Hackaday Podcast

This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over the international tubes 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. Regarding Hackaday Europe, we announced the last round of speakers and opened up the workshop ticket sales. In other news, the Green-Powered Challenge has wrapped, and judging will begin quite soon. On What's That Sound, we can score another one for Kristina, which brings her record to approximately four wins and sixty-eight losses. She knew without a doubt that this was a guillotine paper cutter, probably because she recorded the sound herself. Hey, don't take this away from her. After that, it's on to the hacks, beginning with a really cool laser-powered mist-and-mirrors multi-view display, a robotic drawing assistant of questionable utility, and a new slicer that enables horizontal overhangs without supports. We also look at a trackball 3D controller, a 3D-printed pinball machine, and a good way to kill humidity sensors with humidity. Finally, we're both shocked to learn that we've been on GPS mk. II for some time now. But then once we get over that, we talk tablets and their usefulness, or lack thereof. Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

It's the evening before publication, and a pair of Hackaday writers convene to record the week's podcast. This week Elliot Williams is joined by Jenny List, and it's a bumper episode! Of course, a bit of Hackaday news makes the cut, as it's time to make an entry in the Green Powered Challenge. Then we make the first of a couple of sojourns into AI, as we talk about the Linux kernel stance on AI code. In short: if you submit AI code you're responsible for its bugs. Meanwhile out of this world, we look forward to a time when astronauts breathe oxygen from moon dust. There are hacks aplenty for your enjoyment, starting with far more than you ever thought it was possible to know about sound-reactive LED strips. Then we have among others a Mac on an ESP32 forming the UI for a weather monitor, Doom on a toaster, and a fascinating look at screw threads for plastic. In the longer reads we have our colleague [Tom Nardi] finding Chinese people's personal data on hard drives he bought in an electronics store, and an attempt to look at what an LLM can do that might be useful. Grab your headphones, and join us!

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, there's quite a bit to talk about. Regarding Hackaday Europe, you can rest assured that the talks will be announced soon. The Green-Powered Challenge is still 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! As usual, we published a handful of April Fool's posts, which you may or may not find amusing. And finally -- no fooling -- our own Tom Nardi wrote up the Artemis moon launch, and is going to update the post every day until the mission ends. On What's That Sound, we can score one for Kristina, which brings her record to approximately three wins and sixty-eight losses. She knew without a doubt that the dialogue was from the Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Oh, what? There was a remake in 2008? Kristina should get bonus points, then. After that, it's on to the hacks, beginning with the basics of making clean enclosures that are decidedly not 3D-printed, a couple of sweet lo-fi cameras, and a nice way to tame the tape when it comes to SMT parts. We also discuss a clock that marks time in a mathematical way, watch an electro-permanent magnet in action, and improving soda by turning it into mead. Finally, we discuss the solar balconies taking Europe by storm, and Copilot's terrifying terms of service. Check out the links over on Hackaday to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

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.

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!

For today's podcast Elliot Williams is joined by Jenny List, and we're pushing the limits of mobile connectivity as Jenny's coming to us from a North Sea ferry. We start by looking forward to the upcoming Hackaday Europe, with a new location in Lecco, Italy. We hope you can join us there! There's a bumper collection of hacks to talk about, with a novel soft pneumatic display, a CRT-based VR headset, an LCD photographic aperture, and a novel time-of-flight sensor array in the line-up.Then there are 3D printed PCBs, Scotch tape for a lens, and a project to map farts. We kid you not. Finally we wrap up with mind controlled toys, and a a treatise on requirements and specifications in an age of AI. Check out all the links over on Hackaday!

This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over coffee 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. We found no news to speak of, except that Kristina has ditched Windows after roughly 38 years. What is she running now? What does she miss about Windows? Tune in to find out. On What's That Sound, Kristina thought it was a jackhammer, but [Statistically Unlikely] knew it was ground-tamper thingy, and won a Hackaday Podcast t-shirt! Congratulations! After that, it's on to the hacks and such, beginning with 3D printing on the nano scale, and a couple of typewriter-based hacks. Then we take a look at the beauty of the math behind graph theory, especially when it comes to circuit sculptures and neckties. We also talk display hacking, macro pads with haptic feedback knobs, and writing code in Welsh. Finally, we discuss the Virtual Boy, and ponder whether vibe coding is killing open source. 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!

Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams took a break to talk about their favorite hacks last week. You can drop in to hear about articulated mirrors, triacs, and even continuous 3D-printing modifications. Flying on an airplane this weekend? Maybe wait until you get back to read about how the air traffic control works. Back home, you can order a pizza on a Wii or run classic Basic games on a calculator. For the can't miss articles, the guys talked about very low Earth orbit satellites and talked about readers who dumpster dive. Check out the links over on Hackaday if you want to follow along, and don't be shy. Tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over coffee 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. On What's That Sound, Kristina had no idea what was going on, but [Flippin' Heck] knew it was a flip dot display, and won a Hackaday Podcast t-shirt! Congratulations! After that, it's on to the hacks and such, with not one but two ways of seeing sound. We also take a look at benchmarking various Windows releases against each other on 12-year-old hardware. We also talk about painting on floppies and glitching out jpegs in a binary text editor. Finally, we discuss the history and safety of autopilot, and take a look at the humble time clock. 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!

The entire Hackaday crew wishes you happy holidays and a fantastic 2026. You'll hear back from us then, so stay tuned.

Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams met up to cover the best of Hackaday this week, and they want you to listen in. There were a hodgepodge of hacks this week, ranging from home automation with RF, volumetric displays in glass, and some crazy clocks, too. Ever see a typewriter that uses an ink pen? Elliot and Al hadn't either. Want time on a supercomputer? It isn't free, but it is pretty cheap these days. Finally, the guys discussed how to focus on a project like Dan Maloney, who finally got a 3D printer, and talked about Maya Posch's take on LLM intelligence. 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!