Brother Word Processor Laptop Runs Wolfenstein 3D

The Brother GeoBook NB-60 is an old laptop from the 90s that was primarily used for word processing, accounting, and not much else. The laptop had a 1.44MB floppy drive and also a hard drive.

Action Retro got their hands on one recently, and with the internet being the internet, someone who worked at Brother ported Wolfenstein 3D many years ago. They sent a copy over. A YouTube short shows the game in action. Although the screen refresh rate can’t keep up, it runs quite well given that it’s on a laptop designed for word processing.

LAB22 Adjustable Tech Stands on Kickstarter

LAB22 is a series of stands for the iPad, iPhone, and AirPods Max. The iPad stand is compatible with 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros and the iPad Air 10.9-inch model.

Your iPad attaches magnetically to the stand with the magnets being strong so that you can use the iPad for drawing/typing or as a second screen without the worry of it slipping off. The plate it rests on is fully covered with microfibre so that the contact isn’t metal to metal which could leave scuffs.

The hinge on this iPad is also strong and has 9kgf-cm of torque to hold the iPad in whatever position needed. Briefly, 9kgf-cm is related to how much force is needed to move the iPad on its hinge. Too much, and it won’t move. Too little, and it would drop down and never stay put. The stand can fold down at any angle and move back up, and the plate is also rotatable allowing you to switch between portrait and landscape modes easily.

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Lego Ping Pong Game Built with Impressive Engineering Skills

About a year ago, this impressive Lego set appeared on the Lego Ideas website. It’s a playable version of the old Pong arcade game. It was built by someone who goes by the name of TheBananaman2018.

Inside of the set are 90 gears to control the movement of the ball which bounces back and forth across the playing area. Each player has two controls making the paddle move up and down.

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Development on Snap Pixy Selfie Drone Stopped

Back in April, Snap launched the Pixy, which is a small drone used for capturing selfies. Sadly, development is now being stopped, according to WSJ.

The Pixy was cool because it was autonomous. It had two cameras. One facing forward to capture pictures and video of you, and a camera facing down so that it can see the ground and hold the drone in place, similar to how the Tello drone works.

There were different modes that you could set, and when it’s ready to launch you just push a button and off it goes while capturing video and pictures of you.

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DeWALT USB-C Power Tool Charger

USB charging makes life a little easier. Rather than having a different adapter for each device, you can just have one and charge all of your devices from your phone, iPad, shaver, and so on. DeWALT has seen this problem of too many chargers and has created the DCB094 USB adapter.

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Sega Genesis Mini 2 Coming Soon

The Sega Genesis, or Mega Drive for us lot in the UK, was a console I grew up with in my teen years. I got mine as a Christmas gift I think in 1991. I got the version with Sonic the Hedgehog rather than the one that launched with Altered Beast.

Moving on 30 years, a new retro console is launching called the Genesis Mini 2. It becomes available on October 27 and is available for pre-order now for North America. More details of it can be found here.

Those of us in Europe will also be able to get hold of the Mega Drive Mini 2, although pre-orders are not open for that until September 2.

The Mini 2 is a little different and comes in a more compact design based on the Genesis Model 2. It also comes with the newer 6-button controller rather than the original 3-button controller. Those of you with the controllers from the original Mini launched in 2019 will also welcome that those controllers are compatible with the Mini 2.

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Apple Security Vulnerabilities Addressed in Latest Updates

If you use an iPhone, iPad, or macOS then now is a good time to grab the latest updates due to a zero-day vulnerability found. The latest updates, released yesterday, fix this up by patching the vulnerability.

On the security page at Apple it describes the impact as follows:

Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.

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Kickstarter: Portable Tire Inflator

I came across this cool-looking tire inflator today on Kickstarter. I’m a little late to the game on this one, given that it first arrived at the end of July, but it’s still worth a shoutout here because there are still around three weeks left for the Kickstarter to complete.

The device comes in two versions, the ONE and ONE Pro, the Pro having a larger battery at 10,400 mAh compared to 7,800 mAh on the ONE. Inflation speed is also quicker on the Pro. Other than that, they both have almost identical specifications.

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Flying Basketball Hoop Catches All Shots

The Stuff Made Here YouTube channel shows some impressive engineering skills, with one of the more recent videos showing a basketball hoop that moves in six dimensions (check out the video if that makes no sense). The hoop is attached to wires that pull it around at speed to capture the ball wherever it is thrown in a room.

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iPhone 14 Event Coming Soon

If Apple keeps to the schedule of launch events for the iPhone over the last few years, then we can expect the iPhone 14 to be announced, and likely be launched sometime in September. The predicted date is currently September 7 for the announcement, and likely open for pre-orders a few days later.

We can probably expect the usual updates such as better cameras, a faster processor, as well as some cosmetic changes. Listing those changes doesn’t particularly sound too exciting, although for those who keep hold of their iPhones for a few years at a time, a speed bump and better camera is always welcome.
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Pop-up Outlet Hides Under the Kitchen Countertop

Plug sockets are common place in your average kitchen on this side of the world. The device pictured below is designed to hide the sockets below a kitchen (or other type of surface) so that you can only have them on show when you actually need them.

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Walkie-Talkie Smartphone Handset

I only tend to see truck drivers with walkie-talkies these days as I drive past them. With the walkie-talkie smartphone handset, you can join in on that scene too.

The handset plugs in to the headphone port on any smartphone and has a microphone built in to the handset. To talk, you push the button. It has adjustable volume and the ability to pickup and end calls.

walkie-talkie-iPhone [Read more…]