Although older Macs were built to last, sooner or later they will cash in their chips and join their now spiritual founder. However this shouldn't be a moment of sadness - especially for the Mac Mini. This was the situation facing Professor Shadoko, who turned this anto an opportunity... using some Arduino-based hardware and many LEDs turned his Mac Mini into a wonderful clock, for example:
You will see in the project that a MAX7219 LED driver IC is being used. To save money you can also use the AS1107 from Austria Microsystems which is often cheaper than the Maxim part in some markets.
This kind of project lends itself to the use of our Arduino-compatible LeoStick, as it is very small and also contains a piezo for sound effects and alarm use; and our super-accurate real-time clock module:
However for more information about the clock and how it was constructed, visit the Professor's website here. (Page will open via Google Translator).
