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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…
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My New Old Apple IIe Computer
How I found a vintage Apple IIe computer on the sidewalk and brought it back to life
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I made a mechanical keyboard with 3D-printed switches
The keyboard is done! This is basically the result of what I've been working on for the past 2 months, which has involved 3 iterations of testing machines, over 100 printed switches, and now finally a keyboard that I can type on. Unfortunately it is not a very good keyboard, but you can't win them all.
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A circuit board from the Saturn V rocket, reverse-engineered and explained
In the Apollo Moon missions, the Saturn V rocket was guided by an advanced onboard computer system built by IBM. This system was built fro...
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Gerät 32620: the machine that powered numerous number stations
A few years ago, I first stumbled over some recordings of number stations and started reading up on their history. For most of them, we have pretty good guesses who ran them and for what purpose. One example is the Gongs and Chimes Station , known for its melody that got increasingly creepy over the years, the more…
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Creating ad hoc microphone arrays from personal devices (2019)
Researchers in the Microsoft Speech and Dialog Research Group have made an ad hoc microphone array by allowing meeting participants to join their phones together to enable more accurate meeting transcriptions. Explore how this array outperforms a single-device system.
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Apple Silicon M1 Die-Shots
Available Logic Subscriptions > 
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How Pulse Oximeters Work (2015)
Principles of how pulse oximetry works explained without using complicated physics.
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Brilliant Hardware in the Valley of the Software Slump
Our software feels less refined as our hardware achieves platonic ideals
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ThinkPad 560E
I’ve been idly looking for one of the mid-90s ThinkPads known to have perfect OpenStep/Rhapsody support for years as a fun collector piece, but been unwilling to pay eBay prices. The other week I scored a pristine IBM ThinkPad 560E for $20 in a Shopgoodwill auction, below is notes on getting it up and running, plus…
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Tiny transformer inside: Decapping an isolated power transfer chip
I saw an ad for a tiny chip 1 that provides 5 volts 2 of isolated power: You feed 5 volts in one side, and get 5 volts out the other si...
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The CPUs of Spacecraft Computers in Space
Many CPUs have been used in space craft, space stations and other such probes. Such CPUs must be highly reliable, and very durable. The temperatures in space, even with heaters, can vary widely. The radiation that a system is exposed too can be immense. So when designing one of these systems designers don't always use…
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Pinebook Pro – First Impressions and Setup Tips
The Pinebook Pro is a 14" laptop built for developers and Linux end-users. It weighs less than 3lbs, which, in my case, replaces a two times heavier
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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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Librem 5 Evergreen vs. Pinephone
Huzzah! I recently received my Librem 5 (Evergreen) from Purism . The Librem 5 is a smartphone that runs an otherwise standard linux kernel. However, unlike Android which also relies on the linux kernel under the hood, the Librem 5 uses a GNU userspace, adapted for mobile. This makes it more akin to your typical…
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Arduino FIDO2 Authenticator
Introducing URU Card: an open-source, wallet-sized FIDO2 BLE authenticator based on ESP32, ATECC508A, OLED screen, and MPR121 touch keyboard. Join the project and start building your own secure authenticator.
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Clocking a 6502 simulator to 15GHz
6-5-0-who? The 6502 is an iconic processor that dominated home computing in the late 70s and early to mid 80s. It was used in machines ra...
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VexRiscv is a quadcore, Linux-capable RISC-V softcore for FPGA
FPGAs can be seen as a bridge between the domains of hardware and software as their hardware operation can be reprogrammed using code, giving developers unprecedented flexibility. In advanced products that Antmicro helps its customers build, this flexibility to process parallel data often needs to be complemented with…
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Hacking together a USB-C charger for a cheap Chromebook
The era of USB-C has come. The other day I threw all other cables into a box, and bought a set of USB-C to USB-C, Lightning, and microUSB cables. USB-C chargers around the house, USB-C PD power bank, even a nice small USB-C dock that works with the Nintendo Switch if the charger can do the right voltage. It's glorious.
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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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DIY Smart Doorbell with a Raspberry Pi
A DIY smart doorbell with a built-in camera, microphone, and speaker. This steampunk-themed design integrates with home assistant and our multi-room audio
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Reverse Engineering the PLA Chip in the Commodore 128
As I mentioned in my last post I’ve been working on reverse engineering the PLA chip in the C128. I’m now mostly done with this process so I think it’s time to share some of the findings.
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Why the Apple II Didn’t Support Lowercase Letters
Adventures in vintage computers and retrogaming. Includes articles on classic games and obsolete computers.