Links We Like: The UNIVAC Computer, MP3 Player Designs, & The Typography of Blade Runner

blade

This week’s Links We Like recount the history of the first commercial US computer company, analyze twenty years of portable MP3 players, and examine the typography of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.

Last week’s post encouraged NTC’s Howie to share a link to The Museum of Jurassic Technology. Thanks, Howie! As always, make sure to share with us the links you’re reading. Have a great weekend! (⌐■_■)

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Get Inspired By These Community Made PocketC.H.I.P. Hacks!

C.H.I.P.s, DIPs, and PocketC.H.I.P.s are arriving in mailboxes throughout the world, and C.H.I.P.sters and Pocketeers are sharing their first impressions.

Whether it’s taking a quick pic for twitter, writing a post on our forums, or creating a project on Imgur, we love seeing what you’re doing with your rewards!

Family Time Becomes Hacking Time with PocketC.H.I.P.

PocketC.H.I.P. might not fit in every young Pocketeer’s pocket just yet, but that doesn’t mean they’re too young to to start hacking. Use PICO-8 to teach a bit of programming, compose music with SunVox, or learn how to hack hardware and add a speaker.

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Links We Like: The Prehistory of AI, An Abandoned Ferry Boat with Games, & Forgotten Hand Tools

Duck via wikimedia.org

Crossection of Jacques Vaucanson’s “Defecating Duck” automatavia wikimedia.org

This week’s Links We Like trace the mechanical prehistory of artificial intelligence, scope out an abandoned ferry boat jam-packed with arcade machines, and peruse the Museum of Old Technology in Belgium.

Thanks for all the feedback from last week’s post, especially the fun discussion about Dwarf Fortress. As always, make sure to share with us the links you’re reading. Have a great weekend! \(•◡•)/

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All that Good Pre-Order Shipping Info!

preordershipsgif

Pre-orders are shipping soon and we’re just as excited as you (this post assumes that you pre-ordered and are excited).

UPDATED: For more up-to-date shipping information and estimates, please visit the NTC forum.

Pre-order shipments are scheduled to begin on June 25th!  Address confirmation emails will be sent over the next 48 hours. If for some reason you do not receive the email, you can confirm your address at track.getchip.com.

TL;DR

  • Address confirmations are necessary.
  • We’re shipping by order number, in batches over the next month.
  • Orders with PocketC.H.I.P. may be delayed slightly.
  • Shipping takes 2 weeks on average and is trackable.
  • Customers outside of the US may be subject to duties and taxes.

Now for detailed information in larger than fine print…
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Resources to Help You Learn PICO-8 Game Development

Kurtz and Joseph White Working on PICO-8 for PocketC.H.I.P.

Joseph White, the creator of PICO-8, Chatting with Kurtz at the NTC office

PocketC.H.I.P. comes with a free copy of PICO-8, an 8-bit game console perfect for developing your own custom video games. Unlike most game consoles, all the games for PICO-8 are free to download and open source ready to be hacked.

Of course, you’ll need to learn a bit about programming to take advantage of access to the source code. Here are a few resources to get you started programming for PICO-8.

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