Type and topic

Essays and writing about hardware and electronics

Every link here is classified as essays and writing about hardware and electronics.

Hall of Fame: 10
Candidates: 24
Median span: 5.3 yrs
First seen: 2009

Strongest Hall records

10 items

Exploring different microcontrollers less than $1

jaycarlson.net 7 submissions · 7 people · 7.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-04 Resurfaced 2024-04-30

929max pts

The “high-level CPU” challenge (2008)

yosefk.com 8 submissions · 8 people · 16.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-08 Resurfaced 2025-08-12

172max pts

Myths Programmers Believe about CPU Caches (2018)

software.rajivprab.com 9 submissions · 5 people · 7.5 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-06 Resurfaced 2025-10-31

366max pts

A Mind Is Born (2017)

linusakesson.net 8 submissions · 8 people · 8.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-04 Resurfaced 2021-03-19

311max pts

Should I buy ECC memory? (2015)

danluu.com 7 submissions · 6 people · 7.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-11 Resurfaced 2024-05-08

300max pts

Benjamin Button Reviews the New MacBook Pro

blog.pinboard.in 6 submissions · 5 people · 5.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-10 Resurfaced 2021-10-19

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Reversing Sinclair's amazing 1974 calculator hack - half the ROM of the HP-35

files.righto.com 5 submissions · 5 people · 8.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-09 Resurfaced 2021-09-17

303max pts

A home-made lithographically-fabricated integrated circuit

sam.zeloof.xyz 6 submissions · 6 people · 3.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-08 Resurfaced 2021-08-22

712max pts

My Business Card Runs Linux

www.thirtythreeforty.net 5 submissions · 5 people · 5.5 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-06 Resurfaced 2023-06-03

2595max pts

Lotus 1-2-3 arbitrary resolution

lock.cmpxchg8b.com 5 submissions · 4 people · 3.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-10 Resurfaced 2023-05-09

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Recently resurfaced

latest 20+ point return

Myths Programmers Believe about CPU Caches (2018)

software.rajivprab.com 9 submissions · 5 people · 7.5 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-06 Resurfaced 2025-10-31

366max pts

The “high-level CPU” challenge (2008)

yosefk.com 8 submissions · 8 people · 16.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-08 Resurfaced 2025-08-12

172max pts

Should I buy ECC memory? (2015)

danluu.com 7 submissions · 6 people · 7.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-11 Resurfaced 2024-05-08

300max pts

Exploring different microcontrollers less than $1

jaycarlson.net 7 submissions · 7 people · 7.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2024-04 Resurfaced 2024-04-30

929max pts

My Business Card Runs Linux

www.thirtythreeforty.net 5 submissions · 5 people · 5.5 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-06 Resurfaced 2023-06-03

2595max pts

Candidates

Browse 24 candidates

Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine

longnow.org 29 submissions · 28 people · 15.3 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2024-09-07

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

225max pts

Mechanical Watch

ciechanow.ski 9 submissions · 9 people · 4.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-12-10

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

4298max pts

Why three prongs?

amasci.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 14.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2019-07-08

Needs:5 submissions

581max pts

What's new in CPUs since the 80s? (2015)

danluu.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 7.3 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-04-20

Needs:5 submissions

305max pts

Finding a CPU Design Bug in the Xbox 360

randomascii.wordpress.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 8.2 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2026-03-13

Needs:5 submissions

606max pts

A look back: The Bloomberg Keyboard (2017)

www.bloomberg.com 6 submissions · 6 people · 4.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2019-08-19

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

147max pts

First Atomic Clock Wristwatch

leapsecond.com 8 submissions · 5 people · 12.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-01-25

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

219max pts

Intel x86 documentation has more pages than the 6502 has transistors

www.righto.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 9.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-08-05

Needs:5 submissions

300max pts

Running a Unix-like OS on a home-built CPU with a home-built C compiler

fuel.edby.coffee 4 submissions · 4 people · 4.7 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-06-28

Needs:5 submissions

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Popcount CPU instruction

vaibhavsagar.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-08-13

Needs:5 submissions

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The surprising subtleties of zeroing a register (2012)

randomascii.wordpress.com 6 submissions · 6 people · 8.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-11-04

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

112max pts

Apollo 11 vs. USB-C Chargers (2020)

forrestheller.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-12-27

Needs:5 submissions3 active years

502max pts

Apple didn't revolutionize power supplies; new transistors did (2012)

www.righto.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 7.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-09-29

Needs:5 submissions

208max pts

How many registers does an x86-64 CPU have?

blog.yossarian.net 3 submissions · 3 people · 5.2 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2026-02-14

Needs:5 submissions

120max pts

Turning an old Amazon Kindle into a eInk development platform

blog.lidskialf.net 3 submissions · 3 people · 4.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-07-31

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

373max pts

The HP-35: Consumer Electronics, an Origin Story

codex99.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 6.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-02-25

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

215max pts

Why I use old hardware

drewdevault.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 4.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-03-11

Needs:5 submissions3 active years

436max pts

Speculating the entire x86-64 instruction set in seconds with one weird trick

blog.can.ac 6 submissions · 6 people · 3.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2024-05-14

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart3 active years

208max pts

Philips LEDs from Dubai: The Royal Lights You Can’t Buy

hackaday.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 4.0 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-03-02

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

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A laptop hard drive model could crash when exposed to a certain audio frequency

devblogs.microsoft.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-12-27

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

256max pts

Mysteries of the Griffin iMate and the Apple Extended Keyboard II

www.projectgus.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2026-05-26

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

121max pts

Die photos and analysis of the revolutionary 8008 microprocessor, 45 years old

www.righto.com 4 submissions · 2 people · 5.5 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2020-06-02

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions3 submitters

256max pts

A history of ARM, part 1: Building the first chip

arstechnica.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.0 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-09-23

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions3 active years

190max pts

CGA in 1024 Colors – A New Mode: The Illustrated Guide (2015)

int10h.org 3 submissions · 3 people · 4.0 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2024-01-02

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

281max pts