2024 Business Card Challenge: Snakes On a Business CardOnce [Lambert the Maker] saw the Arduboy, he knew the thing was ripe for remixing into a business card with an 8×8 LED matrix instead of an OLED screen. [Lambert] already has a PCB business card for work, but it looks like it doesn’t do anything. So this Snake-playing card is for their personal information.
The brains of this operation is an STM32F0, which required a bit of finesse when it came to programming the LEDs. According to the datasheet, the max current through a given GPIO pin is 30 mA. The LEDs are running at 20 mA through the limiting resistor, so the code only turns on one LED at a time and makes sure the previous one is off first. The whole screen is updated every 125 ms, and persistence of vision takes care of making the animation look right.
In the short videos after the break, you’ll see a preview followed by brief videos on versions one and two. The prototype was built in 2020, when the board house only offered green PCBs with their assembly service. Fast forward to 2024, when the board house is now offering colors other than green.
Version two is actually thinner than a credit card, and features tiny buttons instead of cap-sense pads for input. [Lambert] also added a floating ADC pin that acts as a random number generator, placing the apple in a new location every time the game is powered on.

Getting It Done: Last Week in D.I.Y. & Indie MusicThis week, our tips and advice for independent, do-it-yourselfers covered how to book bigger and better gigs, crucial Spotify stats, and more.....
The post Getting It Done: Last Week in D.I.Y. & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND: The new music industry’s last week in reviewIt was a busy week by any definition, and the music industry was no exception. Live Nation filed a class action lawsuit, Ticketmaster was hacked, and more.
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s last week in review appeared first on Hypebot.

Dekoni Audio recreate Audeze Vegan earpads Dekoni Audio have recreated the popular Vegan earpads that have been out of production for nearly a decade.

Ether ETFs expected in June, CZ leaves Binance France, and other news: Hodler’s Digest, May 26 – June 1Analysts predict ETH ETF’s launch for June, Bitcoin dips as Mt. Gox wallets move, and Binance France changes ownership.

Fisker collapsed under the weight of its founder’s promisesWelcome back to TechCrunch’s Week in Review — TechCrunch’s newsletter recapping the week’s biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here. Over the past eight years, famed vehicle designer Henrik Fisker suggested his EV startup would deliver on a lot of promises, but none came true. As Fisker looks for an […]
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Signing Story with the Amazing Logan LynnDate Signed: August 18, 2021

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Type of Music: Indie punk

Legal: Kill Rock Stars LLC

Publicity: Sarah Avrin of Charm School Media - sarah.avrin@charmschoolmedia.com

Web: loganlynnmusic.com 

A&R: Slim Moon

Why on earth would Logan Lynn, a newcomer who developed a strong buzz in artist-friendly Portland — home to the Decemberists, Chromatics and loads more bands — relocate to Boise, where Built to Spill is the only group to have achieved at least some national recognition? The answer may surprise you, because it wasn’t just for a paycheck.

Lynn, a self-described “Queer indie punk,” noted the cost of living is cheaper in Boise and that competition for time slots in a city oversaturated with aspiring artists isn’t as fierce.

“I wanted to get away from the loudness and the wildness,” said Lynn, a 40-something artist who already has 10 studio records to his name. “I [may have] overcorrected, but… the music scene here is really hungry [for new talent], and there’s a strong youth culture too.”

Lynn added that his affection for Treefort Music Fest, Idaho’s hippest annual music festival, also caught his fancy. As it so happens, KRS has a ubiquitous presence at the five-day event every year.

Of all the factors that went into Lynn’s decision-making when looking for a new label, finding one with a long track record of supporting gay artists was of the utmost importance.

After the multifaceted Lynn directed and released a 2018 movie called Nothing’s Ever Wrong, he became a target of homophobic harassment. Even though it was only a short film, Lynn and co-star Jay Mohr appearing nude in Nothing’s Ever Wrong, spurred him to fight even harder for gay rights.

Lynn doesn’t know of any label that champions gay artists more than KRS. He’s not sure when he’ll release his first release for the label and the follow-up to 2022’s New Money. In fact, it’s not his top priority, as he continues to get settled in to a new city and record label.

“The people who founded [KRS] are queer, but to become an explicitly gay label… and to have a team that believes in me and actually tries to help [its roster of musicians] is radical. Joining Kill Rock Stars absolutely changed my life.” The post Signing Story with the Amazing Logan Lynn first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

An Ingenious Blu-Ray Mini-Disk Player[befi] brings us a project as impressive as it is reminiscent of older times, a Blu-Ray mini disk player. Easily fitting inside a pocket like a 8 cm CD player would, this is a labour of love and, thanks to [befi]’s skills both in electronics and in using a dremel tool.
A BluRay drive was taken apart, for a start, and a lot of case parts were cut off; somehow, [befi] made it fit within an exceptionally tiny footprint, getting new structural parts printed instead, to a new size. The space savings let him put a fully custom F1C100S-powered board with a number of unique features, from a USB-SATA chip to talk to the BluRay drive, to USB pathway control for making sure the player can do USB gadget mode when desired.
There’s an OLED screen on the side, buttons for controlling the playback, power and battery management – this player is built to a high standard, ready for day-to-day use as your companion, in the world where leaving your smartphone as uninvolved in your life as possible is a surprisingly wise decision. As a fun aside, did you know that while 8 cm CDs and DVDs existed, 8 cm BluRay drives never made it to market? If you’re wondering how is it that [befi] has disks to play in this device, yes, he’s used a dremel here too.
Everything is open-sourced – 3D print files, the F1C100S board, and the Buildroot distribution complete with all the custom software used. If you want to build such a player, and we wouldn’t be surprised if you were, there’s more than enough resources for you to go off. And, if you’re thinking of building something else in a similar way, the Buildroot image will be hugely helpful.
Want some entertainment instead? Watch the video embedded below, the build journey is full of things you never knew you wanted to learn. This player is definitely a shining star on the dark path that is Blu-Ray, given that our most popular articles on Blu-Ray are about its problems.

Take Control of MS Flight Sim With Your SmartphoneAnyone with more than a passing interest in flight simulators will eventually want to upgrade their experience with a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle-And-Stick) setup that has buttons and switches for controlling your virtual aircraft’s assorted systems, which are well supported by games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS). But a traditional HOTAS system can be a bit of an investment, so you might want to thank [Vaibhav Sharma] for the virtualHOTAS project that brings a configurable HOTAS interface to your phone — just in time to try out that Dune expansion for MSFS.
The phone’s orientation sensors are used as a joystick, and on the screen, there’s both sliders and buttons you can use as in-game controls. On the back-end there’s a Python program on the computer which exposes a webserver that the phone connects to, translating sensor and press data without the need for an app. This works wonderfully in MSFS, as [Vaibhav] shows us in the video below. What’s more, if you get tired of the touchscreen-and-accelerometer controls, you can even connect a generic smartphone-designed game controller platform, to have its commands and movements be translated to your PC too!
All the code is open source, and with the way this project operates, it will likely work as a general-purpose interface for other projects of yours. Whether you might want to build an accessibility controller from its codebase, use it for your robot platform, maybe simply repurpose this project for any other game, [Vaibhav]’s creation is yet another reminder that we’re carrying a sensor-packed platform, and it might just help you build a peripheral you didn’t know you needed.
Don’t have a phone handy? Perhaps an Xbox controller could work with just a few 3D printed upgrades, or you could stock up on buttons and build your own joystick from scratch. Oh, and keeping HOTAS principles in mind can be pretty helpful — you might get to redesign the venerable computer mouse, for instance!

Reason 13 open beta now live Reason Studios are inviting users to sign up for access to the open beta of Reason 13. 

RELEASE DETAILS
Release title:
Dudesonlingus
Main artist name:
Plexine
Release date:
7th Jun, 2024
https://publme.lnk.to/Dudesonlingus
#newmusic #Release #Music #indepedent #artist #experimental #metal

Close Up with the Northern Illinois School of Musicniu.edu/music

Sense of Community and Stylistic Diversity: In his introductory letter to students on the home page of Northern Illinois School of Music, Director Andrew Glendening captures the spirit and mission of the multi-faceted educational experience and its many programs. He writes, “NIU is a vibrant music scene where you can expand your skills, explore your creativity and pursue your dreams in a supportive environment with unprecedented access to an outstanding faculty.”

One of those faculty members, Kerri-Ann Chandler, is a Trinidad and Tobago-born musician and instructor who came to NIU after eight years teaching at the University of Trinidad and Tobago. She says, “What makes our School of Music special is its unique sense of community and its stylistic diversity and array of world music courses and ensembles, which allow students to learn music from many countries and cultures and to learn the history and play ethnic instruments from around the world.” 

Programs and Ensembles: NIU School of Music undergrads can study performance, jazz studies, steelpan, music education and composition. Graduate students can earn a master’s degree in performance or pursue an individualized Master of Music degree in composition, recording arts, conducting, world music or other emphases.

NIU also offers many opportunities to perform and grow on stage with their award-winning instrumental and vocal ensembles, which include choirs, orchestra, opera, theater, wind ensembles, marching band, jazz ensembles, steel bands, new music ensemble, percussion ensemble, Javanese and Balinese gamelans, tabla, Chinese and Middle Eastern ensembles and various chamber music ensembles.

Recording Arts and Media Technologies: This area of study is designed for the modern engineer and musician, and combines audio video and computer technologies. Students will gain knowledge and experience in such disciplines as studio and location recording techniques, audio post-production for video, acoustics and studio design and webcasting, robotic camera operation using Internet2 technology, live sound and event logistics and lighting and rigging for the performing arts.

Elective courses include recording techniques, applied mixing, audio editing, air training for audio engineers and sound design. NIU recently became one of three Avid Learning Partners in the state of Illinois. Music Admissions Coordinator Austyn Menk says, “Students participating in the recording arts get to run live sound for our many ensembles, giving them highly valuable and applicable experience.”   

Flock Audio: As part of an ongoing effort to upgrade the school’s recording facilities to serve collaborations between audio engineering students and musical students, NIU has made the Flock Audio PATCH XT digitally controlled, all analog patchbay the centerpiece of its hybrid recording setup. Chandler says, “Compared to the outdated equipment installed previously, this makes signal flow in the studio more streamlined. Besides being visually appealing and fully customizable, it’s very compact, fitting on a tabletop—and because it’s digitally controlled, there are always opportunities for app updates.”

Contact NIU School of Music, 815-753-1551The post Close Up with the Northern Illinois School of Music first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Inside EV startup Fisker’s collapse: how the company crumbled under its founders’ whimsAn autonomous pod. A solid-state battery-powered sports car. An electric pickup truck. A convertible grand tourer EV with up to 600 miles of range. A “fully connected mobility device” for young urban innovators to be built by Foxconn and priced under $30,000. The next Popemobile. Over the past eight years, famed vehicle designer Henrik Fisker […]
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Ripple CEO says XRP ETF 'inevitable' — Consensus 2024Brad Garlinghouse said he believes the market is headed toward a $5 trillion valuation and that the advent of XRP, SOL, and other crypto ETFs is a matter of time.

CH32V003 Makes for Dirt Cheap RISC-V ComputerThese days, when most folks think of a computer they imagine a machine with multiple CPUs, several gigabytes of RAM,  and a few terabytes of non-volatile storage for good measure. With such modern expectations, it can be difficult to see something like a microcontroller as little more than a toy. But if said MCU has a keyboard, is hooked up to a display, and lets you run basic productivity and development software, doesn’t that qualify it as a computer? It certainly would have in the 1980s.
With that in mind, [Olimex] has teased the RVPC, which they’re calling the “world lowest cost Open Source Hardware All-in-one educational RISC-V computer” (say that three times fast). The tiny board features the SOIC-8 variant of the CH32V003 and…well, not a whole lot else. You’ve got a handful of passives, a buzzer, an LED, and the connectors for a PS/2 keyboard, a power supply, and a VGA display. The idea is to offer this as a beginner’s soldering kit in the future, so most most of the components are through-hole.
On the software side, the post references things like the ch32v003fun development stack, and the PicoRVD programmer as examples of open source tools that can get your CH32V computer up and running. There’s even a selection of retro-style games out there that would be playable on the platform. But what [Olimex] really has their eye on is a port of VMON, a RISC-V monitor program.
When paired with the 320×200 VGA text mode that they figure the hardware is capable of, you’ve got yourself the makings of an educational tool that would be great for learning assembly and playing around with bare metal programming.
It might not have the timeless style of the Voja4, but at least you can fit it in a normal sized pocket.
Thanks to [PPJ] for the tip.