Hackaday Podcast

Ep 363: The History of PLA, Laser DIY PCBs, and Corporate Craziness

What did Elliot Williams and Al Williams read on Hackaday last week? Tune in and find out. After a bit of news, [Vik Oliver] chimes in with some deep PLA knowledge. Then the topic changed to pressure advance measurements, SDRs, making super-resolution PCBs with a fiber laser, and more. Want to 3D print wire strippers? A robot arm? Or just make your own Z-80? Those hacks are in there, too. For the long articles, we talked about old tech, including the :CueCat and the Iomega Zip Drive. Let us know if you had either one in the comments. What do you think? Leave us a comment or record something and send it to our mailbag.  

Ep 362: Compression Molding, IPv4x, and Wired Headphones

As the sun goes down on a glorious spring evening on the western edge of Europe, Elliot Williams is joined by Jenny List for a look at the week in all things Hackaday. First up: Hackaday Europe tickets are on sale! Bad luck folks, the early bird tickets disappeared in an instant, but regular ones are still available for now. We're really looking forward to making our way to Lecco for a weekend of hacks, and it would be great to see you there too. Then we have a new feature for the podcast, the Hackaday Mailbag. This week's contribution comes from [Kenny], a longtime friend of Hackaday and probably our most regular conference attendee. To the hacks, and we have some good ones. An air hockey robot might not seem like a challenge, but the engineering which went into [BasementBuilds'] one proves it's not a job for the faint hearted. Then we look at compression molding of recycled plastic using 3D-printed molds, something that seems surprisingly accessible and we'd like to try, too. We've got a new DOS, a 3D-printed zipper repair, the IPv4 replacement we didn't get, and the mind-bending logic of ternary computing. It's one of those weeks where the quick hacks could all deserve their own in-depth look, but perhaps the stand-outs are and Arduino style compiler that includes the source code compressed within the binary, and a beautifully-done revival of a 1980s brick cellphone as a modern 5G unit. Finally in the longer reads we've got an examination of wired versus Bluetooth headphones -- we're both in the wired camp -- and a look back at the age of free dialup. As is so often the case, the experience there differed between Brits and Americans. Anyway, enjoy the episode, and we have another week to look forward to.

Ep 361: Hackaday Podcast Mailbag, A Phone is Not a Computer, 3D Printing History is New Again

Join Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi as they cover their favorite hacks and stories from the week. The episode kicks off with some updates about Hackaday Europe and the recently announced Green Power contest, as well as the proposal of a new feature of the podcast where listeners are invited to send in their questions and comments. After the housekeeping is out of the way, the discussion will go from spoofing traffic light control signals and the line between desktop computers and smartphones, all the way to homebrew e-readers and writing code with chocolate candies. You'll hear about molding replacement transparent parts, a collection of fantastic tutorials on hardware hacking and reverse engineering, and the recent fireball that lit up the skies over Germany. The episode wraps up with a fascinating look at how the developer of Pokemon Go is monetizing the in-game efforts of millions of players. Check out the links over on Hackaday if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments! Or send us a clip for the mailbag to editor@hackaday.com.

Ep 360: Cool Rubber Bands, Science-y Stuff, and the Whys of Office Supplies

This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over assorted beverages to bring you the latest news, mystery sound results show, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous seven days or so. In the news, we've launched a brand-new contest! Yes, the Green-Powered Challenge is underway, and we need your entry to truly make it a contest. You have until April 24th to enter, so show us what you can do with power you scrounge up from the environment around you! On What's That Sound, Kristina was leaning toward some kind of distant typing sounds, but [Conrad] knew it was our own Tom Nardi's steam heat radiator pinging away. After that, it's on to the hacks and such, beginning with an exploration of all the gross security vulnerabilities in a cheap WiFi extender, and we take a look inside a little black and white pay television like you'd find in a Greyhound station in the 80s and 90s. We also discuss the idea of mixing custom spray paint colors on the fly, a pen clip that never bends out of shape, and running video through a guitar effects pedal. Finally, we discuss climate engineering with disintegrating satellites, and the curse of everything device. Check out the links on Hackaday if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Ep 359: Flying Squids, Edible Passwords, and a CAD Automaton

Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams met up to trade their favorite posts of the week. Tune in and see if your favorites made the list. From crazy intricate automata to surprising problems in Peltier cooler designs, there's a little bit of everything. Should bikes have chains? What's the hardest thing about Star Trek computers to duplicate? Can you make a TV station from a single microcontroller? The podcast this week answers these questions and more. Plus, weigh in on the What's That Sound contest and you might just score a Hackaday Podcast T-shirt. For the Can't Miss segment, Elliot had airships on his mind, while Al's sick of passwords. But is he sick enough to take electronic pills that transmit his password?