TX vs RX naming conventions for USB 3.0 SuperSpeed pairs

Just a draft note for now, as a result of a mistake I made while designing a USB 3.0 board featuring a male USB type-C plug soldered directly to the board I designed! A classic problem with the TX and RX lines of UARTs & RS-232 systems is that the “TX” and “RX” nomenclature is […]

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Programming TrueSTUDIO .hex files over DFU on linux

So you have an Intel HEX (.hex) file from your microcontroller firmware (from Atollic TrueSTUDIO for a STM32 micro, for example), but you need a .dfu file in order to program your microcontroller using dfu-util? And can’t (or don’t want to) use the Windows-only DfuSe software? I hope this guide helps you out!

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Do beeswax candles produce negative ionisation? Nope.

This short note is heavily based on Are Ions Good for You, a beautiful exposition of the actual science of ionisation and pollution of the air. There are lots of claims around the internet, mostly by beeswax candle makers, that beeswax candles are “natural ionizers”. The theory goes that beeswax candles emit “negative ionisation” which […]

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Using MOSFETs as blocking diodes

Connecting a battery backwards to an electronic circuit can rapidly do a lot of damage — current will flood through (and destroy) many integrated circuits when powered up the wrong way, and electrolytic capacitors have a famous tendency to explode. For this reason, it’s common to use a blocking diode in a circuit to provide […]

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XKCD’s ‘Click and Drag’ comic in Google Maps form

I just threw together a zoomable view of xkcd’s latest comic using the Google Maps API and US$0.27 of Google App Engine quota: Click and Drag. It helps to find some of the more off-the-beaten-track easter eggs, view it here! If I get enough (i.e., any) interest, I will clean up the source code and […]

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Deriving magnetism from electrostatics and relativity

Imagine a world where there was no magnetism at all — just electrostatic forces. It turns out that by adding Einstein’s laws of special relativity to that world, and looking at the effects that special relativity has on moving charges, the laws of magnetism appear — just by mashing electrostatics and relativity together. In other […]

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Automatic vs Manual transmission cars

Don’t worry, this post is not advice on how to live your life. Actually, on second thought, it is. Well, no, not really, it’s mostly about cars. And life. Maybe I should start off with my main point: Things which are “easy-to-use” often come with hidden drawbacks. Some examples: Point-and-shoot digital cameras (vs Digital SLR […]

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Where’s the North Pole on Google Maps?

I’ve seen several posts on the internet asking about the North Pole on Google Maps: where is it? Why isn’t there any snow there? Where’s Santa’s house? There’s a couple of reasons why the ice around the North Pole is not shown on Google Maps.

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The Galaxy Nexus PenTile display: comparing apples and oranges

There has been a lot of discussion on the ‘net about the infamous PenTile display. Lots of sites are throwing numbers around, comparing the ‘subpixel resolution’ of competing phones such as the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4/4S. Some commentary has been insane, comparing apples with oranges and declaring PenTile an abomination regardless of resolution. Others, […]

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Rattling Nikon MH-18a charger: how to fix/prevent

During my holiday in Thailand, I was silly enough to drop my Nikon MH-18a battery charger on the floor from a height of a metre or so. As soon as I picked it up, I heard a rattle. When I looked inside, this is what I found: The core of the inductor had broken into […]

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