Changing System Architectures And The Complexities Of Apple’s Butterfly Approach To ISAs

Apple computers will be moving away from Intel chips to its own ARM-based design. An interesting thing about Apple as a company is that it has never felt the need to tie itself to a particular system architecture or ISA. Whereas a company like Microsoft mostly tied its fortunes to …read more

How Early Radio Receivers Worked

If you’ve ever built a crystal radio, there’s something magical about being able to pull voices and music from far away out of thin air. If you haven’t built one, maybe you should while there’s still something on the AM band. Of course, nowadays the equivalent might be an SDR. …read more

This Week In Security: F5, Novel Ransomware, Freta, And Database Woes

The big story of the last week is a problem in F5’s BIG-IP devices. A rather trivial path traversal vulnerability allows an unauthenticated user to call endpoints that are intended to be restricted to authenticated. That attack can apparently be as simple as:

A full exploit has been added to …read more

3D Printering: Selling Prints, And Solving The Pickup Problem

After getting a 3D printer up and running, it’s not uncommon for an enterprising hacker to dabble in 3D printing to make a little money on the side. Offering local pickup of orders is a common startup choice since it’s simple and avoids shipping entirely. It’s virtually tailor-made to make …read more

Bridge Over Trebled Water: How The Golden Gate Bridge Started To Sing

Throughout the spring, some Bay Area residents from Marin County to the Presidio noticed a sustained, unplaceable high-pitched tone. In early June, the sound reached a new peak volume, and recordings of the eerie noise spread across Twitter and Facebook. Soon after, The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway, & Transportation District, …read more

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SoftBank Robots Pinch Hit For Baseball Cheerleaders

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By Roger Cheng | July 13, 2020

Grand venues of spectacle to entertain audiences has long been a part of history, but such tradition is highly problematic at the moment in the light of the pandemic. Some sports leagues are testing the waters with a soft restart by playing only to a broadcast audience, leaving the stadium …read more
1975 Circuit Board Was A Masterpiece Hidden On Your Wrist

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By Mike Szczys | July 13, 2020

There has been an argument raging for years over whether you should design circuit boards with 45-degree corners or 90-degree corners. Why make them with corners at all? This breathtaking circuit board art is from a digital watch circa 1975.

The Pulsar Calculator Watch was the first of its kind …read more
Solar Weather Station Listens For Lightning

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By Tom Nardi | July 13, 2020

Custom weather stations are a common enough project these days, especially based around the ESP8266. Wire a sensor up to the MCU, power it up with an old phone charger, and you’re half way there. But if you want something that’s going to operate remotely on the long term, you’ve …read more
Back To Basics Hack Chat

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By Dan Maloney | July 13, 2020

Join us on Wednesday, July 15 at noon Pacific for the Back to Basics Hack Chat with Simplifier!

Stay in the technology business long enough and eventually you’ll have to face an uncomfortable question: “Have I built anything permanent?” Chances are good that most of us will have to answer …read more
Home Automation Covers Everything

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By Bryan Cockfield | July 13, 2020

When starting out on a project, it’s accepted best practice to try to avoid feature creep. Of course, we can’t all say that we follow this guideline completely every time. In fact, sometimes it can get away from us, and in rare situations it might actually turn out pretty well. …read more
Surgery On The Arduino IDE Makes Bigger Serial Buffers

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By Al Williams | July 13, 2020

It is pretty well-known that I’m not a big fan of the Arduino infrastructure. Granted, these days you have more options with the pro IDE and Platform IO, for example. But the original IDE always gives me heartburn. I realized just how much heartburn the other day when I wanted …read more
Mergers And Acquisitions: Analog Devices Snaps Up Maxim Integrated For $21 B

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By Mike Szczys | July 13, 2020

Analog Devices will acquire Maxim Integrated for $20.9 billion dollars in stock, as reported by Bloomberg this morning.

Perhaps the confusing part of the news is that the Bloomberg article mentions the acquisition will let Analog Devices better compete with Texas Instruments. Wait, didn’t Texas Instruments acquire Maxim back in …read more