Elliot Williams is out where the deer and the antelope play for the next week, so it’s up to Tom Nardi and Al Williams to wrangle this episode of the Hackaday Podcast. They’ll start off by reading some listener messages before talking about the slow extinction of time broadcasts, Linux on cheap smartphones, microcontroller VPNs, and the computers of Spacelab.

You’ll also hear about using a video game’s “Photo Mode” to capture 3D imagery, strange red lights in deep space, and ASCII fish that you don’t need to feed. The episode wraps up with a discussion of WWII spy tech and the revelation that modern smartphones and powerful magnets don’t always mix.

Check out the links if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Direct download in DRM-free MP3.

Episode 371 Show Notes:

Mailbag:

• Linux Fu: The Cheap Macropad Conundrum
• GitHub – islcom/peismo: A simple seismograph for Raspberry Pi · GitHub

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• So Long, CHU, And Thanks For All The Time Signals
  • What Will You Do If WWVB Goes Silent?
  • Radio Station WWV: All Time, All The Time
  • CHU broadcast codes – National Research Council Canada

• A Zinc Air Battery You Can Make Yourself
  • Electric Vehicle 1900’s Style: New Leases On Old Tech

• Linux On Android Provides Inexpensive, Powerful Computing
  • Want A Low-cost ARM Platform? Grab A Prepaid Android Phone!
  • Linux Fu: The Linux Android Convergence
  • Lindroid Promises True Linux On Android

• Z386: An Open-Source 80386 Built Around Original Microcode
• Running A VPN Gateway On An ESP32
• Spacelab’s Mitra 125 MS
  • Slicing and Dicing the Bits: CPU Design the Old Fashioned Way

Quick Hacks:

• Tom’s Picks:
  • Extract 3D Video Game Content By Firing Up Photo Mode
  • DecayDock Keeps Track Of Spoilage
  • Adorable ASCII Aquarium Lives On Your Desk
• Al’s Picks:
  • Figuring Out What James Webb’s Mysterious Little Red Dots Are
  • Power From Gravity
  • Building An Analog Meter Watch

Can’t-Miss Articles:

• Magnets Are Bad For Hardware Again
• Spy Tech: A Quiet Radio For Spies