RC2014 Creator Spencer Owen Celebrates in Style with an IMSAI-Inspired Microcomputer Cake
Created by Sheila Dixon, this "mega-bite" includes working front-panel LEDs — driven, of course, by an RC2014 microcomputer.
Spencer Owen, best known as the creator of the RC2014 modular eight-bit microcomputer family, has just celebrated his birthday in style — with an IMSAI-inspired computer cake with working LEDs, driven by a non-edible RC2014 at its side.
"How awesome is this birthday cake? Real LEDs embedded in it and controlled from an RC2014," Owen wrote of the culinary and computable creation. "Multiple modes, including Kill The Bit game! Fantastic work by the hugely talented Sheila Dixon."
The cake in question eschews candles in favor of LED lights, shining up through a layer of fondant in an edible-bar-the-electronics front panel labelled "IM53 8080" and inspired by the front panel of the iconic IMSAI 8080 microcomputer. The electronics are wired to one of Owen's RC2014 machines, which drives a variety of selectable patterns including an interactive light-chasing game — surely a first in a confectioner's creation.
It's not the first time Dixon has made a techie cake for Owen, though earlier examples are less interactive: an edible though non-functional RC2014, a giant DIP-packaged Zilog Z80 processor, and a massive sachet of "silica gel" have been past highlights.
"Now I know how much current an IM53 8080 takes. I mean how many currants," Owen quips over a shot of the fruit cake within the icing being sliced — all of which is visible in his Mastodon thread. For those interested in what went into the project, Dixon has detailed its creation on her blog.