Skip to main content

Adison's ticker-tape machine now prints tweets

A web developer from Cumbria has built a modern version of a 19th Century ticker-tape machine which prints out tweets.The 'twittertape' device was built from scratch using second-hand parts from clocks and other sources, said creator Adam Vaughan.The wooden base hides a thermal printer and a micro-controller, he added.Share prices were traditionally distributed via telegraph lines and printed out on ticker-tape machines.They were invented in 1867 and some original machines are now considered to be high value antiques.


"One day I thought it would be nice to have one sat on your desk and started to think about what information it could produce. Twitter is perfect." Mr Vaughan spent three months assembling his version of the machine but admits a lot of that time was devoted to finding the right parts."I'm a web developer by trade so actually building stuff is quite new to me," he said. "I built it all from scratch after finding some examples online."
The device connects to a computer via an ethernet cable and pulls data from Mr Vaughan's Twitter account every 30 seconds.Any future versions could include a control panel so that the owner could programme the machine to print from a particular hashtag or from multiple accounts, he added, but his project has hit a snag.
"The main issue is that Twitter has updated its API and restricted access to third party developers," Mr Vaughan said.
Adam Vaughan Adam Vaughan says the popularity of his invention has surprised him. "There is a work-around but it has complicated things a bit."He admitted that he had been surprised by interest shown in his "twittertape" invention, especially from the steampunk community who share a passion for Victoriana and technology."I built it as a curiosity piece," said Mr Vaughan."Nowadays things are built for function and I feel something has been lost."When I first pitched the idea to friends and family they all hated it."

Popular posts from this blog

LG’s first flexible OLED phone due before the year is out

LG plans to launch a flexible OLED smartphone before the end of the year, the company’s VP of mobile has confirmed, though it’s unclear to what extent the work-in-progress handset will actually flex. The OLED panel in question is the handiwork of LG Display according to VP of LG mobile Yoon Bu-hyun, the WSJ  reports, with the proposed device set to launch sometime in Q4. LG Display’s work on flexible OLEDs has been underway for some time, though the company’s efforts have perhaps been overshadowed somewhat by rival Samsung’s YOUM development. Last year, according to a Korea Times report, LG Display was preparing for

Bing Apps for Windows 8 get major updates

Late least year, Microsoft rolled out a half dozen Bing Apps for Windows 8 users, each one focused on a specific category, such as travel and sports. The apps were designed to offer “immersive vertical experiences,” and now, about six months later, a big line of updates for them is being pushed out. Users can grab the updates now by heading into the Windows Store and selecting the updates notification.

Syrian Electronic Army claims credit for CBS Twitter accounts hack

Yesterday, several of CBS ’s Twitter accounts were hacked, including its main account, and its accounts for 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and CBS Denver. The hackers got into the account and tweeted a series of things relating to President Obama and the United States being in cahoots with Al-Qaeda . The tweets also had links that led users to malware-infested sites. While CBS was able to regain access to its accounts, it was unable to figure out who was behind the attacks, until now. The Syrian Electronic Army , the same group that hacked 3 of the BBC’s Twitter accounts, claimed