Ian Scott
@polpo.org
I'm currently cooking up PicoIDE, a hardware IDE/ATAPI emulator, launching on Crowd Supply: https://www.crowdsupply.com/polpotronics/picoide
I also made PicoGUS: https://picog.us
Also on Fedi at https://chaos.social/@polpo
In Colorado, USA
I also made PicoGUS: https://picog.us
Also on Fedi at https://chaos.social/@polpo
In Colorado, USA
Pinned
Ian Scott
@polpo.org
· Nov 19
PicoIDE
An open source IDE/ATAPI drive emulator for vintage computers
www.crowdsupply.com
It's official! #PicoIDE, the open source IDE/ATAPI drive emulator I've been working on for the better part of this year, will be launching at Crowd Supply! Go there to sign up for updates and to be notified when the campaign is live: www.crowdsupply.com/polpotronics...
Reposted by Ian Scott
This is my attempt at a XKCD style this year:
"TTL PART NUMBERS"
"TTL PART NUMBERS"
January 25, 2026 at 6:23 PM
This is my attempt at a XKCD style this year:
"TTL PART NUMBERS"
"TTL PART NUMBERS"
Finishing things up for #PicoIDE and it just about saturates the IDE bus in MWDMA mode 2. I’m pretty happy with this! It tests as fast as a 74x CD-rom drive which means there’s a bit more headroom in that mode but that could be the CPU on this K6-2 system being a bottleneck.
January 21, 2026 at 2:26 AM
Finishing things up for #PicoIDE and it just about saturates the IDE bus in MWDMA mode 2. I’m pretty happy with this! It tests as fast as a 74x CD-rom drive which means there’s a bit more headroom in that mode but that could be the CPU on this K6-2 system being a bottleneck.
Reposted by Ian Scott
Last week I played DOOM on a cream cake machine in an abandoned factory as it was being demolished around me. Today I recorded all of the bits to camera and slapped together a rough edit. Video later this week if all goes well...
(...this is what normal people do with their time, right?)
(...this is what normal people do with their time, right?)
January 19, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Last week I played DOOM on a cream cake machine in an abandoned factory as it was being demolished around me. Today I recorded all of the bits to camera and slapped together a rough edit. Video later this week if all goes well...
(...this is what normal people do with their time, right?)
(...this is what normal people do with their time, right?)
Reposted by Ian Scott
Retro Gamer Magazine (2004) is now as old as Piffall! (1982) was when Retro Gamer Magazine was first published.
January 15, 2026 at 7:58 PM
Retro Gamer Magazine (2004) is now as old as Piffall! (1982) was when Retro Gamer Magazine was first published.
Reposted by Ian Scott
I just made a short of using a SATA DVD optical drive to take my tea bag out of my cup.
youtube.com/shorts/EZAd6...
youtube.com/shorts/EZAd6...
Nerdy Tea
YouTube video by Trina's Technobabble
youtube.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:26 PM
I just made a short of using a SATA DVD optical drive to take my tea bag out of my cup.
youtube.com/shorts/EZAd6...
youtube.com/shorts/EZAd6...
Reposted by Ian Scott
Reposted by Ian Scott
The result of all that debugging is a 691% speed-up in EtherTalk speed when going over BlueSCSI Wi-Fi
github.com/jcs/BlueSCSI...
github.com/jcs/BlueSCSI...
network: Send multiple packets in a READ(6), read multiple in WRITE(6) · jcs/BlueSCSI-v2@33eefcb
The Macintosh DaynaPORT driver will combine multiple outgoing
packets in a single SCSI WRITE(6), so we have to be able to parse
them properly or we'll drop traffic. This was the cause of the
a...
github.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:55 PM
The result of all that debugging is a 691% speed-up in EtherTalk speed when going over BlueSCSI Wi-Fi
github.com/jcs/BlueSCSI...
github.com/jcs/BlueSCSI...
Reposted by Ian Scott
Folks, my mini-IBM PC is finally complete and fully documented!
I invite you to take a look at the full tutorial and a section on why and how I designed this build.
Please share this news and thanks to all who encouraged me.
adafruit-playground.com/u/AnneBarela...
I invite you to take a look at the full tutorial and a section on why and how I designed this build.
Please share this news and thanks to all who encouraged me.
adafruit-playground.com/u/AnneBarela...
January 12, 2026 at 2:23 AM
Folks, my mini-IBM PC is finally complete and fully documented!
I invite you to take a look at the full tutorial and a section on why and how I designed this build.
Please share this news and thanks to all who encouraged me.
adafruit-playground.com/u/AnneBarela...
I invite you to take a look at the full tutorial and a section on why and how I designed this build.
Please share this news and thanks to all who encouraged me.
adafruit-playground.com/u/AnneBarela...
The renewed discourse around if people called 3.5" floppies "diskettes" (nobody did in casual conversation, at least in the US) reminds me of Susan Kare's amazing demo of the Macintosh on Computer Chronicles in 1984. She calls it a "diskette" and it sounds so peculiar to me youtu.be/x_q50tvbQm4
Susan Kare explains Macintosh UI ergonomics on the Computer Chronicles (1984)
YouTube video by erg0steur
youtu.be
January 11, 2026 at 6:03 PM
The renewed discourse around if people called 3.5" floppies "diskettes" (nobody did in casual conversation, at least in the US) reminds me of Susan Kare's amazing demo of the Macintosh on Computer Chronicles in 1984. She calls it a "diskette" and it sounds so peculiar to me youtu.be/x_q50tvbQm4
Reposted by Ian Scott
Please other companies also do this
Bose open-sources its SoundTouch home theater smart speakers ahead of end-of-life
If companies insist on bricking gadgets, this is a better way to do it.
arstechnica.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Please other companies also do this
Reposted by Ian Scott
January 7, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by Ian Scott
Art by Fatih Öztürk
January 7, 2026 at 1:22 AM
Art by Fatih Öztürk
Here's a video about the PicoPCMCIA card: www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-04...
Note that once this production batch is done, that's probably it because so many parts like the PCMCIA frame are out of production. So if you absolutely want one, putting in a deposit will be the best way to ensure that.
Note that once this production batch is done, that's probably it because so many parts like the PCMCIA frame are out of production. So if you absolutely want one, putting in a deposit will be the best way to ensure that.
January 5, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Here's a video about the PicoPCMCIA card: www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-04...
Note that once this production batch is done, that's probably it because so many parts like the PCMCIA frame are out of production. So if you absolutely want one, putting in a deposit will be the best way to ensure that.
Note that once this production batch is done, that's probably it because so many parts like the PCMCIA frame are out of production. So if you absolutely want one, putting in a deposit will be the best way to ensure that.
Ever wanted a PicoGUS or PicoMEM but for PCMCIA? @yyzkevin.com's PicoPCMCIA adds modern WiFi networking, Sound Blaster, GUS, CD-ROM, and storage to any computer with a PCMCIA slot. He's getting closer to launch and is now taking deposits for the first run of cards. www.yyzkevin.com/picopcmcia/
January 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Ever wanted a PicoGUS or PicoMEM but for PCMCIA? @yyzkevin.com's PicoPCMCIA adds modern WiFi networking, Sound Blaster, GUS, CD-ROM, and storage to any computer with a PCMCIA slot. He's getting closer to launch and is now taking deposits for the first run of cards. www.yyzkevin.com/picopcmcia/
Reposted by Ian Scott
Hey, in case you missed the announcement: We have the legendary Displaced Gamers on the January 4 Retro Repair Roundup. Catch us at 8e/7c/6m/5p tonight and be sure to bring all your NES and 6502 questions!
Displaced Gamers - Retro Repair Roundup 91
Join the RRR gang as we interview Chris from Displaced Gamers!
www.youtube.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Hey, in case you missed the announcement: We have the legendary Displaced Gamers on the January 4 Retro Repair Roundup. Catch us at 8e/7c/6m/5p tonight and be sure to bring all your NES and 6502 questions!
Creator of one of *the best* YT channels - his ability to explain extremely technical performance minutiae of the NES is amazing. Looking forward to this one!
I don't want to alarm you or anything, but we've got @displacedgamers.bsky.social on this Sunday's Retro Repair Roundup!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsRp...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsRp...
Displayed Gamers - Retro Repair Roundup 91
YouTube video by Retro Repair Roundup
www.youtube.com
January 4, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Creator of one of *the best* YT channels - his ability to explain extremely technical performance minutiae of the NES is amazing. Looking forward to this one!
After staying up way too late last night refactoring IOR to be ~65% faster, #PicoIDE is now booting the Performa 630 on its famously cursed IDE interface
January 4, 2026 at 4:49 AM
After staying up way too late last night refactoring IOR to be ~65% faster, #PicoIDE is now booting the Performa 630 on its famously cursed IDE interface
No cheating, reskeet the most recent picture of your pet(s).
January 3, 2026 at 11:50 PM
No cheating, reskeet the most recent picture of your pet(s).
Reposted by Ian Scott
I am delighted to announce the release of my latest project:
Fully documented source code for The Sentinel, Geoff Crammond’s 1986 masterpiece.
Here’s the repository; deep dives coming soon.
See thread for details.
1/9
github.com/markmoxon/th...
#retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #c64 #8bit
Fully documented source code for The Sentinel, Geoff Crammond’s 1986 masterpiece.
Here’s the repository; deep dives coming soon.
See thread for details.
1/9
github.com/markmoxon/th...
#retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #c64 #8bit
GitHub - markmoxon/the-sentinel-source-code-bbc-micro: Fully documented and annotated source code for The Sentinel on the BBC Micro
Fully documented and annotated source code for The Sentinel on the BBC Micro - markmoxon/the-sentinel-source-code-bbc-micro
github.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:29 PM
I am delighted to announce the release of my latest project:
Fully documented source code for The Sentinel, Geoff Crammond’s 1986 masterpiece.
Here’s the repository; deep dives coming soon.
See thread for details.
1/9
github.com/markmoxon/th...
#retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #c64 #8bit
Fully documented source code for The Sentinel, Geoff Crammond’s 1986 masterpiece.
Here’s the repository; deep dives coming soon.
See thread for details.
1/9
github.com/markmoxon/th...
#retrocomputing #retrogaming #bbcmicro #c64 #8bit
Reposted by Ian Scott
A few minutes late, here's my 2025 wrapup blog article!
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
2025: The Start of Something New
So, keeping up with my one-blog-article-a-year policy, here's a wrapup of what my 2025 was like. I usually write these wrapups on New Year's Eve,...
polpo.org
January 1, 2026 at 7:25 AM
A few minutes late, here's my 2025 wrapup blog article!
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
Reposted by Ian Scott
Happy New Year from Eric Zmiro's "Prehistorik 2"! 🎉
January 1, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Happy New Year from Eric Zmiro's "Prehistorik 2"! 🎉
A few minutes late, here's my 2025 wrapup blog article!
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
2025: The Start of Something New
So, keeping up with my one-blog-article-a-year policy, here's a wrapup of what my 2025 was like. I usually write these wrapups on New Year's Eve,...
polpo.org
January 1, 2026 at 7:25 AM
A few minutes late, here's my 2025 wrapup blog article!
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
polpo.org/blog/2025-th...
Oh jeez I just realized I need to write my yearly blog article for 2025. Better get to it
January 1, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Oh jeez I just realized I need to write my yearly blog article for 2025. Better get to it