HN user
The author might like knowing about a similar effort targeting Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR), that was discussed here a few months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46290916.
It relies on automated scraping + human confirmation. Louis Rossman describes how it works in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W420BOqga_s
You're right. I hadn't come across other coverage of this, but I should have thought twice before submitting this one. Sorry!
I now see at least one article with more depth: https://sfstandard.com/2026/03/09/california-billionaire-tax...
The article title is "A Flu Vaccine That Actually Works," but I think that title is linkbait, so I've changed it. The article itself is worth a read.
I found this overview on the microblocks site linked by the parent comment: https://wiki.microblocks.fun/en/boards/supported. The list includes the micro:bit, which I can recommend from experience, but the rest also look like good choices.