On 21 Jan 2026, R3DSC4R3 said the following...
So recently, I've been taking up more tech focused hobbies, namely things surrounding the nature and function of OSINT. It seems I've burnt myself out onthat, and now I'm turning my eyes to a different direction;
hardware engineering and hacking. I've done my research on Google, and even so I still don't know where to start. Would anyone here happen to have knowledge or tips for someone who only has a soldering iron? Any blogs, creators, etc. that you would recommend for beginners?
this hobby almost always goes with one of your other hobbies.
like snes/sega/etc? build a mintypi, gameboy zero, etc (even better if you stay away from the single-board kits and cobble one together like the older videos)
like pinball? build a virtual pinball machine.. machine. involves woodworking, wiring, tinkering with things like bump sensors and simulated solenoids and stuff.
like weather? wireless (433mhz) weather sensors are cheap and you can use a cheap usb tv tuner to receive the messages and make some sort of chart thing.
but then you don't want to display the weather on just your computer? you get a microcontroller dev kit of some sort (arduino, raspberry pi with wifi, etc) and a tiny screen and make yourself a picture frame that shows the weather in a creative way (if the pic has an owl, you can light up it's eyes at night while you're at it)
connect a device up via serial to your pc with a rumble motor and a sound generator and have it rip a bassy fart whenever someone logs onto your bbs
*shrug*
--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/32)
* Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi