WayBack: Wire-wrap? 80186?
Posted by FirmWarez on 31 Aug 2012 in Blog | 4 comments
AST Cell so tweeted: “So there was an 80186 chip! #LearnedSomethingToday” To which I replied: “Yeah, it was basically an 8086 with a couple of timers for #embedded. Built a wire wrap SBC with 80186 when I did my undergrad.” (SBC = “single board computer”. Wow, yes, imagine that, a whole computer, on a single circuit board....
Read More24 October 1974
Posted by FirmWarez on 29 Aug 2012 in Blog | 0 comments
24 October 1974. Vandenburg Air Force Base, California. And you think you have some crazy ideas? Take an 86,000 lbs Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile. Put it in the back of the largest cargo aircraft in your inventory. Fly out over the Pacific, to about 20,000 ft ASL, and deploy the ICBM out of the back of the C-5 with drogue chutes. Missile falls...
Read Moredc501 “Phun With Sound” Talk
Posted by FirmWarez on 27 Aug 2012 in Blog | 0 comments
My recent “musical interlude” post reminded me of talk I gave to dc501 about sound and sound synthesis. This talk is more of an entry level thing, nothing new for you old hands, but I just wanted to share it here. Oh, and if the first thing you do on digging out the synth gear is play the Buckaroo Banzai theme, does that mean you have issues? dc501...
Read MoreMusical Interlude
Posted by FirmWarez on 26 Aug 2012 in Blog | 0 comments
Took a break from writing code, hacking hardware, obnoxious blog posts, and ponies to spend some time working on background music, intro/outro themes, and sound effects for a video blog I am producing. Watch this space for info as things develop. Meanwhile, enjoy these images of Obfuscated Labs turned ad-hoc studio. Bite my shiny plastic 80’s...
Read MoreBut Why, Some Say
Posted by FirmWarez on 25 Aug 2012 in Blog | 0 comments
I guess it would be inappropriate for a nerd like me to not blog something about the loss of Neil Armstrong. Like many nerds, geeks, hackers, makers, engineers, scientists, programmers, boffins, whatever we all are, I too idolized the Apollo program and the people who made it happen. I grew up with NASA pictures on my walls. I had a cassette tape an uncle made...
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