veo 2 video generation model. ## Projects - [ThingSpeak](https://thingspeak.com): Open IoT platform for collecting, analyzing, and acting on sensor data. Created by Hans. - [CheerLights](https://cheerlights.com): A global IoT art project that synchronizes colored lights around the world using social media and connected devices. Created by Hans. ## About - [About Hans](https://nothans.com/about) - [Contact](https://nothans.com/contact)