Hacker News Reader

decktechon Should California’s last nuclear power plant stay open?

I think the vast majority of Californians couldn't care less about Gavin, it's just that we didn't want the crazy right-wing talk-radio host to take over.

decktechon “Could you disable your Mac's password?” asked at an Apple store (2018)

I had the same experience at the apple store a few years ago, where they asked me for my password. They insisted they needed it to run "hardware checks." I think I ended up just wiping it before giving it to them.

I wasn't happy about it, so I complained to corporate. I got a voicemail a few days later from a very apologetic store manager, saying that they would review the policy (who knows if they did). Furthermore, they found issues with my logic board, and replaced it (out of warranty) for free. So that was nice. Still wouldn't ever turn in a computer for service without wiping it however.

decktechon Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (August 2020)

Location: San Diego, CA

Remote: Yes

Willing to relocate: Yes, out of USA

Technologies: Hardware design / Electronics (design, prototyping, testing, manufacture), Embedded C/C++, Python, Java, Mechanical design/prototyping, 3D printing

Résumé/CV: Available on request

Email: max@mmmaaa.xxx

Web: http://kapamaki.net

I'm a freelance engineer primarily focused on embedded hardware and firmware, from design to prototyping to manufacture. I've designed scores of small-scale embedded "glue" devices, large-scale LED controllers, hardware for autonomous vehicles, 3D mapping rigs, as well as consumer products for Kickstarters and large companies. I have experience with 3D design and machine-shop prototyping, as well as an extensive background in firmware and backend programming.

I'm primarily looking to work on interesting projects, however I wouldn't rule out part- or full-time for the right company. No project is too small, and I do deep discounts for open-source or artistic work.

decktechon Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (June 2020)

Location: San Diego, CA

Remote: Yes

Willing to relocate: No

Technologies: Hardware design / Electronics (design, prototyping, testing, manufacture), Embedded C/C++, Python, Java, Mechanical design/prototyping, 3D printing

Résumé/CV: Available on request

Email: max@mmmaaa.xxx

Web: http://kapamaki.net

decktechon Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (November 2019)

Location: Portland, OR

Remote: Yes

Willing to Relocate: Possibly to San Diego

I currently freelance for companies in various tech industries, doing hardware and electrical engineering, firmware, mechanical design, backend software, and cloud infrastructure. I have experience designing and manufacturing prosumer equipment, building autonomous vehicles, and building 3D mapping vehicles (LIDAR, cameras, GPS, sensor fusion, etc.) I've also spent several years in cloud infrastructure, building backend systems from the ground up and helping companies untangle technical debt.

I'm interested in taking on more contract work, although I am also open to part- or full-time for the right company.

Technologies:

AV/GIS/Sensor Tech: LIDAR, GPS, Camera arrays, IMU, Sensor fusion, Vehicle control (CAN)

Embedded Hardware: ARM Cortex M0/M3, ATmega, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, SBCs

Software Tech: Python, C/C++, Assembly (ARM/ATmega), Java, Bash, YAML, Terraform HCL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, AWS, GCP, git, Vagrant, Linux

CAD/Design Experience: DFM, EAGLE, SolidWorks, Inventor, Fusion360, OnShape, OpenSCAD, Illustrator, Corel Draw, Inkscape

Lab/Shop Experience: Logic analyzer, Oscilloscope, Microscope, CNC mill, Laser cutter, Plasma cutter, Shopbot, 3D printing, Welding (MIG/TIG)

Looking to Learn: FPGA, Altium, Creo, open to anything

Resume: http://kapamaki.net/

Email: hn@kapamaki.net

decktechon Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (March 2019)

Location: Portland, OR

Remote: Yes

Willing to Relocate: Possibly

Technologies:

AV/GIS/Sensor Tech: LIDAR, GPS, Camera arrays, IMU, Sensor fusion, Vehicle control (CAN)

Embedded Hardware: ARM Cortex M0/M3, ATmega, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, SBCs

Software Tech: Python, C/C++, Assembly (ARM/ATmega), Java, Bash, YAML, Terraform HCL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, AWS, GCP, git, Vagrant, Linux

CAD/Design Experience: DFM, EAGLE, SolidWorks, Inventor, Fusion360, OnShape, OpenSCAD, Illustrator, Corel Draw, Inkscape

Lab/Shop Experience: Logic analyzer, Oscilloscope, Microscope, CNC mill, Laser cutter, Plasma cutter, Shopbot, 3D printing, Welding (MIG/TIG)

Looking to Learn: FPGA, Altium, Creo, open to anything

Resume: http://kapamaki.net/

Email: hn@kapamaki.net

decktechon Velodyne Plans a Lidar Megafactory

Velodyne is having major production issues. Our latest order with them has been pushed back months, and our last new order was quoted at 30-40 weeks. They keep citing yield issues. I'm hoping this opens up the market for reasonably-priced competition.

decktechon When You Dial 911 and Wall Street Answers

Not incorrect, although the revamped system has become pretty infamous for going down, leading lines to ring busy and overworked dispatchers to revert to pen and paper. The outages have been responsible for several deaths.

http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020299/LA0689.shtml#.V2_jIp...

decktechon CUPS 2.1 Is Adding Basic 3D Printer Support

Maybe someone can explain how this works to me: In the white paper (http://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/BOFs/3d-printing/wd-apple-ipp3d-2...) section 5, it lists a bunch of attributes ("material-type", "filament-retraction-speed", etc.) These are all attributes that would be inputs to a slicer. Furthermore, there are a million such parameters (CUPS will never cover them all), are different between different slicers, are ever-changing, and sometimes undocumented.

Why would cups concern itself with these parameters, versus, for example, just acting as a transport for the actual print file (gcode, x3g, etc.)? I feel like this is akin to having CUPS assemble a PDF, versus just acting as a transport for postscript file that gets printed.

decktechon 3D Printer Shootout – $600 Printrbot vs. $20,000 UPrint SE Plus

Huh? They release new software/firmware every few weeks. Many people don't bother upgrading, so they don't see any improvements.

decktechon 3D Printer Shootout – $600 Printrbot vs. $20,000 UPrint SE Plus

Try updating your firmware and desktop software. New versions were released today which should significantly improve print quality.

decktechon In response to a blog post on Samsung Knox

You trust software written in the US, Europe and Australia? Do we read the same HackerNews?

decktechon The fatal attraction of lead

From what I was told, lead-free solder has a large amount of flux in it to make it half-way usable. Unless you're licking your fingers after soldering with leaded solder, you may be doing more damage to your lungs with the lead-free stuff than you're doing to your body with the leaded. But I'd love to see the numbers on this.

decktechon Low cost mobile IMSI-Catcher Catchers to detect surveillance attempts [pdf]

Sorry if I'm missing it, but is there any additional info/source on their stationary implementation? I'd love to implement a smaller, cheaper version with one of Telit's embedded chips.

decktechon KiCad videos released

Even the link to the Windows version drops you in a folder on some random French server[1]. This looks like an exe that some random person built over a year ago. They should consider dropping all mentions of cross-platform compatibility until they're ready to release cross-platform software.

[1] http://iut-tice.ujf-grenoble.fr/cao/

decktechon KiCad videos released

You know what it would be nice for KiCad to release? Binaries.

I've gotten into several discussions with KiCad users, but it always comes down to me saying "This is marketed as cross-platform, how do I install it on Mac OS?" "Oh I don't know, I just apt-get it."

Well, great. I'm glad EAGLE's got some competition on the Linux side, but seriously, how do I install KiCad on the Mac? The Mac link on the KiCad site, which you would assume would take you to a binary, instead drops you on a github project for a build script that hasn't been updated in six months. This is the point at which my electrical engineer friends give up. The script requires you to manually install a bunch of dependancies, and upload an SSH key to Launchpad.

Ok, well, can I use Homebrew? No, KiCad doesn't release stable versions either, and brew won't accept HEAD-only recipes or whatever they call them.

So, I'm a little at a loss. I'm an actual EE, and I love the /idea/ of KiCad, and I'd love to actually try it, but it seems like you need to be a software engineer just to install this electrical engineering tool. This makes the barrier to entry unacceptably high, and I think works against what they're aiming for. KiCad already has a terrible reputation - every conversation I have about it with KiCad users is along the line of "It's much better now," "It doesn't crash nearly as much," "CERN has a guy working on it full time!" I think they're really shooting themselves in the foot here by not even releasing stable versions. Anyone know what's up with the project?

decktechon Building a Cloud Chamber (Cosmic Ray Detector)

Very pretty. I built a (less pretty) digital version a few years ago[0], based on some really neat projects by this guy[1]

[0]: http://kapamaki.net/muon-detector/ [1]: http://www.hardhack.org.au/

decktechon GoTenna – Send and receive messages even when you don’t have service

while losing all sight of the road for a minute.

You could stop for a second, I guess.

Instead of a sturdy walkie-talkie

Why don't you just buy a walkie-talkie? They're cheaper, they just don't interface with your phone. But it sounds like that's what you want.

decktechon GoTenna – Send and receive messages even when you don’t have service

I guess the main difference is that walkie-talkies don't connect to your phone, or share text or GPS data. They also don't mesh network (automatically).

decktechon GoTenna – Send and receive messages even when you don’t have service

It's 2 meter VHF, very low bandwidth. Useful for GPS and text messages only. An Email bridge might be pretty cool, but I'm not sure of the exact speed.

decktechon GoTenna – Send and receive messages even when you don’t have service

As I understand it (I am in the outer gotenna circle) it will do some sort of store and forward mesh network-y thing.

decktechon Bass Guitar Preamp Design [pdf]

I'm a little confused about the Final schematic. There are unlabeled wires floating around, and even after reading the whole document I'm confused as to where exactly the EQ modules fit into the design. Can anyone shed some light on how these pieces fit together?

decktechon Some of the work we did at Danger

I had a Sidekick B&W in high school, and later a Sidekick Color, and people would ask me about it every single day. I remember having long AIM conversations under my desk in class. I later upgraded to a Sidekick 2, which was nice but had some build quality issues. I must have gone through at least four of them. To T-Mobile's credit, they were very good at replacing them quickly. I remember sitting at dinner one night, flipping it open to answer an IM, and the screen detached and flew across the restaurant. I replied that my screen flew off and that I would have to respond later :)

decktechon Why San Francisco Is Not New York

Taking a bike on the subway is much harder, and usually seen as rude, because our cars are much smaller. Thankfully, our bridges have bike dedicated bike lanes, so taking them on the subway is not necessary.

I was astounded when I visited SF, usually seen as much more bike friendly than NY, and I saw that east bay riders still had to rely on the BART to get them into the city. The fare between West Oakland and Embarcadero alone is more than a subway ride.

decktechon What the Fluck

How so?

decktechon Amazon Unveils Delivery By Drone

I have to go outside to retrieve the package? Deal-breaker.

decktechon Amazon Prime Air

Cars don't have eight rotor blades slapping the air, and we've gotten pretty good at enclosing all the loud bits (on expensive cars). Noise would certainly be a problem for gas-powered drones.

decktechon Why It's So Hard to Get From Brooklyn to Queens

This is good advice, but it's never worked for me. I've never hailed a cab in which they didn't have the doors locked until you tell them where you want to go. I even had one cab speed off while I was still holding the door handle when I told him I just wanted to go five blocks south (in Chelsea, in the snow), I figured he though I was going to change my mind when I got in.

I don't take cabs anymore.

decktechon Toyota's firmware: Bad design and its consequences

Many of the newer NYC trains, I am told, are more complicated - an emergency lever pull (someone caught in the doors) should hard-brake the train. If it's travelled more than 1000 feet, it is assumed the train is already in the tunnel, and the lever just signals the conductor, who presumably will radio for help and tell the operator to hold at the next station. I guess this implies that there's a computer inline.

The tripcocks, I hope, are still connected directly to the brakes.

decktechon Don't Fly During Ramadan

Is this a joke? I was searched by the TSA the last time I took Amtrak. They just plopped down a table in the middle of Penn Station and went to town.