Building a Commodore 64 is among the easier projects for retrocomputing fans to tackle. That’s because the C64’s core chipset does most of the heavy lifting; source those and you’re probably 80% of the way there. But what if you can’t find those chips, or if you want more of a challenge than plugging and chugging? Are you out of luck?

Hardly. The video below from [DrMattRegan] is the first in a series on his scratch-built C64 that doesn’t use the core chipset, and it looks pretty promising. This video concentrates on building a replacement for the 6502 microprocessor — actually the 6510, but close enough — using just a couple of EPROMs, some SRAM chips, and a few standard logic chips to glue everything together. He uses the EPROMs as a “rulebook” that contains the code to emulate the 6502 — derived from his earlier Turing 6502 project — and the SRAM chips as a “notebook” for scratch memory and registers to make a Turing-complete random access machine.

[DrMatt] has made good progress so far, with the core 6502 CPU built on a PCB and able to run the Apple II version of Pac-Man as a benchmark. We’re looking forward to the rest of this series, but in the meantime, a look back at his VIC-less VIC-20 project might be informative.

Thanks to [Clint] for the tip.

In the dark ages, before iOS and Android phones became ubiquitous, there was the PDA. These handheld computers acted as simple companions to a computer and could often handle calendars, email, notes and more. Their demise was spelled by the smartphone, but the nostalgia of having a simple handheld and romanticizing about the 90’s and 2000’s is still there. Fortunately for the nostalgic among our readers, [Ashtf] decided to give us a modern take on the classic PDAs.

The device is powered by an ESP32-S3 connected to two PCBs in a mini-laptop clamshell format. It features two displays, a main eInk for slow speed interaction and a little i2c AMOLED for more tasks which demand higher refresh then an eInk can provide. Next to the eInk display is a capacitive slider. For input, there is also a QWERTY keyboard with back resin printed keycaps and white air dry clay pressed into embossed lettering in the keys and finally sealed using nail polish to create a professional double-shot looking keycap. The switches are the metal dome kind sitting on the main PCB. The clamshell is a rather stylish clear resin showcasing the device’s internals and even features a quick-change battery cover!

The device’s “operating system” is truly where the magic happens. It features several apps including a tasks app, file wizard, and text app. The main purpose of the device is on the go note taking so much time has been taken with the excellent looking text app! It also features a docked mode which displays tasks and time when it detects a USB-C cable is connected. Plans exist in the future to implement a calender, desktop sync and even Bluetooth keybaord compatibility. The device’s previous iteration is on GitHub with future plans to expand functionality and availability, so stay tuned for more coverage!

This is not the first time we have covered [Ashtf’s] PDA journey, and we are happy to see the revisions being made!

A recent project over on Hackaday.io from [Michael Gardi] is Trekulator – Where No Maker Has Gone Before.

This is a fun build and [Michael] has done a very good job of emulating the original device. [Michael] used the Hackaday.io logging feature to log his progress. Starting in September 2024 he modeled the case, got his original hardware working, got the 7-segment display working, added support for sound, got the keypad working and mounted it, added the TFT display and mounted it, wired up the breadboard implementation, designed and implemented the PCBs, added some finishing touches, installed improved keys, and added a power socket back in March.

It is perhaps funny that where the original device used four red LEDs, [Michael] has used an entire TFT display. This would have been pure decadence by the standards of 1977. The software for the ESP32 microcontroller was fairly involved. It had to support audio, graphics, animations, keyboard input, the 7-segment display, and the actual calculations.

The calculations are done using double-precision floating-point values and eight positions on the display so this code will do weird things in some edge cases. For instance if you ask it to sum two eight digit numbers as 90,000,000 and 80,000,000, which would ordinarily sum to the nine digit value 170,000,000, the display will show you a different value instead, such as maybe 17,000,000 or 70,000,000. Why don’t you put one together and let us know what it actually does! Also, can you find any floating-point precision bugs?

This was a really fun project, thanks to [Michael] for writing it up and letting us know via the tips line!

A menos de un mes de su estreno en PC (Steam, Battle.net y Xbox Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X y Game Pass, por id Software ha publicado el segundo trailer oficial de DOOM The Dark Ages, la precuela de los aclamados DOOM (2016) y DOOM Eternal que se lanzará el 15 de mayo.

DOOM The Dark Ages narra una historia cinematográfica épica digna de la leyenda del DOOM Slayer. En esta tercera entrega de la serie moderna de DOOM, los jugadores se pondrán en la piel del DOOM Slayer en esta oscura y siniestra guerra medieval contra el Infierno, jamás vista.

Hace pocas semanas, varios medios y creadores de contenido han publicado los primeros avances y videos de gameplay de DOOM The Dark Ages, mostrando diferentes segmentos del juego en 1080p y 4K con diferentes ajustes gráficas y velocidad de juego (uno de ellos con velocidad a 150%).

Listados de previews:

• Gamerant
• CNET
• Eurogamer
• IGN
• Gamesradar
• Polygon
• VGC

También se dio a conocer que DOOM The Dark Ages llega a la tienda Battle.net de Blizzard con soporte para compra cruzada de Xbox. Este es el segundo gran juego de una empresa propia de Xbox, no perteneciente a Activision Blizzard, que cuenta con soporte en la tienda de PC, tradicionalmente centrada en Blizzard. El primero fue Avowed, de Obsidian Entertainment, que se lanzó en febrero.

Al igual que Avowed, esto significa que DOOM The Dark Ages es compatible con una versión extendida de Xbox Play Anywhere, ofreciendo a los jugadores que compren el juego en las consolas Xbox Series X|S, la app de Xbox para PC o Battle.net una copia de DOOM The Dark Ages en las tres plataformas.

Durante el evento Editor’s Day de Nvidia (en el cual estuve presente), Id Software presentó un nuevo trailer de DOOM The Dark Ages con Path Tracing y el developer informó que el juego que el juego se lanzará tanto con Path Tracing como con DLSS 4, incluyendo el nuevo Multi-Frame Generation, exclusivo para la Serie RTX 50.

DOOM The Dark Ages revolucionará los juegos al utilizar el trazado de rayos para mejorar tanto los aspectos visuales como la jugabilidad.  El trazado de rayos mejora la detección de impactos, ya que distingue materiales como el metal y el cuero, lo que hace que el juego sea más inmersivo.

«También tomamos la idea del trazado de rayos, no solo para usarlo en los aspectos visuales, sino también en la jugabilidad», explica el director de tecnología de motores de id Software, Billy Khan. «Podemos aprovecharlo para cosas que no hemos podido hacer en el pasado, como brindar una detección de impactos precisa. En DOOM The Dark Ages, tenemos materiales, sombreadores y superficies complejos».

«Entonces, cuando disparas tu arma, la detección de calor podría saber si estás golpeando un píxel de cuero que se encuentra al lado de un píxel de metal», continúa Billy. «Antes del trazado de rayos, no podíamos distinguir fácilmente entre dos píxeles y elegíamos uno u otro porque los materiales eran demasiado complejos. El trazado de rayos puede hacer esto por píxel y mostrar si estás golpeando metal o incluso algo que sea de piel. Hace que el juego sea más inmersivo y obtienes esa retroalimentación directa como jugador».

DOOM The Dark Ages se lanzará este 15 de mayo en PC vía Steam, PlayStation 5 y Xbox Series S|X, como también en Game Pass para PC y Xbox.

El costo de la edición estándar será de US$ 69.99 o precio regional, mientras que el de su edición Premium será de US$ 99,99 o precio regional. Reserva ya cualquier edición para recibir el diseño de DOOM Slayer del vacío con el lanzamiento.

Aniquila demonios con la Edición Premium, con hasta 2 días de acceso anticipado*, el contenido descargable de la campaña**, el libro digital de ilustraciones, la banda sonora y el paquete de diseños Divinidad para el DOOM Slayer, el dragón y el Atlan.

• Juego base
• Hasta 2 días de acceso anticipado
• Contenido descargable de campaña
• Libro digital de ilustraciones y banda sonora
• Paquete de diseños Divinidad

* El tiempo de juego real depende de la fecha de compra y las diferencias en las zonas horarias aplicables, y está sujeto a posibles interrupciones.

** La disponibilidad del contenido descargable se confirmará más adelante.

Acerca de DOOM The Dark Ages

DOOM The Dark Ages es un juego de disparos en primera persona que sirve de precuela a los aclamados DOOM (2016) y DOOM Eternal. Eres el DOOM Slayer, el legendario guerrero matademonios que lucha incansablemente contra el infierno. Vive el épico y cinematográfico origen de la furia del DOOM Slayer en 2025.

En esta tercera entrega de la modernizada saga DOOM, los jugadores se pondrán en las botas del DOOM Slayer, en una oscura y siniestra guerra medieval contra el Infierno, nunca antes vista.

DOOM The Dark Ages es una experiencia para un solo jugador que traerá los intensos combates y los espectaculares visuales de la incomparable franquicia DOOM, ahora con el último motor de idTech.

Siendo la súper arma definitiva de Dioses y Reyes, harás pedazos a los enemigos con tus devastadoras armas favoritas, como la Súper Escopeta, mientras haces uso de una variedad de nuevas y brutales armas, como el versátil Escudo Sierra.

Atravesarás campos de batalla infestados de demonios, luciendo el salvaje e intenso combate por el que es famosa la saga original DOOM. Álzate por el cielo montando el lomo del feroz Mecha Dragón y erígete en un descomunal Mecha Atlan para aplastar a los titánicos demonios y hacerlos picadillo.

Características principales:

• LUCHA EN LA PIEL DEL SLAYER EN UNA GUERRA MEDIEVAL CONTRA EL INFIERNO – DOOM: The Dark Ages es la precuela de los aclamados DOOM (2016) y DOOM Eternal, y narra el épico y cinematográfico origen de la furia del DOOM Slayer. En esta tercera entrega de la saga moderna de DOOM, los jugadores se pondrán en la piel del DOOM Slayer en una oscura y siniestra guerra medieval contra el infierno nunca antes vista.
• SOMETE AL INFIERNO – Como el superarma de dioses y reyes, harás pedazos a enemigos con tus devastadoras armas favoritas, como la superescopeta, pero también podrás empuñar una variedad de nuevas y brutales armas, como el versátil escudo sierra. Resistirás las acometidas y lucharás en los campos de batalla infestados de demonios en los salvajes e intensos combates por los que es famosa la saga original de DOOM.
• EL ORIGEN DE TU FURIA – Descubre el origen de la furia del DOOM Slayer en esta épica y cinematográfica historia cargada de acción. El DOOM Slayer, destinado a convertirse en el superarma de dioses y reyes, repele hordas de demonios mientras su líder intenta destruirlo para convertirse en el único terror del infierno. Presencia la forja de una leyenda conforme el Slayer va derrotando a las fuerzas demoníacas y cambia el curso de la guerra.
• DESCUBRE REINOS DESCONOCIDOS – En su misión por aplastar a las legiones del infierno, el Slayer se adentrará en reinos inexplorados. Castillos abandonados, campos de batalla épicos, bosques oscuros, páramos ancestrales y mundos del más allá cubiertos de misterio que ocultan un sinfín de desafíos y recompensas. Atraviesa un universo oscuro repleto de amenazas y secretos armado con el poderoso y letal escudo sierra en los niveles más extensos de id Software jamás vistos.

DOOM The Dark Ages requiere una tarjeta compatible con ray tracing, de modo que el mínimo de GPU es una RTX 2060 de Nvidia o una RX 6600 de AMD. Las detalles sobre las especificaciones para jugar con Path Tracing se revelarán en una fecha posterior.

Requisitos Mínimos para 1080p/60 FPS/Preset Bajo:

• SO: Win10 64Bit / Win 11 64Bit
• CPU: AMD Zen 2 o Intel 10th Generation @ 3.2Ghz con 8 núcleos/16 subprocesos o superior (ejemplos: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X o superior, Intel Core i7 10700K o superior)
• GPU: NVIDIA o GPU AMD con capacidad de trazado de rayos por hardware con 8 GB de VRAM dedicada o superior (ejemplos: NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super o superior, AMD RX 6600 o superior)
• Memoria RAM: 16 GB
• Almacenamiento: SSD NVME de 512 GB o superior (100 GB disponibles)

Requisitos para 1440p/60 FPS/Preset Alto:

• SO: Win10 64Bit / Win 11 64Bit
• CPU: AMD Zen 3 o Intel de 12.ª generación a 3,2 Ghz con 8 núcleos/16 subprocesos o superior (ejemplos: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X o superior, Intel Core i7 12700K o superior)
• GPU: GPU NVIDIA o AMD con capacidad de trazado de rayos por hardware con 10 GB de VRAM dedicada o superior (ejemplos: NVIDIA RTX 3080 o superior, AMD RX 6800 o superior)
• Memoria RAM: 32 GB
• Almacenamiento: SSD NVME de 512 GB o superior (100 GB disponibles)

Requisitos para 4K/60 FPS/Preset Ultra:

• SO: Win10 de 64 bits/Win 11 de 64 bits
  CPU: AMD Zen 3 o Intel de 12.ª generación a 3,2 Ghz con 8 núcleos/16 subprocesos o superior (ejemplos: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X o superior, Intel Core i7 12700K o superior)
• GPU: GPU NVIDIA o AMD con capacidad para trazado de rayos por hardware y 16 GB de VRAM dedicada o superior (ejemplos: NVIDIA RTX 4080 o superior, AMD RX 7900XT o superior)
• Memoria RAM: 32 GB
• Almacenamiento: SSD NVME de 512 GB o superior (100 GB disponibles)
• Nota: DOOM: The Dark Ages requiere una GPU compatible con trazado de rayos por hardware para jugar en PC, incluidas las especificaciones mínimas. Los detalles sobre las especificaciones de Path Tracing se revelarán en una fecha posterior.

La entrada DOOM The Dark Ages – Trailer Oficial #2 apareció primero en PC Master Race Latinoamérica.

Forth is popular on small computers because it is simple to implement, yet quite powerful. But what happens when you really need to shrink it? Well, if your target is the 6502, there’s milliForth-6502.

This is a port of milliForth, which is a fork of sectorforth. The sectorforth project set the standard, implementing a Forth so small it could fit in a 512-byte boot sector. The milliForth project took sectorforth and made it even smaller, weighing in at only 336 bytes. However, both milliForth and sectorforth are for the x86 architecture. With milliForth-6502, [Alvaro G. S. Barcellos] wanted to see how small he could make a 6502 implementation.

So how big is the milliForth-6502 binary? Our tests indicate: 1,110 bytes. It won’t quite fit in a boot sector, but it’s pretty small!

Most of the code for milliForth-6502 is assembly code in sector-6502.s. This code is compiled using tools from the cc65 project. To run the code lib6502 is used for 6502 emulation.

Emulation is all well and good as far as it goes, especially for development and testing, but we’d love to see this code running on a real 6502. Even better would be a 6502 built from scratch! If you get this code running we’d love to hear how it went!

Will a 486 run Crysis? No, of course not. Will it run a large language model (LLM)? Given the huge buildout of compute power to do just that, many people would scoff at the very notion. But [Yeo Kheng Meng] is not many people.

He has set up various DOS computers to run a stripped down version of the Llama 2 LLM, originally from Meta. More specifically, [Yeo Kheng Meng] is implementing [Andreq Karpathy]’s Llama2.c library, which we have seen here before, running on Windows 98.

Llama2.c is a wonderful bit of programming that lets one inference a trained Llama2 model in only seven hundred lines of C. It it is seven hundred lines of modern C, however, so porting to DOS 6.22 and the outdated i386 architecture took some doing. [Yeo Kheng Meng] documents that work, and benchmarks a few retrocomputers. As painful as it may be to say — yes, a 486 or a Pentium 1 can now be counted as “retro”.

The models are not large, of course, with TinyStories-trained  260 kB model churning out a blistering 2.08 tokens per second on a generic 486 box. Newer machines can run larger models faster, of course. Ironically a Pentium M Thinkpad T24 (was that really 21 years ago?) is able to run a larger 110 Mb model faster than [Yeo Kheng Meng]’s modern Ryzen 5 desktop. Not because the Pentium M is going blazing fast, mind you, but because a memory allocation error prevented that model from running on the modern CPU. Slow and steady finishes the race, it seems.

This port will run on any 32-bit i386 hardware, which leaves the 16-bit regime as the next challenge. If one of you can get an Llama 2 hosted locally on an 286 or a 68000-based machine, then we may have to stop asking “Does it run DOOM?” and start asking “Will it run an LLM?”

While ham radio operators have been embracing digital mobile radio (DMR), the equipment is most often bought since — at least in early incarnations — it needs a proprietary CODEC to convert speech to digital and vice versa. But [QRadioLink] decided to tackle a homebrew and open source DMR modem.

The setup uses a LimeSDR, GNU Radio, and Codec2. There are some other open DMR projects, such as OpenRTX. So we are hopeful there are going to be more choices. The DMR modem, however, is only a proof-of-concept and reuses the MMDVMHost code to do the data link layer.

[QRadioLink] found several receiver implementations available, but only one other DMR transmitter — actually, a transceiver. Rather than use an AMBE hardware device or the potentially encumbered mbelib codec, the project uses Codec2 which is entirely open source.

There’s a lot of explanation about the data collection to prepare for the project, and then a deep dive into the nuts and bolts of the implementation. You might enjoy the video below to see things in action.

If you just want to listen to DMR, it’s easy. If Codec2 sounds familiar, it is part of M17.

This fun PCB from [Nick Brown] features a miniature railroad implemented with 0805-sized LEDs. With an eye towards designing his own fun interactive PCB badge, the Light-Rail began its journey. He thoroughly documented his process, from shunting various late-night ideas together to tracking down discrepancies between the documentation of a part and the received part.

Inspired by our very own Supercon 2022 badge, he wanted to make a fun badge with a heavy focus on the aesthetics of the final design. He also wanted to challenge himself some in this project, so even though there are over 100 LEDs, they are not laid out in a symmetrical or matrix pattern. Instead, it’s an organic, winding railroad with crossings and stations throughout the board. Designed in KiCad the board contains 144 LEDS, 3 seven-segment displays, and over a dozen buttons that all come together in use for the built in game.

The challenges didn’t stop at just the organic layout of all those LEDs. He decided to use Rust for this project, which entailed writing his own driver for the seven-segment displays as well as creating a tone library for the onboard buzzer. As with all projects, unexpected challenges popped up along the way. One issue with how the oscillator was hooked up meant he wasn’t able to use the ATmega32U4, which was the brains of the entire railroad. After some experimenting, he came up with a clever hack: using a pogo pin jig to connect the clock where it needed to go while programming the board.

Be sure to check out all the details of this journey in his build log. If you love interactive badges also check out some of the other creative boards we’ve featured.

[Charmed Labs] are responsible for bringing numerous open-source hardware products to fruition over the years, and their latest device is an adorably small robotic camera platform called Goby, currently crowdfunding for its initial release. Goby has a few really clever design features and delivers a capable (and hackable) platform for under 100 USD.

Goby embraces its small size, delivering what its creators dub “tinypresence” — or the feeling of being there, but on a very small scale. Cardboard courses, LEGO arenas, or even tabletop gaming scenery hits different when experienced from a first-person perspective. Goby is entirely reprogrammable with nothing more than a USB cable and the Arduino IDE, while costing less than most Arduino starter kits.

One of the physical features we really like is the tail-like articulated caster at the rear. Flexing this pivots Goby up or down (and can even flip Goby completely over), allowing one to pan and tilt the view without needing to mount the camera on a gimbal. It also comes into play for recharging; Goby simply moves over the disc-shaped charger and pivots down to make contact.

At Goby‘s heart is an ESP32-S3 and OmniVision OV2640 camera sensor streaming a live video feed (and driving controls) with WebRTC. Fitting the WebRTC stack onto an ESP32 wasn’t easy, but opens up possibilities beyond just media streaming.

Goby is set up to make launching an encrypted connection as easy as sharing a URL or scanning a QR code. The link is negotiated between bot and client with the initial help of an external server, and once a peer-to-peer connection is established, the server’s job is done and it is out of the picture. [Charmed Labs]’s code for this functionality — named BitBang — is in beta and destined for an open release as well. While BitBang is being used here to make it effortless to access Goby remotely, it’s more broadly intended to make web access for any ESP32-based device easier to implement.

As far as tiny remote camera platforms go, it might not be as small as rebuilding a Hot Wheels car into a micro RC platform, but it’s definitely more accessible and probably cheaper, to boot. Check it out at the Kickstarter (see the first link in this post) and watch it in action in the video, embedded just below the page break.

These days even a lowly microcontroller can easily trade blows with – or surpass – desktop systems of yesteryear, so it is little wonder that DIY handheld gaming systems based around an MCU are more capable than ever. A case in point is the GK handheld gaming system by [John Cronin], which uses an MCU from relatively new and very capable STM32H7S7 series, specifically the 225-pin STM32H7S7L8 in TFBGA package with a single Cortex-M7 clocked at 600 MHz and a 2D NeoChrom GPU.

Coupled with this MCU are 128 MB of XSPI (hexa-SPI) SDRAM, a 640×480 color touch screen, gyrometer, WiFi network support and the custom gkOS in the firmware for loading games off an internal SD card. A USB-C port is provided to both access said SD card’s contents and for recharging the internal Li-ion battery.

As can be seen in the demonstration video, it runs a wide variety of games, ranging from DOOM (of course), Quake, as well as Command and Conquer: Red Alert and emulators for many consoles, with the Mednafen project used to emulate Game Boy, Super Nintendo and other systems at 20+ FPS. Although there aren’t a lot of details on how optimized the current firmware is, it seems to be pretty capable already.

There are a number of reasons you might want to build your own smart speaker virtual assistant. Usually, getting your weather forecast from a snarky, malicious AI potato isn’t one of them, unless you’re a huge Portal fan like [Binh Pham].

[Binh Pham] built the potato incarnation of GLaDOS from the Portal 2 video game with the help of a ReSpeaker Light kit, an ESP32-based board designed for speech recognition and voice control, and as an interface for home assistant running on a Raspberry Pi.

He resisted the temptation to use a real potato as an enclosure and wisely opted instead to print one from a 3D file he found on Thingiverse of the original GLaDOS potato. Providing the assistant with the iconic synthetic voice of GLaDOS was a matter of repackaging an existing voice model for use with Home Assistant.

Of course all of this attention to detail would be for not if you had to refer to the assistant as “Google” or “Alexa” to get its attention. A bit of custom modelling and on-device wake word detection, and the cyborg tuber was ready to switch lights on and off with it’s signature sinister wit.

We’ve seen a number of projects that brought Portal objects to life for fans of the franchise to enjoy, even an assistant based on another version of the GLaDOS the character. This one adds a dimension of absurdity to the collection.

It’s been a while since we’ve dunked on an autonomous taxi foul-up, mainly because it seemed for a while there that most of the companies field testing driverless ride-sharing services had either ceased operation or curtailed them significantly. But that appears not to be the case after a Waymo robotaxi got stuck in a Chick-fil-A drive-through. The incident occurred at the chicken giant’s Santa Monica, California location at about 9:30 at night, when the autonomous Jaguar got stuck after dropping off a passenger in the parking lot. The car apparently tried to use the drive-through lane to execute a multi-point turn but ended up across the entrance, blocking other vehicles seeking their late-evening chicken fix. The drive-through-only restaurant ended up closing for a short time while Waymo figured out how to get the vehicle moving again.

To be fair, drive-through lanes are challenging even for experienced drivers. Lanes are often narrow, curve radii are sometimes tighter than a large vehicle can negotiate smoothly, and the task-switching involved with transitioning from driver to customer can lead to mistakes. Drive-throughs almost seem engineered to make tempers flare, especially at restaurants where hangry drivers are likely to act out at the slightest delay. This is probably doubly so when drivers are stuck behind a driverless car, completely eliminating even the minimal decency that would likely be extended to a human driver who got themselves in a pickle. If people are willing to honk at and curse out the proverbial little old lady from Pasadena, they’re very unlikely to cooperate with a robotaxi and give it the room it needs to maneuver out of a tight spot. Perhaps that argues for a change in programming that accounts for real-world driving experiences as well as the letter of the law.

The big news from space this week was the private Fram2 mission, which took an all-civilian crew on the world’s first crewed polar flight. The four-person crew took off from Florida in a SpaceX Crew Dragon and rather than heading east towards Africa, took off due north and entered a retrograde orbit at 90° inclination, beating the previous record of 65° inclination by Valentina Tereshkova aboard Vostok 6 back in 1963. The Fram2 team managed a couple of other firsts, from the first medical X-rays taken in space to the first amateur radio contacts made from the Dragon.

It’s been a while, but Bill “The Engineer Guy” Hammack is back with a new video extolling the wonders of plastic soda bottles. If you think that’s a subject too mundane to hold your interest, then you’ve never seen Bill at work. The amount of engineering that goes into creating a container that can stand up to its pressurized content while being able to be handled both by automation machines at the bottling plant and by thirsty consumers is a lesson in design brilliance. Bill explains the whole blow-molding process, amazingly using what looks like an actual Coca-Cola production mold. We would have thought such IP would be fiercely protected, but such is Bill’s clout, we guess. The video is also a little trip down memory lane for some of us, as Bill shows off both the two-piece 2-liter bottles that used to grace store shelves and the ponderous glass versions that predated those. Also interesting is the look at the differences between hot-fill bottles and soda bottles, which we never appreciated before.

And finally, if you’ve ever been confused by which logical fallacy is clouding your thinking, why not turn to the most famous fictional logician of all time to clarify things? “Star Trek Logical Reasoning” is a YouTube series by CHDanhauser that uses clips from the Star Trek animated series to illustrate nearly 70 logical fallacies. Each video is quite short, with most featuring Commander Spock eavesdropping on the conversations of his less-logical shipmates and pointing out the flaws in their logic. Luckily, the 23rd century seems to have no equivalent of human(oid) resources, because Spock’s logical interventions are somewhat toxic by today’s standards, but that’s a small price to pay for getting your logical ducks in a row.

Recently [Dillan Stock] over at The Stock Pot YouTube channel bought a $17 ‘mushroom’ lamp from his local Kmart that listed ‘USB-C rechargeable’ as one of its features, the only problem being that although this is technically true, there’s a major asterisk. This Inaya-branded lamp namely comes with a USB-C cable with a rather prominent label attached to it that tells you that this lamp requires that specific cable. After trying with a regular USB-C cable, [Dillan] indeed confirmed that the lamp does not charge from a standard USB-C cable. So he did what any reasonable person would do: he bought a second unit and set about to hacking it.

[Dillan] also dug more into what’s so unusual about this cable and the connector inside the lamp. As it turns out, while GND & Vcc are connected as normal, the two data lines (D+, D-) are also connected to Vcc. Presumably on the lamp side this is the expected configuration, while using a regular USB-C cable causes issues. Vice versa, this cable’s configuration may actually be harmful to compliant USB-C devices, though [Dillan] did not try this.

With the second unit in hand, he then started hacking it, with the full plans and schematic available on his website.

The changes include a regular USB-C port for charging, an ESP32 board with integrated battery charger for the 18650 Li-ion cell of the lamp, and an N-channel MOSFET to switch the power to the lamp’s LED. With all of the raw power from the ESP32 available, the two lamps got integrated into the Home Assistant network which enables features such as turning the lamps on when the alarm goes off in the morning. All of this took about $7 in parts and a few hours of work.

Although we can commend [Dillan] on this creative hack rather than returning the item, it’s worrying that apparently there’s now a flood of ‘USB C-powered’ devices out there that come with non-compliant cables that are somehow worse than ‘power-only’ USB cables. It brings back fond memories of hunting down proprietary charging cables, which was the issue that USB power was supposed to fix.

A couple of months back, Electronic Arts did something uncharacteristically benevolent and released several of the old Command and Conquer games under the GPLv3. Logically, we knew that opened the doors up to the games being ported to new operating systems and architectures, but we admit that it was still a little surprising to see Command and Conquer: Red Alert running on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2.

[Charlie Birks] documented the process of getting the 1996 game up and running on the microcontroller in a series of Mastodon posts spanning a few days in March. Seeing the incremental progress made each day makes for interesting reading, as he moves from the game just barely starting up to being able to complete missions and eventually even get multiplayer going between two Picos.

As [Charlie] clarifies, he’s technically using the Pimoroni Pico Plus 2 W, which takes the RP2350B from the official Pico 2, adds 8 MB of PSRAM, and bumps the onboard flash to 16 MB. The upgraded specs and an SD card are required to get the game running, as content that would have originally been held in RAM on the computer must instead be pulled from flash.

For an even more streamlined experience, he eventually slaps the Pico Plus 2 W into the Pimoroni Pico VGA Demo Base — which provided not only an integrated SD card slot, but (as the name implies) VGA output.

It’s still early days, but [Charlie] has been pushing all of his code changes into his fork of Red Alert on GitHub for anyone who wants to play along at home. If you get his fork compiled and running on your own Pico, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Meet the little board that could: [alcor6502]’s tiny USB relay controller, now evolved into a multifunction marvel. Originally built as a simple USB relay to probe the boundaries of JLCPCB’s production chops, it has become a compact utility belt for any hacker’s desk drawer. Not only has [alcor6502] actually built the thing, he even provided intstructions. If you happened to be at Hackaday in Berlin, you now might even own one, as he handed out twenty of them during his visit. If not, read on and build it yourself.

This thing is not just a relay, and that is what makes it special. Depending on a few solder bridges and minimal components, it shape-shifts into six different tools: a fan controller (both 3- and 4-pin!), servo driver, UART interface, and of course, the classic relay. It even swaps out a crystal oscillator for USB self-sync using STM32F042‘s internal RC – no quartz, less cost, same precision. A dual-purpose BOOT0 button lets you flash firmware and toggle outputs, depending on timing. Clever reuse, just like our mothers taught us.

It’s the kind of design that makes you want to tinker again. Fewer parts. More function. And that little smile when it just works. If this kind of clever compactness excites you too, read [alcor6502]’s build log and instructions here.

Los fanáticos de Dodge Roll y los «siempre positivo nunca negativo» de Devolver Digital han desvelado que Enter the Gungeon 2 está en desarrollo, uno muy activo.

Presentado por Dave Crooks de Dodge Roll durante el Nintendo Direct de hoy, Enter the Gungeon 2 es una secuela abarrotada y de alto calibre del icónico juego de mazmorras y balas, todo ello reforzado con un nuevo estilo artístico en 3D, nuevas armas y enemigos y una jugabilidad ampliada.

Enter the Gungeon 2 llegará a PC vía Steam y Nintendo Switch 2 en 2026. Ya puedes añadirlo a tu lista de deseos en Steam, incluso aunque no tengas PC. Permanece atento a las actualizaciones que llegarán a lo largo del año, incluidos anuncios sobre la inclusión del juego en plataformas adicionales, a menudo ocurre cuando menos te lo esperas.

Lucha a través de zonas conocidas y desconocidas mientras la Gungeon en ruinas revela sus secretos a aquellos lo suficientemente valientes como para entrar. Descubre, desbloquea y domina fantásticas armas en sus salas generadas procedimentalmente y destruye las legiones de Gundead que surgen de su interior.

Acerca de Enter the Gungeon 2

Embárcate en dinámicas batallas contra enemigos endiabladamente cutes, antes confinados al plano 2D, y deléitate mientras son golpeados, lanzados por los aires y arrojados a las profundidades de los pozos.

Elige entre un elenco de Gungeoneers en expansión, lleno de caras nuevas y conocidas mientras rescatas y extraes héroes abandonados de las profundidades de la Mazmorra. Hazte invencible mediante combinaciones inesperadas de poderosos objetos pasivos, explosivos objetos activos, bendiciones, maldiciones y tu propio dominio sobre un impresionante arsenal de armas.

Y trata de entender por qué te encuentras bajo una lluvia de balas en la Gungeon una vez más…

Acerca de Devolver Digital

Devolver Digital, Inc. es una editorial estadounidense de videojuegos con sede en Austin, Texas, especializada en la publicación de juegos independientes.

La compañía fue fundada en junio de 2009 por Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults y Mike Wilson, cinco ejecutivos que habían participado en Gathering of Developers y Gamecock Media Group, que publicaban juegos en condiciones favorables para los desarrolladores.

Sin embargo, debido al alto coste asociado al lanzamiento de juegos en tiendas físicas, fueron adquiridos y disueltos por empresas más grandes. Para evitarlo, Devolver Digital recurrió a los canales de distribución digital.

Devolver Digital comenzó publicando remakes en alta definición de los juegos de la serie Serious Sam. Tras el éxito de estos remakes y los juegos derivados de la serie, Devolver Digital comenzó a publicar juegos de otros estudios independientes más pequeños, uno de los primeros de los cuales fue su exitoso título, Hotline Miami.

La compañía también operaba Devolver Digital Films para la distribución cinematográfica y es propietaria mayoritaria de la editorial Good Shepherd Entertainment.

En enero de 2020, Devolver Digital contaba con 20 empleados. La empresa salió a bolsa en el Mercado de Inversiones Alternativas en noviembre de 2021.

La empresa es propiedad principalmente de Miller, Struthers y Lowrie, con participaciones minoritarias de NetEase, Sony Interactive Entertainment y Kwalee.

Acerca de Enter the Gungeon

Enter the Gungeon es un roguelike de tipo bullet hell de 2016, desarrollado por Dodge Roll y publicado por Devolver Digital. Ambientado en la Gungeon, una zona con temática de armas de fuego, la jugabilidad sigue a varios personajes jugadores, llamados Gungeoneers, que recorren salas generadas proceduralmente para encontrar un arma capaz de «matar el pasado».

Los Gungeoneers luchan contra enemigos con forma de bala, a los que se enfrentan con armas convencionales y exóticas. Enter the Gungeon cuenta con un sistema de muerte permanente, que hace que los Gungeoneers pierdan todos los objetos obtenidos y comiencen de nuevo desde el primer nivel al morir.

Entre partidas, los jugadores pueden viajar a una zona llamada la Brecha, donde pueden conversar con personajes no jugadores y desbloquear nuevos objetos que encontrarán aleatoriamente durante el juego.

La entrada Enter the Gungeon 2 anunciado para PC y Switch 2 – Primeros Screenshots y Teaser Trailer apareció primero en PC Master Race Latinoamérica.

A great many PlayStation 2 games were coded in C++, and there are homebrew SDKs that let you work in C. However, precious little software for the platform was ever created in Golang. [Ricardo] decided this wouldn’t do, and set about making the language work with Sony’s best-selling console of all time. 

Why program a PS2 in Go? Well, it can be easier to work with than some other languages, but also, there’s just value in experimenting in this regard. These days, Go is mostly just used on traditional computery platforms, but [Ricardo] is taking it into new lands with this project.

One of the challenges in getting Go to run on the PS2 is that the language was really built to live under a full operating system, which the PS2 doesn’t really have. However, [Ricardo] got around this by using TinyGo, which is designed for compiling Go on simpler embedded platforms. It basically takes Go code, turns it into an intermediate representation, then compiles binary code suitable for the PS2’s Emotion Engine (which is a MIPS-based CPU).

The specifics of getting it all to work are quite interesting if you fancy challenges like these. [Ricardo] was even able to get to an effective Hello World point and beyond. There’s still lots to do, and no real graphical fun yet, but the project has already passed several key milestones. It recalls us of when we saw Java running on the N64. Meanwhile, if you’re working to get LOLCODE running on the 3DO, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Ever want to get into reverse engineering but don’t know where to start? You’re in luck — [Hash] just dropped a case study in chip glitching that should get you off on the right foot.

The object of this reverse engineering effort in the video below is a Microchip SAM4C32C, removed from one of the many smart electrical meters [Hash] loves to tear into. This microcontroller was supposed to be locked to prevent anyone from sniffing around in the code, but after soldering the chip to a target board and plugging it into a Chip Whisperer, [Hash] was able to find some odd-looking traces on the oscilloscope. Of particular interest was an unusual pattern on the scope while resetting the chip, which led him to an AI-assisted search for potential vulnerabilities. This allowed him to narrow down the target time for a power glitch, and in only a few seconds, the chip was forced to bypass its security bit and drop into its boot loader. With the keys to the kingdom, [Hash] was able to read the firmware and find all sorts of interesting tidbits.

Obviously, chip glitching isn’t always as easy as this, and even when a manufacturer leaves a vector like this in the chip, exploiting it does take some experience and finesse. But, if you’re going to get started glitching, it makes sense to start with the low-hanging fruit, and having [Hash] along for the ride doesn’t hurt either.

The Pomdoro technique of time management has moved on a little from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer which gave it a name, as [Rukenshia] shows us with this nifty ESP32 and e-paper design. It’s relatively simple in hardware terms, being a collection of off-the-shelf modules in a 3D printed case, but the software has a custom interface for the friend it was built for.

At its heart is a NodeMCU board and a Waveshare display module, with a rotary encoder and addressable LED as further interface components. A lot of attention has been paid to the different options for the interface, and to make the front end displayed on the screen as friendly and useful as possible. Power comes via USB-C, something that should be available in most working environments here in 2025.

We’ve tried a variant on this technique for a while now with varying success, maybe because a mobile phone doesn’t make for as good a timer as a dedicated piece of hardware such as this. Perhaps we should follow this example. If we did, the Hackaday timer couldn’t possibly use an ESP32.