links.lmorchard.com - #hardware

Retro tech meets modern AI: Inside an Amazon developer's garage turned working computer museum – GeekWire

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 23:40:01 +0000

“I started getting stuff, and then … it just kind of snowballed to a point I actually had to slow down because I legitimately don’t have space for it anymore,” Mesaros told GeekWire during a recent tour of his retro hardware labyrinth.

Tags: #hardware #nifty #retro

Controlling your home with tiny, cheap touchscreens

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 22:06:31 +0000

This turned out really well and was a cheap solution to my problems (it cost me about$16 but it currently shows me $21 for a screen). In the weeks since I set it up, it's been so useful for everyone else in the house that I'm considering buying one for the kitchen to control all the living room lights without anyone having to take their phones out, and another one in my barn to turn all the lights on whenever I walk in (currently I always fire up the Apple Home app and run a shortcut to turn on the 6 different light switches).

Tags: #diy #esp32 #hardware #homeassistant #iot

Decent400 | Hackaday.io

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:50:48 +0000

A drop-in replacement mechanical keyboard for the Atari 400's membrane, that respects the unique design of the computer

Tags: #atari #atari400 #diy #hacks #hardware #retro

Metal Gear Solid running natively on the ESP32-S3 | Velxio Blog

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:22:23 +0000

I have loved Metal Gear Solid since I was a kid. When I got a tiny ESP32-S3 board, one question stuck with me: could a PlayStation game run on something this small?

Tags: #diy #esp32 #gaming #hardware #metalgear #psx #retro

MCU-less teletype terminal using Alphacom printer | Hackaday.io

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 17:59:35 +0000

Period-correct technology would probably be a VDU terminal or its predecessor, a teletype terminal, which is an electric typewriter that sends serial output from its keyboard and prints serial input onto paper. Here's where the Alphacom printer comes in. It was compatible and contemporary with the ZX81 and was a better option in many ways than Sinclair's ZX Printer. (The ZX computers had built-in line-printer capabilities.) Importantly there are plenty of the Alphacoms around today, working fine.

Tags: #hardware #rc2014 #retro #z80

A Computer Terminal The Old Way | Hackaday

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 17:58:43 +0000

Here in 2026 if we need a terminal the chances are we fire one up on our computer and continue on our way without a thought. What we are doing of course is emulating the experience of earlier hardware terminals, ones with a serial port on the back, a keyboard, a screen, or if they are a bit older, a teletype printer. [Sheila Dixon] is recreating that experience for the RC2014 retrocomputer, and she’s using some period-appropriate hardware and techniques.

Tags: #hardware #rc2014 #retro

USBSID-Pico: Bridging Real Commodore 64 Sound to Modern USB - SmallRun

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:57:20 +0000

I am LouD (short for loudness) and I created USBSID-Pico to bridge real SID silicon directly to modern workstations, phones, and media players over USB (CDC/WebUSB/WebSerial), MIDI, ASID and in the future possibly WiFi and Bluetooth. Powered by the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller series (rp2040 and rp2350), the board acts as a flexible controller for up to two (and soon four) physical SID chips or modern hardware replacements.

Tags: #c64 #commodore #hardware #raspi #retro #sid

retrobuiltRyan/pixelvision_av1000_mkII: 10in display monitor for HDMI and legacy analog video

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 02:30:55 +0000

10in display monitor for HDMI and legacy analog video

Tags: #hardware #retro #video

OpenTools / OpenPrinter

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 03:19:44 +0000

a repairable, compact, and robust printer designed to last. Fully repairable and equipped with a refillable ink system, it adapts to your needs while reducing your printing costs. Easy to maintain, it offers a sustainable, economical, and eco-friendly alternative to traditional printers.

Tags: #diy #hardware #open #printers

rzeldent/esp32cam-rtsp: Simple RTSP (streaming image) server for the ESP32CAM. Easy configuration and monitoring through the web interface.

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 03:54:12 +0000

Simple RTSP (streaming image) server for the ESP32CAM. Easy configuration and monitoring through the web interface.

Tags: #diy #esp32cam #gadgets #hardware #video

Banned Book Library | Rick's Blog

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 22:31:50 +0000

A long while back I had an idea to hack a WiFi smart light bulb to do something more useful to me. Actually, I had a few different ideas of things to do with them. One of these ideas was to modify the device to have an open WiFi access point and a web server hosting banned books. The idea was that if you lived somewhere that banned books you thought were important, you could theoretically stick a digital copy of the book on one of these light bulbs. Then you could go install it somewhere in your community. As long as the light bulb is switched on, then anyone in the vicinity can still access the banned material assuming they have an electronic device with WiFi. Since the device is a light bulb, it would be difficult to detect and likely to go unnoticed. A cyberpunk digital dead drop. These devices are also fairly inexpensive, so leaving them around town as is hopefully not very cost prohibitive.

Tags: #books #cyberpunk #diy #esp32 #hacks #hardware #iot

geo-tp/ESP32-Bit-Pirate at 20c88aba2e102b3e1d87a1b3f6779a2ac7f7a085

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:59:02 +0000

A Hardware Hacking Tool with Web-Based CLI That Speaks Every Protocol

Tags: #ai #diy #esp32 #hacking #hardware

ESP32 Life

Mon, 11 May 2026 21:52:09 +0000

As I continue to try to unbundle my hobbies from the iphone, these ESP32 devices have played a really big role. An open product like this promises a tinkerer like me much more than a useful gadget - it can become MY gadget, something modified and tuned to my specific needs and aesthetic quirks. There is no corpo telemetry tracker sneaking onto my gadget, only the stupid shit I put there!! And when I get tired of that thing, I can always flash it with something else. I can't say that about my phone.

Tags: #diy #esp32 #hacking #hardware

Conway's Game of Life, in real life - lcamtuf’s thing

Sun, 03 May 2026 18:04:19 +0000

When life gives you switches... (Conway's game of life on a big grid of illuminated momentary switches)

Tags: #conway #diy #electronics #hardware #life #nifty

piersfinlayson/one-rom: The most flexible ROM replacement for retro systems - using a sub-$2 Raspberry Pi RP2350 or STM32 microcontroller.

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 04:37:24 +0000

The most flexible ROM replacement for retro systems - using a sub-$2 Raspberry Pi RP2350 or STM32 microcontroller.

Tags: #diy #hardware #retro #rom