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Open Hardware/Modding: Zigbee, Raspberry Pi, Framework, Coreboot, and More
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CNX Software ☛ SONOFF SNZB-02LD and SNZB-02WD IP65-rated Zigbee LCD Smart thermometers work with liquids or outdoors
ITEAD has introduced two new SONOFF devices: the IP65-rated SNZB-02LD and SNZB-02WD Zigbee 3.0 LCD Smart thermometers designed to work in liquids or enclosed spaces such as bathtubs or refrigerators, or outdoors in gardens or other humid environments, respectively.
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Raspberry Pi ☛ Research insights to help learners develop data awareness
In a recent research seminar, Lukas Höper and Carsten Schulte investigate how to teach school students about data science and Big Data.
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Tom's Hardware ☛ Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series) review: Increased performance at the expense of battery life
In a sea of laptops that make it hard, if not impossible, to upgrade your system post-purchase, Framework has always believed in giving customers more options. That remains the case with the Framework Laptop 13, which is back for 2025 using the AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series platform.
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MIT Technology Review ☛ How a 1980s toy robot arm inspired modern robotics
It wasn’t just kids who found the Armatron so special. It was featured on the cover of the November/December 1982 issue of Robotics Age magazine, which noted that the $31.95 toy (about $96 today) had “capabilities usually found only in much more expensive experimental arms.”
A few years ago I found my Armatron, and when I opened the case to get it working again, I was startled to find that other than the compartment for the pair of D-cell batteries, a switch, and a tiny three-volt DC motor, this thing was totally devoid of any electronic components. It was purely mechanical. Later, I found the patent drawings for the Armatron online and saw how incredibly complex the schematics of the gearbox were. This design was the work of a genius—or a madman.
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Framework Computer BV ☛ Framework | Reviews on the new Framework Laptop 13 are live!
The first reviews of the new Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series) are now live, and the first Batch 1 customer systems start shipping tomorrow! This is our 7th version of Framework Laptop 13, and the refinement that comes from iteration really comes through in the reviews. With the Ryzen 9 option, this is by far the highest-performance Framework Laptop 13 too, across both multi-threaded CPU compute and graphics. Reviewers also really enjoyed the new translucent Bezel color options.
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Coreboot (Official) ☛ Expanding Collaboration: New Ways to Engage with the coreboot Project
The coreboot project has always thrived on community contributions and collaboration. As the open-source firmware ecosystem continues to grow, we’re introducing several new initiatives to make it easier for companies, organizations, and individuals to engage with our project. Whether you’re a seasoned firmware developer or new to the coreboot community, we want to lower the barriers to participation and create more flexible pathways for contribution.
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YLE ☛ Teen spends conscription in Finnish Army tinkering with military drones
A self-taught drone and UAV builder, Aarrejoki carried out his project in a small windowless lab at the university, filled with 3D printers. The printers were used to manufacture most of the parts for both Aarrejoki's drone and a ground robot designed by Captain Andersson.
According to Andersson, 3D printing is especially useful for cost-effective and rapid prototyping, both in development settings and potentially on the battlefield.
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Raspberry Pi ☛ Build a home recording studio with Raspberry Pi 500: choosing your equipment
Following on from our guide to setting up an acoustically treated recording space at home, it’s time to get to the hardware. Quieter than an actively cooled Raspberry Pi 5 setup in most cases, Raspberry Pi 500 is a great studio computer (other Raspberry Pi 4, 400, and 5 models also work well, if you use a silent case or no fan), but you’ll need a little more equipment than that.
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Michał Sapka ☛ Commodore 64 Assembly, part 2: registers, memory, labels, constants, and numbers
Hello and welcome to the second part of my descend into maelstrom assembly. First of all: I've learned that I am not learning to write assembler. Assembler is program which converts assembly language into machine code. Does this change anything? No. Will it clarify it to anyone? Perhaps. But does it give me lots of street cred? Also no. Let's begin our second part. What follows are my notes, so they assume mine (low) level of understanding of programming and computers. But,hey. Maybe they will inspire someone? What is important, is that I am following a great video c64 assembly language tutorial on Youtube, and supplement that with documentation for ca65 assembler. See, it does clarify things!
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Wouter Groeneveld ☛ About a Broken ESS AudioDrive Card
Apparently, it’s a BTC 1853L with an embedded ESS AudioDrive 1868F chip—something I did not realise when pressing that buy button. OEM cards are not necessarily a bad thing but can require their own set of drivers. Last month, I slotted it into a the PC, downloaded and installed the default ESS drivers, and… nothing. Zip. Nada. Ah, dang it, here we go again! Isn’t vintage hardware great?