Hackaday Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ep 208: Hallucinating Robots, Floppy Cartridges, and a Flexure Synth French Horn Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and (former Assignments Editor) Kristina Panos stood around talking about the greatest hacks of the previous week. But first, we've got a contest running now through March 21st -- the Low Power Challenge!

Kristina almost got What's That Sound this week, but could only describe it as some sort of underwater organ, so still no t-shirt for her. But [BalkanBoy] knew exactly what it was -- the Zadar Sea Organ in Croatia. Then it's on to the hacks, beginning with the most beautiful sea of 7-segments you'll likely ever see. We gush over a tiny PC in a floppy drive that uses custom cartridges, dish about an expressive synth that uses a flexure mechanism, and enjoy a loving ode to the vacuum fluorescent display.

Ep 207: Modular Furniture, Plastic Prosthetics, and Your Data on YouTube Feb 24, 2023

Show notes

Join Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi as they explore the best and most interesting stories from the last week. The top story if of course the possibility that at least some of the unidentified flying objects the US Air Force valiantly shot down were in fact the work of amateur radio enthusiasts, but a quantitative comparison of NASA's SLS mega-rocket to that of popular breakfast cereals is certainly worth a mention as well.

Afterwards the discussion will range from modular home furnishings to the possibility of using YouTube (or maybe VHS tapes) to backup your data and AI-generated Pong. Also up for debate are cheap CO2 monitors which may or may not be CO2 monitors, prosthetic limbs made from locally recycled plastic, and an answer to Jenny's Linux audio challenge from earlier this month.

Check out the show notes for the links and discussion!

Ep 206: Busted Crypto Killed the Queen, Kicad's New Clothes, Peer Inside the Sol 20 Feb 17, 2023

Show notes

Under the weather though they both were, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Staff Writer Dan Maloney got together to take a look under the covers of this week's best and brightest hacks. It was a banner week, with a look at the changes that KiCad has in store, teaching a CNN how to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors," and going deep into the weeds on JPEG.

We dipped a toe into history, too, with a look at one of the sexiest early hobbyist computers, seeing how citizen scientists are finding ancient burial mounds, and looking at the cryptography that cost a queen her head. Rather look to the future? We get it -- which is why we talked about a greener, cleaner way of making hydrogen from methane, as well as a generatively designed five-axis 3D printer. From laser-precise knife sharpening to circuit simulation with Python to clear plastic TVs of the 1930s, there's something for everyone!

Ep 205: Hackaday Berlin, So Many Sundials, and Ovens Pinging Google Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi start this week's episode off with the announcement of Hackaday Berlin on March 25th. It's been quite some time since we've been on the other side of the pond, because we had to cancel 2020's Hackaday Belgrade due to COVID-19, so excitement is high for all three days of this "one-day" event.

After a new What's that Sound, discussion moves on to an impressive collection of DIY sundials, the impact filament color has on the strength of 3D printed parts, the incredible retrocomputer replicas of Michael Gardi, and the Arduino FPGA that you've probably never heard of. We'll wrap things up with the unexpected difficulties of mixing multiple cheap audio sources in Linux, and try to figure out why our kitchen appliances need to be connected to the Internet.

Check out the links and tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Ep 204: Cesium, Colorful Cast Buttons, and CNC Pizza Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos met up over thousands of miles to discuss the hottest hacks of the past seven days. There's a whole lot of news this week, and the really good part is the the small radioactive source that went missing in Australia has been found. Phew!

Kristina is still striking out on What's That Sound, but we're sure you'll fare better. If you think you know what it is, fill out the form and you'll be entered to win a coveted Hackaday Podcast t-shirt!

Finally, we get on to the hacks with an atomic pendulum clock that's accurate enough for CERN, safecracking the rough-and-ready way, and plenty of hacks that are non-destructive to nice, old things. We'll gush over a tiny DIY adjustable wrench, drool over CNC pizza, and rock out to the sounds of a LEGO guitar/synthesizer thing.

Check out the links and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Ep 203: Flashlight Fuel Fails, Weird DMA Machines, and a 3D Printed Prosthetic Hand Flex Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi meet up virtually to talk about all the hacks that are fit to print. This week's episode starts off with a discussion about the recently unveiled 2023 Hackaday.io Low-Power Challenge, and how hackers more often than not thrive when forced to work within these sort of narrow parameters. Discussion then continues to adding a virtual core to the RP2040, crowd-sourced device reliability information, and mechanical Soviet space computers. We'll wrap things up by wondering what could have been had Mattel's ill-fated ThingMaker 3D printer actually hit the market, and then engage in some wild speculation about the issues plaguing NASA's latest Moon mission.

Check out the links over at Hackaday!

Ep 202: CNC Monks, Acrobot, Bootleg Merch, and the Rise and Fall of Megahex Jan 20, 2023

Show notes

This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos stood around and marveled at machinery in its many forms, from a stone-cutting CNC to an acrobatic robot to an AI-controlled Twitch v-tuber. But before all of that, we took a look at the winners of our FPV Vehicle Contest, poured one out for Google Stadia, and Elliot managed to stump Kristina once again with this week's What's That Sound. Will you fare better?

Later, we drooled over an open-source smart watch, argued screen printing versus stenciling when it comes to bootleg Hackaday merch, and got into the finer points of punycodes.

Check out the links and join in the conversation over at Hackaday.

Ep 201: Faking a Transmission, Making Nuclear Fuel, and a Slidepot With a Twist Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

Even for those with paraskevidekatriaphobia, today is your lucky day as Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Staff Writer Dan Maloney sit under ladders with umbrellas while holding black cats to talk about the week in awesome hacks. And what a week it was, with a Scooby Doo code review, mushrooms in your PCBs, and the clickiest automatic transmission that never was. Have you ever flashed the firmware on a $4 wireless sensor? Maybe you should try. Wondering how to make a rotary Hall sensor detect linear motion? We'll answer that too. Will AI muscle the dungeon master out of your D&D group? That's a hard no. We'll talk about a new RISC-V ESP32, making old video new again, nuclear reactor kibble, and you're least satisfying repair jobs. And yes, everyone can relax -- I'm buying her a new stove.

Check out the links in the show notes over on Hackaday.

Ep 200: Happy New Year, the Ultimate Game Boy, and Python All the Things Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Managing Editor Tom Nardi ring in the New Year with...well, pretty much the same stuff they do every other week. After taking some time to talk about the nuts and bolts of the podcast in honor of Episode 200, discussion moves on to favorite stories of the week including an impeccably cloned Dyson lamp, one hacker's years-long quest to build the ultimate Game Boy, developing hardware in Python, building a breadboard computer with the 6502's simplified sibling, and the latest developments surrounding the NABU set-top box turned retrocomputer. The episode wraps up with a review of some of the biggest themes we saw in 2022, and how they're likely to shape the tech world in the coming years.

Check out the links over on Hackaday.

Ep 199: Ferrofluid Follies, Decentralized Chaos, and NTSC for You and Me Dec 30, 2022

Show notes

This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Assignments Editor Kristina Panos decided against using one of Kristina's tin can microphones to record the podcast, though that might be a cool optional thing to do once (and then probably never again).

After a brief foray into the news that the Chaos Communications Congress will be decentralized once again this year, as COVID restrictions make planning this huge event a complete headache (among other notable symptoms), we discuss the news that the EU is demanding replaceable batteries in phones going forward.

After that, it's time for another What's That Sound results show, and despite repeated listens, Kristina fails to guess the thing. Even if she'd had an inkling as to what it was, she probably would have said 'split-flap display' instead of the proper answer, which is 'flip-dot display', as a few people responded.

Finally, it's on to the hacks, where we talk about uses for ferrofluid and decide that it's one of those things that's just for fun and should not be applied to the world as some sort of all-purpose whacking device.

Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected