kens

13 ms·

181.
by kens 11mo ago
According to "Design and Test of the 80386", the processor was completed ahead of its 50-man-year schedule from architecture to first production units, and set an Intel record for tapeout to mask fabricator.
182.
by kens 11mo ago
I've looked at a bunch of 386 dies, see: https://www.righto.com/2023/10/intel-386-die-versions.html I typically use an earlier 1.5µm chip since it's easier to study under the microscope than a 1µm chip a
183.
by kens 11mo ago
Various papers describe the software, although they are hard to find. My earlier blog post goes into some detail: https://www.righto.com/2024/01/intel-386-standard-cells.html The 386 used a placement program calle
184.
by kens 11mo ago
Author here for all your 386 questions...
185.
NTSB Preliminary Ups Flight 2976 Crash During Takeoff(ntsb.gov)
3 points by kens 11mo ago|1 comments
186.
by kens 11mo ago
hi! :-) As I commented elsewhere, f5bot.com is a nice, free tool to monitor HN
187.
by kens 11mo ago
I use f5bot.com, which monitors HN, Reddit, and Lobsters. (I have no connection to f5bot except being a happy user.)
188.
by kens 11mo ago
The title "GM Deprecating In-Car App Store for Models as Recent as 2020" is not the real title, which is "These GM Vehicles Can No Longer Download Apps Through Their Infotainment System" I'll also point out that &qu
189.
by kens 11mo ago
The description of forward current and the graph are completely wrong. The graph shows approximately linear current above 600 mV, and the text says "When the threshold is cleared, the diode admits current that’s roughly proportional to
190.
by kens 1y ago
The editors at IEEE Spectrum are very good at improving articles. They also thoroughly fact-check articles. (Source: I wrote a couple of articles for IEEE Spectrum.)
191.
by kens 1y ago
Author here if anyone has questions. I was inspired to look at constraint solvers by the recent HN discussion "Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45222695
192.
by kens 1y ago
I have enough projects already, so I'm staying quiet here :-)
193.
by kens 1y ago
Sounds like the Sun Ray thin client, built by Sun Microsystems in 1999. This was similar to the earlier graphical X terminals, which were reminiscent of mainframe terminals in the 1960s. It's the "wheel of reincarnation". ht
194.
by kens 1y ago
I provide RSS but many people want to subscribe to my blog through email. So I'm looking for an email-based subscription solution in addition to RSS.
195.
by kens 1y ago
I encountered a similar problem with blog subscription services: I was using "follow.it", which would handle subscriptions and send out an email when I have a new article. It worked fine until follow.it went spammy a few months ag
196.
by kens 1y ago
Thanks for fixing the link!
197.
by kens 1y ago
Raymond Chen explained why a registry file is called a “hive”: Because one of the original developers of Windows NT hated bees. So the developer who was responsible for the registry snuck in as many bee references as he could. A registry
198.
by kens 1y ago
Sorting so "foo9" is before "foo10" is called natural sort . I found out about natural sort a week ago and I am thrilled that my programs now print their output in a sensible order. Give natural sort a try and see if it
199.
by kens 1y ago
Gary, Indiana is still memorable to me 50 years later from when we'd drive through it, handkerchiefs pressed to our faces to block out the terrible smell from some sort of toxic industry. Is Gary still like that or has it been cleaned
200.
by kens 1y ago
> As an aside because I'm pedantic about the language, apostrophes are never used to show pluralism. Mind your p's and q's. Source: Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition, section 6.82. Also see section 6.77: Tim had had
201.
by kens 1y ago
I'm afraid that chip is too complicated for me. I'm still trying to figure out the 386 :-) But I did colorize the A19 die photo with Apple's M1 rainbow gradient, just for fun: https://oldbytes.space/@kenshirri
202.
by kens 1y ago
You're wondering why you can't find a Miltini recipe online? One trick for finding out historical information is to search archive.org. That quickly turns up a 1956 article [1] with the recipe: a Miltini is a six or seven-to-one M
203.
by kens 1y ago
In case anyone is worried about the rabbit :-), they ended up using Radar's pet rabbit for the pregnancy test, but removed the ovaries surgically for examination rather than killing the rabbit.
204.
by kens 1y ago
I highly recommend the book "Metaphors We Live By", which discusses how metaphors are not arbitrary, but are part of schemas. For instance, there are whole classes of orientational metaphors that fall into the schemas: "more
205.
by kens 1y ago
I was wondering if they would let a total slug run the marathon for money. It turns out that they expect you to run it in under 6 hours (which is a slow "recreational" pace). You're also expected to raise an average of $15,00
206.
by kens 1y ago
I read the book shortly after it came out, when I was working on an enormous system of legacy code. Unfortunately, I didn't find the book particularly helpful in terms of strategies for understanding or modifying legacy code. Yes, test
207.
by kens 1y ago
I haven't seen the weaving in person; I think the colors don't come through clearly in the photo. From talking with the weaver, the lavender is apparently in the metal regions.
208.
by kens 1y ago
Early core memories were woven by hand, but IBM rapidly automated the process. (Since most computers from the 1950s to early 1970s used core memory, there was a lot of demand.) However, IBM later found that it was cheaper to have the memori
209.
by kens 1y ago
I don't know the cost of her weavings. They are very time-consuming to create, so I hope she charges a good price.
210.
by kens 1y ago
Marilou Schultz asked me to suggest some chips that would make good weavings, and I suggested the 555, among other chips. She also had questions about the different colors and textures in the chip. She notices a lot more about the colors th

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