iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Ben Ryves

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Happy Kicked In The Head By A Horse Day, to all who celebrate. It's the 7th anniversary of this absolute banger.

Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 22/09/2026

I do grumble about wrapping cables tightly around devices (especially controllers) due to the risk of "cable burn", and this post on Reddit provides an excellent example image of a particularly severe example! www.reddit.com/r/psx/commen...

reddit.com

From the psx community on Reddit: Found an old treasure

Explore this post and more from the psx community

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/09/2026

Bit of a side-quest with my Sharp calculator link software plans this weekend. I was planning to support the EL-9400, 9450, 9600, 9900 and 9950, but what of the older EL-9300? This works in a fundamentally different way, with different file formats and no 2.5mm I/O port.

Photo of a Sharp EL-9300 graphing scientific calculator, showing the rests of a program that calculates a moon phase calendar.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/09/2026

"Dropped once and now it doesn't switch on." A bit grubby but the LCD looked to be in OK shape (no scratches or bruises). Popped in some batteries and it did switch on, but that PCB to LCD flex cable has clearly had enough.

Photo of a grubby EL-9900 calculator's hard case, with two missing feet that have been coloured in with a pen.

Photo of the side of the EL-9900 calculator, showing more ink stains and dirt.

Photo of the EL-9900's screen, showing many missing rows and columns of pixels.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 14/09/2026

Sharp's graphing calculator PC software and link cables are hard to find these days so I thought I'd have a go at writing my own. I've had to do a lot of reverse engineering and there's still a long way to go but it feels like I'm on the right track.

Screenshot of a work-in-progress "SHARP Graph Link" software showing various editor windows open to work with Sharp's graphing calculator variable files.

Screenshot of the "Receive Files" dialog showing a variable listing from a connected calculator.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/09/2026

Nearly missed my bus earlier after meeting a friendly new cat in the area. Have to make sure I pass the inspection!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 11/09/2026

I recently dug out a microscope to try to work out how a badge I picked up from the Science Museum in the 90s worked after seeing someone asking about them - youtu.be/BIZtK5UVRVE Grand Illusions posted this video today with a much larger version - youtu.be/nqam7ek4pII The magic of Moiré!

Photo of a badge seen under a microscope, revealing an array of tiny lenses in a hexagonal grid formation.

Straight-on photo of the grid of lenses, showing a clearer view of the pattern this produces.

Much higher magnification view of the lenses, clearly showing the hexagonal grid pattern.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 31/08/2026

After missing their acoustic set last weekend it's grand to see Magic Brother opening the Carshalton Eco-Fair with a (solar-powered) electric set.

Photo of a band playing on a stage in a grassy area of a park.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 27/08/2026

Trying a more scientific approach to re-stick EL-9900 LCD flex cables via printable templates. Two rulers help measure the missing column/row numbers, and a guide then shows where the corresponding areas of the flex cable are for heating. Will it hold? Only time will tell.

Photo of a Sharp EL-9900 calculator with a horizontal ruler on the screen to identify the missing columns.

Photo of a Sharp EL-9900 calculator with a vertical ruler on the screen to identify the missing rows.

Photo of a template to show where the corresponding rows and columns are on the flex cable inside the calculator, so they can be heated to re-stick them.

Photo of the EL-9900 calculator with the "repaired" screen - at least all rows and columns are driven.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 23/08/2026

Good quantity of black pudding on this breakfast. Out for a bike ride so this will help refuelling...

Photo of a cooked breakfast with three slices of black pudding and three tinned tomatoes.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 22/08/2026

Enjoying some live music at The Oval for its "Busker's Barbecue" and good to catch up with Ollie the pub cat.

Photo of a band playing outside. The man playing the harmonica is wearing a belt containing a frankly unreasonable quantity of harmonicas.

Photo of a man playing the guitar and singing.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/08/2026

Finally some good weather and I can enjoy a pub garden pint at long last. Cheers!

Photo of a mug of beer outside with a rain-sodden backdrop.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/08/2026

High-fiving the eclipse.

Photo of a projection of a partial solar eclipse on a hand.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 12/08/2026

Casio IC cards for their organisers seem much harder to find than Sharp IC cards. Both had a version of Lucid 3-D spreadsheet, though, and that can turn the organisers into useful calculating machines. I'd still love to find an equivalent to Sharp's BASIC cards for the Casio.

Photo of a Casio SF-9000 "Digital Diary" with the Casio Power Spreadsheet IC card.

Photo of a Casio SF-9000 and a Sharp IQ-8000 both running their respective spreadsheet IC cards based on Lucid 3-D by PCSG Inc.

A collection of the Casio IC cards I've found in the wild (1) versus the Sharp IC cards I've found (8 software applications, 3 different sizes of RAM card).

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 08/08/2026

Good to catch up with Stanley and Winston at the Dark Horse in Selhurst. A great pub with great pub cats!

Photo of Stanley, a black and white pub cat

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 07/08/2026

I don't endorse jamming components into PCBs operating at mains voltage, especially in a wet room... I only installed this fan a year ago and it lasted around six months before developing this fault. Guess that's my Friday night repair scheduled!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 04/08/2026

This seller has a load of cheap Sharp EL-9600 calculators for sale. I already have one but the keyboard isn't very responsive so I figured it's worth a punt! This calculator's main gimmick is its touch screen. Will report back if pen is missing... www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16814542...

ebay.co.uk

Sharp EL-9600 Scientific Calculator with Cover | eBay UK

Sharp EL-9600 Tested and working

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 21/07/2026

Still missing Sega World at the Trocadero. Glad to see there are still some serious political candidates out there!

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/07/2026

I figured a graphing calculator collection should start with the OG, or rather the "Casio fx-7000" G. Sold as untested but aside from leaky CR2032 cells it's in good shape. My usual Sierpinski triangle test program has some weird aliasing (Y points clumped into lines) so for now here's a sine wave!

Photo of a Casio fx-7000G "Graphics" calculator

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 11/07/2026

Last ever Ciderdog festival at The Miller today! Looks like it'll be a hot one, so will dig out my gurt big 'at. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdMf...

youtube.com

Drink Up Thy Zider (1967)

YouTube video by British Pathé

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 08/07/2026

Very happy to find this TI Galaxy 67 in good nick. It's no pocket computer, but very flexible for a programmable scientific calculator with named programs that can be used as subroutines, conditional testing and branching operations. I suspect the case designer was inspired by the HP Voyager line...

Photo of a Texas Instruments Galaxy 67 programmable scientific calculator next to its box, hard slide case and instruction manual.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 26/06/2026

It's too bloody hot, but the sunflowers seem to be doing nicely.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/06/2026

Been meaning to investigate the local brewery, and they've got a Midsummer Beer Festival on today so that's a perfect opportunity to do so!

People sitting outside an industrial unit drinking beer.

Photo of the inside of the brewery-cum-taproom.

Photo of a pint of Anspach & Hobday Bitter Smooth.

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Reposted by Ben Ryves

Rob Manuel @robmanuel.b3ta.com · 19/06/2026

The answer to this, from Gareth in the comments, is amazing

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 18/06/2026

My sunflowers have yet to bloom (and I like that they usually attract bees) but the ragwort seems to be doing a great job of attracting cinnabar moth caterpillars. Weeds, maybe, but I prefer a bit of messy life to sterile concrete and bricks.

Photo of a ragwort plant covered in cinnabar moth caterpillars.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 18/06/2026

Whoops, that's why I normally print out a test PCB design on thin card first. A few minutes spent filing off the corners and it plugs right in. This is Piotr Piatek's circuit and emulates a tape drive (data goes to an I²C EEPROM) and printer (data goes to a serial port) mk.bs0dd.net/piotr433/tap...

Photo of a Casio FX-730P pocket computer with a circuit board plugged in. The circuit board has a serial port on it. It also has a light shining and the computer's screen says "AF:GOLF" on it.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 11/06/2026

Built and programmed the next batch of Dreamcast De-Dead Zone mods, now I just need to finish making the connecting wires so I can get to the fun part - testing. :-) Six of the ten have been claimed, but if you're interested in one of the rest please give me a shout - £20 + international postage.

Photo of a box of circuit boards next to a bundle of wires, crimp contacts and a crimp tool.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 11/06/2026

Another bonus memory pack inside this untested Casio FX-730P, though this time it's a whopping 8KB. The little rubber feet on the back were also a bonus, but fortunately they peeled off without putting up a fight.

Photo of a Casio FX-730P with the back removed, showing an 8KB memory pack installed inside.

Photo of the Casio FX-730P listing a simple BASIC program that PRINTs "I ♥ Casio!"

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 05/06/2026

Finally managed to find a 40-column BASIC card for my Sharp organisers! I'd previously done a bit of clumsy reverse engineering to hack together 40-column support on the 16-column card, but now I can dump the real thing and compare the two.

Photo of a SHARP Scientific Computer Card IQ-8B03 and its manual.

Photo of a SHARP IQ-8000 running the card, showing that the card is displaying contents on all 40 columns of the LCD.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 02/06/2026

Should have bought more pots but considering this was all in two pots and one seed tray before I think this is still an improvement. Basil, rosemary and echinacea; when I planted them last year not a single one germinated. Also planted some delphinium seeds but they didn't work this year either!

Photo of basil, echinacea and rosemary seedlings in small pots.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 01/06/2026

New month, new monthly calendar for the fridge. Also a good opportunity to check the batteries are charged in all my pocket computer printers!

Photo of three Sharp pocket computers in their respective printer/cassette interfaces, each having printed a monthly calendar for June 2026.

Detail of the printout from the Sharp PC-1211 in the CE-122 printer.

Program listing:

10 INPUT "YEAR?",Y,"MONTH?",M
20 T=INT (M/10):U=M-10T:O=Y
30 Z=M-INT ((M-1)/7)*7:Z=30+Z-INT (Z/2)*2
40 IF M=2 LET Z=29-((Y/4<>INT (Y/4))+((Y/100=INT (Y/100))*(Y/400<>INT (Y/400))))
50 IF M>2 LET M=M+1: GOTO 70
60 M=M+13:Y=Y-1
70 V=INT (365.25Y)+INT (30.6M)-621049
80 V=1+INT (V/7)*7-V
90 A$(27)="0":A$(28)="1":A$(29)="2":A$(30)="3":A$(31)="4"
100 A$(32)="5":A$(33)="6":A$(34)="7":A$(35)="8":A$(36)="9"
110 A$=A$(T+27):B$=A$(U+27)
120 PRINT "␣␣␣␣";USING "#####";O;USING ;"-";A$;B$
130 PRINT "␣␣M␣T␣W␣T␣F␣S␣S"
140 FOR O=1 TO 13 STEP 2
150 T=INT (ABS V/10):U=ABS V-10T:A$(O)=A$(T+27):A$(O+1)=A$(U+27)
160 IF (V<10)+(V>Z) LET A$(O)="␣"
170 IF (V<1)+(V>Z) LET A$(O+1)="␣"
180 V=V+1
190 NEXT O
200 PRINT "␣";A$;B$;C$;D$;E$;F$;G$;H$;I$;J$;K$;L$;M$;N$
210 IF V<=Z THEN 140
220 PRINT "␣"

Detail from the printout from the Sharp PC-1500 in the CE-150 printer.

Program listing:

10 REM Monthly Calendar
20 IF PEEK &A000<>&C0 PRINT "Printer required.": END
30 M=INT (TIME /1E4): IF Y<1900 OR Y>2100 LET Y=2000
40 WAIT 0
50 CLS : PRINT "Year (";STR$ Y;") ";: INPUT Y
60 CLS : PRINT "Month (";STR$ M;") ";: INPUT M
70 CLS : INPUT "Colour? (Y/N) ";C$
80 IF C$<>"Y" AND C$<>"N" THEN 70
90 C=C$="Y": CLS
100 E=M-INT ((M-1)/7)*7:E=30+E-INT (E/2)*2
120 IF M=2 LET E=29-((Y/4<>INT (Y/4))+((Y/100=INT (Y/100))*(Y/400<>INT (Y/400))))
130 Z=Y:N=M+1: IF M>2 THEN 150
140 Z=Y-1:N=M+13
150 V=INT (365.25*Z)+INT (30.6*N)-621049
160 V=1+INT (V/7)*7-V
170 TEXT : CSIZE 5
180 V$=STR$ M: IF LEN V$<2 LET V$="0"+V$
190 V$=STR$ Y+"-"+V$
200 COLOR 0: LPRINT V$
210 GRAPH : CSIZE 2: SORGN :R=0
220 FOR X=1 TO 7: GLCURSOR (X*30-24,0)
230 COLOR (2+(X>5))*C
240 LPRINT MID$ ("MoTuWeThFrSaSu",X*2-1,2);
250 NEXT X
260 R=R-24
270 FOR X=1 TO 7: IF V<1 OR V>E THEN 310
280 GLCURSOR (X*30-24,R): COLOR (1+2*(X>5))*C
290 V$=STR$ V: IF LEN V$<2 LET V$="␣"+V$
300 LPRINT V$;
310 V=V+1
320 NEXT X
330 IF V<=E THEN 260
340 COLOR 0
350 FOR X=1 TO 8
360 LINE (X*30-27,R-6)-(X*30-27,18)
370 NEXT X
380 FOR X=18 TO R-6 STEP -24
390 LINE (3,X)-(213,X)
400 NEXT X
410 TEXT : LF 4

Detail from the printout from the Sharp PC-1251 in the CE-125 printer.

Program listing:

10 INPUT "YEAR?",Y,"MONTH?",M
20 LPRINT "␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣␣";STR$ Y;"-";RIGHT$ ("0"+STR$ M,2): LPRINT ""
30 Z=M-INT ((M-1)/7)*7:Z=30+Z-INT (Z/2)*2
40 IF M=2 LET Z=29-((Y/4<>INT (Y/4))+((Y/100=INT (Y/100))*(Y/400<>INT (Y/400))))
50 IF M>2 LET M=M+1: GOTO 70
60 M=M+13:Y=Y-1
70 V=INT (365.25Y)+INT (30.6M)-621049
80 V=1+INT (V/7)*7-V
130 LPRINT "␣␣MO␣TU␣WE␣TH␣FR␣SA␣SU"
140 FOR O=1 TO 7
150 A$(O)=RIGHT$ ("␣␣"+STR$ V,3)
170 IF (V<1) OR (V>Z) LET A$(O)="␣␣␣"
180 V=V+1
190 NEXT O
200 LPRINT "␣";A$;B$;C$;D$;E$;F$;G$
210 IF V<=Z THEN 140
220 LPRINT ""

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 21/05/2026

My TV screen might be getting smaller, but my calculator screen is definitely getting larger! Wanted a TI-83 Plus Silver Edition for a long time, when this model appeared with a pair of ViewScreens I had to pick it up. Fun to see some of my programs finally running at 15MHz. Now I just need an OHP!

Photo of a TI-83 Plus Silver Edition alongside two ViewScreens.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 20/05/2026

Quote with a fictional band that is not Spın̈al Tap.

"The Band With Rocks In" from the cover of Terry Pratchett's "Soul Music", painted by Josh Kirby.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 18/05/2026

Oh, go on then... Now eBay knows I've bought a few Casio devices, I'm in trouble.

Screenshot of an eBay listing for an old pocket TV, sold for £3.99.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 17/05/2026

Well done to Bulgaria for demonstrating that the winning formula is to put a banging donk on it.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/05/2026

Having replaced all the leaky batteries in my old pocket computers, I do need to make sure they're charged every couple of months or so and it's always good to give the plotter a bit of a workout.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 15/05/2026

Bought a junk CP-10 to scavenge the printer mechanism but when I opened it up there were signs that someone had tried to repair it before me. Not one to avoid a challenge I got it working and now I guess I need to buy another junk CP-10!

Photo of the inside of a Casio CP-10 calculator, showing a leaky Ni-Cd battery pack.

Photo of the front of the Casio CP-10 with the face plate removed and fresh double-sided tape.

Photo of the inside of the Casio CP-10 with a fresh Ni-MH battery pack.

Photo of the working CP-10, showing a print out of some digits, a calendar and the current time.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 08/05/2026

Interested in how the other half lived so picked up my first Casio pocket computer. Bit of a gamble as untested but a good price and came with the manuals. Clues on the back as to how the previous owner used it, and very happy to find the 1KB RAM option inside too (only 544 bytes free otherwise!)

Photo of a Casio PB-100 pocket computer next to its soft carrying case. Its instruction manual and a guide to learning BASIC are pictured above it.

Photo of the back of the PB-100 showing a hand-written sticker that lists what the various statistics programs loaded onto the computer would have done.

Photo of the inside of the computer with the back off, showing the OR-1 memory pack fitted to add an extra 1KB RAM.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 07/05/2026

No civic-minded moggies on my trip to the polling station, I'm sorry to report.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 01/05/2026

Sod the sunshine, come and sit in the dark. Back to my favourite cinema for an Evangelion double bill.

Photo of a man standing in front of the Prince Charles Cinema

Sign for the queue for the 'Evangelion: Death (True)²' and 'The End of Evangelion' double bill. A sign in the window shows that tickets have sold out.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 23/04/2026

Tried ordering a Casio cable from www.lynks.co.uk/casio.html but as the page was last updated over 20 years ago not expecting a reply soon. In the meantime took a punt on this Packard Bell organiser cable and after a little reverse-engineering it looks like it should be safe to use on Casios too.

Photo of the inside of a PC Link Model DTL-388D RS-232 interface for Packard Bell Organisers.

Circuit diagram of the reverse-engineered RS-232 interface.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 19/04/2026

Front derailleur cable snapped last night on the way home from the pub and didn't fancy completing today's group ride in the small chainring so airing out the folding bike. Hope the gravel's not too brütal!

Photo of a bicycle in a park under a blossoming tree.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 18/04/2026

This is what yesterday's battery hackery was for: a Casio CP-9 Copy Pen. It's a scanner at one end and a printer at the other, allowing you to copy text and graphics from one page to another. You can also use it as a scanner for the KL-2000 label printer, or a printer for the SF-9000 organiser.

Photo of a Casio CP-9 Copy Pen/Handy Copy next to a KL-2000 label printer.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 17/04/2026

Shrinkflation extends to batteries too! Bought a 170mAh 9V online, when it turned up they've cheekily redesigned the packaging to rate it for 160mAh but make it part of the "170 series".

Photo of 9V rechargeable battery packaging showing it to be part of the "170 series" but rated for only 160mAh.

Photo of the battery packaging from the online listing.

160

Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 11/04/2026

Nice to see some bluebells out in Selsdon Wood between brunch at Culina and drinks at the Golden Ark.

Photo of bluebells carpeting the woodland floor.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 10/04/2026

Another day, another thermal printer with leaky Ni-CDs inside. Arnie must have been working on the production line the day mine was assembled based on how tight the screws were and how much force it took to pop off the battery cover. Seems to work, and nice to see a Z80 running the show inside!

Photo of the battery compartment inside a KL-2000 label printer showing crusty leaky Ni-CD cells.

Photo of a KL-2000 label printer connected to 4 AA cells with a test print on top of it.

Photo of the inside of the KL-2000 label printer.

Close-up of the Z80 CPU on the KL-2000 PCB.

260

Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 01/04/2026

Got this brilliantly detailed Lego Game Boy from my sister and brother in law for my birthday and only got enough time to sit down and enjoy putting it together this weekend.

Photo of a Game Boy made out of Lego next to a pile of cartridges topped by a Super Mario Land cartridge (also made of Lego). A yellow Game Boy Pocket showing the same scene from the Super Mario Land on the Lego Game Boy is shown underneath.

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 31/03/2026

If you see this, post a concert photo that you took. John Carpenter at the Troxy, 2nd November 2016.

Photo of John Carpenter and band playing a concert with a screen behind them showing a clip from his film "Christine".

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Ben Ryves @benryves.com · 16/03/2026

My mum intercepted these on the way to the bin, so I guess I've now joined team RPN.

Photo of an HP-12C financial calculator and a Casio fx-3800P scientific calculator.

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