Colin's Things that might be useful or interesting

Colin's things that might be useful or interesting

Learning "E-book binding" for my new e-reader

I learned enough book binding skill to make a case for my new Xteink X4 e-reader. I enjoyed the process, and think of some future things to do with it.

Fixing the Portobello Police Station Clock

We climbed around the clock tower of the old Portobello Police Station, to set the time and figure out how the chime mechanism worked.

Repairing, and enjoying minidiscs

How I am liking minidiscs and how I repaired some Sony portable players.

The "tinyweb" and an example low power web server

An example of making a web server that could be solar powered.

I made a bodgy open-source CAD system to avoid cleaning my desk

I had no luck with FreeCAD, so used Claude.ai to make a Javascript based CAD system. I was surprised how quickly this went, and it gave me ome ideas to turn this into a 'proper' system.

Blogging like it's 1987: A blog post from my old text terminal

I have a DEC VT320 video terminal, and I hooked it up to a Linux computer so I could write a blog post from it. I enjoyed using the terminal and write about it here.

How I publish these notes

My notes on how I use emacs to publish this blog.

Some photos: Light is coming back to Edinburgh

I try posting some photos I took for the first time. It was lovely to see sunlight coming back after the long dark Scottish nights.

EdinburghJS, personal mapping, and making kinder software

Based on a discussion at the EdinburghJS meetup, what does it mean to have kind software, and software that lets you make personal maps?

Bringing back music - We repaired the Hacklab amplifier

A tale about how a group of people repaired something, and the hope that lots of groups of people doing small things can make the world much better.

Digitising a moon landing recording

I digitised a 1960s reel to reel tape about moon landings, and uploaded it to the Internet Archive.

Hiding secret data in YouTube

Inspired by the Sony PCM1600 and early digital audio I tried to encode data by uploading a video of QR-Codes to YouTube.

When computers needed buildings

I write about the ICL 2972 mainframe computer that ran the Scottish electricity supplier in the 1980s, and the building that houses it. I link to some brochures from the time and a YouTube video.

The secret names within Bob the dishwasher

We mended our dishwasher and discovered the desginers had written their names inside. This was nice to see.

Replacing a 48 year old Commodore PET with a Raspberry Pi Pico

Using a Pi Pico to make my own computer which generates video output.

Homespun radio: Making my own cosy internet radio station. Part2: Turning 78 records into internet radio

Methven Simpson record shop in Edinburgh, recording records to a Tascam digital audio recorder and using icecast and liquidsoap software with a server to run an internet radio station.

Homespun radio: Making my own cosy internet radio station. Part1: Fixing my dad's 53 year old Lenco GL75 turntable

Part 1 - how I repaired a record turntable.

Getting a Psion 5mx online

Following on from my previous post, I connect the 1990s Psion 5mx computers to the internet.

Repairing a Psion 5mx handheld computer to add to my collection

I repaired some 1990s handheld computers and talk about this, and how I like these old machines.

We made apple juice

Some notes on our experiments making apple juice and sharing it.

How to web enable a Silver-Reed SK580 knitting machine using a Raspberry Pi Pico

Hopefully a complete description of how to web able a knitting machine.

Messy is fun: Hackerspaces and The Indieweb (The grunge, rather than the cloud)

A writing experiment at writing about order and disorder, and feeling vulnerable in order to be creative.

Solarpunk bikes powered by the sun, thanks to lockdown inspiration

During Lockdown in 2020 we ended up converting our electric bikes to run on solar power. It was a liberating feeling.

Explosions, overturning cars, and tea - operating the Scottish electrical grid in the 1980s

Some memories from my dad's work in the Scottish Grid Control about what it takes to keep us supplied with electricity.

The save icon made real: Digital archaeology of 1980s computer disks

I used a greaseweazle to extract data from a neighbour's floppy disks, and reverse engineered the data that was stored on them for him.

Experiments in mesh networking with Rust and STM32WL LoRa chips

I wrote my own Meshtastic software in Rust and ran it on an STM32WL development board.

Recreating a favourite childhood jumper with OpenCV and Python

Cicely recreated her favourite childhood jumper, and I used OpenCV to help her extract the knitting pattern.

Our new woolly robot overloads - Robot knitting with a Raspberry Pi enabled knitting machine

In the Edinburgh Hacklab we modified a Silver-Reed SK580 knitting machine to knit images, and got a robot to knit itself a scarf.

How I take computer notes using emacs

How I use emacs and org mode to take computer notes.