The author visited three Dutch computer museums showcasing different collection styles: HomeComputerMuseum in Helmond with 500+ interactive computers from the 1980s onward, Bonami SpelComputer Museum in Zwolle housing thousands of machines including mainframes and arcade games, and a private barn collection of 1970s-80s Digital Equipment Corporation systems. The museums featured unique regional artifacts like the Aesthedes graphic editor and Holborn computers, highlighting the value of computing history outside America.
Kweepa released DOOM64, a demake of the classic 1993 Doom for the Commodore 64, featuring dynamic floor/ceiling height changes, dithered lighting via text display refresh, and hand-tweaked sprites. The project is the second in a planned id Software conversion trilogy, with two versions available optimized for different C64 setups.
Pyxel is an open-source Python retro game engine with built-in art and sound editors, featuring 16-color display and 4-channel audio to recreate classic console aesthetics. Developed by one person under the MIT License, it enables easy creation of pixel-art games.
A developer ported Another World, a classic game, to the ZX Spectrum 48K by implementing the original game's virtual machine in Z80 assembly. The port fits entirely in 48KB of RAM and runs the game's intro sequence in real time, with full source code and build instructions provided.
Indie developer Vidit Bhargava created Duo-Man, an app for Apple's upcoming iPhone Duo foldable that replicates a classic Walkman experience using the device's dual screens. The app won second place at a hackathon and has garnered significant social media attention, inspiring Bhargava to develop it into a full release with Apple Music and local file support.
Wreckfall is a fixed-screen arcade shooter inspired by Space Invaders where you fire upward to destroy descending spacecraft that become falling wrecks, crushing other craft and armored hulks below. Chain reactions multiply your score as wrecks grow wider, but you must clear formations quickly before they reach the ground.
A collector has acquired two vintage Raleigh Vektar BMX bikes from the 1980s—high-tech bicycles with built-in computers, radios, and speedometers—which he plans to restore after receiving them as donations. The project involves cleaning, rust removal, electronics testing, frame repainting, and mechanical repairs across multiple planned stages.
Turbo Vision for Rust is a full port of Borland's classic text-mode UI framework to Rust, providing menus, windows, dialogs, validators, editors, and terminal-based controls that replicate the original 1991-era interface design. The library preserves the original class hierarchy, event model, and color palettes while adding modern features like syntax highlighting, SSH server support, and comprehensive terminal abstraction.
Klassik is an open-source project that revives the KDE 3 desktop experience on modern KDE Plasma 6 by recreating original components using Qt 6, Qt Quick, and current technologies. The project includes recreated panel components, KDE 3-style themes, window decorations, and wallpapers, allowing Plasma 6 to faithfully reproduce the classic KDE desktop while maintaining modern underlying architecture.
A technical deep dive into achieving high-quality digital audio playback using the ZX Spectrum's simple 1-bit beeper, exploring assembly language techniques, timing constraints, and comparisons with similar sound systems on other retro computers like the Apple IIe.
A 2015 retrospective praises the PowerBook Duo, Apple's innovative laptop from the 1990s that could dock into a desktop station to gain ports, storage, and processing power, arguing its modular design concept remains appealing despite modern wireless and computing advances making such compromises unnecessary.