In this episode you’ll get to hear not one, not two, but three Hackaday Editors! Now that the dust has mostly settled from the 2024 Hackaday Supercon, Al Williams joins Elliot and Tom to compare notes and pick out a few highlights from the event. But before that, the week’s discussion will cover the questionable patents holding back a promising feature for desktop 3D printers, a new digital book from NODE, and the surprisingly limited history of welding in space. You’ll also hear about the challenge of commercializing free and open source software, the finicky optics of the James Web Space Telescope, and the once exciting prospect of distributing software via pages of printed barcodes.

Direct MP3 download for offline, “easy” listening.

Episode 296 Show Notes:

News:

• Britain’s Oldest Satellite On The Move: A Space Curiosity

What’s that Sound?

• Congratulations to [Jon] for guessing this week’s sound, getting lucky with the 20-sided die, and for having the “most correct” answer to boot!

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• Brick Layers: The Promise Of Stronger 3D Prints And Why We Cannot Have Nice Things
• A Beautifully Illustrated Guide To Making
  • The Pinouts Book Is Here, And It’s Just What You Need
• Building A DIY Nipkow Disk Display
  • Mechanical Image Acquisition With A Nipkow Disc
• NASA Announces New Trials For In-Space Laser Welding
• The End Of Ondsel And Reflecting On The Commercial Prospects For FreeCAD
• Why The Saturn V Used Kerosene For Its Hydraulics Fluid

Quick Hacks:

• Elliot’s Picks
  • Making A Unique Type Of Wind Gauge For Home Assistant Use
  • Retrogadgets: Oscilloscope Cameras
  • The Constant Monitoring And Work That Goes Into JWST’s Optics
  • Welcome To SubTropolis: The Limestone Mine Turned Climate-Controlled Business Complex
• Tom’s Picks:
  • HIDman Brings Modern Input To Vintage PCs
  • A Brief History Of Cyrix, Or How To Get Sued By Intel A Lot
  • Teaching Computers To Read — Sort Of