Hackaday Podcast Ep 331: Clever Machine Tools, Storing Data in Birds, and the Ultimate Cyberdeck

Another week, another Hackaday podcast, and for this one Elliot is joined by Jenny List, fresh from the BornHack hacker camp in Denmark.

There’s a definite metal working flavour to this week’s picks, with new and exciting CNC techniques and a selective electroplater that can transfer bitmaps to metal. But worry not, there’s plenty more to tease the ear, with one of the nicest cyberdecks we’ve ever seen, and a bird that can store images in its song.

Standout quick hacks are a synth that makes sounds from Ethernet packets, and the revelation that the original PlayStation is now old enough to need replacement motherboards. Finally we take a closer look at the huge effort that goes in to monitoring America’s high voltage power infrastructure, and some concerning privacy news from the UK. Have a listen!

Episode 331 Show Notes:

News:

• We’ve reache the halfway point: Announcing The 2025 Hackaday One Hertz Challenge

What’s that Sound?

• If you know what this week’s sound is, enter your best guess here.

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• Painting In Metal With Selective Electroplating
• A Dual-Screen Cyberdeck To Rule Them All
• Human In The Loop: Compass CNC Redefines Workspace Limits
• AVIF: The Avian Image Format
• Skateboard Wheels Add Capabilities To Plasma Cutter
• Engrave A Cylinder Without A Rotary Attachment? No Problem!
• The LumenPnP Pasting Utility: Never Buy Solder Stencils Again?

Quick Hacks:

• Elliot’s Picks:
  • Transparent PCBs Trigger 90s Nostalgia
  • Listening To Ethernet Via Eurorack
  • Read QR Codes On The Cheap
  • 2025 One-Hertz Challenge: A Clock Sans Silicon
• Jenny’s Picks:
  • A Non-Sony Playstation Motherboard Replacement
  • A Cable Modem, The Way All Network Gear Should Be Mounted
  • A Very Tidy Handheld Pi Terminal Indeed

Can’t-Miss Articles:

• Power Line Patrols: The Grid’s Eye In The Sky
• When Online Safety Means Surrendering Your ID, What Can You Do?