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Tiny Lego Computers :lego:

James Brown, a WETA Workshop engineer, created some itty-bitty LEGO computer displays that actually display stuff. What it takes to build a tiny Lego computer...

He has a :mastodon: account btw
mastodon.social/@ancientjames

theverge.com/2022/8/20/2330821

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@Natasha_Jay
Oh man, what I'd give for some of those. :blob_cat_aww:

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@Natasha_Jay glorious!

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@Natasha_Jay Seen some of the videos months ago... but never had the ressources to redo those boards myself.

Also, I'd prefer some µC that's not an RPi.

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@Natasha_Jay

Yes, I saw that article when it first came out. Those computer bricks are made out of solidified coolness. I want them.

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@Natasha_Jay my eight year old self would've fought with my little brother over these *so hard*

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@mcrocker @Natasha_Jay its creator, @thpoll is also on here!

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@Natasha_Jay it brings me a deep joy every time I remember that these exist!

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@Natasha_Jay
Considering that some Retina displays are over 450 pixels per inch, it should be just about theoretically possible to put a full retro computer display in there.

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@Natasha_Jay @MOULE I think I recognise the screens from the game Elite (the C64 version from the ‘80s)

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@Geeky_sebastian
Closest one certainly looks like Elite, you can see the docking port. Not sure on the other two tbh (and I played it on the C64)
@MOULE

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@Natasha_Jay @Geeky_sebastian @MOULE The middle one is an animated version of one of official LEGO "control panel" bricks.

A friend recently reposted this article which I vaguely recall reading years ago so I had the designs in fresh memory.

interactionmagic.com/UX-LEGO-I

Scroll all the way to the bottom for photo of three bricks (yellow, gray, white), it matches the white, even the two lights/buttons under the numeric readout.

Good chance the left one is the targeting computer from the Death Star bombing scene from A New Hope, but it might also be a riff at the gray brick from the same photo in the article.

The UX of LEGO Interface Panels - Interaction Magic
interactionmagic.comThe UX of LEGO Interface PanelsLEGO interface panels are beautiful, iconic, and great for learning interface design basics. I bought 52 of them from BrickLink to explore the design, layout and organisation of complex interfaces.
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@Natasha_Jay that is awesome.
And good resolution aswell 👀

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@Natasha_Jay I think @_elena could be interested in this 😅.
That would be a Lego x Raspi project 😄

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@Natasha_Jay @TinyGo @conejo @deadprogram These are "small places" 🤭

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@Natasha_Jay General purpose computing for the win!
@pluralistic

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@Natasha_Jay i suppose it's not just a computer in a lego brick?

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@Natasha_Jay 10yo me wants those for an Enterprise bridge.

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@Natasha_Jay @martin wow, that is amazing