Jenny List writes about a project by Levente Szabadkai who traced the iconic font from Commodore 64 keyboard keycaps using photographs and released it as a vector font on GitHub. The font includes uppercase letters, PETSCII glyphs, function keys, and a Commodore logo, though commenters noted several inaccuracies in the tracing and pointed out that the C64 did in fact support lowercase characters on screen.
- Commenters identified specific discrepancies in the recreated font, including the shape of the G, R, and M characters, and the lack of stroke contrast present on the original keycaps.
- A commenter provided a Dropbox link to a modified version of the font that adds lowercase letters and fixes some symbols.
- The article's claim that the C64 "never sported lower case letters" was widely disputed; the machine supported lowercase via C= + Shift, though the keycaps themselves only displayed uppercase.
- A link to an earlier, more faithful recreation of the C64 screen font (style64.org) was shared, though that is distinct from the keycap font.
- Commenters identified specific discrepancies in the recreated font, including the shape of the G, R, and M characters, and the lack of stroke contrast present on the original keycaps.
- A commenter provided a Dropbox link to a modified version of the font that adds lowercase letters and fixes some symbols.
- The article's claim that the C64 "never sported lower case letters" was widely disputed; the machine supported lowercase via C= + Shift, though the keycaps themselves only displayed uppercase.
- A link to an earlier, more faithful recreation of the C64 screen font (style64.org) was shared, though that is distinct from the keycap font.
Jenny List writes about how an undocumented feature in certain ESP32 chips allows the raw I/Q stream to be tapped before the WiFi modem, effectively turning them into software-defined radio receivers. Discovered independently by Espargos and a Reddit user, the mode supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands but is limited to receive-only operation.
- Only works on ESP32 variants with earlier Tensilica hardware; Bluetooth-only and non-radio P4 chips won't work
- Transmit capability appears possible but remains undocumented, with the discoverer refusing to share due to "rule 3"
- The 80 Msps 32-bit/sample data rate creates bandwidth challenges for external transfer via SDIO or UART interfaces
- Only works on ESP32 variants with earlier Tensilica hardware; Bluetooth-only and non-radio P4 chips won't work
- Transmit capability appears possible but remains undocumented, with the discoverer refusing to share due to "rule 3"
- The 80 Msps 32-bit/sample data rate creates bandwidth challenges for external transfer via SDIO or UART interfaces
Maya Posch writes about Aaron Christophel disassembling a €15 UGreen USB-C cable rated at 240 watts, which features an integrated IPS LCD screen and a single touch control. The teardown reveals a PCB with an EN32LF056 Cortex-M0+ MCU, voltage regulators, and a MOSFET for backlighting. By probing the exposed SWD interface, Christophel confirmed the chip has 64 kB of Flash and 4 kB of SRAM, then flashed custom firmware to display video frames on the tiny display.
- The MCU is not wired to the USB data interface, so it cannot act as a man-in-the-middle or keylogger
- A commenter noted that such dense integrated cables raise concerns about secure pairing and encryption for USB connections
- The MCU is not wired to the USB data interface, so it cannot act as a man-in-the-middle or keylogger
- A commenter noted that such dense integrated cables raise concerns about secure pairing and encryption for USB connections
Tom Nardi writes that Mateusz Juszczyk has created a desktop gadget called ESP32-Plane-Radar, which uses an ESP32-C3 Super Mini and a round GC9A01 display to visualize aircraft movement. Rather than using actual radar hardware, the device connects via WiFi to adsb.fi to pull crowdsourced Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) flight data, creating a professional-looking circular radar display that reflects real-world local airspace activity.
- The project features a minimalistic 3D printed enclosure for its components.
- A web-based configuration interface is included for easier setup via WiFi.
- Despite the name, it does not sniff ADS-B signals directly from radio waves but uses internet data instead.
- The project features a minimalistic 3D printed enclosure for its components.
- A web-based configuration interface is included for easier setup via WiFi.
- Despite the name, it does not sniff ADS-B signals directly from radio waves but uses internet data instead.
Maya Posch discusses the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, noting how fundamental networking concepts like UDP broadcasting and subnetting change in an IPv6 environment. While IPv6 simplifies some aspects by treating broadcasting as a form of multicasting via specific addresses and eliminating traditional subnets through massive address spaces (like /64 prefixes), it introduces complexities regarding service discovery and the lack of direct NAT compatibility.
- In IPv6, UDP "broadcasting" is achieved using a link-local multicast group at `ff02::1`.
- The standard IPv6 subnet size is `/64`, providing an address space roughly four billion times larger than typical IPv4 subnets.
- Transitioning between protocols can be difficult due to the lack of direct compatibility, often requiring dual-stack implementations or encapsulation.
- NPTv6 (Network Prefix Translation) exists as a way to perform NAT-like functions with prefixes rather than individual addresses in IPv6.
- In IPv6, UDP "broadcasting" is achieved using a link-local multicast group at `ff02::1`.
- The standard IPv6 subnet size is `/64`, providing an address space roughly four billion times larger than typical IPv4 subnets.
- Transitioning between protocols can be difficult due to the lack of direct compatibility, often requiring dual-stack implementations or encapsulation.
- NPTv6 (Network Prefix Translation) exists as a way to perform NAT-like functions with prefixes rather than individual addresses in IPv6.
Al Williams writes about the surprising continued availability of Reverse Polish Notation calculators in 2026, despite RPN losing the mass market to algebraic entry decades ago. RPN uses a stack-based system where operators follow their operands, eliminating the need for parentheses or an equals key. Today's options range from the still-sold HP-12C to SwissMicros' modern enthusiast machines, DIY builds on ATmega and ESP32 hardware, and a thriving ecosystem of phone and desktop apps.
- The first RPN calculator was the Friden EC-130 (1964), a 44-pound desktop unit at $2,150 whose CRT displayed all four stack levels simultaneously
- SwissMicros' R47, at ~$300, features an 8-level stack, built-in electrical engineering functions, and firmware still officially in beta
- HP released a native Linux build of HP Prime as a 2019 AppImage, but it predates the Python programming addition; the only way to get Python on Linux is running an older Windows version under Wine with Soda 9 in Bottles, and you must not let it update
- Alex Garza's PAXER kits reproduce HP-15C/16C/41C on ATmega328 for under $100, adding continuous memory, backlight, and real-time clock
- The 10LC turns a ~$50 ESP32-based M5Stack Cardputer into a pocket RPN calculator
- Free42, a clean-room HP-42S implementation by Thomas Okken, runs on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux
- The first RPN calculator was the Friden EC-130 (1964), a 44-pound desktop unit at $2,150 whose CRT displayed all four stack levels simultaneously
- SwissMicros' R47, at ~$300, features an 8-level stack, built-in electrical engineering functions, and firmware still officially in beta
- HP released a native Linux build of HP Prime as a 2019 AppImage, but it predates the Python programming addition; the only way to get Python on Linux is running an older Windows version under Wine with Soda 9 in Bottles, and you must not let it update
- Alex Garza's PAXER kits reproduce HP-15C/16C/41C on ATmega328 for under $100, adding continuous memory, backlight, and real-time clock
- The 10LC turns a ~$50 ESP32-based M5Stack Cardputer into a pocket RPN calculator
- Free42, a clean-room HP-42S implementation by Thomas Okken, runs on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux
Zoe Skyforest writes about a collation by Ian Y.E. Pan of Emacs appearances in popular culture, spanning films, TV, anime, and comics. The list highlights how the classic *nix text editor has become a recognizable cultural touchstone alongside its rival vi, though it is acknowledged to be far from exhaustive.
- In *The Social Network*, Zuckerberg uses Emacs to write a website scraper
- *Silicon Valley* features Emacs more than once
- Japanese anime *Key The Metal Idol* includes an Emacs reference
- Hackaday invites readers to submit a similar list for vi
- In *The Social Network*, Zuckerberg uses Emacs to write a website scraper
- *Silicon Valley* features Emacs more than once
- Japanese anime *Key The Metal Idol* includes an Emacs reference
- Hackaday invites readers to submit a similar list for vi
Tyler August writes about eenk, a project that brings long-form text adventures'' think Zork with several novels' worth of prose' 'to palm-sized Xteink e-ink readers. Built on the ESP32 microcontroller and the ink scripting language, it ships with its own IDE (eenky) for authoring choose-your-own-adventure books and is released under an MIT license on GitHub.
- The X3/X4 use an ESP32-C3 with no PSRAM, giving developers less memory than 1980s home computers
- The X4 Pro variant uses an ESP32-S3 for more RAM and adds a touchscreen
- Commenters note Xteink sells identical hardware through different channels with different software configurations (locked vs. unlockable)
- A commenter suggests packaging the project as a Crosspoint plugin rather than a standalone firmware to avoid repeated reflashing
- The X3/X4 use an ESP32-C3 with no PSRAM, giving developers less memory than 1980s home computers
- The X4 Pro variant uses an ESP32-S3 for more RAM and adds a touchscreen
- Commenters note Xteink sells identical hardware through different channels with different software configurations (locked vs. unlockable)
- A commenter suggests packaging the project as a Crosspoint plugin rather than a standalone firmware to avoid repeated reflashing
Maya Posch writes about the LC harmonic filters at HVDC converter stations, which scrub the noisy AC sinewave produced after line-commutated HVDC-to-AC conversion. Drawing on a video by Jordan Taylor (The Electric Brit), the piece walks through a UK-based converter station to explain what these filters are, how they work, and why their design at grid scale is a distinct engineering challenge.
- The distortion introduced by HVDC-to-AC conversion is directly analogous to the harmonics in a much lower-voltage power supply, making the fix (an LC filter) conceptually the same, just orders of magnitude larger.
- The same massive inductors and capacitors that form the filter also absorb and generate reactive power on the AC grid, damping oscillations and adding a secondary layer of stability.
- The distortion introduced by HVDC-to-AC conversion is directly analogous to the harmonics in a much lower-voltage power supply, making the fix (an LC filter) conceptually the same, just orders of magnitude larger.
- The same massive inductors and capacitors that form the filter also absorb and generate reactive power on the AC grid, damping oscillations and adding a secondary layer of stability.
Bryan Cockfield writes about the Kiwix open-source project, which started as an offline backup for Wikipedia and now includes other sites like StackExchange.To preserve and serve information from personal hardware, ensuring survival through internet outages and website disappearances, Kiwix is available on Linux (Docker compatible), Windows, Android, and Apple platforms.
- A separate tool called Zimit is required to generate the .zim archive files that Kiwix serves.
The Kiwix organization hosts pre-downloaded .zim files of common sites, sparing users from crawling Wikipedia themselves, a task that could take months on limited consumer hardware.
- The article points to a prior piece on building an "armageddon-proof" Raspberry Pi briefcase as suggested hosting hardware.
- A separate tool called Zimit is required to generate the .zim archive files that Kiwix serves.
The Kiwix organization hosts pre-downloaded .zim files of common sites, sparing users from crawling Wikipedia themselves, a task that could take months on limited consumer hardware.
- The article points to a prior piece on building an "armageddon-proof" Raspberry Pi briefcase as suggested hosting hardware.
