Benjamin Moody spent two months trying to crack the programming code of his TI-83 graphing calculator, a process that involved finding the prime factors of enormous numbers. When he was done, he posted instructions on a calculator-hacking website, so that others could do things like make their calculators play Tetris, Whac-a-Mole, or serve as primitive e-book readers and music synthesizers.
Then a lawyer from Texas Instruments visited his house to hand-deliver a cease-and-desist letter.
The Wall Street Journal reports on the hackers who really love their Texas Instruments calculators (subscription required), and the TI lawyers who are trying to shut them down. It's a fascinating story, and our hats are off to the WSJ for finding it. However, what we really wanted to see were some screenshots and videos of the games these guys are creating. So look what we dug up in the TI hacking forums:
(Above screenshots from the forum on Robot War, a game being developed by TI hackers.)
And if you want to know more about how these guys hack their TI's, check out WikiTI, the UnitedTI forum, and this page on overclocking your TI calculator.
Are you a calculator hacker? Point us to some more cool mods in the comments below, or send us e-mail.
Photo credit: laffy4k/Flickr*
