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Littelfuse Announces Retirement of the EZ80

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Although the demise of the Zilog Z80 processor has long been predicted, it would seem that this moment has finally arrived. The owner of the Zilog name – Littelfuse – recently sent out PCN ZAC26-0074 , notifying customers that they will be taking final orders for the eZ80 and all other microcontroller lines that they currently own. Over at Mouser, eZ80 parts have correspondingly all been marked as “End of Life”. This comes a few years after the original Z80 and its peripherals were discontinued , with the eZ80 still being an alternative until now. Any potential sellers will have to put in their orders today, with orders still accepted until December 21 2026, with final deliveries taking place throughout 2027 as Littelfuse winds down its MCU manufacturing. This means that for commercial customers are least this is pretty much the end of the road for any circuit that still uses the eZ80 or similar. Many of us have fondness for the Z80 , which also has led to a p...

Slim Type for Small Screens, with PixelFonts

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Small displays are affordable and easy to use, but their size can present a challenge. To help address this, [mcer12] created PixelFonts , a family of condensed fonts designed specifically for low-resolution displays, making sure every line holds as much text as it can fit. PixelFonts works alongside either the AdafruitGFX or U8g2 libraries; one writes to the display using the common syntax of the chosen library, and the font itself comes from PixelFonts. Text can be displayed in regular and 3D shadowed versions, as well as in a wide variety of heights and weights. There’s support for accented letters, albeit only in lowercase due to space constraints. Want to make some changes? Every font comes with a BDF file to make alterations as widely accessible as possible. Making the most of every pixel is important with small displays, but there’s more than one way to do so. For example, when it comes to color LCDs, subpixel rendering can improve legibility of small fonts; ano...

Unique Archeological Discovery Sheds Light on Neanderthal Wooden Tool Usage

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The Abric Romaní site in Spain is rather unique in archeology for one simple reason: the caves in its limestone-rich cliff have seen humanoid occupation for thousands of years. A thick layer of calcium carbonate-based travertine deposit has, over time, covered and largely preserved tools and other implements, including those made of wood. Over many decades of archeological exploration, 597 wooden imprints have been uncovered, with a recent research article by [Palmira Saladié] et al. detailing these findings . Wood is one of those archaeological artefacts that are very elusive due to their fragility, even though we know that wood has been used pretty much everywhere from the first day that a humanoid critter discovered that branches make great clubs and spears, and can also easily be shaped to make them even more useful. The wooden imprints and some larger remains of wooden implements were found, ranging from wooden spears and clubs to trays (see heading image) and tripods. With eno...

Poking at the Radxa Dragon Q8B Raspberry Pi 5 Killer

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Although the asking price of $209 plus shipping seems high for the Radxa Dragon Q8B, featuring the Qualcomm SC8280XP and 8 GB of LPDDR4X, this is 2026, and amid the RAMpocalypse, even the 8 GB LPDDR4X-equipped Raspberry Pi 5 now costs $175. This, to [Jeff Geerling], makes it fair to directly compare the two to see whether you may want to consider this board for more intense computing purposes. There’s also a written summary of the results and details in a GitHub issue, though the direct comparison with the Raspberry Pi 5 is in the video. Although this Qualcomm SoC isn’t new, its primary use is for Windows laptops , which gives somewhat of a hint as to what its performance may be like, tempered by the fact that it was announced in 2021. The Dragon QXB offers about 2x everything over the RPi5, plus Windows and UEFI support. For Linux, it appears that you still need customized images, which seems perplexing in light of the UEFI aspect. You also have to pick between differe...

Valve Releases Hardware and CAD Reference For New VR Headset

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Valve recently began shipping its long-awaited VR headset, the Steam Frame. Now, there is a hardware reference repository that includes everything a budding modder might need, and then some. No need to 3D scan or break out the calipers if one wants to design their own add-ons. Want to design and 3D print some add-ons, or a carrying case, or some other doodad? There’s no need to break out the calipers or 3D scan the hardware. The repository contains STEP format models of the VR core module, head strap, and controllers, so it’s as easy as possible to design things that’ll fit. The location of the IR tracking LEDs embedded in the controllers is also documented, so one can ensure their design doesn’t occlude them. That’s not all. The Frame has a user-accessible hardware expansion port at its front. This port exposes two interfaces: high-speed MIPI camera and PCI Express. This expansion port is documented in the repository, and even has a simple reference de...

Super Mario 64 Comes to the Microsoft Zune

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As a portable media player, Microsoft’s Zune simply couldn’t compete with Apple’s juggernaut iPod — the latter essentially becoming the de facto personal media player until smartphones took over. But in 2026 it might be Microsoft that gets the last laugh, as thanks to [rsheldiii] the Zune can now play Super Mario 64 . The software is based on sm64ex, and notably doesn’t include the ROM file necessary to actually run the game. But presuming a legal dump of a cartridge has been done, building and loading it onto a Zune HD is straightforward enough. From there the player is presented with a controller interface on the device’s touchscreen overlaid with the video output from the game. Some interesting things are happening in the background here as well, like using NVIDIA’s Tegra tools to pre-compile shaders so the 2009-era processor can handle the rest of the gameplay. Although it didn’t enjoy the mainstream success of the iPod, the Zune was...

2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: NEC 286 Laptop Rides Again

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The sad reality is that all consumer electronics are going to be e-waste eventually. [Cory Whitesell] was determined his old NEC ProSpeed 286 Laptop wouldn’t meet that fate until absolutely necessary, so when his attempts at repairs failed, his efforts pivoted to create a retro battlestation from the stylish old machine . That screen looks too good to be stock, but otherwise you can’t tell from this angle. Externally, it looks pretty well stock, and [Cory] has retained as much of the internals as possible. The original power supply remains intact, with power taken off the original HDD’s molex connector. Said power drives a Raspberry Pi, which is small enough to fit inside without any gutting. The original keyboard connects easily enough via a PS/2 to USB adapter, while the passive-matrix LCD has been replaced with a modern screen of the same dimensions. You’d have to be a pretty hard-core purist to mourn that last change. With emulation on the Pi, he can still...