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Open Source @Github

Restoring a ZX Spectrum+ Toastrack

https://celso.io/posts/2025/06/28/toastrack/
56•rcarmo•2d ago•14 comments

YouTube No Translation

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/youtube-no-translation/
301•doener•1d ago•220 comments

I built something that changed my friend group's social fabric

https://blog.danpetrolito.xyz/i-built-something-that-changed-my-friend-gro-social-fabric/
21•dandano•2d ago•10 comments

Genetic code enables zebrafish to mend damaged organs

https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/genetic-code-enables-zebrafish-to-mend-damaged-organs
46•bookofjoe•2d ago•0 comments

I write type-safe generic data structures in C

https://danielchasehooper.com/posts/typechecked-generic-c-data-structures/
317•todsacerdoti•17h ago•116 comments

The new skill in AI is not prompting, it's context engineering

https://www.philschmid.de/context-engineering
621•robotswantdata•13h ago•326 comments

Getting weather data from my Acurite sensors was shockingly easy

https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/getting-weather-data-my-acurite-sensors-was-shockingly-easy
15•mikece•2d ago•2 comments

The hidden JTAG in a Qualcomm/Snapdragon device’s USB port

https://www.linaro.org/blog/hidden-jtag-qualcomm-snapdragon-usb/
176•denysvitali•15h ago•24 comments

Donkey Kong Country 2 and Open Bus

https://jsgroth.dev/blog/posts/dkc2-open-bus/
233•colejohnson66•19h ago•55 comments

Transparent Electronics

https://www.are.na/james-hicks/transparent-electronics
15•walterbell•3d ago•6 comments

Noloco (YC S21) Is Hiring a Founders Associate in Barcelona

https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noloco/jobs/K7q02eV-founders-associate
1•darraghmckay•3h ago

Xfinity using WiFi signals in your house to detect motion

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/wifi-motion
534•bearsyankees•15h ago•358 comments

Proton joins suit against Apple for practices that harm developers and consumers

https://proton.me/blog/apple-lawsuit
377•moose44•16h ago•405 comments

Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (June 2025)

395•david927•1d ago•1233 comments

Claude Code now supports Hooks

https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/hooks
223•ramoz•10h ago•80 comments

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations

https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/aging-related-inflammation-not-universal-across-human-populations
53•XzetaU8•4h ago•28 comments

Pluto is a unique dialect of Lua with a focus on general-purpose programming

https://github.com/PlutoLang/Pluto
37•90s_dev•9h ago•20 comments

GPEmu: A GPU emulator for rapid, low-cost deep learning prototyping [pdf]

https://vldb.org/pvldb/vol18/p1919-wang.pdf
45•matt_d•11h ago•4 comments

End of an Era

https://www.erasmatazz.com/personal/self/end-of-an-era.html
146•marcusestes•15h ago•41 comments

Melbourne man discovers extensive model train network underneath house

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/i-was-shocked-melbourne-mans-unbelievable-find-after-buying-house/m4sksfer8
265•cfcfcf•10h ago•85 comments

Small language models are the future of agentic AI

https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02153
59•favoboa•6h ago•21 comments

Show HN: A continuation of IRS Direct File that can be self-hosted

https://github.com/openfiletax/openfile
67•elijahwright_•12h ago•5 comments

Abstraction boundaries are optimization boundaries

https://blog.snork.dev/posts/abstraction-boundaries-are-optimization-boundaries.html
9•delifue•2d ago•2 comments

Nimtable: Open-source web UI to browse and manage Apache Iceberg tables

https://github.com/nimtable/nimtable
25•Sheldon_fun•6h ago•7 comments

Sony DTC-700 audio DAT player/recorder

https://kevinboone.me/dtc-700.html
93•naves•16h ago•74 comments

People Keep Inventing Prolly Trees

https://www.dolthub.com/blog/2025-06-03-people-keep-inventing-prolly-trees/
126•lifty•2d ago•27 comments

The original LZEXE (A.K.A. Kosinski) compressor source code has been released

https://clownacy.wordpress.com/2025/05/24/the-original-lzexe-a-k-a-kosinski-compressor-source-code-has-been-released/
92•elvis70•15h ago•6 comments

A CarFax for Used PCs; Hewlett Packard wants to give old laptops new life

https://spectrum.ieee.org/carmax-used-pcs
83•rubenbe•17h ago•87 comments

Jim Boddie codeveloped the first successful DSP at Bell Labs

https://spectrum.ieee.org/dsp-pioneer-jim-boddie
38•jnord•12h ago•0 comments

Entropy of a Mixture

https://cgad.ski/blog/entropy-of-a-mixture.html
45•cgadski•13h ago•4 comments
Open in hackernews

Restoring a ZX Spectrum+ Toastrack

https://celso.io/posts/2025/06/28/toastrack/
56•rcarmo•2d ago

Comments

PeterStuer•2h ago
I have kept my Spectrum 48k and QL stored in reasonable condition but have not booted them in decades. Probably will need some work if I ever get round to them.
rwmj•2h ago
Don't just plug them in randomly! The original power brick can get out of spec (delivering over-voltage), and the voltage regulator on the PCB commonly fails. In the worst case this can end up permanently damaging other components. There's a routine you can follow to test each part, although you'll need a multimeter and some experience, and a bench power supply will come in handy as well.

I'd recommend looking at these sites: https://retrorepairsandrefurbs.com/sinclair-computers/ https://www.retroleum.co.uk/

and Lee on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoreFunMakingIt/videos https://www.youtube.com/@morefunfixingit/videos plus Lee has a Discord where they discuss fixing old Sinclairs, linked here: https://www.morefunmakingit.co.uk/links/.

PeterStuer•2h ago
Thx for the advice. Will definitely measure the power bricks before plugging them in.
jsvaughan•1h ago
We've got 3x spectrums, two 48k rubber key ones and a plus2. we've even got such random things as a Trickstick :)(https://worldofspectrum.org/hardware/feat4.html). I got them out of the loft the other day but the biggest problem i found is that few of the original game tapes still work. did manage to play Jetpac though :)
vidarh•47m ago
The later Spectrum's were some of the nicest looking 8 bit machines... As a Commodore (VIC 20, C64, Amiga) user, it was the one thing I liked about them...
b800h•27m ago
The later real Sinclair ones like the QL. Rick Dickinson, who did these designs, was responsible for designing the recent Kickstarted ZX Spectrum Next, which is a lovely machine.
pcardoso•39m ago
I have one of these, sitting in a box since I bought it for peanuts many years ago (sold as a 48K).

I like it but, due to lack of time and expertise to take care of it, I have been debating whether to keep or donate all my old machines the local ZX Spectrum museum a short drive away from me. Certainly a brighter future than a box somewhere...

celso•36m ago
This one? https://loadzx.com/en/

If yes, they will be in very good hands.

pcardoso•5m ago
yes, this one!
justmarc•32m ago
Donate it. What use is it sitting in storage forever, unused?
justmarc•33m ago
A great writeup and a really nice set of improvements to this otherwise pretty basic device.

That said, it absolutely boggles the mind that an HDMI output for this thing would be taken care of by an RPi, that is many orders of magnitude more powerful, and power efficient than the device at hand.

brk•24m ago
7805's are linear regulators, they drop excess voltage as heat. Using a 2A rated 7805 won't make it run less hot, the heat output is the delta between input and output voltages.
celso•10m ago
Good point. I should know this.
aetherspawn•5m ago
Not necessarily, the higher rated packages are rated higher because they use higher quality materials that have a lower thermal coefficient (for getting the heat out), so yes the energy in Watts is the same but they’ll still probably run cooler.

If you’re interested whether this is the case you’d look for a thing called “junction thermal coefficient” on the data sheet.