What If
We’ve noticed a recent YouTube trend of producing trailers for shows and movies as if they were produced in the 1950s, even when they weren’t. The results are impressive and, …read more Continue reading What If
Author Archives: Al Williams
The IBM PC: Brainchild of a Misfit
We’ve read a number of histories of the IBM PC and lived through that time, too. But we enjoyed [Gareth Edwards’] perspective in a post entitled The Misfit who Built …read more Continue reading The IBM PC: Brainchild of a Misfit
Hackaday Podcast Episode 274: Capstan Robots, Avionics of Uncertain Purpose, and What the Frack?
What do capstans, direct conversion receivers, and fracking have in common? They were all topics Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams found fascinating this week. If you wonder what …read more Continue reading Hackaday Podcast Episode 274: Capstan Robots, Avionics of Uncertain Purpose, and What the Frack?
What’s the Difference Between Tang 9K and 20K (It isn’t 11…)
[Grug Huhler] has been working with the Tang Nano 9K FPGA board. They are inexpensive, and he noticed there is a 20K version, so he picked one up. Of course, …read more Continue reading What’s the Difference Between Tang 9K and 20K (It isn’t 11…)
Old Knobs with a Cast of Thousands
You have an old radio — in the case of [The Radio Mechanic], a Stromberg Carlson — and it needs new knobs. What do you do? You can’t very well …read more Continue reading Old Knobs with a Cast of Thousands
Fourier, the Animated Series
We’ve seen many graphical and animated explainers for the Fourier series. We suppose it is because it is so much fun to create the little moving pictures, and, as a …read more Continue reading Fourier, the Animated Series
Mechanic Prince of Tides
Lord Kelvin’s name comes up anytime you start looking at the history of science and technology. In addition to working on transatlantic cables and thermodynamics, he also built an early …read more Continue reading Mechanic Prince of Tides
Ham Busts the Myth of Ground
Everyone who deals with electronics knows that grounding is important. Your house has a copper rod in the ground. But [Kristen K6WX] has news: the idea of ground is kind …read more Continue reading Ham Busts the Myth of Ground
Tunneling TCP By File Server
You want to pass TCP traffic from one computer to another, but there’s a doggone firewall in the way. Can they both see a shared file? Turns out, that’s all …read more Continue reading Tunneling TCP By File Server
Tech in Plain Sight: Theodolites
We take it for granted that you can look at your phone and tell exactly where you are. At least, as exact as the GPS satellites will allow. But throughout …read more Continue reading Tech in Plain Sight: Theodolites