Fresh hacks every day
[Phillip] needed a way to trigger an input every 8 hours or so. This is a snap with a microcontroller with a proper timer, but he recently heard about a very cool programmable timer chip that's also a 555. Of course CSS555 timer chip has an obscure programming interface, but that isn't a problem when you can program it yourself with a parallel port. The CSS555 timer chip (PDF...) is a strange … [Read more...]
One of the most commonly frustrating things about having an old Apple ][ lying around in your basement or attic is the lack of software. While at one time in the late 80s you may have had your own copy of Oregon Trail, that disk is either lost or non-functional, and it's pretty hard to get new disk images onto 5 1/4" disks. To solve this problem for himself, [Eric] came up with an Apple disk … [Read more...]
[Osgeld] is showing off what he calls a sanity check. It's the first non-breadboard version of his Pocket Serial Host. He's been working on the project as a way to simplify getting programs onto the Apple II he has on his "retro bench". When plugged in, the computer sees it as a disk drive. The storage is provided by an SD card which is hidden on the underside of that protoboard. This makes it … [Read more...]
We admit that this project doesn't have very many details available, but it was just too neat for us to pass up. It's a small linear motor which [ligonapProduktion] built after seeing a very brief description of a commercially available version. The video after the break shows him testing the motor. In this screenshot he's holding the center shaft while the coil assembly moves back and forth. … [Read more...]
If you're old enough to have used a dial-up modem we'd bet you can do an imitation of the sounds it made while connecting. Those not-so-beautiful sounds heralded the dawning of a technological era. But few actually know what each of those distinct sounds were doing. Now's your chance to learn. This post explains each step in the dail-up handshake process. This may be the most useful … [Read more...]
When we read "smaller paddles" we immediately thought of the physical controllers that you hold in your hands. But this hack alters the size of the virtual Pong paddles displayed on the TV screen. We remember quite well the episode of That 70's Show where Red and Kelso take apart their Pong machine to hack it. The video after the break which [Blues Image] put together shuffles scenes from … [Read more...]
With the popularity of 3D printers and the current cult of vacuum tubes, it's shocking we haven't seen someone do this before. [Peter] printed his own sockets for a few vacuum tubes he had lying around. After designing them on his computer, [Peter] printed them out on his local hackerspace's 3D printer. After printing out the plastic parts, [Peter] needed to add a few strips of metal for a … [Read more...]
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