--- title: Best Hackaday posts — July 2026 | daily.dev description: The most upvoted Hackaday posts from July 2026, curated by the daily.dev community. canonical: https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday/best-of/2026/07 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:url: https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday/best-of/2026/07 og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Best Hackaday posts — July 2026 | daily.dev og:description: The most upvoted Hackaday posts from July 2026, curated by the daily.dev community. og:image: https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--VAY5ToZt--/f_auto/v1724209435/public/daily.dev%20-%20open%20graph --- # Best of Hackaday — July 2026 1. 1 [](https://daily.dev/posts/open-source-vacuum-avoids-cloud-7egqmipu3 "Open Source Vacuum Avoids Cloud") Article Hackaday · 8w Open Source Vacuum Avoids Cloud OOMWOO is a fully open source robotic vacuum cleaner that runs entirely without cloud services. Built around a Raspberry Pi running ROS 2, it uses an inexpensive 2D lidar for room mapping and integrates with Home Assistant. Most structural parts require a 3D printer, but the software is largely complete and the project is actively developed on GitHub with many areas open for contribution. The project is positioned as a community-driven alternative to proprietary vacuums like Roomba amid growing concerns about subscription-based and cloud-dependent consumer hardware. 104 8 2. 2 [](https://daily.dev/posts/doom-using-regular-expressions-uerbiyzd2 "DOOM Using Regular Expressions") Article Hackaday · 7w DOOM Using Regular Expressions Developer Artem Lytkin built a system that runs DOOM entirely through regular expressions. The implementation encodes a custom CPU's registers, RAM, a framebuffer, the DOOM engine compiled to that CPU's instruction set, and the game's WAD file into a 96.6 MB text string. A C-based driver applies over ten thousand ordered find-and-replace regex rules to this string to produce each game frame. At roughly 80,000 substitutions per second, the result is a marginally playable framerate — a creative proof that regexes are Turing complete. 69 13 3. 3 [](https://daily.dev/posts/google-maps-killed-the-restaurant-star-hh1bycsca "Google Maps Killed The Restaurant Star") Article Hackaday · 8w Google Maps Killed The Restaurant Star A researcher named Lauren Leek investigated how Google Maps ranks restaurants in London, revealing that its algorithm — based on relevance, proximity, and 'prominence' — creates a vicious cycle where new or lesser-known restaurants struggle to gain visibility without reviews, while chains and high-traffic venues dominate. Leek also uncovered undisclosed paid placements in Maps results. Using a machine learning model, she built a public dashboard to surface hidden gem restaurants that punch above their Google Maps weight. The analysis also revealed that restaurant diversity reflects deeper socioeconomic patterns around where communities settled and which areas remained affordable. 48 5 4. 4 [](https://daily.dev/posts/google-earth-desktop-client-to-be-retired-in-2027-ha7dcmznd "Google Earth Desktop Client To Be Retired In 2027") Article Hackaday · 9w Google Earth Desktop Client To Be Retired In 2027 Google has announced it will retire the Google Earth desktop client in June 2027, at which point new downloads will be discontinued. Existing installations will continue to function for some time, but without updates, any breaking API or OS changes could render them unusable. Users will be directed to the browser-based version or smartphone app. Some community members have noted that the desktop client offers features not available in the alternatives, and there is little expectation that Google will open-source the software. 30 4 5. 5 [](https://daily.dev/posts/white-rails-are-the-infrastructure-hack-we-didn-t-know-we-needed-y95mxnyjj "White Rails Are The Infrastructure Hack We Didn’t Know We Needed") Article Hackaday · 9w White Rails Are The Infrastructure Hack We Didn’t Know We Needed Union Pacific Railroad is painting rail tracks white to combat heat-related slowdowns. Continuously welded rails expand significantly in hot weather, forcing trains to slow down and reducing freight capacity. White paint sprayed on the sides of rails can lower temperatures by 11°C (20°F). The technique originated in Italy and is now being adopted in North America and Europe during heat waves. More advanced cooling paints and passive cooling fibers can achieve even greater temperature reductions. 17 1 6. 6 [](https://daily.dev/posts/simple-games-from-a-simpler-time-htugaywzy "Simple Games From A Simpler Time") Article Hackaday · 8w Simple Games From A Simpler Time A nostalgic reflection on the charm of small, quirky early video games compared to today's massive productions. Using Rocky's Boots and Robot Odyssey as examples, the author argues that old educational games — built by tiny teams with limited resources — had a unique idiosyncratic quality that modern big-budget titles lack. Both games are still playable today via emulation and software preservation efforts, and the author encourages exploring them as a reminder of why game archiving matters. 13 7. 7 [](https://daily.dev/posts/a-super-cheap-desk-toy-becomes-a-hackable-desktop-notifier-huphwfs8o "A Super Cheap Desk Toy Becomes A Hackable Desktop Notifier") Article Hackaday · 10w A Super Cheap Desk Toy Becomes A Hackable Desktop Notifier The GeekMagic SmallTV is a cheap AliExpress desktop notifier with a small screen, available in ESP8266 and ESP32-C2 variants. A developer named Giovi321 created custom firmware for it that adds stock and crypto tickers, an ADS-B tracker, and a Claude AI token usage gauge. The firmware supports OTA WiFi updates and is structured so that individual display functions are modular, making it easy to point the device at any custom data source. 13 [See all Hackaday archives](/sources/hackaday/best-of) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday/best-of/2026/07#page","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday/best-of/2026/07","name":"Best Hackaday Posts — July 2026","description":"The most upvoted Hackaday posts from July 2026, curated by the daily.dev community.","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","url":"https://daily.dev"}},{"@type":"ItemList","@id":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday/best-of/2026/07#items","numberOfItems":7,"itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"url":"https://daily.dev/posts/open-source-vacuum-avoids-cloud-7egqmipu3","name":"Open Source Vacuum Avoids Cloud"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"url":"https://daily.dev/posts/doom-using-regular-expressions-uerbiyzd2","name":"DOOM Using Regular Expressions"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"url":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-maps-killed-the-restaurant-star-hh1bycsca","name":"Google Maps Killed The Restaurant Star"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"url":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-earth-desktop-client-to-be-retired-in-2027-ha7dcmznd","name":"Google Earth Desktop Client To Be Retired In 2027"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"url":"https://daily.dev/posts/white-rails-are-the-infrastructure-hack-we-didn-t-know-we-needed-y95mxnyjj","name":"White Rails Are The Infrastructure Hack We Didn’t Know We Needed"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"url":"https://daily.dev/posts/simple-games-from-a-simpler-time-htugaywzy","name":"Simple Games From A Simpler Time"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":7,"url":"https://daily.dev/posts/a-super-cheap-desk-toy-becomes-a-hackable-desktop-notifier-huphwfs8o","name":"A Super Cheap Desk Toy Becomes A Hackable Desktop Notifier"}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sources","item":"https://daily.dev/sources"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Best of","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday/best-of"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"July 2026"}]}]} ```