Practical off grid solar in the UK

Climate change is real and is happening[1]. The changing weather patterns are going to have a huge effect on world economies, food production, human health as well as the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Can we as individuals do…

Pac Man machine emulator

Here’s a brief description of how the Pac Man hardware works and how (and why) I wrote an emulator to run the original software on a modern computer. Sometime around 1998 I was working for NEC in the team developing…

Roland TR-808 cowbell rebuild

I recently found the original Roland TR-808 service manual on archive.org and thought it would be fun to try and recreate some of the sounds. It’s an instrument with a tremendous history and featuring in an incredible number of records from the 1980s including Whitney Houston, Afrika…

Easy IoT: An Internet of Things build status lamp

Contrary to popular belief, internet connected hardware doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. No exotic embedded WiFi boards needed here. You’ll just need a few standard bits from your spares box to amaze your friends with your own internet…

Tellyconverter photo effect generator

This is a project that makes your photos look like an old television, but by using a real old television rather than relying on digital filters. Once you upload your picture it’s displayed and photographed on an old television set…

Delayplayer - Radio 4 synced to your timezone

Code now available on Github There are many things UK expats miss when abroad. But while Marmite and Tunnock’s Tea Cakes can now be found in most corners of the world, the comforting presence of Radio 4 cannot. At least…

iPlayer for Kindle

Over the last few years the BBC‘s video on demand service iPlayer (a kind of British Hulu) has moved beyond desktop PCs, to games consoles, mobile phones, tablets, set top boxes and internet connected TVs. But there’s still a segment…

Dating strategy optimisation by the analysis of trends from an internet dating site

Here I demonstrate a strategy both men and women can use to maximise the probability of  dating success. The investigation also characterises behaviour exhibited by men and women which explain the phenomena of male mid life crisis and can also provide an estimate of relationship…

VCR Remote Control via SMS

Imagine it, it’s 3:15 on a weekday afternoon and you’ve just realised you’ve forgotten to set the video to tape ‘Pet Rescue’. Usually you would be condemned to an afternoon of misery and disappointment, knowing you had no heartwarming cute…

TV radar

In the last few months my TV reception has been increasingly affected by a particularly strong double image, caused by reflection of the signal from a nearby object. This is cause for concern as I am now liable to pay…