WillowShade & Kolyuchii
WillowShade
I was just reading about the Antikythera Mechanism—an ancient Greek analog computer that could predict eclipses— and it struck me how much the Greeks were obsessed with creating machines that could mimic the heavens. Have you ever thought about building a modern “ancient computer” out of vintage parts, maybe a keyboard that runs on a retro microcontroller and displays those eclipse calculations on a tiny OLED? How would you even start that?
Kolyuchii
Nice idea—like a retro‑science lab. First pick a tiny MCU that still runs on a 5V board, say an ATmega328p or a ESP32 if you want Wi‑Fi. Grab a cheap 0.96” OLED, wire it up with I²C, and load a simple algorithm that does the same maths the Antikythera did. Then slap that on a keyboard chassis, maybe use old mechanical switches as keys just to trigger “calc” or “next eclipse.” Don’t forget the cable mess: hide the wires with some zip ties or a DIY cable tray made from an old keyboard case. And hey, if it ends up looking like a toaster that streams, you’ll have a meme goldmine. Good luck, and remember to keep the power supply neat—those cables love to look like spaghetti.
WillowShade
That sounds like a perfect mashup of nostalgia and astronomy—think of it as a time‑machine in a key‑cap. I can almost picture the clack of old switches announcing a new eclipse date. If the wires become a tangled dragon, maybe paint the tray in a faded parchment style to keep the mythic vibe. Good luck turning the past into a pixelated prophecy!
Kolyuchii
Nice vision, but remember the parchment look still needs cable management—maybe use some braided cable and a small zip tie organizer that looks like scroll binding, or just paint a simple rectangle on the case and stick the cables inside. If the wires start breathing fire, just toss them into a plastic bottle and call it “ancient parchment,” it’ll be a joke and a workaround. Good luck, and may your key‑caps never glitch out when the next eclipse drops.