After previously working out a suitable approach to create a period-correct paper tape reader for his tube-based, MC14500B processor-inspired computer, [David Lovett] over at the Usagi Electric farm is back with a video on how he made a working tape reader. The assembled paper tape reader as seen from the front with tape inserted. (Credit: […]
[Ken] from the YouTube channel What’s Ken Making is back with another MiSTer video detailing the TapTo project and its integration into MiSTer. MiSTer, as some may recall, is a set of FPGA images and a supporting ecosystem for the Terasic DE10-Nano FPGA board, which hosts the very capable Altera Cyclone V FPGA. The TeensyROM C64 cart supports TapTo The concept […]
It seems like only yesterday we covered a project using QR codes to archive data on paper (OK, it was last Thursday), so here’s another way to do it, this time with a dedicated codec using the full page. Optar or OPTical ARchiver is a project capable of squeezing a whopping 200 Kb of data […]
The x86 CPU landscape of the 1980s and 1990s was competitive in a way that probably seems rather alien to anyone used to the duopoly that exists today between AMD and Intel. At one point in time, Cyrix was a major player, who mostly sought to provide a good deal that would undercut Intel. One […]
Restomods let us relive some of the glory days of industrial design with internals that would blow the socks off the original device. [Mental Hygiene] decided to update an Apple IIc with a G4 brain. Starting with a broken IIc, they pulled the internals, including the venerable 6502, and transplanted the parts from a G4 Mac […]
Want to build your own espresso machine, complete with open-source software to drive it? The diyPresso might be right up your alley. diyPresso parts, laid out and ready for assembly. It might not be the cheapest road to obtaining an espresso machine, but it’s probably the most economical way to turn high-quality components (including a […]
If you want to smooth out the top surface of your FDM 3D prints, you can try ironing. Many slicers allow you to set this option, which drags the hot printhead through the top surface with a tiny bit of plastic to smooth out the extrusion lines. However, a recent paper explains how non-planar ironing […]
NASA’s ACS3 (Advanced Composite Solar Sail System) is currently fully deployed in low Earth orbit, and stargazers can spot it if they know what to look for. It’s actually one of the brightest things in the night sky. When the conditions are right, anyway. ACS3’s sail is as thin as it is big. What conditions […]