To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their Trinitron line of televisions, Sony launched the KX-45ED1. At forty three inches the screen on this particular model made it the largest tube television in the world, and it came with the kind of price tag that if you need to ask…you can’t afford it (likely around $100,000 USD today). Three decades later, only two of these mythical displays were thought to exist and [shank] chronicled his quest to acquire one of the last remaining “Big Boys” in the mini documentary below.

As it turns out, one of these gigantic tube televisions was located on the second floor of a restaurant in Japan still sitting in the same place it was installed in 1989. It hadn’t moved in the intervening decades, because the television and its specialized support stand weighed over 500 pounds. Having an object that heavy physically moved down a flight of stairs would seem to be the most formidable challenge for most, but compounding the issue for [shank] was that the building housing this colossal CRT was set to be permanently closed in less than a week.

With next to no time to arrange an international flight, [shank] utilized the power of internet to ask for help from anyone currently living near the “Big Boy” CRT’s soon-to-be final resting place. It just so happened that a fellow retro tech enthusiast based in Japan saw the post, and traveled over an hour by train at a moment’s notice to aid [shank]. The heartwarming story of total strangers united by a common interest of preserving a rare piece of tech history is certainly worth a watch. Let alone the goofy size comparison footage of the smallest CRT display sitting on top of the biggest one.

For more on tube TVs and the like, check out this article by Dave on retro gaming on CRT displays.

Pumpkin spice, also known as allspice with better marketing, has found its way into a seemingly endless amount of products over the years. It goes beyond the obvious foodstuffs of pies and cakes; because there are plenty of candles, deodorants, and air fresheners ready to add a little more spice to your world. One such autumnal smell enthusiast, YouTube user [J-Knows], sought to automate the delivery mechanism with his 3D printed pumpkin spice aerosol sprayer.

The sprayer device uses an Arduino to rotate a small 3D printed arm that depresses the button on an air freshener cap. This design came as a result of multiple attempts to create a clip that would securely attach to a standard canister. When problems arose with the clip slipping out of place after the motor rotated, a pinch of sticky tack ended up being just the solution. With the proper amount of adhesion, the automated sprayer could now “pollute” any space it is in, as [J-Knows] described.

What took this project to another level is the addition of an Adafruit GPS module. It was coded to respond when it was within one mile of a Starbucks — arguably the organization responsible for the pumpkin spice craze. For some the company’s pumpkin spice latte (PSL) is synonymous with all things fall, and marks the beginning of the season when it is brought back to the coffee menu. Though not being a regular coffee drinker himself, [J-Knows] fully committed to the bit by taking his creation on a test trip to his local Starbucks for a PSL. Judging by the amount of pumpkin spice aerosol solution that ended up on his car dash, he is going to be smelling it into the next year.

They simply don’t make them like they used to, and in the case of this retro LX system build, they only make what never existed in the first place. Earlier this year the long awaited video game UFO 50 released to widespread critical acclaim. The conceit of the game is an interactive anthology of a faux 1980’s game console constructed by a large group of actual indie game developers. Leave it to [Luke], who admitted to UFO 50 to taking over his life, to bring the LX system from the digital screen to the real world.

Each piece of the LX System case was printed on a multi-color filament capable Bambu Labs P1S. Dual XLR jacks wired up as USB serve as controller ports, and the controller itself is a repurposed NES style USB controller fitted with a new housing printed with the same filament as the case. Both the prominent front mounted power and “sys” buttons are functional; the latter actually switches to a new game within UFO 50. The brains of this project is a mini Windows PC hooked up to a 9 inch 720p LCD screen which is plenty enough resolution for pixelated look of the games. As impressive as replicating the whole case look is, it’s really brought together by the addition of a 3.5 inch floppy drive. It could be an interesting way to backup save files, provided they fit within 1.44 MB.

In addition to sharing the completed LX System, [Luke] has also made the print files available online along with a list of project materials used. It would be neat to see an alternate color scheme or remix for this working prototype of a console that never actually existed. In the meantime, there are plenty more games to play and discover in UFO 50…there’s 50 of them after all.

via Time Extension