This is a bit reminiscent of the missing DC entry, so consider it a bonus hack. [Eric] sent in his latest project, an AVR game console. It uses a pair of ATMega168v micro-controllers, a nokia 3110 LCD, and an eeprom to store a selection of games. The interface above the console is the serial loader/charger. No word on the game source, but judging from his site, maybe he’s writing them all on his own.
Design Challenge: The Missing Entry
I thought I’d mentioned every entry of the contest, but I managed to let one slip through the cracks. One of our favorite hardware hackers [sprite_tm] submitted this AVR ARM dev board/game console. The LCD is from a Nokia 5110. The brain is a LPC2103 ARM controller, and is designed to run a chip8 emulator.
The Design Challenge Winner!
I’ll keep this short and sweet. Fabienne, Eliot and I unanimously chose [Nuxie1]’s entry as the winner. His board is a nicely done USB PIC prototyping board. [Nuxie1] gets some sweet prizes and some bragging rights. Congratulations [Nuxie1]!
It seems that our tips line has been screwed up for the last week or so. If you’ve got something good, don’t be afraid to re-submit it.
DIY Dvorak Keyboards
Meet the DIY Dvorak keyboard. I’m feeling nostalgic this week, and I was surprised that we’ve never mentioned this simple, but useful hack. Heresy history lesson: the qwerty keyboard was created to slow down typing – because old typewriters jammed too easily. The Dvorak keyboard is more efficient because the letters that are most often used are positioned closer to the fingers natural position. [Anders] swapped the keys on his Swedish thinkpad, and even customized the map a bit further to his own taste.
Old School Libretto Mods
Somehow, [acidx] knew that I coveted a libretto for years. He sent in his writeup on modding his Libretto 50ct to be a bit more useful. The mods are pretty basic, he overclocked it to 133Mhz and added a ps/2 port. The tweaks keep the well aged libretto a usable platform.
Pssst. wanna see your hack on Hack-A-Day? Use the tips line!
DC Entries: Last Batch
Here’s the final batch of entries we received and considered for the Design Challenge.
[Chris] sent in a stereo amplifier (watch out for pop-ups) designed for iPods (or similar) using LM386 amps and a minimal parts count.
[Fabian] submitted this excellent tube amp. It’s based on the ECC83/12AX7 tube, and runs off a mere 12-14VAC.
[Edgar] sent in this combination PIC/AVR programmer.
Finally, we’ve got a simple PIC/EEPROM programmer by [Ian]. (view the unzipped version here)
Adding 802.11n Into Your Macbook
According to Apple, all of their current machines are compatible with their new 802.11n wireless hardware. The guys at MacBidouille wanted to know if they could get it functioning in their early rev macbook core duo. They ganged a new card from a MacPro and got busy.Things came out ridiculously easily, with a simple hardware swap. Considering that the pci connector is the same, I wonder if any portable with an airport extreme card could be upgraded (with an additional antenna)
