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...
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. ...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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 ...
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...
Pong! What more could a young child want in 1978? Despite my formative years, I was already hooked on my friend’s magic-filled box of delights he described as a ‘TV Game’ (for ‘console’ was a word ...
The first computer game I ever owned was this Binatone ‘TV Master MK IV’ – a simple unit that could play the standard Pong variants with a pair of analogue paddles. Yes, it may be simple, but I had...
The Raspberry Pi’s General-Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) connector consists of 26 pins that are a hacker’s delight, allowing for some serious analogue and digital tomfoolery. When drooling over the s...
This has been doing the rounds on Twitter but I thought I’d show off my own attempt.UK security firm Franklin Heath have put together an Enigma machine made out of paper. This really goes to show t...
Does your Raspberry Pi need a case? Mine too. I’ve looked at a few options and intend to make a selection. However, my first attempt may well be my favourite. Behold the ‘Raspberry Pi Fold-Up Case’...
As you may know, the German military made a significant addition to the original Enigma design by adding the plugboard, or steckerbrett. The board has twenty-six sockets, one for every letter in th...