Software – Not a Bit Wise

Repairing An N64 Cartridge (Without Blowing In It!)

I realize what this looks like. First it was the Game Boys and now an N64? But it’s not like that, I’m not a retro game collector – It’s not even mine, I swear! I’ve never even seen it before, my girlfriend must’ve bought it! Yeah, that’s what happened.

So my girlfriend did actually buy an N64 and a copy of Pokémon Snap recently due to childhood nostalgia (not that I can relate to that…). She set it up, plugged in Pokémon Snap, flipped the power switch and… Nothing. We tried a different game and that loaded up just fine. “No problem”, I thought. “I’m an engineer. I can solve this with my vast intellect and extraordinary skillset”. Well, it turns out that wiping down the contacts with rubbing alcohol didn’t solve the problem, so I did the only reasonable thing left to do and gave up. Continue reading Repairing An N64 Cartridge (Without Blowing In It!)

Building a Blinking Mystery Science Theater 3000 Billboard

I’m a big fan of the old (and recently-rebooted) TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. If you’re not familiar with the show – where have you been for the past 30 years? – it’s set in space and features Joel (or Mike or Jonah, depending on the season) watching and making fun of B C movies and his robot friends. Just before the commercial breaks in the first few seasons, they showed scenes from a miniature, futuristic cityscape with an iconic Mystery Science Theater 3000 billboard.

*This is what a JPEG version of a screenshot of a YouTube upload of a VHS rip of a broadcast TV show looks like. Credit: Mystery Science Theater 3000.*

Continue reading Building a Blinking Mystery Science Theater 3000 Billboard

“Block M” Pin Update #2 – Software, Power and Videos

In my previous post, I talked about the motivation behind my updated “Block M” LED pin and compared it to the previous iterations to show how far it’s progressed since I designed the first one nearly 10 years ago. Today I’m going to wrap up by going over the electronics, code and power optimizations.

Because I’m Too Lazy To Make Videos

I’ve been working on a few interesting projects lately and wanted a way to share them online. Despite enjoying similar content on YouTube, I’m way to lazy to put in the required effort to film and edit videos of my projects, so instead I’m going to attempt to document them in a blog…. because it’s always 2005 somewhere.

If you’re interested in circuit boards, software, Game Boy development and hobbyist electronics, stay tuned. Or whatever the blog equivalent is.