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Electronics

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Published 2nd September 2025

🎮 Retro Computing & Vintage Systems

The Qweremin (linusakesson​.net). Qweremin: a qwerty-based theremin on a C64, with SID volume control, envelope hacks, DACs, 555 timers, and feedback loops; Rob Hubbard sign-off at X festival

Magnetic Bubble Memory Mega-Post (smbaker​.com). Overview of Intel 7110 bubble memory, iSBC multibus boards, 7114/7225 chipsets, iPDS system, HP 98259, Allen-Bradley 8000MBC, RC2014 Basic bubble memory, H8 bubble memory boards

Shooting Gallery: Touring the MSX1’s Capabilities (bumbershootsoft​.wordpress​.com). Explores MSX1 memory mapping, cartridge ROMs, VRAM setup, VDP APIs, joystick input, interrupts, text/graphics modes, and MSX sound via AY-3-8910

🥧 Raspberry Pi Projects & Applications

Crafting a Custom Voice Assistant with Perplexity (towardsdatascience​.com). Hands-free Raspberry Pi 5 voice assistant using PicoVoice wake word, Perplexity API, Google STT, and gTTS for TTS

How to Keep your Raspberry Pi happy (kevsrobots​.com). Raspberry Pi maintenance tips: delete large files, update packages, backups, htop, fstrim, cron, vcgencmd, cooling, surge protection, secure passwords, documentation, Ansible

build.log#1 - Printing labels via SSH with Raspberry Pi Zero and Nix (nmattia​.com). Printing labels via SSH with a Raspberry Pi Zero, Nix, ImageMagick, and brother_ql to drive a Brother QL-700 over USB with a Franken-cable

Ultimate Guide To Using A Raspberry Pi 5 In A Photography Studio (hagensieker​.com). Raspberry Pi 5 in photography studio: tethered camera control, Samba shares, Entangle, Gphoto2, GIMP, NVMe OS, PiOS, Wi-Fi/Ethernet, USB cameras, Sony ZV-E10, Nikon D7000, Canon A640, Open Source software

đź”§ Hardware Repair & Teardowns

Quick Review, Teardown: Thermaltake Argent MB1 RGB Mouse Bungee (goughlui​.com). Teardown of Thermaltake Argent MB1 RGB Mouse Bungee, RGB LED driver, USB-A cable, IPS HT32F52342, IS31FL3746A, via USBTreeView

Fixing an Xbox Classic (wolfgang-ziegler​.com). Repairing an Xbox Classic 1.6: clock capacitor inspection, faulty capacitors, 3300µF 6.3V replacements, multimeter testing, soldering, Halo nostalgia

Gigabyte H110 Not Identifying RAM (mountainofcode​.co​.uk). Upgrading Gigabyte H110 BIOS to resolve 32GB RAM identification via Q-Flash after PKfail vulnerability patch

Capsure pwned (blog​.ivor​.org). Capsure hacking episode 3: JTAG, NAND, bootloader, SAM-BA, OpenOCD, flash dumping, Atmel AT91SAM9262

🛠️ Making & Development Tools

Powered respirators, print catalogs, layout concepts, visiting NYC (kevinlynagh​.com). Powered respirators, print catalogs, layout concepts, NYC visit, CAD, C++, Open CASCADE, Unitree A2, 3D printing

Troubled USB Device? This Tool Can Help (pappp​.net). Compact USB tester with twelve connectors for continuity, resistance, shorts, and power/data cable identification

Gridfinity Large Screw Driver Rack (cubiclenate​.com). Gridfinity screwdriver rack for large flat-blade drivers; OnShape design, magnet integration, 3D printing, and public remixes

Writing a Portable Arduino Library with Interrupts (robopenguins​.com). Portable Arduino libraries, interrupts, IRAM_ATTR, ESP32/ESP8266, analogWrite, FunctionalInterrupt, library.properties, HAL, encoders

Wait, you can just buy that sort of thing, now? (markbessey​.blog). Arduino starter kit, Daisy Seed POD, PicoCalc, retro computing, breadboards, DuPont jumpers, SMD modules, Adafruit boards, local maker spaces, Radio Shack nostalgia

🔌 ESP32 & Microcontroller Development

Mesh client build log - part 1 (sschueller​.github​.io). Open-source Meshcore-compatible client design: ESP32S3, SX1262 LoRa, M.2 Type-G PCB, GPS test connector, keyboard ESP32S3, I2C keyboard link, case concepts in Fusion 360

ESP-Image-Effects Release | Lightweight, Powerful, and Made for a Colorful World (developer​.espressif​.com). ESP_IMAGE_EFFECTS v1.0.0: SIMD-accelerated image processing for rotation, color space conversion, scaling, and cropping on ESP32 with zero-copy memory

Accessing the Keyboard and Screen on the LilyGo T-Deck with Rust (joshondesign​.com). Rust no_std on LilyGo T-Deck: I2C keyboard at 0x55, ESP32 bridge, trackball GPIO polling, ST7789 SPI display, GT911 touch, Embassy async path

ESP32 – How to Use CMake with ESP-IDF (shawnhymel​.com). CMake basics for ESP-IDF, building with Make/Ninja, library and executable targets, and manual vs. generated build workflows

⚡ Circuit Design & PCB Development

AuxFanControler (Take 2) (medo64​.com). 4-channel fan controller revamp: smaller 42x15mm PCB, vertical/horizontal connectors, standalone AuxPower1U compatibility, PCBWay services, color options, updated mounting and 60–70°C startup profile

Designing Custom Arcade Hardware: Part II (zdziarski​.com). RoadBlasters steering yoke with optical sensors, RC delay circuits, NE555 timer, LS86 XOR gate, JAMMA mapping, 12V inverter, MC34063A, and custom adapter prototype

Switching explained -- MOSFETS vs. SSR ICs vs. Electromechanical Relays (doctormonk​.com). MOSFET low-side switching, SSR ICs, electromechanical relays, GPIO limits, LEDs, noise, Arduino ESP32, micro:bit, BeagleBone, DIY hobbyist

AY-3-8910 Experimenter PCB Design (diyelectromusic​.com). AY-3-8910 Experimenter PCB design for Arduino Nano; multi-AY polyphony, passive mixer, BC1/BC2/BDIR addressing, MIDI via UART, audio output pull-downs, PCB silkscreen GPIO mapping

Simple PWM Filter PCB Build Guide (diyelectromusic​.com). Build notes for Simple PWM Filter PCB, Pico Touch Board, electrolytic capacitors, PCB paneling, JLCPCB, experiments, oscilloscope, breadboard, dual-stage filter, potential divider

đź’» Advanced Systems & Computing

Bootstrapping a Forth for Art (tia​.mat​.br). Bootstrapping a Forth-like language for art with LWAN macros, compiler words, IPA-free inlining, peephole optimizations, and JIT aspirations

No Battery Required: How Energy Harvesting Charges an IoT Future (transmitter​.ieee​.org). Energy harvesting powers IoT devices from solar, vibration, body heat, or ambient Wi‑Fi, enabling autonomous, battery‑less sensors

Tested on Real Silicon: Automating RISC-V Hardware-in-the-Loop (riseproject​.dev). Rise and Collabora implement hardware-in-the-loop testing for RISC-V using Banana Pi BPI-F3 and SiFive HiFive P550, via LAVA, Boardswarm, remote bootloaders, u-boot, opensbi, and fastboot

Making N100 mini-PC into a pfSense Box (techshinobi​.org). Turning a $100 N100 mini-PC into a pfSense box with hands-on hardware tweaks, pfSense CE 2.7.2, SSD swap, ZFS, and Realtek NIC WAN/LAN assignment

Fixing Auto-Rotate screen orientation on PostmarketOS devices running MATE DE (raju​.dev). Using iio-sensor-proxy, xrandr, and xinput to auto-rotate PostmarketOS MATE on a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2015)

📚 Academic Research

Support Vector Machines Classification on Bendable RISC-V (arxiv:cs). Open-source framework for machine learning acceleration on flexible RISC-V processors, achieving 21x performance improvement. Essential for makers interested in edge AI, RISC-V development, and flexible electronics applications

Building an Open CGRA Ecosystem for Agile Innovation (arxiv:cs). Complete open-source ecosystem for reconfigurable computing with RISC-V integration and FPGA-friendly tools. Invaluable resource for advanced makers exploring hardware-software co-design and edge AI acceleration

Invited Paper: Feature-to-Classifier Co-Design for Mixed-Signal Smart Flexible Wearables for Healthcare at the Extreme Edge (arxiv:cs). Introduces first analog feature extractors for flexible electronics in wearable healthcare devices. Relevant for makers developing flexible PCBs, wearable tech, and low-power health monitoring systems

Exploration of Low-Power Flexible Stress Monitoring Classifiers for Conformal Wearables (arxiv:cs). Comprehensive design exploration of ML classifiers for flexible stress monitoring wearables with custom low-precision circuits. Useful for makers building health monitoring devices and flexible electronics projects

đź‘‹ Before you go

I've got a big favor to ask - keeping Blaze running isn't expensive, but it does all add up, so I'm asking readers like you to help, if you can.
That's why I'm launching a Patreon page!. Nothing flashy, just a way for folks who find value in these newsletters to chip in a little each month. In return, you'll get:

  • Real say in how Blaze evolves — vote on new topics, features, topic curation ideas
  • First dibs on merch (details still cooking)
  • That warm fuzzy feeling knowing you're supporting something that saves you time and keeps you plugged into great tech writing

If you are getting value from blaze, checking this out would mean the world. And if you can't contribute, no worries—the newsletters keep coming either way, and you can follow along on patreon for free.
Thanks for reading and being part of this nerdy corner of the internet. All the best - Alastair.

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