IR-Pen (home-made)

I am demonstrating the use of my ‘home-made’ IR Pen or Wii pen using an application called ‘Cooliris’.
First thought that enters my mind is ‘Minority report’ – this device brings a different depth to using the PC, a rather pleasant interactivity that really shows well in Cooliris.

 

My IR glove project

This is my home-built version of the IR glove.
The setup is basically; blue tooth dongle (blue soleil), wii mote, wiimote whiteboard software to calibrate and a golfing glove that incorporates a battery and a strong Infra-red LED at the tip of the finger, activated by a micro switch.
When playing DCS: Black Shark, a helicopter sim, it adds to the immersion and ease of controls when in the cockpit as every switch can be clicked using your hand – this eliminates the tedious mouse control and/or keyboard commands.
If you can’t afford to buy control boxes etc then this is ideal – with some basic knowledge, simple instructions and materials costing less than £10.

 

New website development, catch us on Twitter!

New website in the making…

Myself and Chris are pulling together and developing a new website, completely dedicated and wholly worshipping the ‘Retro’ era – in our minds it’s going to cover the 70’s and 80’s… however as we get closer to 2020?! I am sure it will expand to the 90’s!

We have our site registered, however you won’t find a great deal there yet… but we’d appreciate a bookmark 🙂

www.retrozine.co.uk

In the meantime you can catch us on Twitter with regular updates and general chit-chat!

twitter.com/RetroZine

See you there! 🙂

 

Arrived today – Casio CM-607 (1975)

Casio CM607

I really like this Casio from 1975 – unique landscape design.

 

Just in!

I received three calculators today! The futuristic looking Rockwell ‘the 24k’ (1976), a Radofin 2200 style 2 (1975) and an immaculate Hanimex ESR 80 (1975) in it’s original packaging.

 

New ‘old’ retro calculators just come in…

I have just acquired some more retro 70’s calculators, they can be seen here
This week; Rockwell ‘The 24K’ (1976), AML Traveller LE-8 (1971), Sinclair Cambridge Programmable (1977) and Sinclair Cambridge Type 3 (1975).
Today, the Hanimex ESR 80 and the Radofin 2200 – Pictures below.

 

New page addition – ‘retro calculators’

I am starting a new page called ‘retro calculators’ – still in development but will catalogue my own growing collection of 70’s calculators!
The various designs are very interesting and worthy of preserve, both for historical and factorial reasons.

Stay tuned 🙂

 

Retro Gaming – Part 1

I am quite glad of my age, why!? because I lived through some amazing gaming era’s.

My first taste of technology was a calculator I bought when I was about 5, it was made by Commodore and the digits were lit by bright. red LED’s. Thanks to the internet and the power of information I can now reminisce that moment when I walked into the shop and bought it with money I had saved.

Not exactly a gaming device but this was just that small step for a kid owning something that could ‘compute’ – and it was made by Commodore, little did I know that they would later create the cult Commodore 64 in 1982 (I would have been 10). Also made in default beige, a colour that has stood the test of time with computer manufacturers.

1977 Atari 2600

1977 was an exciting time, the launch of the Atari 2600 and the first of George Lucas’ ‘Star Wars’ films arrived in the UK. I can still remember the day my Dad came home with this big box, I was over-awed, this was the step into the world of gaming and technology that has been with me ever since.
The very first game I played on the Atari was the graphically challenged ‘Combat’ – boasting 27 games in one cartridge, such as Tank Pong, Bi-Plane & Jet Fighter.

The internet is full of retro sites and emulation programs so you can play the classics on your PC.
One such Atari website which caught my eye was AtariAge, well maintained and a mine of information, photos and scans of boxes, manuals and more.

To be continued…

 

Survival of the fittest?

I was perusing the iPhone apps at the app store and came across a rather useful survival guide.

It’s called Survival Pocket Reference – Survival Tactics from the US Military.

The layout is good, with the ability to bookmark, search and view chapters. I hope there is an SAS version by Lofty Wiseman, or Ray Mears!

Useful iPhone app

 

audioBoo – an interesting angle for Twitter users

Listen!

I don’t see this as the iPhone app to take over from Twitter but do find it a useful addition or aid.
Some things can’t be explained so easily through a text message, such as sound for instance. This is where audio boo plays it’s part.

Stephen Fry uses audio boo – he was recording questions for his twitter fans.

It is still in development and viewing the website forums there are a lot of good ideas coming forward from the public.