This week, Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos met a few minutes later than usual, and somehow defeated a buzz together with the power of will before settling into the news, rifling through the Mailbag, and otherwise creating the attached podcast.

So, the news. Amazon, in their infinite wisdom, have chosen to not only remove Alexa’s aux port on future models, but also disable the input on extant ones. Is this really bad news? Maybe just because it seems like taking a choice away for the sake of exerting power over the people.

Anyway. In Hackaday news, the Retrocomputing Contest is currently on fire, and runs through 10AM PDT on Tuesday, October 27th. That means you have about 2.5 weeks left.

Supercon Ten ticket sales are similarly aflame, and per Elliot, it’s about time to release the next round of speakers. So, watch for that.

After digging deep in the Mailbag and eventually just dumping the thing out on the table, we found our brand new Hackaday Podcast Mailbag Audio Bumper! This jingle comes courtesy of [Dakota Winslow], who also advises that there are Easter eggs to be found.

Then, it was on to the hacks, including Elliot’s record-tying number of Quick Hacks, and plenty of in-linkage.

Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Download in lovely MP3.

Episode 390 Show Notes:

News:

• With Latest Update, Alexa Refuses To Pass The Aux
• Retrocomputing Contest
• 2026 Hackaday Superconference Tickets, Friday, November 6-Sunday, November 8  •  10 AM-7:30 PM

Mailbag:

• Check out our new Hackaday Podcast Mailbag Audio Bumper!  Thanks [Dakota]!

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• The World’s Smallest TV Console Plays DOOM
• Conveyor Belt GBoard Brings The Keys To You
  • ErgoDex DX1 Input System – Detailed Specification Sheet
• How To Grow A Giant Crystal From Copper Sulfate
  • Automated Rig Grows Big, Beautiful Crystals Fast
• Porting Video Games To VHS
  • Wikipedia: Dragon’s Lair
• Keep That Old Radio Alive With An ESP32
• Gardening With…OpenSCAD?

Quick Hacks:

• Elliot’s Picks:
  • 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: Retro Terminal Bartop Arcade Topper
  • Solve Your TTL Video Woes With An RP2350
  • The Commodore 64 Keyboard Font, For Everyone
  • You Know This Font, But You Don’t Really Know It
  • Building A Cheap, Dexterous Robot Hand
• Kristina’s Picks:
  • Don’t Try This At Home, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Edition
  • Electronic Busy Board Is Fun For Kids And Hackers
  • A Mechanical Radio, Sort Of

Can’t-Miss Articles:

• Lead A Discord Exodus With A Matrix Server
• A Headset Fit For A Hackaday Writer