391
Turning my ESP32 into a DNS sinkhole to fight doomscrolling
A fun project that I learned a lot from.
New
The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 459 posts.
392
Nvidia emulation journey, part 1: RIVA 128/NV3 architecture history and overview
An exploration of efforts to create a functional emulation of NVIDIA GPUs.
393
iMac G4(K)
A year ago I tried using an M1 iMac for work duty but its 21" screen took up too much room on my desk. After seeing Sean's video on Action Retro about putting an M4 Mac Mini inside an iMac G4 , I thought I'd give it a try.
394
The Miserable State of Modems and Mobile Network Operators
This is a story of the complexities of cellular connectivity, the perils of closed ecosystems, and how to debug what you cannot see.
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Defragging my old Dell's UEFI NVRAM
I’m setting up an old Dell box (2011-era tech). I was migrating to some new boot drives and setting up grub on them again. Got to the point of deleting the old boot entries and adding new ones, and got an error like Could not prepare boot variable: No space left on device. Weird, because there weren’t that many EFI…
397
But good sir, what is electricity?
A quick look at the physics of conductors, insulators, and electric charges.
398
I found a backdoor into my bed
Eight Sleep smart bed found to contain an exposed AWS key and a likely backdoor that allowed engineers to remotely access users' beds
399
Helix: A vision-language-action model for generalist humanoid control
Figure was founded with the ambition to change the world.
400
FAQ on Microsoft's topological qubit thing
Q1. Did you see Microsoft’s announcement?A. Yes, thanks, you can stop emailing to ask! Microsoft’s Chetan Nayak was even kind enough to give me a personal briefing a few weeks ago. Yest…
401
Microsoft unveils Majorana 1 quantum processor
Majorana 1 from Microsoft is the world’s first Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) built with a topoconductor. Discover more.
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Microsoft's Majorana 1 chip carves new path for quantum computing
Majorana 1, the first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture
403
Apple Debuts iPhone 16e
Apple today announced iPhone 16e, a new addition to the iPhone 16 lineup that offers powerful capabilities at a more affordable price.
404
Thoughts on Daylight Computer
on the Amtrak from Denver to Sacramento When I get to write or read on a screen that’s reflecting the sun back at me instead of needing to be shielded from it, I get a dose of this feeling that this is what all computing could feel like. I want so much more of this in my life. This is a piece of hardware that makes me…
405
A vending machine, on the internet
These days, every new business seems to be a SaaS. I remember when software worked differently: you bought it, installed it, and used it without having to create an account, remember a password, or even connect to the internet. Your data lived on your C drive, and you were in control. Software was a tool, like a…
406
Sony FX-300 Jackal: A technological marvel of the late 70s (2021)
I’m a child of the 1970s and I’m glad I never knew about the Sony FX-300 “Jackal 300.” It would have been the ultimate unobtainable machine of my dreams…this, even des…
407
Surface-Stable Fractal Dither on Playdate
Rune Skovbo Johansen has a really sweet Surface-Stable Fractal Dithering technique, where the dither dots “stick” to 3D surfaces, yet the dot density adapts to the view distance and zoom level.
408
Homemade polarimetric synthetic aperture radar drone
Designing a cheap synthetic aperture radar mounted on FPV drone.
409
The 8-Bit Era's Weird Uncle: The TI-99/4A
It’s been awhile since I’ve looked at an architecture that’s completely new to me, and I haven’t done any since creating my new scheme for dedicated platform guides. I’…
410
TSMC faces tough choices amid rumors for Intel foundry collaboration
Following a routine board meeting that did not present any surprises to the market, TSMC executives, alongside Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs, are set to engage in negotiations with the U.S.
411
The subtle art of designing physical controls for cars
Prototyping a concept for simpler, physical climate controls
412
NAT Is the Enemy of Low Power Devices
If you have ever tried communicating with a device on a private network, you may have encountered Network Address Translation (NAT). Because the number of connected devices has long outpaced the number of unique addresses in the IPv4 address space, public IP addresses have to be shared between devices. This introduces…
413
Building a personal, private AI computer on a budget
As everyone is well aware, the world is still going nuts trying to develop more, newer and better AI tools. Mostly by throwing absurd amounts of money at the problem. Many of those billions go towards building cheap or free services that operate at a significant loss. The tech giants that run them all are hoping to…
414
Bad Smart Watch Authentication
IDO based smart watches are a security nightmare, and there's likely millions of them out there
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Reverse-engineering and analysis of SanDisk High Endurance microSDXC card (2020)
As seen on Hackaday! TL;DR – The SanDisk High Endurance cards use SanDisk/Toshiba 3D TLC Flash. It took way, way more work than it should have to figure this out (thanks for nothing, SanDisk!…
417
YouTube audio quality – How good does it get? (2022)
You Tube is clearly used by a very large number of people. In general, they will be interested in watching videos of various types of content. One specific purpose is that it gets used to distribute, and make people aware of, audio recordings. A conversation on the “Pink Fish” webforum devoted to music and audio set…
418
Taking a $15 Casio F91W 5km underwater
Brands like Rolex and Omega will often tout their deepsea capabilities with the Rolex Deepsea Challenge rated to 11,000 meters (36,090 feet) and the Omega Ultra Deep coming in at a lesser but still ridiculous 6,000 meters (20,000 feet) of theoretical water resistance. But what about a cheap Casio often associated with…
419
PCBs, copper pours, ground planes, and you
A closer look at a fashion trend in printed circuit board design.
420
A story about restoring and upgrading a Commodore Amiga 1000
This is a story about restoring and upgrading a Commodore Amiga 1000, the first model of the Amiga series. Many of you might be familiar with the popular Amiga 500 or later models, but the Commodore Amiga 1000 was actually the first model of the Amiga series produced. I consider the A1000 a significant piece of home…