My not first and not last ZX Spectrum: we are talking about a 48k Issue 4S (Made in Korea), complete with original packaging (lacking internal polystyrene and in not so great condition), power supply and various accessories.

It was sold to me as UNTESTED, and as we know, that very likely means it's broken.
The price was interesting anyway, so I decided to buy it. Besides, I kind of hoped it wouldn't work, since I really enjoy repairing these old computers.

The power supply plug had been cut off, a great excuse to claim it couldn't be tested.
As expected, it didn't work, and in this article, we will see what I did to bring it back to life.

Premise: I've always wanted to dive into the Doom source code and study it, but for one reason or another, I never got around to it; a lack of available time and a healthy dose of laziness being the culprits. Until now.

It has been precisely one year since I started working with Flutter for both work and personal use. While the app at my day job helped me learn the Flutter environment, it's essentially just management software revolving around CRUD operations. This isn't particularly stimulating from a pure computer science standpoint, as it mostly involves building views, buttons, and connecting them to backend services written in PHP.

In contrast, I use my personal projects as an opportunity to push boundaries and work on more interesting things. Anyone who reads this blog or follows me on Twitter knows I'm currently working on an Omnichord synthesizer emulator. That project features a UI written in Dart/Flutter, with the audio engine implemented in C++, all linked together via the marvel known as dart:ffi.

This is the point where I'd like to begin, because about two weeks ago I asked myself: Can Flutter run Doom?

I've been absent from the blog for 3 months; I've been working hard on the Omnichord app, and time is always limited. I'll soon return to discussing the audio engine development.
In this post, however, I want to talk about a small frontend development in Flutter within my app.
In the landscape view, I have a section dedicated to parameter controls, divided into several scrollable pages.

I wanted to avoid the scrolling effect and desired a more elegant effect, because I hate it when a part of the UI scrolls in interfaces and is abruptly cut off. I thought a 3D rotation could be nice.

In the first part of this series, I discussed the choice of the technology stack and latency optimization.
The goal is to create a Suzuki Omnichord emulator for the Android platform.

In this second part, let's examine how I managed to "clone" the characteristic sound of the Omnichord chords.

As I wrote before, this article series won't be tutorials but an analysis of my design choices and how I solved the problems I encountered along the way.

I've been craving an Omnichord for years. I fell in love with it about fifteen years ago, back when it wasn't impossible to buy one at a reasonable price. I had several opportunities to get one, but I never did, and I really regret it. Ever since it became a "mainstream" instrument, probably thanks to Damon Albarn (there's a great video on YouTube of him explaining how he composed the Gorillaz song 'Clint Eastwood'), the prices have skyrocketed.

Not to mention the official reissue from Suzuki themselves for the modest sum of 800 Euros. A truly "popular" price, wouldn't you say?
I don't want to spend that much money on a hobby that's never earned me anything; in fact, I've always lost money on it!

As a programmer, the most logical solution is to build a software emulator. Sure, some emulators already exist, but none of them seem to cover all the instrument's capabilities. The most complete one seems to be C.ARP for iOS, but from the videos I've seen, it looks more like a modern reinterpretation than a true-to-life emulator.

So, about a month ago, I decided to start working on it. After all, why not?
I always need a side project, and this one seems particularly fun.

I bought this ultrasonic cleaner on May 4, 2024 (I checked my Amazon purchase history). Unfortunately, after just one year, it decided to give up, showing no signs of life.

As I've shown in previous posts (check out the restoration of the Casio VL-5 and the Savage Ghibli LD 224 controller), this tool is incredibly useful for my restoration projects because it allows for very thorough cleaning of any object that fits inside.
My original intention was just to clean my glasses with it.

Even though it's not overly expensive, I'd rather fix it than just replace it and contribute to throwaway culture.

In this post, we'll see how to build a remote shutter for a Canon Powershot A610 (and a wide range of other models).

I want to experiment with a monopod and take photos from unconventional positions, such as from above. This accessory will be very useful for that purpose.

It could also be helpful for long-exposure photography, as pressing the shutter button usually causes the camera to vibrate, and even imperceptible vibrations can compromise the photo's quality.

By default, this camera doesn't support remote shooting, but there's a way to add it: by installing the CHDK firmware.

For years, I'd been itching to get my hands on its older sibling, the Casio VL-1, famously featured in Trio's song "Da Da Da". However, I recently stumbled upon this VL-5 on mercatinomusicale.com (an italian-only market like reverb.com) at a pretty reasonable price.
It was listed as non-functional, and I just couldn't resist it.

These keyboards, manufactured in Japan starting in the late '70s, carved out a unique niche, bridging the gap between a toy and a serious instrument: a truly fascinating hybrid.

I managed to acquire this Canon Powershot 600 on Wallapop for a very good price. Apparently, it was Canon's very first digital camera, released way back in 1996.

It was listed as non-functional because the seller no longer had the charger and couldn't tell if it still worked. I decided to take a chance and bought it.

A May afternoon in Udine with a digital camera from 1997.
Back then, at 13, I didn't even know what a digital camera was.

It must have been incredibly expensive, and if someone had gifted me one, I probably would have lost my mind: an unlimited number of photos, without needing to go to a studio to get them developed, and with the ability to review them right after taking them? It would have felt like living in a sci-fi movie!