Computers & Mobile

The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!

Review: 3inus x Whatgeek 5-in-1 TKL Mechanical Keyboard Hub

Review: 3inus x Whatgeek 5-in-1 TKL Mechanical Keyboard Hub

By David Groom

David Groom

David bought his first Arduino in 2007 as part of a Roomba hacking project. Since then, he has been obsessed with writing code that you can touch. David fell in love with the original Pebble smartwatch, and even more so with its successor, which allowed him to combine the beloved wearable with his passion for hardware hacking via its smartstrap functionality. Unable to part with his smartwatch sweetheart, David wrote a love letter to the Pebble community, which blossomed into Rebble, the service that keeps Pebbles ticking today, despite the company's demise in 2016. When he's not hacking on wearables, David can probably be found building a companion bot, experimenting with machine learning, growing his ever-increasing collection of dev boards, or hacking on DOS-based palmtops from the 90s.

Find David on Mastodon at @ishotjr@chaos.social and to a far lesser extent on Twitter at @IShJR.

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Manufacturer: 3inus / Whatgeek Kickstarter Campaign Price: $99 I am a bit of a gadget freak, and also a low-key mechanical keyboard enthusiast. Perhaps a little more than low-key – I can count at least half a dozen keebs around the office from a quick glance. I am also a bit of a peripheral and […]

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DFRobot Launches LattePanda Sigma Hackable Single-Board Server

DFRobot Launches LattePanda Sigma Hackable Single-Board Server

By David Groom

David Groom

David bought his first Arduino in 2007 as part of a Roomba hacking project. Since then, he has been obsessed with writing code that you can touch. David fell in love with the original Pebble smartwatch, and even more so with its successor, which allowed him to combine the beloved wearable with his passion for hardware hacking via its smartstrap functionality. Unable to part with his smartwatch sweetheart, David wrote a love letter to the Pebble community, which blossomed into Rebble, the service that keeps Pebbles ticking today, despite the company's demise in 2016. When he's not hacking on wearables, David can probably be found building a companion bot, experimenting with machine learning, growing his ever-increasing collection of dev boards, or hacking on DOS-based palmtops from the 90s.

Find David on Mastodon at @ishotjr@chaos.social and to a far lesser extent on Twitter at @IShJR.

View more articles by David Groom

In our 2022 Boards Guide, we described the LattePanda 3 Delta as a “beast mode” Windows/Linux Single Board Computer (SBC), with a class-leading 11th-generation Intel Celeron N5105 processor and 42 types of I/O. This year, the LattePanda team have outdone themselves significantly in the form of the 13th-generation Intel Core i5-1340P Raptor Lake-powered LattePanda Sigma […]

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Live Stream: See The New MNT Pocket Reform Open Source Mini Laptop

Live Stream: See The New MNT Pocket Reform Open Source Mini Laptop

By David Groom

David Groom

David bought his first Arduino in 2007 as part of a Roomba hacking project. Since then, he has been obsessed with writing code that you can touch. David fell in love with the original Pebble smartwatch, and even more so with its successor, which allowed him to combine the beloved wearable with his passion for hardware hacking via its smartstrap functionality. Unable to part with his smartwatch sweetheart, David wrote a love letter to the Pebble community, which blossomed into Rebble, the service that keeps Pebbles ticking today, despite the company's demise in 2016. When he's not hacking on wearables, David can probably be found building a companion bot, experimenting with machine learning, growing his ever-increasing collection of dev boards, or hacking on DOS-based palmtops from the 90s.

Find David on Mastodon at @ishotjr@chaos.social and to a far lesser extent on Twitter at @IShJR.

View more articles by David Groom

Update: re-watch the livestream here: We’re dusting off the livestream machine for another fun chat with a maker who’s making hardware at scale, this time with MNT Research‘s Lukas F. Hartmann! If you caught our earlier stream with Kevin from Arduboy, then you’ll know what to expect: an exciting, free-form nerd out with folks who […]

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Perform A Brain Transplant On A See-N-Say To Add Custom Sounds

Perform A Brain Transplant On A See-N-Say To Add Custom Sounds

By Caleb Kraft

Caleb Kraft

I get ridiculously excited seeing people make things. I just want to revel in the creativity I see in makers. My favorite thing in the world is sharing a maker's story. find me at CalebKraft.com

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Hacking childhood toys is somewhat of a maker’s rite of passage around here. John Park over at Adafruit has made a habit of it for many years though. His latest, he shows how to transplant the brain of a See-N-Say to have your own custom messages. This update really modernizes things. Instead of a plastic […]

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Review: The Keychron Q10 is a Luxury Mechanical Keyboard with Knobs On

Review: The Keychron Q10 is a Luxury Mechanical Keyboard with Knobs On

By David Groom

David Groom

David bought his first Arduino in 2007 as part of a Roomba hacking project. Since then, he has been obsessed with writing code that you can touch. David fell in love with the original Pebble smartwatch, and even more so with its successor, which allowed him to combine the beloved wearable with his passion for hardware hacking via its smartstrap functionality. Unable to part with his smartwatch sweetheart, David wrote a love letter to the Pebble community, which blossomed into Rebble, the service that keeps Pebbles ticking today, despite the company's demise in 2016. When he's not hacking on wearables, David can probably be found building a companion bot, experimenting with machine learning, growing his ever-increasing collection of dev boards, or hacking on DOS-based palmtops from the 90s.

Find David on Mastodon at @ishotjr@chaos.social and to a far lesser extent on Twitter at @IShJR.

View more articles by David Groom

Manufacturer: Keychron URL: https://www.keychron.com Price: $215 I spend a stupid amount of time at my desk every day. I have invested substantially in my computer setup and productivity, with half a dozen computers – covering every major OS – and at least a dozen displays on my crazy IKEA Jerker workstation. I have a bizarre $350 RollerMouse, because […]

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Smart Swaps For Hard To Find Boards

Smart Swaps For Hard To Find Boards

By David Groom

David Groom

David bought his first Arduino in 2007 as part of a Roomba hacking project. Since then, he has been obsessed with writing code that you can touch. David fell in love with the original Pebble smartwatch, and even more so with its successor, which allowed him to combine the beloved wearable with his passion for hardware hacking via its smartstrap functionality. Unable to part with his smartwatch sweetheart, David wrote a love letter to the Pebble community, which blossomed into Rebble, the service that keeps Pebbles ticking today, despite the company's demise in 2016. When he's not hacking on wearables, David can probably be found building a companion bot, experimenting with machine learning, growing his ever-increasing collection of dev boards, or hacking on DOS-based palmtops from the 90s.

Find David on Mastodon at @ishotjr@chaos.social and to a far lesser extent on Twitter at @IShJR.

View more articles by David Groom

We can’t hardly wait for the chip shortage to be over and dev boards to be abundant again, but instead of waiting for somebody to fix the supply chain, we’ve gathered a list of near substitutes and potential replacements for your next project. Unsatisfied with back-orders for your favorite Raspberry Pi or Arduino? Use the […]

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A RISC-V REVOLUTION: The Rise of Free and Open-Source Silicon for Makers

A RISC-V REVOLUTION: The Rise of Free and Open-Source Silicon for Makers

Gareth Halfacree

By Gareth Halfacree

Gareth Halfacree

Gareth Halfacree is the author of the Raspberry Pi User Guide and an expert in educational and embedded computing. A noted technology journalist and long-time tech author, Gareth also has an extensive background in computing education.

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Makers are well-used to the benefits of free and open-source hardware, from being able to study and iterate on designs by others, to the promise that if a design goes out of production you can always make replacements yourself. Open-source silicon, though, is not so well understood — but thanks to the success of the […]

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