Matthew Hardeman

@i2cjak Isn’t that new TI microcontroller cheaper than a lot of passives?

people are not ready for broad market 22nm MCUs in everything. 1MB NVM, getting into 0.5MB+ RAM as default, always multicore. And the low end parts are getting freaky cheap as well. More chips per wafer, more function per chip, lower power

@grainregularity @TiredBambooLaw To your point, the right source of a fix for a problem of this nature is a telecom with the right internal talent pool, specializations, and equipment on hand to address the functional requirements.

@mdhardeman @TiredBambooLaw I'm afraid I'm just a law student who occasionally writes things. My previous work wouldn't authorize a $20 label maker lmao.

I for one had no idea that wifi networks had personalities. Reliability or unreliability is a technical decision. Wifi doesn't just choose to not work because it hates lawyers.

Being myself a vendor to the telecom industry, I’m personally aware of technicians at local internet service providers in that area with high density WiFi specialization. If you’re a person authorized to pay to fix a problem like this — and with a bill that won’t be south of $30k — I could facilitate an intro.

@mdhardeman @TiredBambooLaw what's the title/business of the person that could've fixed it? I'm not familiar with IP-as-emergency-services outside of like, telecomm/energy companies doing it.

@DudespostingWs I had that exact thought out loud a couple of weeks ago only for my husband to scream “No! No no no!” in horror.

You don’t see pogo sticks around much anymore, but there are still experts out there keeping the craft alive

Unless the exam format is via some Remote Desktop application, it almost certainly wasn’t bandwidth/throughput. From experience, most common causes are inappropriate WiFi AP selection, spacing, channel management, and poor optimization for large groups. Also mundane configuration issues like running the LAN with a small /24 subnet instead of one appropriate for thousands of users. Cross-chatter and broadcast storms from setting it up like a home instead of like a public resource, etc., etc. I’ve seen all of those and more.

@mdhardeman Hmmm I guess you can't really simulate this, you actually need computers huh. Like what are the running theories on what went wrong here, was it actually bandwidth issues? I assumed it probably had to do with managing the number of devices not actual thru put

@TiredBambooLaw And the average venue is actually the opposite of cooperative in getting these matters resolved.

@TiredBambooLaw Too many are unwilling to commit the necessary resources to actually bring high reliability service to hundreds in such spaces.

@realwillreil I actually think for non-volume stuff that a PNP machine with a very precise solder paste depositing tool head would be even better. There must be some borrowable work from the CNC or 3DP worlds.

Unbelievably cool things hitting the timeline. You have no clue how bad I want this

@RetroTechChris Oh god. I owned that exact model, brand new…. In the mid 90s.

Yesterday I shared that I had put my Panasonic dot matrix printer on the network. Some people asked "how did you do that"? Well, I put together a tutorial for the interested! Time for a 🧵

@GobstopperUK @realwillreil Heh. I actually order a surface mount transformer that happens to come with a peelable extra bit of Kapton covering its upper surface. I wondered why they might do that.

@mdhardeman @realwillreil I have a surface mount transformer, and if I'm not careful, the lamp will burn the transformer tape. I can't go cooler though because the solder won't flow. My solution is a small piece of kapton tape on the transformer during reflow.

Insane that this reflow oven has been selling for over 15 years and it still comes with packing tape and completely ungrounded. I’ve now fixed both of those issues. Next up is firmware then I’m ready to test it out!

@GobstopperUK @realwillreil Is there any internal air circulation or is it strictly IR radiative? I wonder if some sort of coating or even dead space IR absorbtive material blocks to help get more uniform heating would help?

@realwillreil You'll need to support the boards inside the drawer. If you put them on the floor of the draw the heat wicks away. I just bought a small box of M4 x 12 screws, and some nuts. You can just put them through the holes in the drawer wherever you need them to be.

@i2cjak @SamuelBeek And if you happen to like the traditional green, PCBWay’s green just feels better to the touch. Ridiculous, I know. But real.

@SamuelBeek pcbway sells orange i know

the people have spoken: ORANGE

@realwillreil @Merlinsgoat But I’ve never tried the sand and it sounds crazy.

@realwillreil @Merlinsgoat If it works without overcooking, it will definitely be better for double sided prospects. You can’t really do two sides on the hot plate…. Well, without it being messy. Supposedly there’s the sand method…

@TiredBambooLaw @2aQueer For that matter, I think in the case here there’s already a case saying they don’t need a warrant as you’re returning to the country. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to cough up the password either.

@mdhardeman @2aQueer That feels like it wouldn't be *the* data they want in a warrant, insofar as they might want docs, pics, etc. But I also suspect warrants are written to *include* that kind of flash/emphemral data anyways so yeah I think the *turn it off beforehand and shut the fuck up* is good

Unless you're not a spy in the cold war where you need to give a password or you get tortured, don't set this shit up. Courts don't like spoilation or obstruction. "oh but what do we do then" You shut the fuck up and ask for your lawyer.

@TiredBambooLaw @2aQueer It seems to me the legally safest approach would be to already have your phone powered off before landing and, if stopped, refuse to provide any password and demand an attorney.

@TiredBambooLaw @2aQueer Correct. Power off puts you back to that, which has destroyed a real but ephemeral data set in memory which exists either unencrypted or with key in active memory. In the Apple world, it’s called BFU (before first unlock).

@TiredBambooLaw @2aQueer From a technology perspective, the power-off can be as functionally dispositive as the deletion if we posit that the password can not be subsequently gotten from the user or successfully guessed. While still powered on, the data is mostly unlocked and a hack might work.

@2aQueer *not a criminal or lit attorney* But yes I'd suspect there's a difference between turning off a phone and deleting it.