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Ray Holt and the Lost History of the First Multi-Chip Microprocessor

During a Zoom meeting of the Computer History Museum’s (CHM) SemiSIG earlier this year, our fearless leader Doug Fairbairn mentioned that he was having trouble contacting Ray Holt to arrange a recording of his oral history. CHM’s SemiSIG records oral histories of past and present luminaries in the semiconductor industry, and Holt’s history is a rich one. After getting his EE degree at Cal … Read More → "Ray Holt and the Lost History of the First Multi-Chip Microprocessor"

“The Game Console 2.0” Serves up Images of 123 Home Video Game Consoles Across 9 Generations

My engineering career started shortly after video games appeared. The first arcade video game, Computer Space, was developed by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney and released in 1971. Bushnell and Dabney founded Atari the following year. Computer Space was inspired by another computer game, Spacewar!, which MIT students had programmed into a Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) PDP-1 minicomputer in 1962. Bushnell saw a version of Spacewar! running on a … Read More → "“The Game Console 2.0” Serves up Images of 123 Home Video Game Consoles Across 9 Generations"

Do You Long Nostalgically for Retro Tech? Part 2: Film and Nixie Tubes

Of course, retro-tech nostalgia is not limited to sound reproduction, which I discussed earlier in Part 1 of this article series, so let’s now talk about retro photography nostalgia. For 30 years, I shot photos with an SLR (single-lens reflex) camera using film, starting in 1972. I’ve shot Kodak Kodachrome and Ektachrome slide film, Kodacolor and Kodacolor II print film, Fujicolor print film, Ilford black-and-white film, and assorted film stock from Agfa. So, I’ve taken a lot of photographs using film. … Read More → "Do You Long Nostalgically for Retro Tech? Part 2: Film and Nixie Tubes"
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featured blogs
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No one wants to waste unnecessary time in the model creation phase when using a modeling software. Rather than expect users to spend time trawling for published data and tediously model equipment items one by one from scratch, modeling software tends to include pre-configured...
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See how we're harnessing generative AI throughout our suite of EDA tools with Synopsys.AI Copilot, the world's first GenAI capability for chip design.The post Meet Synopsys.ai Copilot, Industry's First GenAI Capability for Chip Design appeared first on Chip Design....
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Suffice it to say that everyone and everything in these images was shot in-camera underwater, and that the results truly are haunting....
chalk talks
Accessing AWS IoT Services Securely over LTE-M — AWS, u-blox, SparkFun Electronics and Mouser Electronics  Developing a connected IoT design from scratch can be a complicated endeavor. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton, Harald Kröll from u-blox, Lucio Di Jasio from AWS, and Rob Reynolds from SparkFun Electronics examine the details of the AWS IoT ExpressLink SARA-R5 starter kit. They explore the common IoT development design challenges … Read More → "Accessing AWS IoT Services Securely over LTE-M — AWS, u-blox, SparkFun Electronics and Mouser Electronics"
LEMBAS LTE/GNSS USB Modem from TE Connectivity — TE Connectivity and Mouser Electronics  In today’s growing IoT design community, there is an increasing need for a smart connectivity system that helps both makers and enterprises get to market quickly. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton chats with Jin Kim from TE Connectivity about TE’s LEMBAS LTE/GNSS USB Modem and how this plug-and-play solution can help … Read More → "LEMBAS LTE/GNSS USB Modem from TE Connectivity — TE Connectivity and Mouser Electronics"
Matter & NXP — Mouser Electronics and NXP  Interoperability in our growing Internet of things ecosystem has been a challenge for years. But the new Matter standard is looking to change all of that. It could not only make homes smarter but our design lives easier as well. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Sujata Neidig from NXP examine … Read More → "Matter & NXP — Mouser Electronics and NXP"
Meet the Latest Wireless Member of the DARWIN Family  Your next MCU needs to be more than just smart. It needs to be power-efficient, have ample memory, and industrial-grade security. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton chats with Zach Metzinger of Maxim Integrated about the latest member of the DARWIN family with a new RISC-V co-processor. Click here for more information … Read More → "Meet the Latest Wireless Member of the DARWIN Family"
TI Robotics System Learning Kit – Texas Instruments and Mouser Electronics  Robotics projects can get complicated quickly, and finding a set of components, controllers, networking, and software that plays nicely together is a real headache. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton chats with Mark Easley of Texas Instruments aVBOUT THE TI-RSLK Robotics Kit, which will get you up and running on your next … Read More → "TI Robotics System Learning Kit – Texas Instruments and Mouser Electronics"
Bluetooth Overview — Silicon Labs and Mouser Electronics   Bluetooth has come a long way in recent years, and adding the latest Bluetooth features to your next design is easier than ever. It’s time to ditch the cables and go wireless. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton chats with Mark Beecham of Silicon labs about the latest Bluetooth capabilities including … Read More → "Bluetooth Overview — Silicon Labs and Mouser Electronics"