The choice between hardware and software for electronics projects is generally a straighforward one. For simple tasks we might build dedicated hardware circuits out of discrete components for reliability and low cost, but for more complex tasks it could be easier and cheaper to program a general purpose microcontroller than to build the equivalent circuit in hardware. Every now and then we’ll see a project that blurs the lines between these two choices like this Pong game built entirely out of discrete components.

The project begins with a somewhat low-quality image of the original Pong circuit found online, which [atkelar] used to model the circuit in KiCad. Because the image wasn’t the highest resolution some guesses needed to be made, but it was enough to eventually produce a PCB and bill of material. From there [atkelar] could start piecing the circuit together, starting with the clock and eventually working through all the other components of the game, troubleshooting as he went. There were of course a few bugs to work out, as with any hardware project of this complexity, but in the end the bugs in the first PCB were found and used to create a second PCB with the issues solved.

With a wood, and metal case rounding out the build to showcase the circuit, nothing is left but to plug this in to a monitor and start playing this recreation of the first mass-produced video game ever made. Pong is a fairly popular build since, at least compared to modern games, it’s simple enough to build completely in hardware. This version from a few years ago goes even beyond [atkelar]’s integrated circuit design and instead built a recreation out of transistors and diodes directly.

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Thanks to [irdc] for the tip!

hackaday.com/2025/06/24/pong-i…

If you do anything with electronics or electricity, it is a good bet you have a multimeter. Even the cheapest meter today would have been an incredible piece of lab gear not long ago and, often, meters today are lighter and have more features than the old Radio Shack meters we grew up with. But then there are bench meters. [Learn Electronics Repair] reviews an OWON XDM1241 meter, and you have to wonder if it is better than just a decent handheld device. Check out the video below and see what you think.

Some of the advantage of a bench meter is just convenience. They stay in one place and often have a bigger display than a handheld. Of course, these days, the bench meter isn’t much better than a handheld anyway. In fact, one version of this meter even has a battery, if you want to carry it around.

Traditionally, bench meters had more digits and counts, although that’s not always true anymore. This meter has 55,000 counts with four and a half digits. It has a large LCD, can connect to a PC, and measures frequency, temperature, and capacitance.

Our bench meters usually have four-wire resistance measurement, but that does not seem to be the case for these meters. It does, however, take frequent measurements, which is a plus when ringing out continuity, for example.

The meter isn’t perfect, but if you just want a bench meter, it works well enough. If we had the space, we might opt for a bigger old surplus Fluke or similar. But if you want something new or you are short on space, this might be fine.

If you want to know what you are missing by not having four-wire measurements, we can help you with that. If you get any of these cheaper meters, we urge you to upgrade your probes immediately.

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hackaday.com/2025/06/24/do-you…

When you really love your pawed, feathered, or scaled friends, you build projects for them. (Well, anyway, that’s what’s happened to us.) For the 2025 Pet Hacks Challenge, we asked you to share your favorite pet-related hacks, and you all delivered. So without further ado, here are our favorites, as well as the picks-of-the-litter that qualified for three $150 DigiKey gift certificates. Spoiler alert: it was a clean sweep for team cat.

The Top Three

[Andrea Favero]’s CAT AT THE DOOR project (his caps, not ours) packs more tech than strictly necessary, and our judges loved it. When the cat approaches, a radar detects it, a BLE collar identifies the particular cat, and a LoRA radio notifies the human on a beautiful e-ink display with a sufficiently loud beeper. Your job, then, is to open the door. This project has standout build instructions, and even if you’re a dog person, you’ll want to read them if you’re using any of these technologies in a build of your own.

Foxy and Layla are two cats on two different diets. One has prescription food that unfortunately isn’t as tasty as the regular stuff, but that doesn’t mean she can just mompf up the other cat’s chow. The solution? Computer vision! [Joe Mattioni]’s Cat Bowl Monitor hacks a commercial cat feeder to operate via an Android app running on an old cell phone. [Joe] trained the image recognition algorithm specifically on his two cats, which helps reliability greatly. Like the previous winner, the documentation is great, and it’s a sweet application of real-time image classification and a nice reuse of an oldish cellphone. Kudos!

And finally, [rkramer]’s Cat Valve is a one-way cat airlock. Since “Bad Kitty” likes to go out hunting at night, and [rkramer] doesn’t like having live trophies continually brought back into the house, a sliding door lets the cat out, but then closes behind. A webcam and a Raspberry Pi lets the human decide if the cat gets to come back in or not, relying on HI (Human Intelligence) for the image processing. This isn’t inhumane: the cat isn’t stuck outside, but merely in the cellar. No mention of how [rkramer] gets the traumatized rats out of his cellar, but we imagine there’ll be a hack for that as well.

Congrats to you three! We’ll be getting in touch with you soon to get your $150 DigiKey spending spree.

Honorable Mentions

The “Pet Safety” honorable mention category was created to honor those hacks that help promote pet health and safety. Nothing fit that bill as well as [donutsorelse]’s Chicken Guardian, which uses computer vision to detect various predators and scare them away with a loud voice recording. (We’re not sure if that’s entertaining or effective.) [Saren Tasciyan]’s Dog bed is also a dog scale that does just what it says, and we imagine that it’s a huge quality of life improvement for both the Bernese and her owners. And finally, [methodicalmaker_]’s IoT Cat Treat Dispenser + Treadmill for Weight Loss is a paradox: rewarding a cat with food for getting on a treadmill to lose weight. Time will tell if the dosages can be calibrated just right.

In the “Home Alone” category, we wanted to see remote pet-care ideas. Of course, there was a vacation fish feeder, in the form of [Coders Cafe]’s Aquassist, which we really liked for the phone app – it’s a simple build that looks great. Further from the beaten path, [kasik]’s TinyML meets dog training is a cool experiment in machine learning that also feeds and distracts the dog from barking at the door, even when [kasik] is out.

“Playful Pets” was for the goofy, fun, pet hacks, and the hamsters have won it. [Giulio Pons] brought us Ruby’s Connected Hamster Wheel, which tracked his hamster’s mileage on the wheel at night for two years running, and [Roni Bandini]’s Wall Street hamster project lets Milstein buy and sell stonks. Hilarious, and hopefully not too financially painful.

And finally, the “Cyborg Pets” category just has to go to Fytó, which basically gamifies taking care of a plant. There was intense debate about whether a plant could be a pet, but what’s more cyborg than a living Tamagotchi?

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who entered! It was awesome to see your efforts on behalf of our animal friends. And if you didn’t get to enter because you just don’t have a pet, check back in with us on Thursday, when our next challenge begins.

If you’re designing a new jet-powered airplane, one of the design considerations is the number of jet engines you will put on it. Over the course of history we have seen everywhere from a single engine, all the way up to four and beyond, with today airliners usually having two engines aside from the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 has been largely phased out. Yet for a long time airliners featured three engines, which raises the question of why this configuration has mostly vanished now. This is the topic of a recent YouTube video by [Plane Curious], embedded below.

The Boeing 727, DC-10 and L-1011 TriStar are probably among the most well-known trijets, all being unveiled around the same time. The main reason for this was actually regulatory, as twin-engine designs were thought to be too unsafe for long flights across oceans, while quad-jet designs were too fuel-hungry. This remained the situation until newer jet engine designs that were more reliable and powerful, leading to new safety standards (ETOPS) that allowed twinjets to fly these longer routes as well. Consequently, the last passenger trijet – an MD-11 KLM flight – touched down in 2014.

Along with the engineering and maintenance challenges that come with having a tail-mounted jet engine, the era of trijets seem to have firmly come to an end, at least for commercial airliners.

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hackaday.com/2025/06/24/why-tr…

Are you passionate about European policy and security? Don’t miss the chance to participate in the Pirate Academy, running from September to November 2025. Thirty selected candidates will take part in online sessions focused on key challenges and problem areas, where they will gain a deeper understanding of how European institutions function. Ten of them will have the unique opportunity to experience the process firsthand in Brussels in winter 2025, alongside MEP Markéta Gregorová. The entire course is hosted by MEP Gregorová and her political group, the Greens/EFA.

Curious about how complex problems are negotiated in the European Parliament? Then keep reading. The workings of the European institutions are intricate, designed to ensure democratic processes and representation for all member states. The issues they tackle often have global implications. Even Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) sometimes struggle to stay on top of all the legislation and world developments — that’s why they rely on policy advisors. Through the Pirate Academy, you’ll have the chance to step into this role and experience it for yourself.

To negotiate European legislation effectively, it’s essential to understand how the European Commission and the European Parliament function — including who holds which responsibilities and powers. This is one of the core topics covered in detail during the Online Pirate Academy. Want to get a behind-the-scenes look at how legislation is negotiated? Wondering if you need any special superpowers to do it? If so, you’re in the right place — don’t miss this opportunity. Apply for the Online Pirate Academy here.

In today’s turbulent times, we face many crises that shape global politics. The European Parliament plays a key role in addressing the most pressing issues of our time — from the war in Ukraine and climate change to EU–China relations and more. By joining the Pirate Academy, you’ll gain insight into what it means to influence and shape policy — and the consequences that come with it. The course combines an in-depth look at the daily operations of the European Parliament with hands-on, experiential learning.
The post European Pirate Academy: learn everything about negotiating EU legislation first appeared on European Pirate Party.

On 24 June 2025, EDRi, Access Now and other civil society organisations sent a second letter to the European Commission, urging it to reassess Israel’s data protection adequacy status under the GDPR. The letter outlines six categories of concerns linking Israel’s data practices to escalating human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.

The post Data flows and digital repression: Civil society urges EU to reassess Israel’s adequacy status appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).

With Budapest Pride set to take place on June 28, 2025, EDRi and 46 organisation are urging the European Commission to defend fundamental rights in Hungary so that Pride organisers and participants can safely exercise their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

The post OPEN LETTER: The European Commission must act now to defend fundamental rights in Hungary appeared first on European Digital Rights (EDRi).