thisdoesnotcompute

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 43: The Worst of Both Worlds

Colin sold some stuff at VCF Midwest without even being there, and Steve picked up a hard drive that's probably more useful as a boat anchor.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

Victory is mine

After cooling off for a bit I picked up where I left off with the DS Lite I attempted the shell swap on. After reseating the display ribbon cable several times with no luck, I put everything back in a box and let it sit for a few days. On a whim I stuck the battery in and...it works now?! I quickly finished putting it back together before it realized it's still supposed to be broken.

Of course, I still have one more to shell swap, and it's gonna be slightly more difficult -- I might mak...

This DS Lite shell swap didn't go as planned (Patreon bonus)

Got an hour to kill? Like watching people make repeated mistakes? Well, have I got a video for you...

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 42: It Doesn't Work If You Don't Use It

Some of Colin's vintage Mac collection is making its way to VCF Midwest, where Steve has some sneaky plans of the LocalTalk persuasion. Oh, and what happened to Micron Xceed anyway?

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 41: Shut Up and Burn My Money

Everything's a gamble these days...with increasingly worse odds.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com/).

Fixing this JBL speaker's one STUPID design flaw

I picked up a JBL EON One Compact, just to find that it has a glaring design flaw. Turns out fixing it is not only free...but pretty easy?!

The video on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/mTApvqVAlw4

Sources:
What are you sinking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjUPIZhqhDs
EON One Compact tweeter photo: 2025-08-18 22:17:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 40: Don't Cross the Streams

Why does Sonic the Hedgehog games on Nintendo hardware still feel just so...wrong? Oh, and excuse me for a moment, I need to go arm-wrestle my refrigerator.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

I've owned too many portable CD players (Patreon bonus)

Most people owned one portable CD player, sometimes two if the first one broke. I've owned...considerably more than that.

Is your CD player LYING to you?

If you think you've been hearing full-quality audio from your portable CD player...I have some bad news for you.

The version on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/IE-yWfkWv_A

Featured music: "Grow Up" by Gloria Tells

Sources:
Sony D-150 photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/34019036@N05/4934600814
Sony D-515 ph...

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 39: Bring Home the Fun

Aside from torturing ourselves with vintage computers, Colin and Steve also have fond memories of video games, especially handheld consoles. What was the scene like back in the 90s, and why is Colin getting back into Game Boy modding?

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.c...

I'm still alive, and need some research help

I'm (slowly) working on my next video, in which I do a bit of mythbusting -- do portable CD players with an anti-skip memory buffer actually reduce audio quality? It's something I said in my "portable CD players buyer's guide" video from a few years ago, but was recently called out on as supposedly being not true. So now I need to find out for myself.

Here's where I could use some help: Sony's Discman players at least used a dedicated "memory controller" chip that sat between the DSP an...

Patreon Bonus: Screwing Around at Free Geek Twin Cities

I periodically volunteer at Free Geek Twin Cities, and here's a look at some of the things I help out with when I'm there.

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 38: Plastic Fantastic

Taking over the world, one cheap phone faceplate at a time.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 37: Feeding the Addiction

Steve went to the swap meet and brought home another ImageWriter, and nobody's surprised.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

Kayaking to Lake Phalen (Patreon bonus)

Last year I shared a video where I kayaked the "chain of lakes" in Minneapolis. St. Paul has a similar string of lakes linked by channels, which end at Lake Phalen to the south. Here's an abbreviated tour of them, interrupted halfway through by a weir (which I almost went over).

The version on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/NmIIsyuawO4

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I kinda hate cassettes now

This Sony TC-WR550Z cassette deck works now, but it sure put up a fight. Hopefully this helps you if you're facing the same repairs!

The version of this video on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/KMWHCQaZm8Q

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Music by Epidemic Sound (https://www.epidemicsound.com 2025-06-02 23:09:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Installing a dashcam wasn't really all that hard (Patreon bonus)

I hate messy wiring, and I hate messy wiring in cars even more. Let's install a dashcam using a kit that hopefully doesn't suck.

The version on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/gI3INZCHfFs

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 36: You Wouldn't Download a Car

Colin finally got sucked into the world of car dashcams, with a neat way to keep the installation from also sucking.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

Rummaging through parts bins (Patreon bonus)

With the current craziness that is my life and mind these days, my regular video production schedule is, well, not going to be regular for a while. While looking for a part for a project, I decided to start filming. Let's dig through my bins of junk so I can rediscover all of the things I forgot I had!

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 35: Sy-NO-logy

A prominent NAS manufacturer makes a serious mistake.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

How my ultimate SimCity 2000 setup helped get Apple sued

Sorry, I got distracted.

The version of this episode on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/HlUHWt1OQv4

Here's my episode about restoring this Quadra 700: https://youtu.be/oXNLPOksY1Y

Sources:
"32-Bit QuickDraw Is Slow to Catch On," InfoWorld, July 2, 1990.
"Radius Announces Board For Mac Plus and Mac SE," InfoWorld, March 2, 1987. 2025-05-05 22:23:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Every new beginning...

I got laid off today.

Well, I found out I'm getting laid off. My last day at my current employer is at the end of the month. But they made the news official today.

You may know that I'm only a part-time content creator. The revenue I get from YouTube, Patreon, etc isn't at a level that I could live off of, so I have a full-time job to pay my bills. It's actually a nice arrangement, as it plays into the "don't turn your hobbies into your job" advice that's commonly offered. I agree...

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 34: The Nightmare is Over

Could Phone Watch be coming to an end??!!!

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 33: Come for the Knobs, Stay for the Meatballs

Colin braves Ikea in the name of home improvement while Steve does smart things with his 3D printer.

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

This fix for a common Mac SE/30 problem is GENIUS

If you have a Mac SE/30 with a dodgy ROM SIMM slot, this option from Kero's Mac Mods is right up your alley.

The version on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/7N--GGi32Yw

The SMC PDS ROM is available here: https://en.infinityproducts.co.jp/product-page/smc-pds-rom-card

Other links:
ROMmate SIMM progra...

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 32: Missed It by That Much

Just when we thought Steve's shed troubles couldn't get any worse...

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

I fixed the vintage ThinkPad that IBM screwed up

The ThinkPad 500 was IBM's first subnotebook. It...wasn't perfect.

The version of this video on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/piGrQ62Re1o

If you're one of the 3 people left on planet Earth with a ThinkPad 500 and you have the same problem, here's the 3D model of the bracket I made: https://www...

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 31: Bits and Pieces, Vol. 3

Silly, useless software; our dumb car stories; and running over extension cords. Is it Friday yet?

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music).

Unimplemented Trap, Episode 30: Ready For the Show

VCF East is this weekend, and Steve's going...but does he know what he's bringing?

Intro music by Eric Skiff (https://ericskiff.com/music). End music by Lakey Inspired (https://soundcloud.com/LAKEYINSPIRED).

Fixing this vintage Mac was easy...until it wasn't

It's a good thing I like the SE/30 as much as I do, considering what this one put me through.

The version on YouTube is here: https://youtu.be/czLFa6II7Hg

My BlueSCSI expansion slot bracket model: https://www.printables.com/model/813709-mac-se-and-se30-bluescsi-v2-expansion-port-bracket 2025-03-31 22:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post