How to Use That Slide Rule
You have that slide rule in the back of the closet. Maybe it was from your college days. Maybe it was your Dad’s. Honestly. Do you know how to use …read more Continue reading How to Use That Slide Rule
Author Archives: Al Williams
A Paper Caper: The Hole Data
Since the dawn of computers, we’ve tried different ways to store data. These days, you grab data over the network, but you probably remember using optical disks, floppies, or, more …read more Continue reading A Paper Caper: The Hole Data
Gilbert Cell Lacks Sullivan
If you’ve ever used an NE602 or similar IC to build a radio, you might have noticed that the datasheet has a “gilbert cell” mixer. What is that? [Electronics for …read more Continue reading Gilbert Cell Lacks Sullivan
Rare Filament Makes Weird Benchies
[Zack], in addition to being a snappy dresser, has a thing for strange 3D printing filament. How strange? Well, in a recent video, he looks at filaments that require 445 …read more Continue reading Rare Filament Makes Weird Benchies
Pong Gets the Boot
You might be surprised to find out that [Akshat Joshi’s] Pong game that fits in a 512-byte boot sector isn’t the first of its kind. But that doesn’t mean it …read more Continue reading Pong Gets the Boot
Hackers Can’t Spend a Penny
We aren’t here to praise the penny, but rather, to bury it. The penny, and its counterparts, have been vanishing all around the world as the cost of minting one …read more Continue reading Hackers Can’t Spend a Penny
Tech in Plain Sight: Pneumatic Tubes
Today, if you can find a pneumatic tube system at all, it is likely at a bank drive-through. A conversation in the Hackaday bunker revealed something a bit surprising. Apparently, …read more Continue reading Tech in Plain Sight: Pneumatic Tubes
The King of Rocket Photography
If you are a nerdy kid today, you have your choice of wondrous gadgets and time wasters. When we were nerdy kids, our options were somewhat limited: there was ham …read more Continue reading The King of Rocket Photography
An AI By Any Other Name
While there are many AI programs these days, they don’t all work in the same way. Most large language model “chatbots” generate text by taking input tokens and predicting the …read more Continue reading An AI By Any Other Name
If It Ain’t Broke… Add Something to It
Given that we live in the proverbial glass house, we can’t throw stones at [ellis.codes] for modifying a perfectly fine Vornado fan. He’d picked that fan in the first place …read more Continue reading If It Ain’t Broke… Add Something to It