I got a couple new toys for birthday/xmas: the GPD MicroPC 2 UMPC and the M5Stack Cardputer.

The MicroPC is great because it makes it super easy to code and hack on something in places where it would be too awkward or annoying to whip out my laptop, and the Cardputer is just a fun little toy because it's so open ended and hackable. I've been writing an app for Cardputer to control my thermostat remotely, and I've had a lot of fun grossly overengineering the needless amount of concurrency I have added through FreeRTOS.

Something oddly satisfying about using a micro PC to program an "even more micro" PC. What a cool time to be alive; I would have killed for this kind of stuff as a teenager!

Stuff like the MicroPC excites me. Even though, logically, you hardly need need a micro pc but the hacky excitement of using it is worth it. I have also been looking at purchasing the MNT research pocket laptop.