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xbox aquarium casemod: swimming with the fishes

xbox_fish_tank_mod

So you’ve got an old Xbox lying around the house and you don’t know what to do with it? Why not do like this guy did and float it in your fish tank?

Yep, thanks to the non-conductive cooling properties of mineral oil, this submerged Xbox system still works as well as it did the…

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October 23rd, 2009 comments (3) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: hacks + mods strange + wonderful technology video games

gakken gmc-4: 4-bit microcomputer kit won’t play crysis

gakken_gmc-4_microcomputer

Sure, you might have just gone off and bought yourself a brand new 27-Inch iMac this week, but if that system seems like overkill for your needs, you could can always go to the opposite extreme. This computer kit not only doesn’t run any programs that you’d ever care to use, it doesn’t let you…

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October 22nd, 2009 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: computing retro technology

ice tube vfd clock kit: time to get retro

ice_tube_vfd_clock

There are certainly a ton of different ways to tell time, but this retro-modern digital clock is definitely one of the cooler designs I’ve seen in a while.

The Ice Tube clock ($70 USD) gets its brilliant blue display thanks to an old-school Russian-issued VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) tube. It’s set inside of a spiffy…

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October 13th, 2009 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: design retro technology timepieces

console x-rays: how to get inside your video game system without voiding the warranty

xbox_360_x_ray

If you’re a tinkerer like me, you’ve probably cracked the case open on at least a few of your electronic gadgets to see what they look like on the inside. But I bet you’ve never seen the guts of your video game console quite like this.

It’s pretty obvious that’s an Xbox 360, but see…

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May 1st, 2009 comments (8) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: digital imaging retro strange + wonderful technology video games

sparkfun’s autonomous vehicle race: autobots,rollout! no, not there! get back here!

autobot-race-1

Modder-friendly electronics company SparkFun Electronics recently held what they hope will be an annual event called the Autonomous Vehicle Competition, which is basically a race of proto-Autobots around one of SparkFun’s buildings.

The contest was initially employees-only, but SparkFun realized it would be much more fun to have their customers join so that was what…

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April 24th, 2009 comments stumble it! digg it! author: lambert v.

filed under: cool toys hacks + mods just plain fun robots technology

circuit bent commodore 64: revenge of the 80s

Bent64 Commodore 64 Circuit Bending

One of the most popular computers from the 1980s, the Commodore 64, is having a minor renaissance as an electronic musical instrument. The C64’s audio chip is famous for producing an array of warm, familiar 8-bit beats and blips.
As a result, the trusty C64 has become a popular platform for “circuit bending”, which is…

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February 16th, 2008 comments (1) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: audio computing hacks + mods retro

single digit led clock: perfect for cyclops

Single Digit LED Clock Kit

A while back I wrote about a deconstructed LED clock which breaks out the digits of the current time into four individual LED blocks. This new clock takes the idea in the opposite direction, by displaying all four digits on a single LED digit.

The Single Digit Clock Kit consists of a single 7-segment LED…

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March 1st, 2007 comments (2) stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: timepieces

xgs micro edition: build your own retro games

XGS Micro Edition DIY Game Console

If you’re into video games and technically inclined, you might want to check out this kit that helps you learn how to build your own video games.

The $199.95 XGameStation Micro Edition isn’t particularly “next-gen,” but it lets you build your own games similar to those found on the old Atari 400/800 and Commodore 64…

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February 9th, 2007 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: retro video games

disguise your voice on the cheap

DIY Digital Voice Changer Kit

This DIY Digital Voice Changer Kit lets you mask the sound of your voice by playing with the pitch and vibrato of your speech. Just speak into the built-in microphone, adjust the pitch control, and you can sound like anything from a hostage taker to a mouse on speed.

The kit is just $12.95, but…

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January 19th, 2007 comments stumble it! digg it! author: technabob

filed under: audio gadgets just plain fun