Mobile devices have come a long way in the past two decades. There are billions of smartphones in the world that people use to keep in touch, watch cat videos, and argue on social media. They’re basically pocket-sized computers. And while we had pocket-sized computers twenty years ago, they were much slower and much more limited in functionality.
But that hasn’t stopped hackers from bringing modern software and features to old devices. Two examples are making the rounds today.
A developer has managed to create a Twitter client that runs on Palm OS, and he’s posted a short video showing it running on a Handpsring Visor, a personal digital assistant released in 1999. Meanwhile, a YouTuber decided to compress the heck out of the Christopher Nolan 2020 film Tenet and squeeze it onto a Game Boy Advance cartridge. Five cartridges actually, because that’s how many it takes to show the two and a half hour movie. Why? Out of spite.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech stories from around the web.
- A Twitter client for Palm OS [@JorgeWritesCode]
In case you’ve ever wanted to use Twitter on a Palm Pilot (or Handspring Visor), now there appears to be an app for that. It’s limited in functionality – you can read tweets, but you can post or like them. And the PDA needs to be connected to a computer via a sync cradle to download Tweets. It’s ridiculous, but kind of awesome. - I put Tenet on a GBA Video cartridge out of spite [WULFF Den/YouTube]
Director Christopher Nolan insisted on theatrical release Tenet in the midst of a pandemic, since it’s the best way to experience the film. YouTuber Bob Wulff came up with the worst way – compressed to 192x128px and 8KB/s for playback on a Game Boy Advance. - Chrome for Android now lets you preview a page before fully opening [9to5Google]
Chrome 89 for Android includes the option to “preview” a website. Now when you long-press a link you have an option to “preview page” to see the site open in an interactive window that covers just part of the screen. You can close it or open in a new tab. - Pocket P.C. is Alive! [Popcorn Computer]
Pocket P.C. progress update puts the handheld Linux computer on track to ship in Q2, 2021.
I… I… I think I built a Twitter client for Palm OS 😅 pic.twitter.com/UAdiWQOXPS
— Jorge (@JorgeWritesCode) March 10, 2021
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arguing and watching cat videos while addicted to a screen are totally the meaning of life…i mean like…whole world out there…but endless and multidirectional fearmongering has made us fear it.