Optical media is great — it’s pretty high density, relatively durable, and decently long-lasting if well cared for. If not well cared for, well, it’s only relatively durable, and we’ve …read more (https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/disk-polishing-goes-open-source/)

Using Flatpak to Run a 1996 Version of the GIMP on Modern Linux
https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/using-flatpak-to-run-a-1996-version-of-the-gimp-on-modern-linux/

Although there’s probably no good reason to want to run image editing software from 1996 other than for nostalgia’s sake, if you ever wanted to run the GIMP version 0.54 …read more (https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/using-flatpak-to-run-a-1996-version-of-the-gimp-on-modern-linux/)

The Persistent Display We Never Got
https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/the-persistent-display-we-never-got/

We all know the e-ink persistent displays, as they’re cheap and plentiful enough to have become ubiquitous in applications such as supermarket price labels. But we don’t often see some …read more (https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/the-persistent-display-we-never-got/)

Make a DIY E-ink Faceplate For Valve’s Steam Machine
https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/make-a-diy-e-ink-faceplate-for-valves-steam-machine/

Valve has always designed hacker-friendly hardware, and in that spirit, [NaKyle Wright] released Inkterface, a design for an E-ink faceplate to fit the recently released Steam Machine. As far as …read more (https://hackaday.com/2026/07/04/make-a-diy-e-ink-faceplate-for-valves-steam-machine/)

Homelab Gets Linksys Themed Aesthetic
https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/homelab-gets-linksys-themed-aesthetic/

If you’re building a homelab rig, you could just use off-the-shelf hardware in standard cases and slap it all in a rack like the normies do. Or, you could follow …read more (https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/homelab-gets-linksys-themed-aesthetic/)

Old Midi Instruments Don’t Like Modern Midi. What’s To Be Done?
https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/old-midi-instruments-dont-like-modern-midi-whats-to-be-done/

In theory, MIDI is an electrical and protocol standard that allows any such equipped instrument or computer to talk to any other. But as the wonderfully named [Knob Monster] will …read more (https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/old-midi-instruments-dont-like-modern-midi-whats-to-be-done/)

2026 Frikkin Lasers Challenge: A 3D-Printed Raman Spectrometer
https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/2026-frikkin-lasers-challenge-a-3d-printed-raman-spectrometer/

When light reflects off a surface, not all of it reflects off at the same wavelength; some photons impart a portion of their energy to raising the vibrational energy of …read more (https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/2026-frikkin-lasers-challenge-a-3d-printed-raman-spectrometer/)

Demonstrating LFP Battery Safety in Case of BMS Failure
https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/demonstrating-lfp-battery-safety-in-case-of-bms-failure/