nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Restoring YC's Xerox Alto, Day 6: Fixed a chip, data read from disk
With hardware you don't always have a reproducible known good state. Many changes aren't reversible. Certain tests can irreparably damage things.
nibnib's comments
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: A Design Defect Is Breaking iPhone 6 Pluses
>I'd say a vast majority would take their phone to Apple, who say it can't be fixed and to buy a new phone.
How many would then try a 3rd party repair place?
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Intel acquires Movidius
It's very common in Ireland.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Termination of YouTube Service on 2012 BRAVIA TVs
Anything manufactured with some process control should follow a bathtub curve for failures. It's the width of the tub that matters. I don't know if LCDs have been on the market long enough to have much data for end-of-life failures (probably not 18 years?) and that data probably wouldn't be publicly available.
It's hard to believe that TV manufactures are shooting for an 18 year mean lifetime. They might work after 18 years, but it is unlikely.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Termination of YouTube Service on 2012 BRAVIA TVs
>If you were OK with a TV for 18 years you would be OK with another TV for 18 years.
A TV manufactured today is very unlikely to last 18 years without some kind of hardware failure. There is a big difference in complexity/points of failure and cost-cutting between 1998 and 2016.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Python vs. C/C++ in embedded systems
The argument that new graduates will know Python and have an easier time with embedded systems never sits well with me. If they graduated in something to do with embedded systems then they will know C. If they have a general programming background then they will need some training anyway, as embedded systems often require a different mindset geared more towards low-level programming. So they might as well learn C while they're at it.
I think the popularity of Arduino with complete beginners shows that the barrier of entry is rolling the bootstrapping code and getting tools set up, not the language itself.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Italy Quake Rescuers Ask Locals to Unlock their Wi-Fi
You can easily combine techniques. Send rescue dogs and handlers wherever phone signals are traced.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Ask HN: Is there any use nowadays for a proprietary C compiler?
The obvious case is architecture support. A lot of embedded devices are not targeted by gcc and LLVM.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: How many x86 instructions are there?
do you mind going into why you have written so many assemblers?
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: 4 a.m. Is the Most Productive Hour
>We've turned sleep schedules into a morality play, where waking up at 4am is somehow impressive and virtuous while waking up at 10/11am is slothful (even if you spent all night getting lots of work done).
This is nothing new, it makes perfect sense if you consider that sunlight was once the main form of illumination.
In the modern sense it still makes some sense as many businesses keep hours similar to 9AM-5PM. Any time regularly spent asleep in that window is wasteful if you rely on anyone or anything on that schedule (or they rely on you).
You need to live something of an "outsider" lifestyle to make this work, and that still isn't practical for a lot of people. I did it for quite a few years and found I was also rushing if I need to run an errand like going to a bank in person.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Almost 80% of Private Day Traders Lose Money
Buying a winning lottery ticket always looks like a great investing decision in retrospect...
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large
I think it's actually much slower than the original.
>The maximum reliable clock rate is not yet determined, but we expect it to be in the tens to (low) hundreds of kHz.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Cisco to lay off about 14,000 employees
It also effects your ability to find work. Being laid off can be completely out of your hands and isn't always something that works against you.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Lonnie Johnson: The father of the Super Soaker
>Something tells me that manually fabricating it on a small lathe/mill like Lonnie Johnson did would be much faster for prototyping than 3D printing, even today ... but I could be wrong.
I think you are correct, and this is true for many designs. Widepsread love for 3D printing doesn't change that. When all you have is a hammer etc.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: My review of Dell XPS 15 as a developer laptop
Yeah, I've done this myself when building switching power supplies. I guess there's no reason not to tray silicone or nail varnish on noise graphics cards.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: My review of Dell XPS 15 as a developer laptop
Is it possible to dope the coil with something to damp out the whining? I have an old Lenovo that has this, and the noise seems to vary depending on what's onscreen. It can be very annoying.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: “CPUs are optimized for video games”
I wonder if there is a certain level of wealth where school test scores aren't a worry anymore.
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Intel to buy deep-learning startup Nervana Systems for at least $350M
>I figured Nervana was mostly dead if they were stuck at 28 nm
Why? Is there a competitor that has leveraged a more modern process technology?
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: Ask HN: Know a good tool to purge all posts/likes/photos from Facebook?
If you are outside of the US or Canada you are entitled to request all data Facebook holds about your account. This may be useful in determining what is actually deleted.
http://www.europe-v-facebook.org/EN/Get_your_Data_/get_your_...
nibnib | 9 years ago | on: I Don’t Care How Well You Code, Understand Your Compensation
A better idea.