jcrabtr's comments

jcrabtr | 6 years ago | on: Back to the Land: Wendell Berry in the Path of Modernity

Here's a speech of Berry's, entitled "Local Economies to Save the Land and the People," that serves as a quick introduction to his thinking.

http://inthesetimes.com/rural-america/entry/17778/local-econ...

jcrabtr | 6 years ago | on: Back to the Land: Wendell Berry in the Path of Modernity

I just finished "The Art of Loading Brush," which makes many of the same arguments with some modern updates. Highly recommended.

jcrabtr | 7 years ago | on: 3D printing in science

The killer app for open-source hardware is scientific components and apparatus. It improves accessibility and repeatability, and can deepen your understanding of experimental results and error budgets. Check out Open-Source Lab by Joshua M. Pearce [1], as well as his lab's website [2]. Also check out the Gathering for Open Science Hardware [3].

[1] https://www.elsevier.com/books/open-source-lab/pearce/978-0-...

[2] http://www.appropedia.org/Category:MOST

[3] http://openhardware.science/

jcrabtr | 7 years ago | on: Ask HN: Your favorite syntactic sugar from any language?

My favorite from python are decorators, especially the built-in ones like @property. They can improve readability immensely, so the don't feel extraneous.

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: A lesson in wireless engineering from the Raspberry Pi

There's a huge number of people involved in the design of the rpi. The antenna is a great example of a subsystem designed by a separate team; another is the new PMIC for the 3B+[1].

[1]: https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/pi-power-supply-chip/

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: A lesson in wireless engineering from the Raspberry Pi

According to [1] (which has more info on the antenna design), the resonant cavity antenna was designed by a company called Proant [2]. I remember reading the the antenna is the same on the Pi 3 and Zero W. There are a few options for PCB antenna design software out there, but I had never seen this type of PCB antenna before the Zero W. Not sure what software they use, or whether it's off the shelf or proprietary. Any antenna designers out there?

[1]: https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/pi-zero-w-wireless-antenna...

[2]: http://mob.proant.se/en/home.htm

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: How to self-learn electronics?

Seconded. While Art of Electronics is the classic text, this one is a bit more accessible. It has less depth but more breadth, and is less intimidating because of it.

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: Million-dollar Strads fall to modern violins in blind ‘sound check’

Right. Why play an acoustic instrument when we can accurately synthesize its sound, or use a tube amplifier when we could use a digital modelling amplifier that perfectly simulates it? Because nostalgia is one of the enjoyable aspects of music. That being said, one should realize that paying for nostalgia isn't necessarily paying for objectively better performance.

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: Show HN: 1-click orders for open source electronics

Cool project! This reminds me of an idea that you're awfully close to: optimized small-volume part kitting. I can order boards from OSHPark and stencils from OSHStencils, but figuring out which distributor has parts in stock for the lowest price and in the preferred packaging still takes an inordinate amount of time. The Octopart BOM tool is the closest thing I know of, but it will only let you fill a cart at a single distributor. Going in one step from BOM to ordered parts from multiple optimal distributors would save a lot of time.

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: Analog For The People: Synth Master Tatsuya Takahashi On Engineering Fun

"[T]he stuff I was making was really weird, because I didn't have real-world, existing examples to work from. I mean, they were around, but I guess I wasn't interested enough. It just seemed beyond what a kid could buy with his pocket money."

His good intuition and willingness to disregard tradition seem to be the key to his success. Studying examples of the "right" way to build something might be a useful learning exercise, but it can also be mentally constraining.

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: Ask HN: What online communities offer a high level of discussion?

For personal finance and investing, the Bogleheads forum (https://www.bogleheads.org) ticks all the boxes. It definitely has many helpful, knowledgeable participants. Since it's a traditional forum, they maintain civility through moderation, but it isn't needed often.

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: Petoskey stone

The craft fair in Boyne over the 4th of July is a good place to buy trinkets made with Petoskey stones like the ones in the shape of the state that someone else mentioned. We didn't make it there this summer, but stop by Kilwin's and Lake Street Deli for me!

jcrabtr | 8 years ago | on: Petoskey stone

Fun fact: Claude Shannon, father of information theory, was born in Petoskey, MI [0]. He grew up not far away in Gaylord, MI, where you can now visit Claude Shannon park [1].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon

[1]: http://www.gaylordmichigan.net/member-37/claude-shannon-park...

jcrabtr | 11 years ago | on: Advice for Early-Stage Hardware Startups

It's not how simple the product is or whether it's open source that determines regulatory requirements, but what it is and where and to whom you're selling it.

For a quick primer on FCC requirements (which only covers US EMC), check out Sparkfun's "The FCC and Open Source"[1]. For more depth on other regulatory requirements, e.g. safety, "Global Certifications for Makers and Hardware Startups"[2] is pretty decent.

[1] https://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/398

[2] http://www.emcfastpass.com/cert-ebook/