From Zip To Nought: The Rise And Fall Of Iomega

March 24, 2026 by Zoe Skyforest 100 Comments

If you were anywhere near a computer in the mid-to-late 1990s, you almost certainly encountered a Zip drive. That distinctive purple peripheral, with its satisfying clunk as you slotted in a cartridge, was as much a fixture of the era as beige tower cases and CRT monitors. Iomega, the company behind it, went from an obscure Utah outfit to a multi-billion-dollar darling of Wall Street in the span of about two years. And then, almost as quickly, it all fell apart.

The story of Iomega is one of genuine engineering innovation and the fickle nature of consumer technology. As with so many other juggernauts of its era, Iomega was eventually brought down by a new technology that simply wasn’t practical to counter.

The House That Bernoulli Built

Iomega was founded in Utah, in 1980, by Jerome Paul Johnson, David Bailey, and David Norton. The company soon developed a novel approach to removable magnetic storage based on the Bernoulli effect. The Bernoulli Box arrived in 1982, which was a drive relying on PET film disks spun at 1500 RPM inside a rigid, removable cartridge. The airflow generated by the spinning disk pulled the media down toward the read/write head thanks to the eponymous Bernoulli effect. While spinning, the disk would float a mere micron above the head surface on a cushion of air. If the power cut out or the drive otherwise failed, the disk simply floated away from the head rather than crashing into it—a boon over contemporary hard drives for which head crashes were a real risk. The Bernoulli Box made them essentially impossible. Continue reading “From Zip To Nought: The Rise And Fall Of Iomega” →

The Zero-Power Flight Computer

March 23, 2026 by Al Williams 27 Comments

In the early days of aviation, pilots or their navigators used a plethora of tools to solve common navigation and piloting problems. There was definitely a need for some kind of computing aid that could replace slide rules, tables, and tedious dead-reckoning computations. This would become even more important during World War II, when there was a massive push to quickly train young men to be pilots.

The same, but different. A Pickett slide rule (top) and an E6B slide rule (bottom). (Own Work).

Today, we’d whip up some sort of computer device, but in the 1930s, computers weren’t anything you’d cram on a plane, even if they’d had any. For example, the Mark 1 Fire Control Computer during WW2 was 3,000 pounds of gears and motors.

The computer is made to answer flight questions like “how many pounds of fuel do I need for another hour of flying time?” or “How do I adjust my course if I have a particular crosswind?”

History

There were a rash of flight computers starting in the 1920s that were essentially specialized slide rules. The most popular one appeared in the late 1930s. Philip Dalton’s circular slide rule was cheap to produce and easy to use. As you’ll see, it is more than just an ordinary slide rule. Keep in mind, these were not computers in the sense we think of today. They were simple slide rules that easily did specialized math useful to pilots.

Dalton actually developed a number of computers. The popular Model B appeared in 1933, and there were refinements leading to additional models. The Mark VII was very popular. Even Fred Noonan, Amelia Earhart’s navigator, used a Mark VII. Continue reading “The Zero-Power Flight Computer” →

The Unreasonable Power Density Of Lithium-Ion

March 21, 2026 by Elliot Williams 68 Comments

We’re all used to it by now, but I’d just like to reflect on how insanely power-packed lithium ion batteries are, and everything that’s afforded us. I’m trying to think of a gadget, a hobby, or nearly anything in my house that’s not touched by the battery chemistry.

I’m looking at my portable wireless keyboard in front of me, with a LiPo pack inside. Oddly enough, I’m charging it with a LiPo-based power bank, simply because the cable to the nearest USB-C adapter is too short. A gaming console, cell phone, and a DSLR camera are all within arms reach and powered with lithium.

It’s not just consumer stuff either. I fly FPV quads and airplanes for fun when I can, and of course those are made entirely possible by the combination of smaller brushless DC motors and their drivers, and the high-power-density LiPo packs that power them. For field recharging, I have a huge self-made LiIon pack that can keep them all in the air all day. These days, LiPo and LiIon tech is the heart of hacker projects big and small. Heck, we even powered this year’s Hackaday Supercon badge with a LiPo that allowed it to run all weekend on a charge for many folks, where in the past swapping out AAs during the event was commonplace.

The application that still blows my mind is that we recently got a solar installation on our roof, which means a huge LiFePO battery in the basement. And while it’s one thing to power noisy little quads on the battery tech, it somehow seems another to power our entire house, for multiple hours per day, from a battery. Granted it’s not a couple of AAA cells in a little black plastic box, but it’s simply amazing to run a washing machine, the fridge, the stove, and even the heating off of what amounts to a battery pack.

Of course, I’m aware of the costs of producing the cells, both in terms of money and the environmental damage. It’s not a free lunch, and I’m looking forward to both cleaner and cheaper energy storage chemistries in the future. But for now, I’m still in awe of the many options that lithium-based battery chemistry has brought us. May your pillows remain non-spicy!

Artemis II Agenda Keeps Moon-Bound Crew Busy

March 19, 2026 by Tom Nardi 34 Comments

With the launch of Artemis II from Cape Canaveral potentially just weeks away, NASA has been releasing a steady stream of information about the mission through their official site and social media channels to get the public excited about the agency’s long-awaited return to the Moon. While the slickly produced videos and artist renderings might get the most attention, even the most mundane details about a flight that will put humans on the far side of our nearest celestial neighbor for the first time since 1972 can be fascinating.

The Artemis II Moon Mission Daily Agenda is a perfect example. Released earlier this week via the NASA blog, the document seems to have been all but ignored by the mainstream media. But the day-by-day breakdown of the Artemis II mission contains several interesting entries about what the four crew members will be working on during the ten day flight.

Of course, the exact details of the agenda are subject to change once the mission is underway. Some tasks could run longer than anticipated, experiments may not go as planned, and there’s no way to predict technical issues that may arise.

Conversely, the crew could end up breezing through some of the planned activities, freeing up time in the schedule. There’s simply no way of telling until it’s actually happening.

With the understanding that it’s all somewhat tentative, a look through the plan as it stands right now can give us an idea of the sort of highlights we can expect as we follow this historic mission down here on Earth.

Continue reading “Artemis II Agenda Keeps Moon-Bound Crew Busy” →

FLOSS Weekly Episode 866: BreezyBox And Embedded Compilers

March 18, 2026 by Jonathan Bennett No comments

This week Jonathan chats with Valentyn Danylchuk about BreezyBox — an interactive shell and toolkit that provides various tools and a compiler on an ESP32 microcontroller. What was the inspiration for this impressive project, and what direction is it heading? Watch to find out!

Continue reading “FLOSS Weekly Episode 866: BreezyBox And Embedded Compilers” →

Hackaday Europe Tickets On Sale Now, CFP Extended

March 18, 2026 by Elliot Williams 10 Comments

Hackaday Europe is approaching, and we’re putting tickets on sale now. “But wait, you haven’t selected the talks yet!” we hear you saying. Indeed! And that’s why we discount the first round of entries for our True Believers™ – the hard core who know that it’s going to be a fantastic event and turn up regardless. So if you want to come to Hackaday Europe on the cheap, go snap up your ticket before they’re gone.

Call for Participation Extended

Of course, giving a talk is always the best way to attend a hacker gathering like this. And we know that we said that today was the deadline for talk submissions. But we also know that many of you have advanced degrees in procrastineering, so we’re giving you a week’s extension.

Selected speakers get in free, and we’ll reserve you an early-bird ticket for putting together a legit talk proposal either way. So if you’re a first-time presenter or a wizened pro, and you have something that you’d like to say to an audience of like-minded hackers, we’d all like to hear from you. We won’t extend the deadline twice, though, so get your proposal in before March 25.

(A few people have reached out to us, wanting to avoid the Google login that the above form requires. If you’re in the same camp, write to us directly and let us know!)

Hackaday Europe

In case you don’t know, Hackaday Europe started out as a bi-annual event that we first held a decade ago in Belgrade. It has been such a success that we’re now doing it every year, and leap-frogging around Europe to spread the love. The last ~~two~~ three events have been in Berlin, and this is our first time in Lecco, Italy. This year, it runs the weekend of May 16th and 17th, with a pre-event on the evening of the 15th, to be announced.

What stays the same? We have a fantastic crowd who bring their passion projects with them, a fun badge to hack on, and of course food, drink, music, and merriment all along. Oh, and the talks. (You are submitting your talk, right?)

We’ll have more details coming your way in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. After March 25th, we’ll get to selecting talks, and let you all know. Get your tickets now – we can’t wait to see you all in eight-and-a-half weeks!