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Hardware & Electronics
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Lead-Free Solder Is Better for You
I spent the morning reading material Safety Data Sheets, because someone on the internet was wrong!
Building a Raspberry Pi GPS Speedometer
Back in April of last year, the speedometer failed in my ‘94 Explorer. Rather than hunting down a replacement cable and tearing apart the dash just to restore an old analog needle, I opted to build a digital replacement using a Raspberry Pi and GPS.
Dumping MiniDisc Media
Update 2022: Web MiniDisc Pro can access NetMD devices through the browser and can also download protected files! If you have music on a collection of MiniDisc media and want to finally copy the data off onto modern media (or the cloud!), here are simple instructions for some different solutions:
New hard drive rituals (2018)
Over the last 10 years that I've been messing around with Linux servers (hence the name of the site by the way) there's been one thing above all else that's always required special care - hard drives. They are mechanical beasts just waiting to eat your data at any time. Entire businesses are built around their…
Exceptional failure: breaking the STM32F1 read-out protection
The firmware of microcontrollers usually contains valuable data such as intellectual property and, in some cases, even cryptographic material. In order to protect the confidentiality of these assets,
Samsung Begins Mass Production of 512GB EUFS 3.1
The new 512GB eUFS 3.1 stores 8K videos and large-size image files without buffering
A detailed look at the router provided by my ISP
I have been living in my current apartment for more than a year now and I noticed I have never inspected my router which was provided by my ISP when I moved in. The only thing I changed in router is
Inside a Titan missile guidance computer
I've been studying the guidance computer from a Titan II nuclear missile. This compact computer was used in the 1970s to guide a Titan II ...
A new RISC-V version of uLisp
The RISC-V version of uLisp is designed to support microcontroller boards based on the RISC-V processor.
The 2020 MacBook Air
Faster, cheaper, and now with a truly great keyboard.
Signal processing is key to embedded machine learning
When we hear about ML - whether it’s about machines learning to play Go or computers generating plausible human language - we often think about deep learning.
New MacBook Air released, pricing now starts at $999, features Magic Keyboard
Apple today updated MacBook Air, with faster performance, the new Magic Keyboard and twice the storage. It’s available for just $999.
New iPad Pro with LiDAR Scanner and trackpad support
Apple today unveiled its most advanced iPad Pro, adding an Ultra Wide camera and studio-quality mics, and a breakthrough LiDAR Scanner.
Looking inside a vintage Soviet TTL logic integrated circuit
This blog post examines a 1980s chip used in a Soyuz space clock. The microscope photo below shows the tiny silicon die inside the package, ...
Mishap during experiment led quantum researchers to crack a 58-year-old puzzle
A mishap during an experiment led UNSW quantum computing researchers to crack a mystery that had stood since 1961.
The case of the missing WAV audio files on the FAT32 SD Card
Buckle up kids, as this is a tale. As you may know, I have a lovely podcast at ...
Wiring and Cabling: How to Lace Cable Harnesses (1962)
From OP 2230, "Workmanship and Design Practices for Electronic Equipment" , published by the direction of the chief of the Bureau of Naval Weapons , 1 December, 1962. pp. 7-9 --- 7-14.
New paint atomizer with over 95% coating efficiency
Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) has developed a new type of paint atomizer (airless paint atomizer) that uses static electricity instead of air, to replace the conventional air paint atomizers used in the vehicle body painting process. The newly developed airless painter, the first of its kind in the world, achieves…
TRRespass: Rowhammer against DDR4
Project Description Rowhammer haunted us for the better part of the past decade. Most DDR3 modules were found to be susceptible to this vulnerability which can compromise data directly inside the memory cells. What made it so scary was the fact that it could be exploited from software on PCs, clouds, smartphones, over…
The core memory inside a Saturn V rocket's computer
The Launch Vehicle Digital Computer (LVDC) had a key role in the Apollo Moon mission, guiding and controlling the Saturn V rocket. Like most...
NymphCast: Casual attempt at open alternative to Chromecast
For the past half year or thereabouts I have been working on a little project of mine that I call 'NymphCast' [1]. The initial idea for it o...
Why Cloudflare Chose AMD EPYC for Gen X Servers
Looking back at this week's posts on the design, specifications, and performance of Cloudflare’s Gen X servers using AMD CPUs. Every server can run every service. This architectural decision has helped us achieve higher efficiency across the Cloudflare network.