Hackaday Links: July 2, 2017

A few months ago, we had a Hack Chat with Chip Gracey, the guy behind Parallax, the Basic Stamp, the Propeller, and the upcoming Propeller II. Now we’ve finally got around to editing that transcript. There’s a lot of awesome stuff in here, from learning a Hardware Design Language to the actual costs of fabbing silicon.

Rigol, the manufacturers of every hackerspace’s favorite oscilloscope, announced a new chipset. The current lineup of Rigol scopes top out at around 1GHz. In a prototype scope based on this chipset, Rigol demonstrated 4GHz bandwidth and 20GS/s with one Billion point memory depth. What this means: Rigol will be making very powerful scopes in the near future.

Hackaday had a meetup this week in New York City. The June workshop at Fat Cat Fab Lab featured speakers involved with twitter bots, 8-bit art, one of the guys behind Beautiful Soup, and a talk on a completely self-sustainable record label. Want to attend one of these meetups? Check out the calendar.

Repairs of retrocomputers are always interesting, but usually the same. Wipe off some dust, possibly replace a cap or two, retrobrite the case, and you’re done. This is not the usual retrocomputer repair. [Drygol] found a C64 that was apparently stored in a swamp for several years. The power switch fell off when he touched it. Somehow, miraculously, the circuit worked and [Drygol] rewarded the board with a new enclosure, dyed keycaps, an SD2IEC mod, and a kernel switch mod.

Guess what’s back? A pen computer with a color sensor on one end, and an ink mixer in the other. The Scribble Pen is the Internet’s infamous crowdfunded color-sensing pen, and the scammer behind it is looking for another funding round. Has anything changed since we tore this thing apart three years ago? No, it’s still a scam. I’ve been keeping tabs on the guy behind it, he’s still not in prison, and there are still idiots on this planet.

The ‘A’ stands for ‘Arts’.

The Benchy is everyone’s favorite tugboat and 3D printer benchmarking tool. They usually float, sideways. However, [MakeShift] somehow figured out how to add weight to the keel and turn the cutest little tugboat into a real, remote controlled boat. You could probably model a proper hull for the bottom of this boat, and it would be one of the few 3D prints where the actual design would be subject to US Copyright.

Is the fidget spinner fad dying? Square, the startup built around turning old AUX to cassette adapters into POS terminals seems to think so. They’ve been graphing their sales figures for fidget spinners, and there has been a marked decline since school let out for the summer. Will the trend pick back up in September? Who cares.

55 thoughts on “Hackaday Links: July 2, 2017

  1. “the guy behind it, he’s still not in prison” and you haven’t been hit with a criminal defamation case Brian, yet. So which will happen first? Show me the science guys because I’m not interested in Brian’s “Artful” bullshit as he isn’t any better than the people likes to stalk and judge so obsessively.

    Not that I’d ever hand over money for a $300 hand held “inkjet” type device with a $5 colour sensor, then again I’d never buy over priced gear from Apple or Dyson either. I’d just like to know why this product is a scam if it actually works and has a “6 month warranty” which would actually be extended in my country to 12 months due to our local laws.

      1. Yes “Mark” I did, that is why I wan’t the facts on this current offering and why from an engineering point of view it should be considered a fraud, because the last time I checked freedom of speech rights still require people to make factual statements.

          1. > I’d just like to know why this product is a scam if it actually works….

            Because it’s not a product, it doesn’t exist, the company behind the scribble pen is a complete fabrication, the company behind the PR firm that promotes the scribble pen is a fabrication, and no hardware has been made. The guy behind it is a literal Nigerian scammer. Nothing here is real, it is all an illusion, and I have significant documentation dating back three or four years that demonstrates this.

            If only there were a word for collecting information over the course of years, condensing this information down into easily-digestable nuggets, then disseminating these little pearls of knowldege through a publication medium of some sort. Any idea what something like that would be called, blocks?

          2. The domain and the site are hosted in Arizona, if it is a criminal organisation (and you can prove it) why didn’t you just get the state’s consumer law people to take it down?

          3. “…If only there were a word for collecting information over the course of years, condensing this information down into easily-digestable nuggets, then disseminating these little pearls of knowldege through a publication medium of some sort. Any idea what something like that would be called, blocks?”

            Yup: “truth”.

            Problem is, in these days and times, use of”the truth” is most often politically incorrect. Careful; next thing you know, someone will be screaming that you’re a Nigerianophobe.

          4. That is all pretty much irrelevant, he is not the police and should be respecting due process by handing over what evidence he has to the appropriate authority, as I have already pointed out. Because that is how adults do things, and believe it or not he is an adult.

    1. Because Hackaday commenters have shown their hand, and now we’re pushing STEAM. There are several arguments for including ‘arts’ alongside science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

      The first reason is fine art. No one would suggest that woodworking and print making aren’t outside the domain of what we usually cover. Painting and sculpture require an immense amount of technique. Most of these skills are transferable to something in the world of technology or engineering. Anyway, this is creating something with a set of skills. Fine arts easily dovetail into the ‘maker’ or ‘hacker’ aesthetic, without a need for an artist’s statement, critical reviews, literal shit on canvas, or any of the oogie-boogie stuff that goes into the culture of the world of art.

      Secondly, I hate scienceism, and STEAM is an excellent way to combat it. Scienceism is the application of science without philosophy. That is to say, that which is science is good, therefore anything that is not science is not good. The fallacy of that argument should be readily apparent. You can see examples of this in the most banal places on the Internet (Neil DeGrasse High’s Twitter is exquisite in this regard) and other public forums. Including ‘arts’ alongside science, technology, engineering, and math can combat scienceism.

      Third, including ‘arts’ in STEM really riles people up. I can use ‘STEAM’ to manipulate readers into clicking and commenting on a post. In fact, I’m doing it right now.

      Expect a ‘Why we should include ‘arts’ in STEM education’ op-ed in a week or so. I’m still figuring out the angle on how to include fidget spinners.

          1. Maybe 0.86-ish. Pen is too thick, Yes I drew a 60* sine wave segment starting at 0* on a scale of 10mm. The final height is somewhere around 8.5mm-ish using a stainless-steel reference ruler.

      1. “Scienceism is the application of science without philosophy.”

        That is pure idiocy, an oxymoron, and impossible.

        Science is not a question of good or bad it is a question of objective and justifiable vs subjective and arbitrary, not justifiable. Science is saying no you can’t let your kid die because your beliefs tell you to avoid a proven medical cure, whereas art is like religion, you can believe what you like but you have no right to inflict it on other people.

        Go and study the “Scientific Method”, essentially if means that is science is any knowledge that can be reliably shared and reused, because it is objective and repeatable. Craft is not art, art is subjective observation whereas craft is a method of production, that may be used to express an artistic vision or concept. You’d rather pervert the meaning of Art because you can’t make a buzzword out of STECM, and that makes you an ignorant fool who should not be lecturing other people about the subject.

        I will look forward to an op-ed, if it is more than the usual steaming pile of dung you squeeze out when you are blathering outside your area of knowledge, which your about claims clearly demonstrate.

        I studied art and design subjects and the Fine Arts people always looked down on the Design people as mere Illustrators despite the fact that the Design people were often far more accomplished renders. This is the reality of Art vs Craft/Design/Illustration, supposedly the work of Design people is soulless etc. yeah completely subjective trash talk but that is the reality of the situation.

        So are you talking about “ideas” or “method” Brian? Because method would spell STEMM and your STEAM is a load of hot air.

        1. How does a paper stating that children without polio vaccines have a 10% survival rate vs 99% with it tell me it’s okay to go against my religion? I understand what you’re getting at but there’s a leap there from objective data to subjective opinion as soon as you assert that ‘children living is good’, then a second one at ‘children living is more good than worship’.

          1. Because your faith is not something you can lawfully inflict on other people, because it is subjective. What you do to yourself is another matter and within your human rights but in the first world your wife and children are not your property, they are your responsibility and there is a huge difference between the two. The responsible thing to do is that which can be rationally justified, by medical science as science is accountable whereas faith is not. Unless you are going to claim that your are accountable to a thing called god that you cannot prove or disprove the existence of? How is that self proving claim rational and fair in a world where every human has equal rights the moment they are a human, not just the moment they are an adult? The right to life is more fundamental that the right to religious freedom.

          2. Quote UTF8-010080-010085 (Font not rendering for some reason):
            “How is that self proving claim rational and fair in a world where every human has equal rights the moment they are a human, not just the moment they are an adult?”

            I wish humans had equal rights as soon as they’re human… Personal experience, being ignored when I and my brother told social workers where to go and how to go about it, they instead thought getting police to commit kidnap was a good idea to appease their all-man-hating dike idle (faux god) in the upper social-worker departments… Equal rights: LOL.
            P.S. I was 6 at the time and I had all features of a human BTW, just in case you couldn’t figure.

          3. Notarealemail:
            I agree with the shock you display:

            I’ve looked closer at other animals and especially crows I’ve personally encountered and they have more morals than the average human,

            Crows:
            1. They mate for life (That, in a common-law sense, means they are naturally married),
            2. They don’t “own” their young and thus are responsible to their young,
            3. They can work out tasks for themselves and use tools, they need to to survive,
            4. They mourn for their losses as a group, the widowed partner mourns the longest, I have seen this personally a week ago.

            Yet religious folk would associate crows with death and thus, “Must be demonic!!!”, the average crows make humans look demonic and immoral in comparison:

            1. The average human make and break relationships like it was a commodity (So it seems),
            2. Humans try to own everything and use folk stories to justify doing so,
            3. Most humans cant even work the most basic of appliance, especially the younger generation of fast food addicts,
            4. Though humans do still mourn their deceased, they mourn their empty pockets more!!!

            Though that is my world view at the moment, personal experience sources are the town where I reside… Unless it is just a “Rough” town compared to other places.

          4. @Unferium

            Right. Let me add.

            1. Religious people are significantly more loyal in their relationships than non-religious people(consider marriage rate and age alone). So if crows are in this respect more moral then humans, then by your own logic religious people are more moral than non-religious people.
            2. “It’s important to keep in mind, however, that crows are one of many, many animals that are eating the young and adults of other bird species.”*
            3. That is just silly. Everyone can use a shovel, but I have never seen a crow work a laptop.
            4. Humans accept that elderly die and in fact that everyone will sooner or later die. And that life goes on despite that. But do you know a grieving parent? That never really goes away.

            Comparing humans and animals is usually flawed, because they are immensely different. For morality in particular, animals go by instinct while humans have consciousness and introspection.

            *https://corvidresearch.blog/2014/06/20/do-crows-reduce-other-songbirds/

          5. Wabouz:

            1: Ironically, yes… religious people are usually loyal… But that is because a clever person with morals saw a flaw with humanity when it’s genetics through micro-adaptation got rid of some emotions with some of the humans… notably “Societal” geno-tribe types (Gene pool theory) in more city environments with material distractions. Therefore someone had to remind them of the best way… else survival will diminish: Hence Religion is a big thing as mostly religious and moral people survived (By religious, I’m referring to righteous and moral forms as opposed to immoral types)

            2: We eat babies of other mammals: Lamb anyone? Calf?
            Another bird is different in compatibility (Breeding) to quite an extent outside families of other birds. Same as why a dog and a human can’t breed a Douman! and also Chinese sometimes eat dog (apparently)!

            3: It’s a start but here is a crow using a computer… Play for at least 1 minute in case the offset URL don’t work or go to about 38:10 into the video [Link]

            4: How do we know if the crow doesn’t grieve their deceased young.

            “Comparing humans and animals” – So we ain’t animals? then what is this skin, why the common features of animals: face, appendages, internal organs, red-stuff (Blood in case you couldn’t guess)

        2. “Science is not a question of good or bad it is a question of objective and justifiable vs subjective and arbitrary, not justifiable. ”
          Objective yes, but not justifiable. After all, what is justifiable to some (given a set of pro’s, con’s and risks), may not be justifiable to others.

          “Science is saying no you can’t”
          Don’t forget that (medical) science needs ethics. In history some pretty bad things have happened, ‘justified’ by the science of the day, but void of morale.

          1. What you call science, or bad science, isn’t really science furthermore ethics is based on what we can prove is best for humanity, ethics is rational. If ethics was not rational people could more easily ignore it. The following quote sums up the problem that your idea of irrational ethics would cause, “I reject your (subjective) reality and substitute my own (subjective reality)!” Endless conflict.

        3. “Because your faith is not something you can lawfully inflict on other people, because it is subjective.”
          “How is that self proving claim rational and fair in a world where every human has equal rights the moment they are a human, not just the moment they are an adult? The right to life is more fundamental that the right to religious freedom.”

          Religious freedom actually means freedom of philosophy. It includes to right to NOT have a religion, which is the only scientifically approved philosophy. It is indeed something that should not be inflicted upon others, however it is ironically something atheists regularly do(where i live anyways), using taxes and progressive laws. And in discussions by claiming the high ground where they do not have it.

          Consider the second quote. I wholeheartedly agreed. But when does humanity begin? Scientifically there is only one fixed moment possible: at conception. All others are arbitrary. How then does the right of life for all humans compare to the ‘right’ to abortion most atheists i know defend? Because as you say: “What you do to yourself is another matter and within your human rights but in the first world your […] children are not your property” .
          If atheists can be this flexible with their morale and their ‘scientifically justified’, what right do they have to tell others what to do?

          I will provide my kids with everything medical science has to offer, but I would not accept others determining what happens to them without my consent. Use science to educate, not to subjugate.

          Also, the ‘human rights’ are not natural rights. The right to life does not exist in nature. Nature is survival of the fittest. Read some history. The rationality en fairness concerning life you speak of is quite recent and only exist because of a morality that has been formed by religion. So get off your high horse.

          1. to win most pro-abortions and anti-hangings:

            10 Rillington place – a true story, the biggest epic fail where a backstreet coat-hanger abortionist kills some mans wife and the man who’s wife got killed gets blamed and hung…. then the “law” realized their mistake: But it was too late to un-kill the hanged victim!!!

          2. “It includes to right to NOT have a religion” or simply to do as I have actually stated and point out that logically one can’t prove anything about the subject one way or the other, that is not an atheist view as their views are also stated in absolute terms like those of religious people. I never said anything about science subjugating anyone, I am questioning why I should be subject to the imposition of the irrational Arts into the rational STEM education stream. The religion thing is just a example of another subjective world view that is often imposed on others.

            WTF is your divergence into natural rights about. Human rights is a pact between nations to set minimum standards of conduct for humans as a way of harmonising the actions of culturally diverse sovereign states, and it barely works even if the principles are sound. The reason it barely works is because most humans act irrationally most of the time, it is not because the idea is new. This natural law is older therefore more relevant idea is a fallacy, religious law is also older than the UN declaration on human rights, but that does not put religion above human rights. Your thinking is rather muddle headed.

      2. >Third, including ‘arts’ in STEM really riles people up. I can use ‘STEAM’ to manipulate readers into clicking and commenting on a post. In fact, I’m doing it right now.

        You got me.

      3. “we’re pushing STEAM.” > [because] >
        “including ‘arts’ in STEM really riles people up. I can use ‘STEAM’ to manipulate readers into clicking and commenting on a post. In fact, I’m doing it right now.”

        Yea, predictably. Click-baiting probably pays better as well. However, you owe all the flak you receive to yourself if you deliberately kick your readers in the shin. And I’ve seen you frustrated about that sometimes.

        People generally don’t like when you forcefully redefine terms. Especially when that term has a clear, well understood and generally used meaning. Go ahead, google STEM. Will you make all those result include the A as well? Or is STEAM to be an HaD-term only?

        “Fine arts easily dovetail into the ‘maker’ or ‘hacker’ aesthetic, without a need for an artist’s statement, critical reviews, literal shit on canvas, or any of the oogie-boogie stuff that goes into the culture of the world of art.”
        Except, of course, that all that stuff is a big part of the arts. As is expressive dance. As is a peanut-butter-floor*. So when you add the A to STEM, you actually mean to add only a small part of the field of art? Anyway, no one disputes that art and STEM can go together and/or influence and inspire each other. But that is not to say that the fields belong together. Do surgery and cooking belong together, because my doctor likes to cook fancy in the weekends? He sure can carve a turkey!

        I think many readers can enjoy a tech-art project*, but mainly because of the tech part. If they really like art, they would look for it elsewhere. So call it what it is: not STEAM, but an art project in the STEM fields.

        Also glad to hear you’ll be writing an article about it, I was about to ask you for one last week. Because I am interested…

        * https://www.themarysue.com/peanut-butter-platform/
        **This one for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX6JcybgDFo

      4. “I can use ‘STEAM’ to manipulate readers into clicking and commenting on a post. In fact, I’m doing it right now.”

        thank you for proving that HAD is no better than slashdot.
        also thank you for admitting that you are actively trying to manipulate your readers.
        thank you for admitting you are a douchenozzel.

        i used to come here for the hacks but the quality of such is going down and it seems like even the HAD challenge is suffering from creativity and volume of entrants… I wish you the best on your trip to irrelevance.

        Here are the signs:
        -overplaying a fad for clicks
        -click baiting titles
        -the insistence of lumping an objective subject in with the subjective subjects
        -the admittance that you would rather manipulate and egg on your readers rather than provide new and interesting content.

        rather than create you would rather manipulate and thus you are no better than politicians or wall street “business men”.

  2. Why the constant, predictable anti brian hate? If you dont like his literary style, or his article content, simply excersice a mimal level of adult intelligence and CHOOSE NOT TO READ! There are plenty of other hackaday authors to read. Anything less, and you are allowing yourself to be put off, and are blaming Brian for your inability to discriminate among literature accordingly ng to your own taste. In other words, you are trolling yourself. You sir, are the troll. But you knew tuat already done didnt your u?

    1. Brain often writes very readable and factual articles about 3D printing. I personally don’t care what the source of shared knowledge is, if it is useful and verifiable. What we don’t need is subjective and polarised opinions, we can write bots to generate those, so why add noise to the signal or tolerate other people doing it?

          1. The only thing which argues against the logic of a 74-series-TTL-collector is his inability to use it properly….and his totally groundless perception of himself for being an expert, without any requisite understanding.

        1. Yes, because I subject mine to rational analysis in private and only the ones that pass across into the realm of the veritably objective get shared. This is the mark of a mature mind, something you exhibit a deficit of.

          1. I’m the guy who leaves early, with the girl, whereas you are probably the one still there when the hosts are trying to get rid of everyone.

    2. “Why the constant, predictable anti brian hate?”

      because he creates it? lol he reviles in it and actually enjoys it.
      he has admitted that he tries to manipulate commenters and readers, more than likely for more comments and views that would make HAD look more legit?

      as to why people complain? well because people have been given a soapbox and people will complain, that is the nature of a comments section. you see, people will always complain, not necessarily because they are complainers but because they would like to see better from hack a day. now given that every different person has a different opinion of what hack a day should be, one would take the hint that constant criticism of one point would be a good indication that that component should be tweaked.

      Unfortunately in this instant, the people who steer the HAD helm have taken this signal the other way and allowed brian to go further off the rails in his manipulation and click bait schemes. but as is human nature, first they complain then they leave, so fear not dear zeon, people will be following your advice and just not reading hack a day soon enough.

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