Hackjob

  I don't think I'll be able to outdo this one anytime soon. By complete dumb luck, I stumbled upon a rare and completely bonkers Sharp VZ-3000, just a short jaunt down the interstate from where I lived. Not knowing a single thing about what I was getting myself into, I parted ways with $100 and loaded this monster into my car. What ensued was months of trying not to rip my own hair out in the hopes that I could bring this unique machine back from the dead.

  For anyone under the age of 30, Technics probably isn't a name that comes to mind when thinking about headphones. They're mainly known for making outstanding turntables and stereo equipment, but not so much for speakers. Anyone who bought a Technics rack system back in the day will probably tell you that the giant floor speakers it came with are either best suited for the garage - or the dump. So, does a storied turntable manufacturer with a not-so storied background for speakers know how to make a decent pair of noise cancelling Bluetooth earbuds? Let's find out.

  About two months ago, I scored two direct drive turntables for $60: a Pioneer PL-518 and a Technics SL-1600 MK1. Either one of these decks alone would've been a steal at the price, and a huge upgrade from the old Garrard 770M I was spinning LPs on prior. Unlike the Pioneer (which has been such a nightmare that it deserves it's own post), the Technics managed to survive it's two decades of horrible storage in relatively great shape. It just needed a little love.

  Well I've gone and done it. It hasn't been that long since I finished installing new fans in my Area 51 R2, and while they did resolve the cooling issues I was experiencing prior, it didn't help me reach my goal of a 4.0+ GHz overclock on my i7-5960X: a problem whose fault I've attributed to the factory motherboard. Rather than continue trying and failing to make it work, I decided it was time to get drastic, and completely rebuild the beast from the ground up. Time for a long one.

One of my favorite pastimes is scrounging around on online secondhand marketplaces and thrift stores for interesting gadgets worth bringing back into peak working condition. There's a certain satisfaction about finding some battered old throwaway and turning back the years of neglect to find something genuinely useful, or at least super cool. In some cases, it's a chance to visit a bygone era and bring a piece of it back to life. This Garrard Model 770M turntable was certainly all of the above.

After contemplating the purchase for ages, I decided to pull the trigger on my first 3D printer. It was beginning of a lifetime of enjoyment... or it should've been. Instead of buying a brand-new Ender-3 like everyone else did, I decided to buy my printer used, from eBay. What ended up arriving at my door was nothing short of a complete disaster.

The 1990s were a truly miserable time for regular computers. Everything on the market was just beige. Even Apple: usually known for having an easily recognizable lineup, marketed an army of computers that were all damn near imperceptible from one another. This all went on until Steve Jobs went on a fat trimming spree, reducing the company's confusing array of home desktops to just one stylish option: the iMac. It made waves with it's futuristic and colorful design, making the beige-boxes look like yesterday's leftovers. The machine was such a hit that Apple decided, why don't we make one for the road? Enter the iBook, the world's most refreshingly ridiculous laptop.