Wii Style Controls For The Commodore 64

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[Jeff] has been playing around with Parallax’s Propeller chip. He’s used it to adapt an NES controller to the to the Commodore 64. In this latest iteration though, he’s added a Memsic 2125 dual axis accelerometer to the end of a whiffle ball bat and used that to provide Wii style controller input. The video above shows his son playing Street Sports Baseball with it.

Top 10 TEDTalks


The Technology Entertainment Design Conference has been a great source for interesting presentations and in 2006 they started publishing their talks online. This week they published a list of the top 10 most popular talks. There are quite a few tech related ones and we’ve covered some of this work before: [Jeff Han]’s multitouch demos, [Johnny Lee]’s Wiimote hacking, [Blaise Aguera y Arcas] demoing a zoomable interface, and finally for a bit of fun [Arthur Benjamin]’s Mathemagic.

[via Waxy]

Portable NES In An NES Cartridge


Fresh off the tips line, [Jake] sent in his portable NES project. We’ve seen quite a few portables, but we love that the entire thing is built into an old NES cartridge. It’s got 99 games and some clever control placement. Three N cells nestled in the former connector slot power the system. You can see more pic over at [Ben Heck]’s forum.

Easiest Rock Band To MIDI Setup Yet

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We have news for those of you dismissing the new Wii Version of Rock Band. Sure, the lack of DLC is a huge factor, but if you’re looking to use the instruments with MIDI software, [Jordan Balagot] has found what may be the easiest way. Since the Wii instruments are connected via USB, they are easy to connect to a computer. [Balagot] used a program called junXion that is a data routing app for OS X. JunXion can take any USB human interface device and remap the buttons, making it easy to set up the drums as a MIDI input device in an intuitive way. Install junXion, plug in the drums, map the pads, and rock out.

[via Create Digital Music]

Nintendo DS Homebrew Music Apps Roundup


The fine folks at remaincalm.org, who brought you the wireless mcu controller dsmcu, have put together a list of 24 homebrew music apps for the Nintendo DS. We’ve mentioned programs like Protein[DS] before, but the list has others like this monome emulator. If you notice anything they’re missing, let them know and they’ll be sure to add it in.

[via Waxy]

New Nintendo DS Homebrew Music Apps


The Nintendo DS homebrew scene is heading into a heavily musical interlude with a few new apps. This is good news for anyone who liked Protein DScratch but wanted more options and functionality. More information after the break.

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High Tech Coffee Tables


Time was, coffee tables were good for three things only: setting down your coffee, setting down your coffee table books, and maybe putting your feet up. To combat this perception, Born Rich has posted their top ten list of high tech coffee tables that are capable of these things and more.

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