2011
Can’t Hack a Hacker: Reverse Engineering a Discovered ATM Skimmer
Reverse engineering an ATM skimmer discovered in the wild, analyzing its hardware and data exfiltration methods.
Topics /
Hardware & Electronics
The most popular blog posts about hardware & electronics on Hacker News. 4,805 posts.
2012
I made a floppy disk from scratch
Polymatt decided he was going to make a 3.5” floppy disk from scratch — and actually did. I’m not sure how many of you have actually cracked one of these things
2013
2014
Demystifying GPU compute architectures
Getting 'low level' with Nvidia and AMD GPUs
2015
Hello from 1978
We rescued two PDP-11/34 computers and their associated equipment from a storage unit in the Bronx and have been working on getting them running again. The
2016
2017
How phone batteries measure the weather
Our reports examine national and regional trends in mobile and broadband network experience, and develop in-depth insights into trends impacting consumer network experience.
2018
(Presumably) Apple engineer comment on Lightning AV adapter design
We’ve been doing significant testing lately with video out using various iOS devices for an upcoming project. In doing so, we waded right in the middle of a strange video out mystery. It’s time to unravel that mystery. (Chung-chung!)
2019
How to estimate an SSD’s working life
The life of an SSD should be more predictable than a hard disk. All you need is its TBW, and the total amount of data written to it so far.
2020
2021
The Apple Watch – Tipping Point Time for Healthcare
I don’t own an Apple Watch. I do have a Fitbit. But the Apple Watch 4 announcement intrigued me in a way no other product has since the original IPhone. This wasn’t just another product announcemen…
2022
24-Bit vs. 16-Bit Audio Test – Part II: Results and Conclusions
A blog for audiophiles about more objective topics. Measurements of audio gear. Reasonable, realistic, no snakeoil assessment of sound, and equipment.
2023
2024
2025
Now you're thinking with relays
Tinkering with relay-based logic just for the fun of it.
2026
2027
2028
Shmøergh Hog – The making of a simple analog synth
The making of a simple analog synth
2029
Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)
The new biography Steve Jobs contains a remarkable claim about the power supply of the Apple II and its designer Rod Holt: [1] Instead o...
2030
iPhone 14 Pro Camera Review: Scotland
The iPhone 14 Pro's 48-megapixel camera in the Scottish Highlands — hiking, biking, and boating around the Dunton Kilchoan Estate.
2031
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Camera test
Discover the Apple iPhone 18 Pro exceptional camera performance with a score of 172, featuring improved dynamic range, stabilization, and variable aperture.
2032
Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)
TL;DR: DIY home automation is ezpz with nothing more than a stepper motor, an esp32, and a high tolerance for Jank. My rental apartment’s AC unit can only be controlled using these retro-looking analog knob-based controls, mounted right onto the unit. No separate wall-mounted thermostat, no remote…
2033
Audio CD ripping – optical drive accuracy listing
Audio CD ripping - optical drive accuracy listing
2034
2035
The Apple IIGS Megahertz Myth
I love the Apple IIGS. It’s a great computer, but could it have been greater? The legend goes that Apple purposefully underclocked its CPU during development to avoid competing with the Macintosh. But is this actually true? Join me for a deep dive into the IIGS architecture, the life the 65816 CPU,
2036
First stage POWER9 Firefox JIT passes tests
Yeah, so about that OpenPOWER Minimum Viable Product JavaScript JIT for Firefox. This happened (all timings from an unoptimized debug build ...
2037
USB On-The-Go
USB, the Universal Serial Bus, was first released in 1996. It did not achieve widespread adoption until some years later; for most of the '90s RS-232-ish serial and its awkward sibling the parallel port were the norm for external peripheral. It's sort of surprising that USB didn't take off faster, considering the…
2038
A Pi-Powered Plan 9 Cluster
Building a 4-node cluster for experimenting with the distributed operating system.
2039
Pine64 Februrary Update: Show and Tell
Welcome to this month’s community update. As many of you know, we have now entered the Chinese New Year (CNY) period, which means that all manufacturing and related business activities have ground to a halt. It is always a mad rush to complete ongoing work prior to CNY, but now that the festive period is upon us we…
2040