The Blog

Injured Elegant Snake-eyed Skink

Nix McRetro // 23rd August 2023 // Nature

This elegant snake-eyed skink (Cryptoblepharus pulcher) skink was delivered to me on a winter evening. It was found in a warehouse trapped under old computer equipment. It was likely trapped there for a long time, in the cold with no food or water. It looked extremely malnourished and as a... Continue reading

Landlords Can Go Jump in the Lake

Nix McRetro // 22nd August 2023 // News

Honestly, why do landlords even exist in modern times. Didn’t we leave medieval times behind us a while back? This is a rant on how my landlords illegally increased my rent. Above are the three types of potential leases you can have in NSW at this time of writing. I... Continue reading

Fujitsu Hard Drive MPB3021AT - Attempted Data Recovery

Nix McRetro // 21st August 2023 // Hacks, Linux, Repairs

The Australian Ibis is the best bird wandering the streets. It overcame adversity and now excels at being a hunter on Sydney nature strips. Perhaps irrelevant to this post but cool nonetheless. Today we are looking at a broken hard drive, the Fujitsu MPB3021AT 2.16GB. We used GNU ddrescue 1.23... Continue reading

MiSTer Mac Plus Core - Internet Access

Nix McRetro // 20th August 2023 // Apple, Modems, YouTube

Last year we were playing around with the Macintosh Classic, thanks to Pendleton115. We wanted to get it internet ready but were having issues with the HTTP/0.9 limitations on the modern web. The MiSTer has a Mac Plus core, which is pretty similar - Motorola 68000 at a whopping 8MHz,... Continue reading

Exuviae Variation Among Australian Cicadas

Nix McRetro // 19th August 2023 // Nature, YouTube

Over the course of the Australian 2022-2023 summer I did a little collecting. At the end of cicada season, March 2023, I went and grabbed as many shells (exuviae) as I could find from a few different areas. The bulk majority were the same as this little one, Floury Baker... Continue reading