Blog post
Joto - The Internet of Whiteboards

19 Jun 2019

A friend was having a bit of a KonMarie moment and decided to remove some of the technology from her life. One item, which she had only just received, was a Joto. This robotic device is a neat spin...

Nice

Blog post
MagPi #77

22 Dec 2018

In this month's MagPi I do unspeakable things to my front door as part of an ongoing SmartDoor project (more on that soon at this very 'ere blog). Also, I review the beautiful PiDP-11 kit. Availabl...

Raspberry Pi

Blog post
MagPi #76

29 Nov 2018

The rather wonderful MagPi issue 76 is out today. In this issue I'm turning up twice. First as part of the SuperGuide with a look at the Raspberry Pi Desktop and how to use it, along with some soft...

Raspberry Pi

Blog post
So, we bought a LEAF - Four Years On

29 May 2018

New Toy! New Toy!It has come as a bit of a surprise to me that the most popular post on this ‘ere site has been my original guide to owning an electric car in the UK. Mind you, when I think back to...

EV

Blog post
Do You Want To Build a Strandbeest?

25 Apr 2018

A time-lapse showing the construction of Just Add Sharks‘ Mini Strandbeest kit which I picked up at EMF Camp 2016. It’s a great kit and took about 90 minutes to put together.And here’s the result (...

Makes

Blog post
The Great Digital Race (or ‘A 15-second Fib’)

20 Feb 2018

Connie 1, WITCH 0You can keep your Winter Olympics with all it’s competitive falling and sliding. The real action was last Saturday at The National Museum of Computing where you could witness the i...

TNMoC

Blog post
Raspberry Pi + iPad Screen + iCade = Bartop

05 Dec 2017

WAKKA WAKKA WAKKAWay back when, I bought an iCade. This bartop-style arcade machine was actually a very pretty bluetooth controller. Simply slot your first-generation iPad into the ‘screen’ and pai...

Makes Raspberry Pi Vintage Tech

Blog post
Re-Capping a ZX Spectrum

29 Oct 2017

ZX Spectrums tend to suffer from two major problems. The earlier keyboard membranes were made from the finest Japanese rice paper and would shatter into a million pieces should a flea with a pencha...

Vintage Tech

Blog post
ZX Raspberry Version 2

27 Sept 2017

In which our hero downsizes radicallyA couple of months ago we held the first in the ‘regeneration’ of the Milton Keynes Raspberry Jam. I took along my ZX Raspberry for all to see and wonder over. ...

Makes Raspberry Pi Vintage Tech

Blog post
An Atari 2600 in a Cartridge

24 Jun 2017

You know when you’re having that long-overdue clean-out and you find a few things stashed away you’d forgotten about? From when you said “that’ll make a great project one day” then tossed it in you...

Makes Raspberry Pi Vintage Tech

Blog post
EMF Camp 2016 IN 3D

12 Aug 2016

EMF Camp is a bi-annual gathering of creatives, geeks, makers and anyone with a passion for, well, anything. Over three days in a Guildford field we attended (and gave) talks, learnt new skills in ...

3D

Blog post
Building The ZX Raspberry – Part Four

17 Feb 2016

In which our hero is unable to leave well aloneA little epilogue to the ZX Raspberry project. I came into possession of a very dead ZX Spectrum+ and, following my own personal rule of ‘it gets fixe...

Makes Raspberry Pi Vintage Tech

Blog post
BBC Micro Model B Memory Repair

14 Jan 2016

So, what do you do when your BBC Model B looks like this?Oh dear…You throw it in the skip of course!Nah, just kidding, you Google like a mad thing. What you learn is that screen corruption like thi...

Vintage Tech

Blog post
Building The ZX Raspberry – Part Three

27 Dec 2015

In which our hero triumphs over excessive wiringBack in Part 2, I completed the USB keyboard conversion of an old, abandoned ZX Spectrum. The next, and final, step is to add in a Raspberry PI so th...

Makes Raspberry Pi Vintage Tech

Blog post
Building The ZX Raspberry – Part Two

15 Dec 2015

In which our hero enters the (keyboard) matrix…Ok, time to burn stuff. After hatching a plan in Part One, I’m now ready to proceed with my Frankenspeccy. But first, some more planning – what am I g...

Makes Raspberry Pi Vintage Tech

Blog post
Building The ZX Raspberry – Part One

08 Dec 2015

In which our hero plans and schemesDespite wanting to convert a ZX Spectrum into a USB keyboard for some time, I held off to wait for the unlikely duo of the ZX Spectrum Vega and the Recreated ZX S...

Makes Raspberry Pi Vintage Tech

Blog post
Restoring a VIC-20

29 Mar 2015

I purchased this poor thing last week. After some initial mucking about, life was breathed into it once more. I had a a bit of fun getting the keyboard working but now she’s 100% operational and a ...

Vintage Tech

Blog post
The Imitation Game: Fact and Fiction

20 Nov 2014

To many of us in the technical community, the story of Alan Turing is well known; a tragedy of a tortured genius who saved a world that may well have killed him in return. With this new film, the s...

Bletchley Park TNMoC

Blog post
So We Bought a Leaf – Our FAQ on owning an Electric Car in the UK

28 May 2014

So, you like the sound of going electric, but how does it all work? When Mrs E and I started considering an ‘EV’ (as the cool kids will insist on calling it) we quickly realised we had no idea how ...

EV

Blog post
Composite Modding the Atari 2600

19 May 2014

Buoyed on by my successful project to add a composite video output to a 1976 Pong game, I decided to move to my next target, the Atari 2600. Now, this little beauty needs no introduction, a classic...

Vintage Tech