Friday, October 16, 2009

I Justed Launched the open-source PetSynth.org and I've already got picked up by 3 websites!

In just these last few days I launched PetSynth.org, to share with the world the program I banged out, that turns your Commodore PET into a playable synth. It's open-source (GPL v2) and runs on a stock PET computer without any modifications.

The wonderful people at Retrothing.com picked it up, and said it's "surprisingly good considering the hardware limitations..." as well as "...I fear the potential audience for PetSynth is constrained by the number of functional Commodore PETs lurking in attics and basements. Of course, that just makes it cooler."

:)

Also, the terrific people at MatrixSynth picked it up.

As well, the great people at Synthopia also picked it up, saying "It’s starting to look like old 8-bit computers are the new Roland TB-303."

I'm excited at all the wonderful attention, and I look forward to hearing from anyone who tries it out, or decided to actually dive into my messy punk-rock source code.

Woot!
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Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Original Tiny living room inside a PC





I took some pictures back in 2006 that have been getting a lot of internet attention lately!

You can find the originals here on Flickr:

They've been posted and re-posted to several sites, but apparently most of them don't know who originally took them.

Well, it was me, the original author and photographer, Chiron Bramberger! I took the living room inside a PC pictures that were posted to modding.ru, as well as the other PC case mod sites!

Maybe I should take some more :)




(translated)



The Gizmodo.com article has had 57,000 or so views!!!


Also, I'm not Russian! I'm Canadian! Oh those Russians!

Special thanks to Todor Delev who got the ball rolling at techpowerup.com and who's kept me updating on all the blogging and re-blogging! Thanks!




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Friday, October 02, 2009

New Music Website

I've been making music with old computers and video games for a while now, but I haven't put anything up. Well, today I start.

Broken Happiness Machines
http://www.brokenhappinessmachines.com/

I've got a short demo track up, but I'll be adding to it in the future.

This is the original project that Flytrap Gear grew out of.

:)

Also, as an aside, the graphics were made in Google Sketchup. It's great and free!


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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

networked printer FAIL!

networked_printer_FAIL
networked_printer_FAIL,
originally uploaded by chironbramberger.
HP makes great stuff. Honestly, I've been impressed lately. Also, HP makes new ink cartridges out of old ones. So right on for HP being actually green (and not just greenwashing).

However... my printer, which was great, was also hit with a power surge I think. There was a recent storm. Anywhoo.....

Take a look at the picture, and tell me what's wrong with it? It'll take a second or two. Think of it as an IQ test or sorts in problem identification, Personally, it took me far too long to realize it. :)
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Thursday, July 09, 2009

Walking-out on the web

Walking-out on the web
Walking-out on the web,
originally uploaded by chironbramberger.
You know those web pages where someone walks out and talks to you?

I totally did it. I was worried it wouldn't work, but I setup a little green screen movie studio set in my house, and did a bunch of work, and I did it.

I've got a quick little demo on my homepage now:

http://chironbramberger.com/

Hit refresh to see me run out again!

So yeah, it's a lot of manual work, and getting the lighting right is really hard, and it would need a boom mic done properly to get good sound, but with some elbow grease, and hard work, it lives!
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Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Flytrap Gear

Check out the guitar pedal I made!

Okay, I'm excited to share, but it's been almost a year since I first sacrificed an old computer upon the alter of the God's of Rock and created a guitar effects pedal. That's right, it's made almost completely from parts recycled from an old computer.

Not only does it work with guitars, but synthesizers, old computers and old video games. I've got a samples of some Commodore 64 being processed by it.

You can check it all out here:

It's also made from high-gloss plastic. The graphics are not screen printed either - they are hand transfered and then hand painted by me without any special tools. Since the graphics are on the inside, you can't scratch them off! If you do scratch it, you just need to buff and polish it up - good as new!

I've recently re-designed the electronics for better noise performance and durability. This means it's less susceptible to noise from nearby computers and wireless routers.

Like the first one, it also has a Sizzle switch which turns on the circuity to help noise gate some of the background noise in the signal. It also adds a light fuzzy effect and some nice overtones as well. This makes the old Commodore 64 sound like it's been glam'ed up with an edgy drive.

It also is designed to work with an internal rechargeable battery that's externally charged, like a laptop, without having to open it up. It also uses so little power that you'd need to charge it once every six months or more, depending on how much you use it.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think!

Cheers!
-Chi
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Saturday, January 24, 2009

Apple Mighty Mouse - 2 Second Fix!

My Apple Might Mouse wasn't working properly; the scroll ball wasn't scrolling down anymore. It would scroll up, left and right, but not down. Both on a Mac and Windows machine.

I could have spent an hour or more taking it apart. I even found a guide here:

veoh.com - Taking apart an Apple Might Mouse

However, I've taken a part an Apple IIgs, PIsmo, PowerBook, and MacBook, and iPod mini, as well as various keyboard, and in both the best of worst sense of the term, Apple engineers to the edge.

I've fixed all the above, however, there are so many little tags, clips, slots, special shallow screws, and other things in hard to reach places. It's all too easy to scratch or bend things during the process. It's impressive, but neither fast nor fun much of the time.

After watching the guide above, which does do a decent job by-the-way, I had an idea. What about my new favorite cleaner?

Deoxit FaderLube!

I tired dripping a tiny little bit right onto the ball, wiped it several times with a cloth to get out any extra fluid...

..and it works as good as new!!!

It took longer to blog about this than to fix it!
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Friday, January 23, 2009

Rocking the PICAXE!

PICAXE!
PICAXE!,
originally uploaded by chironbramberger.
I recently received a bunch of little PICAXE chips to work with, and after downloading the software, building an easy cable and an easy circuit, I'm off and away!

I was surprised at how well everything seems put together. The chips are even internally coupled so you don't have to worry about the dreaded ESD getting you! They also have a visual flow-chart programming mode with is also really great in educational environments.

http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/

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