New #blog post: I miss the days of ubiquitous portable data storage
https://rldane.space/i-miss-the-days-of-ubiquitous-portable-data-storage.html
653 words
cc: my wonderful #chorus: @joel @dm @sotolf @thedoctor @pixx @twizzay @orbitalmartian @adamsdesk @krafter @roguefoam @solusspider @clayton
(I will happily add/remove you from the chorus upon request! :)
What do tariffs mean for computing?
Linux.
New computers are going to be slow to arrive. Cost twice as much.
Install linux, save your perfectly fine hardware from the landfill.
All your old computers will work fine until DOGE is wearing orange onesies or the power goes off forever.
China develops its own HDMI alternative GPMI
China's GPMI connection is faster than Thunderbolt 5 and charges devices with twice the power. Huawei and other manufacturers see it as an alternative to HDMI.
Why USB-C Splitters Can Cause Magic Smoke Release - Using USB for powering devices is wonderful, as it frees us from a tangle of incom... - https://hackaday.com/2025/04/07/why-usb-c-splitters-can-cause-magic-smoke-release/ #techhacks #usb-cpd #usbc #psa
How a Tiny Relay Became a USB Swiss Army Knife - Meet the little board that could: [alcor6502]’s tiny USB relay controller, now evo... - https://hackaday.com/2025/04/05/how-a-tiny-relay-became-a-usb-swiss-army-knife/ #microcontrollers #swissarmyknife #computerhacks #linuxhacks #swissknife #pcbhacks #boot0 #relay #servo #stm32 #news #uart #usb
I finally finished this custom USB Controller using a 12 position switch. The customer will be using it as a USB MIDI Controller where they want to select 11 different settings.
It's a bit taller than I'd like but the switch is pretty tall and I need a certain amount of space for the PCB and controller.
The enclosure is 3D printed and so is the knob. The multi-color prints for both came out great.
#mad ? #language #linux I ordered and paid for a #Linux starter pack on a #USB stick. They have sent me 5 cds/DVDs. I said on my order, "I do not have a cd drive on any of my kit". ? do people not read anymore? & no, won't be trying to transfer the files on the cd's onto a USB stick. Experience tells me i. this won't work ii. it will make the cd's unreadable on anything but the original device. & please don't suggest downloading from the #Linux site. Tried 3 times, each time, 'fail to install'.
RT1010Py is running MicroPython on Cortex M7 @ 500Mhz and now tanks to Robert Hammelrath got usbtinyuf2 bootloader so you can update you MicroPython firmwares with simple drag and drop like on PICO https://olimex.wordpress.com/2025/04/03/rt1010py-the-micropython-board-running-at-500mhz-now-got-tinyuf2-bootloader-so-you-can-drag-and-drop-your-micropython-firmware-same-way-as-you-do-on-raspberry-pico/ #micropython #nxp #usb
Well, I guess I should've upgraded my Samsung instead of postponing another years. #tarrifs
In other tech news, I fared better.
https://www.theverge.com/tech/638566/micro-usb-is-the-worst
@verge I am proudly micro usb free. Tossed my last device last week.
@Lazarou I assume you have the work around? Save image 1st then 'smoothly' do the Whatsapp bit. Yes, a lot of social media is going tghe way of the dodo bcause of lack of functionality. I'm awaiting my #Linux #USB 'starter' pack. Didn't want to but needs must. Fuck #Meta fuck #microsoft , back to coding, o what joy, not!
#FreeBSD users said "Hi" ...
(pain of using contained #USB in a #Linux distribution)
https://fosstodon.org/@linux_mclinuxface/114263429724683227
(pain of changing FreeBSD API for #Rust software -- "Tell me more
")
https://toot.cat/@imperio/114264924208051044
...
Found the drake version of this on LinkedIn and decided to remake it with a less toxic character.
I'd like to take a moment to appreciate #USB power delivery.
As a kid, I would have killed to be able to run my #GameBoy off my parents' car engine during road trips. To say nothing of the #GameGear's infamously high power draw.
Modern phones and portable game consoles can do just that, no problem. And thanks to that, they can get away with having glorious high-resolution emissive screens and fast CPUs. The idea of the Game Gear is now perfectly viable. Awesome.
@buttplugio When Apple had the iMac in all those rainbow colors there was an "iBrator" spoof that sadly I cannot find anymore on the modern web. It was advertising USB-controlled vibrators in 5 tasty colors that could be daisy chained. I guess this was 1999? Anyone still have a reference to that? #apple #ibrator #usb #1999
I've just listened to an #ITSecurity presentation, which gave me a few more nightmares to worry about.
First, there is #Shodan , a search engine for the #Internet (as opposed to the World Wide Web), aka "how to find hackable things on the Internet". If you have any devices accessible via the Internet - such as security cameras - it can probably be found there. And there are numerous people and companies who leave these devices unsecured - as the presenter demonstrated.
Also, #USB cables exist which look like the real thing but contain secret WLAN access for hackers. They cost around $200 these days, and can only be distinguished from the real thing by #CT scans.
It is 10:20 Central European Time. Do you know what your networks are doing?
After my precious #HDBaseT in-home streaming solution was stolen by a neighbor last week (Amazon refunded me), I settled for a more more low-tech solution: I ordered a 10 m #HDMI cable and a 15 m active #USB 2.0 extension.
It's more conduit for sure, but cheaper and probably less hassle to set up as well.
@quixoticgeek @hector @cstross
Not all bets. There is some qualitative difference between a surreptitious attacker inserting an unnoticed additional HID (as one of my co-workers once did to another co-worker as a prank) and letting the user continue unawares, a "mouse jiggler" to keep a machine from locking when the user is removed, and actually having the ability to access the internals of the machine there and then. It's not all precisely the same threat.
XoomFloppy als USB-Kabel
Die ZoomFloppy war mir immer viel zu groß. Daher habe ich in der Vergangenheit einige Projekte gestartet, um das Ganze auf eine wesentlich kleinere Größe zu reduzieren.
Warum überhaupt ein externes Gerät verwenden, wenn das Diskettenlaufwerk dire…
#1541 #1571 #1581 #C128 #c64 #Cable #commodore #Commodore64 #Device #diy #Extension #opencbm #PC #PCB #Printer #Project #usb #XoomFloppy #XUM1541 #ZoonFloppy
@djsundog sadly that's not how #USB works.
