Hasta La Gadget!

Vintage oscilloscopes are amazing devices. It turns out that they make great clocks too. It was around 1960, when Aaron’s grandfather purchased an Heathkit OR-1 oscilloscope, which he passed down in his family in excellent condition. Aaron later used his electronic hacking skills to turn the oscilloscope into a clock.

Turning an oscilloscope into a clock is no easy task. It takes some interesting control circuitry to get its display to show anything other than waveforms. So Aaron created a custom control board that can draw any shape on the CRT screen using just circles. It also squashes circles to draw a line, and cuts the beam entirely to slice a circle in half.

The end result looks spectacular and I bet you want one now. So do I. The good news is that Aaron sells custom-built oscilloscope clocks, as well as circuit boards for you to convert your own scope with. For more information, check out his website, Oscilloclock.com.

[via Hack A Day]

When I was growing up, the Atari 2600 was a staple in family rooms everywhere. But despite the countless hours of entertainment these gaming systems provided, there’s no question they had primitive graphics. Imagine though if the Atari 2600 could have had real-world backgrounds for its games. It might look something like this…

For his Atari World series, digital artist Carlos Pérez combined idyllic real-world scenes with the rudimentary pixel graphics from an Atari 2600. The end result is both surreal and beautiful.

It would be cool if somebody went back and remade classic Atari 2600 games with these backgrounds. While their gameplay still might lack depth, they’d certainly be a feast for they eyes.

[via it8bit]

We’ve seen a small arcade machine that can be powered by a Raspberry Pi. Master modder Ben Heck decided to make an even tinier version of the tiny computer and put it in a custom case with buttons, turning it into a portable gaming device.

Aside from a Raspberry Pi, Ben Heck also used a 3.5″ LCD screen, a Teensy board, a couple of Li-ion batteries and some buttons from a Logitech gamepad.

Then he 3D printed a case, wired everything together and installed MAME on the Pi. You can skip to around 15:10 in the video below to see it working:

Can we just sit back for a minute and process what we saw? He made a freakin’ gaming device. On his own. This guy. This Ben Heck guy. He is quite the guy. If you have the same godly capabilities, head to Thingiverse to get the files you need to 3D print the case.

[via I Heart Chaos]

So far 3D video hasn’t taken off like high definition did, but that hasn’t stopped entrepreneurs from exploring its potential. But while most 3D-capable gadgets tout their cutting edginess, the inventors of Poppy did the opposite. The gadget, which allows you to shoot and view 3D videos and images using an iPhone or iPod Touch, is a throwback through and through.

If nothing else, I love how it looks. It’s not shiny, streamlined or made of machined aluminum – it’s a freaking plastic box. Even the way it works is low-tech. The Poppy has no moving or electronic parts. It just uses lenses and mirrors to achieve the 3D effect. The only high tech component of course is your iOS device. The Poppy only works with the iPhone 4, 4S and 5 and the 5th generation iPod Touch.

In the end though, the Poppy is up against the same problem that other 3D gadgets have. It promises a see-it-to-believe-it experience that just can’t be demonstrated or previewed. Still, that hasn’t stopped it from blowing through its Kickstarter goal with almost a month left on its fundraiser. Pledge at least $49 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Poppy as a reward.

The UK town of Ipswich has an odd name, but that’s not what concerns us here. The town hosts an annual music and arts festival known as Switch Fringe, and this year there is a special addition to the program book. An 8-bit map of the town – from Zelda!

Sound crazy? It is. The Decibel Kid designed it. He turned the entire town of Ipswich into a Zelda level. Pretty novel idea for this years event. But there is more than just this image. If you want, you can view a digital version of the map and zoom around to see all the fun details. If you look closely, you’ll even find Link wandering around the festival.

Too bad the level isn’t playable.

Cities are awesome when they look like games. Ipswich is my new favorite UK town.

[via Slashdot via Kotaku via Nerd Approved]