Slashdot Mirror


Micro-SD Card Slot Abused As VGA-Port

dvdkhlng writes "The Ben NanoNote open-source hand-held computer has often been criticized for not being very extensible hardware-wise. A community effort now starts to challenge this by shipping the so-called UBB board, which plugs into the micro-SD port, making 6 I/O lines available to hardware hackers. The most impressive use so far is this VGA port implemented by just a few resistors, with signal-generation mostly controlled by software. The guy who did this calls it an 'unexpected capability.' Schematics and source code are available under the GPL."

1 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Don Lancaster by am+2k · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I write hard SF. I go to great effort to get details right, although I know most of my readers will neither notice nor care. As long as I entertain them, that's fine -- and it's important that the details don't get in the way of that entertainment. However there are a few who will notice, who may even do the math. They're the ones I take that extra effort for.

    Being a big fan of hard SF and very technically-minded myself, I appreciate your attention to detail, but be aware that you're doing that mostly for your own peace of mind. For example, there are so many faults in the Harry Potter series that somebody even wrote a whole book about that (called Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality), and see what disaster it meant to J. K. Rowling's sales.