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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...
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The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 383 posts.
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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...
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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.
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A mysterious bug in the firmware of Google's Titan M chip
Starting with the release of the Pixel 3, all of Google's Pixel Android smartphones come with the Titan M security chip on board. When I realized the Pixel 3a XL I purchased also had it, I decided to try to take advantage of it in an app I work on. It turned out that using the Titan M chip through the Android Keystore…
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New Chip Brings Ultra-Low Power Wi-Fi Connectivity to IoT Devices
More portable, fully wireless smart home setups. Lower power wearables. Batteryless smart devices. These could all be made possible thanks to a new ultra-low power WiFi radio developed by UC San Diego engineers. It enables WiFi communication at 5,000 times less power than commercial WiFi radios.
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Amazon Common Software for Devices
Apply today to join the Amazon Common Software (ACS) for devices preview! We use ACS in Amazon devices, including the Echo Dot (3rd generation) and the Amazon Smart Oven, and now you can use it to accelerate integration of Amazon Device SDKs on your devices to bring them to market more quickly and cost-effectively.
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Servers for an Accelerated Future
We designed and built Cloudflare’s network to be able to grow capacity quickly and inexpensively; to allow every server, in every city, to run every service; and to allow us to shift customers and traffic across our network efficiently.
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Guessing smart phone PINs by monitoring the accelerometer
“Practicality of Accelerometer Side Channels on Smartphones,” by Adam J. Aviv. Benjamin Sapp, Matt Blaze, and Jonathan M. Smith. Abstract: Modern smartphones are equipped with a plethora of sensors that enable a wide range of interactions, but some of these sensors can be employed as a side channel to surreptitiously…
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A Practical Guide to Watchdogs for Embedded Systems
A community and blog for embedded software makers
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Teardown of a $1.25 LED Lightbulb
Teardown and analysis of electronics. Integrated circuit design analysis.
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New AMD EPYC-based Compute Engine family, now in beta
N2D VMs are the first AMD-based instances on Google Cloud.
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Sherbet: An Ergonomic Gaming Keypad
Designing, printing, and building a one-handed gaming keypad
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DisplayPort and 4K
The Problem Video playback looks better with a higher scan rate. A lot of content that was designed for TV (EG almost all historical documentaries) is going to be 25Hz interlaced (UK and Australia)…
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Apple's long processor journey
There have been multiple generations of Macs. Apple has not really divided them up. 1. Original 680x0 Macs with 24-bit ROMs (ending with the SE/30, Mac II, IIx IIcx) 2. 32-bit-clean-ROM 680x0 Macs (starting with the Mac IIci) 3. NuBus-based PowerMacs (6100, 7100, 8100) 4. OldWorld-ROM…
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What made the 1960s CDC6600 supercomputer fast?
Anybody who has ever taken an advanced computer architecture class has heard of the CDC6600, which was the world’s fastest computer from 1964 to 1969. It was the machine that put Seymour Cray…
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I made my own PCBs with a 3D printer
Listen, anyone can make a PCB at home, it’s easy. PCBs (printed circuit boards) are those flat things with all the components that are inside all electronic devices, you’ve seen them. All you need is a laser printer, some glossy magazine pages, print your circuit onto the page, use a clothes iron to transfer the toner…
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ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
I’ve been using FreeBSD as my primary server OS for quite a long time. But, for unknown reasons, I have never seriously used it on client workstations. Maybe it’s partly because I’m a CUI-oriented person who loves doing things on text terminals as much as possible. Actually, I have been pretty happy with any client OS…
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TV Backlight Compensation
Watching TV makes me see red! I mean it in the literal sense: my Panasonic's backlight is slightly broken causing an uneven pink color when it should be white:
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Lasers etch a 'perfect' solar energy absorber
The same technology Rochester researchers used to create unsinkable metal structures can also be used to create highly efficient solar power generators.
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Wacom tablets track every app you open
I have a Wacom drawing tablet. I use it to draw cover illustrations for my blog posts, such as this one.
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MacBook Pro 16 Has a Fan Problem
At the end of 2019, I traded in my two-year-old 15-inch MacBook Pro, sold off some older Apple gear (an iPad and older iPhones), and decided to spring for one of the newer 16-inch laptops. I had us…
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Starlink Is a Big Deal
Today, I watched a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket leave Cape Canaveral and deliver 60 small Starlink satellites to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on the Starlink L3 mission.…
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MIDI 2.0, first major overhaul to music interface standard from 1983
The new standard is almost here. Will it change how producers and performers make music?
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The Failure of the iPad
Two days ago, ZDNet published this article: Meet the iPad, your work computer: These 10 apps make real productivity possible . These kinds of articles, where writers explain how they use their iPads productively, musicians talk about how the iPad is truly a professional tool, or painters show how they use the iPad for…
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My 2020 Hackintosh Hardware Spec
I built my last hackintosh in 2014 and it was overdue for an update. Since Apple recently updated their iMac with Core i9s and skipped the T2, this is probably the last time I'm building this sort of computer, before MacOS is locked down forever. Unfortunately, nothing in their lineup fits my needs, hence I chose to
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AWS Graviton2
In November of last year, AWS announced the first ARM-based AWS instance type ( AWS Designed Processor: Graviton ). For me this was a very big deal because I’ve been talking about ARM based servers for more than a decade, believing that massive client volumes fund the R&D stream that feeds most server-side innovation…