Hackaday Podcast
Hackaday Editors take a look at all of the interesting uses of technology that pop up on the internet each week. Topics cover a wide range like bending consumer electronics to your will, designing circuit boards, building robots, writing software, 3D printing interesting objects, and using machine tools. Get your fix of geeky goodness from new episodes every Friday morning.
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Ep 363: The History of PLA, Laser DIY PCBs, and Corporate Craziness
03/27/2026
Ep 363: The History of PLA, Laser DIY PCBs, and Corporate Craziness
What did Elliot Williams and Al Williams read on Hackaday last week? Tune in and find out. After a bit of news, [Vik Oliver] chimes in with some deep PLA knowledge. Then the topic changed to pressure advance measurements, SDRs, making super-resolution PCBs with a fiber laser, and more. Want to 3D print wire strippers? A robot arm? Or just make your own Z-80? Those hacks are in there, too. For the long articles, we talked about old tech, including the :CueCat and the Iomega Zip Drive. Let us know if you had either one in the comments. What do you think? Leave us a comment or record something and send it to our .
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Ep 362: Compression Molding, IPv4x, and Wired Headphones
03/20/2026
Ep 362: Compression Molding, IPv4x, and Wired Headphones
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.
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Ep 361: Hackaday Podcast Mailbag, A Phone is Not a Computer, 3D Printing History is New Again
03/13/2026
Ep 361: Hackaday Podcast Mailbag, A Phone is Not a Computer, 3D Printing History is New Again
Join Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi as they cover their favorite hacks and stories from the week. The episode kicks off with some updates about Hackaday Europe and the recently announced Green Power contest, as well as the proposal of a new feature of the podcast where listeners are invited to send in their questions and comments. After the housekeeping is out of the way, the discussion will go from spoofing traffic light control signals and the line between desktop computers and smartphones, all the way to homebrew e-readers and writing code with chocolate candies. You'll hear about molding replacement transparent parts, a collection of fantastic tutorials on hardware hacking and reverse engineering, and the recent fireball that lit up the skies over Germany. The episode wraps up with a fascinating look at how the developer of Pokemon Go is monetizing the in-game efforts of millions of players. Check out if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments! Or send us a clip for the mailbag to editor@hackaday.com.
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Ep 360: Cool Rubber Bands, Science-y Stuff, and the Whys of Office Supplies
03/06/2026
Ep 360: Cool Rubber Bands, Science-y Stuff, and the Whys of Office Supplies
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, is underway, and 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!
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Ep 359: Flying Squids, Edible Passwords, and a CAD Automaton
02/27/2026
Ep 359: Flying Squids, Edible Passwords, and a CAD Automaton
Hackaday editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams met up to trade their favorite posts of the week. Tune in and see if your favorites made the list. From crazy intricate automata to surprising problems in Peltier cooler designs, there's a little bit of everything. Should bikes have chains? What's the hardest thing about Star Trek computers to duplicate? Can you make a TV station from a single microcontroller? The podcast this week answers these questions and more. Plus, weigh in on the What's That Sound contest and you might just score a Hackaday Podcast T-shirt. For the Can't Miss segment, Elliot had airships on his mind, while Al's sick of passwords. But is he sick enough to take electronic pills that transmit his password?
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Ep 358: Soft Displays, LCD Apertures, and Mind Controlled Toys
02/20/2026
Ep 358: Soft Displays, LCD Apertures, and Mind Controlled Toys
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. !
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Ep 357: BreezyBox, Antique Tech, and Defusing Killer Robots
02/13/2026
Ep 357: BreezyBox, Antique Tech, and Defusing Killer Robots
In the latest episode of the Hackaday Podcast, editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi start things off by discussing the game of lunar hide-and-seek that has researchers searching for the lost Luna 9 probe, and drop a few hints about the upcoming Hackaday Europe conference. From there they'll marvel over a miniature operating system for the ESP32, examine the re-use of iPad displays, and find out about homebrew software development for an obscure Nintendo handheld. You'll also hear about a gorgeous RGB 14-segment display, a robot that plays chess, and a custom 3D printed turntable for all your rotational needs. The episode wraps up with a sobering look at the dangers of industrial robotics, and some fascinating experiments to determine if a decade-old roll of PLA filament is worth keeping or not. if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 356: Nanoprinting, Vibe Coding, and Keebin' with Kristina, IN HELL!
02/06/2026
Ep 356: Nanoprinting, Vibe Coding, and Keebin' with Kristina, IN HELL!
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. <a href="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SCM-Secretarial-300.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-915364" src="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/SCM-Secretarial-300.jpg?w=400" alt="" width="400" height="301" /></a>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. if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 355: Person Detectors, Walkie Talkies, Open Smartphones, and a WiFi Traffic Light
01/30/2026
Ep 355: Person Detectors, Walkie Talkies, Open Smartphones, and a WiFi Traffic Light
Another chilly evening in Western Europe, as Elliot Williams is joined this week by Jenny List to chew the fat over the week's hacks. It's been an auspicious week for anniversaries, with the hundredth since the first demonstration of a working television system in a room above a London coffee shop. John Logie Baird's mechanically-scanned TV may have ultimately been a dead-end superseded by the all-electronic systems we all know, but the importance of television for the later half of the 20th century and further is beyond question. The standout hacks of the week include a very clever use of the ESP32's WiFi API to detect people moving through a WiFi field, a promising open-source smartphone, another ESP32 project in a comms system for cyclists, more cycling on tensegrity spokes, a clever way to smooth plaster casts, and a light sculpture reflecting Wi-Fi traffic. Then there are a slew of hacks including 3D printed PCBs and gem-cut dichroic prisms, before we move to the can't-miss articles. There we're looking at document preservation, and a wallow in internet history with a look at the Netscape brand. As usual all the links you need can be found so listen, and enjoy!
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Ep 354: Firearms, Sky Driving, and Dumpster Diving
01/23/2026
Ep 354: Firearms, Sky Driving, and Dumpster Diving
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. if you want to follow along, and don't be shy. Tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 353: Fantastic Peripherals, Fake or Not Fake Picos, and Everything on the Steam Deck
01/16/2026
Ep 353: Fantastic Peripherals, Fake or Not Fake Picos, and Everything on the Steam Deck
Join Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi as they swap their favorite hacks and stories from the week. In this episode, they'll start off by marveling over the evolution of the "smart knob" and other open hardware input devices, then discuss a futuristic propulsion technology you can demo in your own kitchen sink, and a cheap handheld game system that get's a new lease on life thanks to the latest version of the ESP32 microcontroller. From there they'll cover spinning CRTs, creating custom GUIs on Android, and yet another thing you can build of out that old Ender 3 collecting dust in the basement. The episode wraps up with a discussion about putting Valve's Steam Deck to work and a look at the history-making medical evacuation of the International Space Station. Check out if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 352: Visualizing Sound, and Windows 11 Is a Dog
01/09/2026
Ep 352: Visualizing Sound, and Windows 11 Is a Dog
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!
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Ep 351: Hackaday Goes To Chaos Communication Congress
01/02/2026
Ep 351: Hackaday Goes To Chaos Communication Congress
Elliot was of at Europe's largest hacker convention: Chaos Communication Congress. He had an awesome time, saw more projects than you might think humanely possible, and got the flu. But he pulled through and put this audio tourbook for you. So if you've never been to CCC, give it a listen!
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2025 Holiday Placeholder Edition
12/26/2025
2025 Holiday Placeholder Edition
The entire Hackaday crew wishes you happy holidays and a fantastic 2026. You'll hear back from us then, so stay tuned.
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Ep 350: Damnation for Spreadsheets, Praise for Haiku, and Admiration for the Hacks In Between
12/19/2025
Ep 350: Damnation for Spreadsheets, Praise for Haiku, and Admiration for the Hacks In Between
This week's Hackaday Podcast sees Elliot Williams joined by Jenny List for an all-European take on the week, and have we got some hacks for you! In the news this week is NASA's Maven Mars Orbiter, which may sadly have been lost. A sad day for study of the red planet, but at the same time a chance to look back at what has been a long and successful mission. In the hacks of the week, we have a lo-fi camera, a very refined Commodore 64 laptop, and a MIDI slapophone to entertain you, as well as taking a detailed look at neutrino detectors. Then CYMK printing with laser cut stencils draws our attention, as well as the arrival of stable GPIB support for Linux. Finally both staffers let loose; Elliot with an epic rant about spreadsheets, and Jenny enthusiastically describing the Haiku operating system. if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 349: Clocks, AI, and a New 3D Printer Guy
12/12/2025
Ep 349: Clocks, AI, and a New 3D Printer Guy
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!
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Ep 348: 50 Grams of PLA Hold a Ton, Phreaknic Badge is Off The Shelf, and Hackers Need Repair Manuals
12/05/2025
Ep 348: 50 Grams of PLA Hold a Ton, Phreaknic Badge is Off The Shelf, and Hackers Need Repair Manuals
Join Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi as they go over their picks for the best stories and hacks from the previous week. Things start off with a warning about the long-term viability of SSD backups, after which the discussion moves onto the limits of 3D printed PLA, the return of the Pebble smart watch, some unconventional aircraft, and an online KiCad schematic repository that has plenty of potential. You'll also hear about a remarkable conference badge made from e-waste electronic shelf labels, filling 3D prints with foam, and a tiny TV powered by the ESP32. The episode wraps up with our wish for hacker-friendly repair manuals, and an interesting tale of underwater engineering from D-Day. 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!
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Ep 347: Breaking Kindles, Baby's First Synth, and Barcodes!
11/28/2025
Ep 347: Breaking Kindles, Baby's First Synth, and Barcodes!
This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over coffee to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous seven days or so. On What's That Sound, Kristina got sort of close, but of course failed spectacularly. Will you fare better and perhaps win a Hackaday Podcast t-shirt? Mayhap you will. After that, it's on to the hacks and such, beginning with an interesting tack to take with a flat-Earther that involves two gyroscopes. And we take a look at the design requirements when it comes to building synths for three-year-olds. Then we discuss several awesome hacks such as a vehicle retrofit to add physical heated seat controls, an assistive radio that speaks the frequencies, and an acoustic radiometer build. Finally, we look at the joys of hacking an old Kindle, and get a handle on disappearing door handles. Check out the to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 346: Melting Metal in the Microwave, Unlocking Car Brakes and Washing Machines, and a Series of Tubes
11/21/2025
Ep 346: Melting Metal in the Microwave, Unlocking Car Brakes and Washing Machines, and a Series of Tubes
Wait, what? Is it time for the podcast again? Seems like only yesterday that Dan joined Elliot for the weekly rundown of the choicest hacks for the last 1/52 of a year. but here we are. We had quite a bit of news to talk about, including the winners of the Component Abuse Challenge -- warning, some components were actually abused for this challenge. They're also a trillion pages deep over at the Internet Archive, a milestone that seems worth celebrating. As for projects, both of us kicked things off with "Right to repair"-adjacent topics, first with a washing machine that gave up its secrets with IR and then with a car that refused to let its owner fix the brakes. We heated things up with a microwave foundry capable of melting cast iron -- watch your toes! -- and looked at a tiny ESP32 dev board with ludicrously small components. We saw surveyors go to war, watched a Lego sorting machine go through its paces, and learned about radar by spinning up a sonar set from first principles. Finally, we wrapped things up with another Al Williams signature "Can't Miss Articles" section, with his deep dive into the fun hackers can have with the now-deprecated US penny, and his nostalgic look at pneumatic tube systems.
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Ep 345: A Stunning Lightsaber, Two Extreme Cameras, and Wrangling Roombas
11/14/2025
Ep 345: A Stunning Lightsaber, Two Extreme Cameras, and Wrangling Roombas
It's a wet November evening across Western Europe, the steel-grey clouds have obscured a rare low-latitude aurora this week, and Elliot Williams is joined by Jenny List for this week's podcast. And we've got a fine selection for your listening pleasure! The 2025 Component Abuse Challenge has come to an end, so this week you'll be hearing about a few of the entries. We've received an impressive number, and as always we're bowled over by the ingenuity of Hackaday readers in pushing parts beyond their limits. In the news is the potential discovery of a lost UNIX version in a dusty store room at the University of Utah, Version 4 of the OS, which appeared in 1973. Check out your own stores, for hidden nuggets of gold. In the hacks, we have two cameras at the opposite end of the resolution spectrum, but sharing some impressive reverse engineering. Mouse cameras and scanner cameras were both a thing a couple of decades ago, and it's great to see people still pushing the boundaries. Then we look at the challenge of encoding Chinese text as Morse code, an online-upgraded multimeter, the art of making lenses for an LED lighting effect, and what must be the best recreation of a Star Wars light sabre we have ever seen. In quick hacks we have a bevvy of Component Abuse Challenge projects, a Minecraft server on a smart light bulb, and a long term test of smartphone battery charging techniques. We round off with a couple of our long-form pieces, first the uncertainties about iRobot's future and what it might mean for their ecosystem -- think: cheap hackable robotics platform! -- and then a look at FreeBSD as an alternative upgrade path for Windows users. It's a path not without challenges, but the venerable OS still has plenty to give. As always, check out the links to all the articles over on Hackaday.
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Board with Lasers, Op-Amp Torture, and Farewell Supercon 9
11/07/2025
Board with Lasers, Op-Amp Torture, and Farewell Supercon 9
Hackaday Editors Tom Nardi and Al Williams spent the weekend at Supercon and had to catch up on all the great hacks. Listen in as they talk about their favorites. Plus, stick around to the end to hear about some of the highlights from their time in Pasadena. If you're still thinking about entering the Component Abuse Contest, you're just about out of time. Need some inspiration? Tom and Al talk about a few choice entries, and discuss how pushing parts out of their comfort zone can come in handy. Do you make your own PCBs? With vias? If you have a good enough laser, you could. Or maybe you'd rather have a $10 Linux server? Just manage your expectations. The guys both admit they aren't mechanical geniuses and, unlike [4St4r], aren't very good at guessing sounds either. They round up with some 3D printing projects and a collection of quick hacks.
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Episode 343: Double Component Abuse, a Tinkercad Twofer, and a Pair of Rants
10/24/2025
Episode 343: Double Component Abuse, a Tinkercad Twofer, and a Pair of Rants
This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up across the universe to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous seven days or so. In Hackaday news, OMG Supercon is almost here! In other news, we've still got a contest running. , sponsored by DigiKey, and for all the details. On What's That Sound, Kristina failed spectacularly. Will you fare better and perhaps win a Hackaday Podcast t-shirt? Mayhap you will. After that, it's on to the hacks and such, beginning with a really cool entry into the Component Abuse Challenge wherein a simple transmission line is used to multiply a voltage. We watch as a POV globe takes to the skies, once it has enough motors. Then we discuss several awesome hacks such as an incredible desk that simulates beehive activity, a really great handheld PC build, and a Tinkercad twofer. Finally, we discuss the future of removable batteries, and the history of movable type. if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 342: Poopless Prints, Radio in Your Fillings, and One Hyperspectral Pixel at a Time
10/17/2025
Ep 342: Poopless Prints, Radio in Your Fillings, and One Hyperspectral Pixel at a Time
It was Elliot and Dan on the podcast today, taking a look at the best the week had to offer in terms of your hacks. We started with surprising news about the rapidly approaching Supercon keynote; no spoilers, but Star Trek fans such as we who don't have tickets will be greatly disappointed. Elliot waxed on about taking the poop out of your prints, Dan got into a camera that adds a dimension to its images, and we both delighted in the inner workings of an air-powered squishy robot. Questions? We've got plenty. Is it possible to take an X-ray without an X-ray tube? Or X-rays, for that matter? Did Lucille Ball crack a spy ring with her fillings? Is Algol set to take over the world? What's inside a germanium transistor? How does a flipping fish say Happy Birthday? And how far down the Meshtastic rabbit hole did our own Tom Nardi fall? Tune in to find out the answers.
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Ep 341: Qualcomm Owns Arduino, Steppers Still Dominate 3D Printing, and Google Controls Your Apps
10/10/2025
Ep 341: Qualcomm Owns Arduino, Steppers Still Dominate 3D Printing, and Google Controls Your Apps
The nights are drawing in for Europeans, and Elliot Williams is joined this week by Jenny List for an evening podcast looking at the past week in all things Hackaday. After reminding listeners of the upcoming Hackaday Supercon and Jawncon events, we take a moment to mark the sad passing of the prolific YouTuber, Robert Murray-Smith. Before diving into the real hacks, there are a couple of more general news stories with an effect on our community. First, the takeover of Arduino by Qualcomm, and what its effect is likely to be. We try to speculate as to where the Arduino platform might go from here, and even whether it remains the player it once was, in 2025. Then there's the decision by Google to restrict Android sideloading to only approved-developer APKs unless over ADB. It's an assault on a user's rights over their own hardware, as well as something of a blow to the open-source Android ecosystem. What will be our community's response? On more familiar territory we have custom LCDs, algorithmic art, and a discussion of non-stepper motors in 3D printing. Even the MakerBot Cupcake makes an appearance. Then there's a tiny RV, new creative use of an ESP32 peripheral, and the DVD logo screensaver, in hardware. We end the show with a look at why logic circuits use the voltages they do. It's a smorgasbord of hacks for your listening enjoyment.
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Ep 340: The Best Programming Language, Space Surgery, and Hacking Two 3D Printers into One
10/03/2025
Ep 340: The Best Programming Language, Space Surgery, and Hacking Two 3D Printers into One
Elliot Williams and Al Williams got together to share their favorite hacks of the week with you. If you listen in, you'll hear exciting news about the upcoming SuperCon and the rare occurrence of Al winning the What's That Sound game. For hacks, the guys talk about the IEEE's take on the "best" programming languages of 2025 and how they think AI is going to fundamentally transform the job of a programmer. On a lighter note, there's an industrial robot who retired to bartending, a minimal drum machine, a high-powered laser, and a Fortran flight simulator reborn with Unity 3D. In the "can't miss" category, you'll learn how not to switch Linux distributions and what to expect when you need surgery while on your next mission to outer space. There's lots more. Want to follow along? Check out the links below. As always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 339: The Vape Episode, a Flying DeLorean, and DIY Science
09/26/2025
Ep 339: The Vape Episode, a Flying DeLorean, and DIY Science
Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi start this week's episode off with an update on the rapidly approaching 2025 Supercon in Pasadena, California. From there they'll talk about the surprisingly high-tech world of vapes, a flying DeLorean several years in the making, non-contact pulse monitoring, and the potential of backyard radio telescopes to do real astronomy. You'll hear about a dodecahedron speaker, a page turning peripheral, and 3D printed tools for unfolding boxes. They'll wrap things up by taking a look at the latest generation of wearable smart glasses, and wonder if putting a bank of batteries in your home is really with the hassle. Check out the links over at Hackaday if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
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Ep 338: Smoothing 3D Prints, Reading CNC Joints, and Detecting Spicy Shrimp
09/19/2025
Ep 338: Smoothing 3D Prints, Reading CNC Joints, and Detecting Spicy Shrimp
This week, Hackaday's Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met up over the tubes to bring you the latest news, mystery sound, and of course, a big bunch of hacks from the previous seven days or so. In Hackaday news, we've got a new contest running! <a href="https://hackaday.com/2025/09/16/2025-hackaday-component-abuse-challenge-let-the-games-begin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read all about the 2025 Component Abuse Challenge</a>, sponsored by DigiKey, and <a href="https://hackaday.io/contest/204037-component-abuse-challenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out the contest page</a> for all the details. In sad news, <a href="https://hackaday.com/2025/09/17/american-science-and-surplus-ends-online-sales/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Science & Surplus are shuttering online sales</a>, leaving just the brick and mortar stores in Wisconsin and Illinois. On What's That Sound, it's a results show, which means Kristina gets to take a stab at it. She missed the mark, but that's okay, because [Montana Mike] knew that it was the theme music for the show <em>Beakman's World</em>, which was described by one contestant as "Bill Nye on crack". After that, it's on to the hacks and such, beginning with a really cool way to smooth your 3D prints in situ. JWe take a much closer look at that talking robot's typewriter-inspired mouth from about a month ago. Then we discuss several awesome technological feats such as running code on a PAX credit card payment machine, using the alphabet as joinery, and the invention of UTF-8 in general. Finally, we discuss the detection of spicy shrimp, and marvel at the history of email. 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!
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Ep 337: Homebrew Inductors, Teletypes in the Bedroom, and Action!
09/12/2025
Ep 337: Homebrew Inductors, Teletypes in the Bedroom, and Action!
Fresh hacks here! Get your fresh hot hacks right here! Elliot and Dan teamed up this week to go through every story published on our pages to find the best of the best, the cream of the crop, and serve them up hot and fresh for you. The news this week was all from space, with the ISS getting its latest (and last?) push from Dragon, plus <<checks notes>> oh yeah, life on Mars. Well, maybe, but it's looking more and more like we are not alone, or at least not a few million years ago. But even if we are, plenty is still going on down here to keep you interested. Like homebrewing? Good, because we looked at DIY inductors, wire nuts, and even a dope -- but nope -- ultralight helicopter. Into retro? We've got you covered with a loving look at IRC, a 60s bedside computer guaranteed to end your marriage, and a look at the best 8-bit language you never heard of. We looked at a rescued fume hood, sensors galore on your phone, a rug that should have -- and did, kind of -- use a 555, and raytracing for the rest of your natural life. As for "Can't Miss Articles," Elliot could barely contain himself with the bounty of projects written up by our Hackaday writers, not to mention Arya's deep dive into putting GPS modules to work in your builds.
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Ep 336: DIY Datasette, Egg Cracking Machine, and Screwing 3D Prints
09/05/2025
Ep 336: DIY Datasette, Egg Cracking Machine, and Screwing 3D Prints
Thunderstorms were raging across southern Germany as Elliot Williams was joined by Jenny List for this week's podcast. The deluge outside didn't stop the hacks coming though, and we've got a healthy smorgasbord for you to snack from. There's the cutest ever data cassette recorder taking a tiny Olympus dictation machine and re-engineering it with a beautiful case for the Commodore 64, a vastly overcomplex machine for perfectly cracking an egg, the best lightning talk timer Hackaday has ever seen, and a demoscene challenge that eschews a CPU. Then in Quick Hacks we've got a QWERTY slider phone, and a self-rowing canoe that comes straight out of Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice sequence. For a long time we've had a Field guide series covering tech in infrastructure and other public plain sight, and this week's one dealt with pivot irrigation. A new subject for Jenny who grew up on a farm in a wet country. Then both editors are for once in agreement, over using self-tapping screws to assemble 3D-printed structures. Sit back and enjoy the show!
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Ep 335: Beer, Toast, and Pi
08/29/2025
Ep 335: Beer, Toast, and Pi
What happens when you listen in on Elliot Williams and Al Williams? You get a round up of the best of last week's Hackaday posts, of course. The topics this week range from beer brewing to lightning protection, with a little bit of everything in between. This week, many problems find solutions. Power drill battery dead? Your car doesn't have a tire pressure monitor? Does your butter tear up your toast? You can find the answer to these problems, and more, on the Hackaday podcast. For the can't miss section, the guys are annoyed that Google wants to lock down their phones, and also talk about measuring liquid levels in outer space. Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about !
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