Navarre Bartz – Page 20 – WindowsTechs.com

Fixing Some More of Apple’s Design Mistakes

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

An exploded view of an AirPods Pro case. The outer case consists of two long, capsule-shaped sections that enclose several smaller parts including the wireless charging cable, contacts for charging the AirPods themselves, and the top rounded protective piece for the buds that nestles into the top capsule. This version includes screws to fasten everything together instead of adhesives.

Love them or hate them, there’s no denying that Apple has strayed from the Woz’s original open platform ideal for the Apple II. [Ken Pillonel] is back for another round …read more Continue reading Fixing Some More of Apple’s Design Mistakes→

Supercon 2022: Bradley Gawthrop Wants You to Join the PEV Revolution

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

A man in a dark shirt stands at a podium in front of a projector screen with the text "50% OF US CAR TRIPS" in white above yellow text saying "1 HUMAN < 3 MILES". The screen is flanked by decor saying "Supercon" in white on a black background.

During the 20th Century, much of the western world decided that motor vehicles were the only desirable form of transportation. We built our cities to accommodate cars through parking, stop …read more Continue reading Supercon 2022: Bradley Gawthrop Wants You to Join the PEV Revolution→

A Different Approach to EV Conversions

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

An open engine bay for a small car. The wheels are off so the hubs and brakes are visible to the side and the electric motor mounted on top of the vehicle's original engine block is in the center of the image.

While there are a lot of exciting electric vehicles finally coming to market, many of us feel nostalgic for the fossil cars of our youth. [Mihir Vardhan] restored his grandfather’s …read more Continue reading A Different Approach to EV Conversions→

Hydrogels for Bioelectronic Interfaces

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

A glass plate holds a translucent set of silver electrodes. The plate appears to be suspended across two petri dishes, so the scale must be small.

Interfacing biological and electrical systems has traditionally been done with metal electrodes, but something flexible can be more biocompatible. One possible option is 3D-printed bioelectric hydrogels. Electrically conductive hydrogels based …read more Continue reading Hydrogels for Bioelectronic Interfaces→

Ecological System Dynamics for Computing

Posted on June 24, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

Some of you may remember that the ship’s computer on Star Trek: Voyager contained bioneural gel packs. Researchers have taken us one step closer to a biocomputing future with a …read more Continue reading Ecological System Dynamics for Computing→

IKEA Hack – Kvart into Mic Stand

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

A small black microphone in a black 3d printed mount. The mount is attached to an adjustable silver neck attached to a desk clamp from an IKEA lamp.

While audiophiles might spend gazillions of hours finely honing a microphone stand that isolates their equipment from the trials and perturbations of the world, most of us who use a …read more Continue reading IKEA Hack – Kvart into Mic Stand→

An Unexpected Upset in EV Charging Standards

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

Last November, Tesla open-sourced parts of its charging infrastructure, not-so-humbly unveiling it as the North American Charging Standard (NACS). It’s finally taking off with a number of manufacturers signing on. …read more Continue reading An Unexpected Upset in EV Charging Standards→

Kinefox Tracks Wildlife for a Lifetime

Posted on June 17, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

An image of two dogs and a bison wearing harnesses with the energy harvesting system. Text next to the animals says Dog 1 (Exp. 1), Dog 2 (Exp. 2), Dog 2 (Exp. 3), and Wisent (Exp. 4)

Radio trackers have become an important part of studying the movements of wildlife, but keeping one running for the life of an animal has been challenging. Researchers have now developed …read more Continue reading Kinefox Tracks Wildlife for a Lifetime→

Math You Can Wear: Fibonacci Spiral LED Badge

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

A black work mat holds a circular badge with 64 addressable LEDs in a spiraling shape akin to the center of a sunflower. The LEDs have a rotating rainbow spiraling around the circle with red touching violet on one end. The colors extend in bands from the center to the rim of the circle.

Fibonacci numbers are seen in the natural structures of various plants, such as the florets in sunflower heads, areoles on cacti stems, and scales in pine cones. [HackerBox] has developed …read more Continue reading Math You Can Wear: Fibonacci Spiral LED Badge→

Apple II – Now With ChatGPT

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Navarre Bartz

Closeup of an Apple ][ terminal program. The background is blue and the text white. The prompt says, "how are you today?" and the ChatGPT response says, "As an AI language model, I don't have feelings, but I am functioning optimally. Thank you for asking. How may I assist you?"

Hackers are finding no shortage of new things to teach old retrocomputers, and [Evan Michael] has taught his Apple II how to communicate with ChatGPT. Written in Python, iiAI lets …read more Continue reading Apple II – Now With ChatGPT→