Matt Clawson

@claw

work: union software developer and agitator interests: cooking, vintage electronics repair, video game history, woodworking he/him, nj

1,190 Following709 Followers1,196 Posts

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Matt Clawson@claw· 27d

congrats on shipping, @andyreitano.com and for the release of the LP @re4merchantfan.bsky.social I just got my cart today! I'm enjoying the original recording and the cart. If you're reading, this check out the album!

Title screen for the NES release of the album "Extended Forecast," as played in a dingy basement on a Twin Famicom.

The track "Metropolitan Mirage" playing on the Twin Famicom (a Japanese version of the NES) and CRT. Accompanying the music is an 8-bit depiction of a railroad crossing at sunrise.

Bonus track "Neighborhood Watch" playing on a Twin Famicom (a Japanese version of the NES) and CRT. accompanying the music is an 8-bit rendition of an '80s era two-door coupe, possibly a Honda CR-X.

Matt Clawson@claw· 28d

the Open Camera app has a setting to disable this behavior. as a bonus, it also exposes a lot more features to control the camera. I really like it.

a screenshot of the Open Camera app settings showing the option for disabling auto rotation.

Matt Clawson@claw· 28d

#Bemani Jubeat particle board speaker enclosure repaired with epoxy. Happy with the results even if it could be a bit more perfect - it's good enough.

Photo of the entire module. The repaired areas are darkened slightly from the epoxy.

Closeup of one of the repaired areas. The repaired areas is darkened slightly from the epoxy.

Closeup of the other repaired area. The repaired area is darkened slightly from the epoxy.

Matt Clawson@claw· Jul 11

Man, I hope this #Bemani Jubeat cabinet repair works.

A close-up of a particle board enclosure being clamped with a caul.

Another close-up of a particle board enclosure being clamped with a caul, the other end.

A photo depicting the entire speaker enclosure with eight clamps holding it together.

Matt Clawson@claw· Jul 9

I don't have much epoxy experience, so I didn't attempt repairing that panel yet, but I did do a test run with the epoxy on some smaller parts: some damage on the rear panel, a corner reinforcement strip that had split along its length, and the center reinforcement member in the speaker module box.

Two wood blocks wrapped in clear tape and a clamp apply pressure to the edge of the rear panel. Epoxy fills the damaged area (not visible).

Two blue squeeze clamps and wood blocks wrapped in plastic tape apply pressure to a thin strip of particle board.

A blue squeeze clamp and a screw clamp apply pressure to a center panel in the middle of the enclosure box. Epoxy fills damaged areas.

Matt Clawson@claw· Jul 9

This video better illustrates the damage!

Matt Clawson@claw· Jul 9

Some #Bemani #arcade gore for tonight. My Jubeat cabinet sustained some sort of damage before it came into my possession. I think somebody tried to lift the cabinet from its speaker enclosure and severely damaged the particle board under the weight of the machine. (second photo mine)

A Jubeat arcade cabinet in operation. Photo credit Apetc via Wikipedia.

The speaker enclosure partially disassembled on my workbench. The bond holding the particle board together has failed on each side of the enclosure.

Matt Clawson@claw· Jul 7

more bins

Matt Clawson@claw· Jul 7

posting my fun bins

a bunch of basement shelves loaded up with various plastic bins containing video game cartridges and discs

Matt Clawson@claw· Jul 6

This is the best soccer game ever made.

A 3/4 angle photograph of World Cup Soccer by Williams Pinball.

Matt Clawson@claw· Jun 25

I was raised on these streets

Screenshot of "Treasure Mountain!" for DOS. The player character is attempting to catch an elf with a large fishing net.

Matt Clawson@claw· Jun 14

getting in some remedial training before the new remake comes out

A 3/4 photo of a Super Nintendo and a Nintendo 64. Each console has its respective Star Fox cartridge inserted into its cartridge slot.

Resting on top of the Super Nintendo is an asciiPad controller with turbo and auto functionality.

Matt Clawson@claw· Jun 6

I love parts-express because you can still find all sorts of wacky shit like these 90s-ass desktop PC speakers. You can even power them by C-cell batteries.

Listing for stereo speakers on parts-express.com. The product photo is of the boxed product with all the classic 90s era design elements: abstract background, boxes of solid color behind text, multiple typefaces, and no shortage of iconography and symbols.

Another product photo showing the rear of the speakers with battery covers removed to illustrate that they can be powered by battery or by a DC adapter.

Matt Clawson@claw· May 30

I also looked into why it we couldn'tcomplete one of the scoring mechanics: 'picking up' Gorbachev. When the ball is shot up his ramp, it hits a switch that then triggers a solenoid to open a one-way gate. I learned our gate wasn't opening! The solenoid works but the gate stays closed. This is why.

Marked-up photograph of the top portion of the Taxi playfield. A green arrow loops around one the ramps, indicating the location of a gate that opens to allow the ball to complete the path to the scoring target.

Original photo credit:
https://www.kineticist.com/games/pinball/taxi

A damaged extension spring. The coil has been pulled apart and is kinked.

Matt Clawson@claw· May 30

FINALLY took care of a long-backlogged #pinball maintenance task! Our Taxi frequently trips our circuit breaker when powered-on due to high inrush current. Later Williams games shipped with a negative temperature coefficient thermistor to handle this, but Taxi doesn't have one. Details in alt-text.

Before photo:

A System 11B 'power box' with power cable entering the metal enclosure from the top. A 'service outlet' is wired in parallel to the fuse and the RFI filter. An orange cable goes from the protected side of the fuse holder to the RFI filter.

After photo:

A System 11B 'power box' with an NTC thermistor spliced in series between the protected side of the fuse holder and the RFI filter. Each of the leads of the thermistor are inserted directly into one of two Wago connectors. The orange wire that previously connected the fuse holder and the RFI filter has been severed, its ends are now inserted into the other terminals of the Wago connectors to complete the splice.

Matt Clawson@claw· May 29

Matt Clawson@claw· May 28

I was very fortunate to catch @tmbg.bsky.social play a short n sweet set (with some of my favorite songs) tonight at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library following a Get Lit conversation with Alison Stewart and Tom Perrotta. I've seen them a bunch, but this was the most intimate setting of all.

Two Johns and Marty of They Might Be Giants playing live music to a crowd.

Matt Clawson@claw· May 25

this guy (Titanium Court [2026])

a pixel art cat with pink fur and tan accents. they're lying down and looking up.

Matt Clawson@claw· May 18

good weekend for getting shit done. rode 20mi along the canal, stopped by an awesome chile pepper farm and picked up our plants for this year, and turned my first bowl (mahogany, with help)

a bike leaned up against the fence on a bridge over a river.

many pepper plant babies in a green house: resorts bhut jolokia, etc

photo in the backyard of my hand holding a small dark brown bowl

the bowl resting upside down on a cutting board, showing the decorative spiral ring pattern on the bottom

Matt Clawson@claw· May 15

who do i yell at for this awful YouTube embed found in the Discord web app? how are you meant to adjust the volume? did _anyone_ test this?

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 27

here's the other one, from my window

Photograph of a white helicopter against a clear blue sky.

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 27

funny, i was just complaining about this on my work slack. how many passes is enough to get the shot? and is it worth all of the noise pollution to the community they're "serving?"

Map showing the circular flight path of helicopter with tail number N9BQ over the towns of Maplewood and Irvington, NJ.

Map showing the circular flight path of helicopter with tail number N24NY over the towns of Maplewood and Irvington, NJ.

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 20

I thought this was a fun moment

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 19

WIP Queen Anne footstool. some final shaping remains. here it is, dry-fit.

an unfinished footstool, loosely assembled.

it has legs that bow outwards before receding into slipper-shaped feet. The rails that stretch between the legs have decorative curves on the bottom side and the start of quarter round molding along the top perimeter of the stool (I haven't yet rounded the edges over).

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 19

Finally got around to dedicating some time to Idols of Ash. Really fun time, even if you're not a grappling hook sicko. I will certainly be following this team. leafygames.itch.io/idols-of-ash (credits screenshot redacted)

A screenshot from the credits sequence of the indie PC game "Idols of Ash."

Text reads:

made by humans using:
Godot Engine
Dialogic Plugin
and Blender

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 16

Dunno if it's "scary sharp" but I think I did a good job! Stropping really makes a difference – I was skeptical.

Close up of the plane iron from a router plane. it has a secondary bevel at its very edge.

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 14

oh shit! Godzilla is coming to NJ!!!!

Screencap from the Godzilla Minus Zero teaser trailer with Godzilla approaching the Statue of Liberty.

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 14

Thu and Fri are the final 2 days of my class, but before I go back I want to restore this antique router plane that I picked up in a lot last week. This is a Stanley No. 71 and I believe it dates to 1896-1901. I want a usable tool that preserves the patina on non-work surfaces. 2 before / 2 after:

before shot from above of a vintage router plane. rust is present on some surfaces and the tool is slightly dirty.

before close-up of the cutter blade assembly

after shot of the router plane showing a bit more shine and no more surface rust in the cutter assembly. the wood knobs have a bit more luster.

after shot, 3/4ths perspective of the router plane from the other direction, showing the cutter from the front.

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 11

puckered up for this stage. several hours of work went into shaping these legs but you eventually have to get around to chopping off the profile of the slipper foot with the chisel. don't get too greedy or the grain can betray you and tear out into the leg.

Matt Clawson@claw· Apr 11

making shavings and saw dust this weekend. queen anne footstool. shouts out to Scott of NJ School of Woodworking and NJWA club president Gordon.