Jenny’s Daily Drivers: Microsoft Windows 11

June 2, 2026 by Jenny List 73 Comments

In our search for the unusual or interesting among the world of operating systems, it might seem unexpected that today’s choice for a Daily Driver is the latest version of Microsoft Windows. Aside from Hackaday perhaps having a larger than average percentage of viewers using Linux based operating systems and generally catering to open source enthusiasts, there’s hardly anything special about Windows, is there?

Oddly for me there is — because while it’s a common enough OS for the masses, the last time I had a Windows computer it ran XP. That venerable OS is a world away from today’s Windows 11, and thus as someone who’s exclusively sat in front of a GNOME desktop for much of the last two decades, it’s an entirely new operating system.

There’s no doubt that it will make a Daily Driver, because of course I’ll be able to do my work on it. Where the interest lies is in seeing what Windows has become. Is it still a useful general purpose operating system, or has it become the locked-down walled garden of crapware that its detractors warn you about? Time to dive in.

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Using A Mirror To 3D Scan Both Sides Of An Object At Once

June 2, 2026 by Donald Papp 28 Comments

Photogrammetry is the process of 3D scanning an object by taking a lot of photographs, then using software to turn those into a 3D model. But the process can only scan what the camera can see, and one can’t always get a good view of every part of an object. To solve this, [Thomas Megel] shared an experiment in using a mirror to capture the underside of an object simultaneously with its top. The results were encouraging!

Using a mirror as the turntable allows the camera to image the underside at the same time.

To do this he perched a small tabletop gaming mini on a mirror serving as a turntable platform in his self-designed OpenScan Mini machine, which is designed to take highly structured photos of small objects for scanning purposes. This produced a single scan with two objects, the original and its mirror image, together in one file.

Aligning separate models and combining them into one is a common way to deal with partial or incomplete scans. The idea here is to get two scans at once, instead of separately with a reposition of the object in between. Additionally, it should be possible for the software to automatically separate, align, and combine the two since it is known exactly where the mirror plane is.

As far as a proof of concept, it’s encouraging. [Thomas] is still playing with the idea and looking for suggestions, so if you have any insights be sure to share them.

3D scanning can be a very useful tool, and while photogrammetry can be done with little more than your mobile phone’s camera, in some ways the concept is over a hundred years old.

Cookies, Baked The 3D Printer Way

June 2, 2026 by Jenny List 20 Comments

Imagine for a moment that the Cookie Monster is going to visit, but all the cookie baking utensils in your house have been mislaid. The horror! Fortunately [Startup Chuck] is here with a video showing the process of baking cookies in a 3D printer, and as an extra treat he’s using entirely 3D printed utensils too.

The utensils are comprehensive array of all you’d need for serious cookie production, even going as far as to print a mixing bowl and beater for a KitchenAid mixer. There are scoops aplenty, and something we’re particularly impressed with, a spatula with a TPU blade. We’re guessing that FDM prints might not be the best for cooking because all manner of food could get caught in those layer lines and go off, but let’s face it, this is a bit of fun rather than a forever cooking project. We like the AI generated spork for its near-flatness, reminding us of our AI-generated breakfast. Finally he even prints a cookie baking sheet using nylon filament.

An enclosed 3D printer makes a surprisingly effective low-temperature oven, with the heated bed as the element. It works, and makes recognizable cookies, though they’re not browned. As entertaining as this experiment may be, we can’t recommend following his example — at the very least, moisture and food ingredients in your printer probably aren’t conducive to good future printing.

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