Overdue scrap notes, 2008.05.01-05.16

2008-05-01

2008.04.30

  • Reaktor diary: might be helpful as I learn to use Reaktor

  • Despite that this program is not open source but proprietary, it offers more comprehensible insight into its workings than any of the open source synth software I have tried so far.

  • Given, I’ve only used a couple premade instruments, but their internal structure is out-in-the-open in the form of modules, not as blocks of code that I would have a hard time finding and a harder time comprehending.

2008.05.06

  • Chilling Effects Clearinghouse: “A joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and (about a dozen schools)…. Chilling Effects aims to help you understand the protections that the First Amendment and intellectual property laws give to your online activities.”

  • Linux Softpedia - EDA: looks like a good collection of Electronic Design Automation software for Linux

  • Signs (or here): “a tool for logic synthesis and gate level simulation… include synthesis of RTL-style VHDL circuit descriptions and a dynamic graphical netlist viewer…”

  • KTechLab: “…an Open Source Intergated Design Environment (IDE) for electronic and PIC microcontroller circuit design and simulation.”

  • Alliance CAD: “a complete set of free CAD tools and portable libraries for VLSI design… includes a VHDL compiler and simulator, logic synthesis tools, and automatic place and route tools.”

  • Octeon Plus - some chip, 4 to 16 MIPS64 core, 600-1000 MHz, 15-40W power usage… looks pretty fast (Linuxdevices link)

  • Helpful link about silkscreening/screenprinting from nomediakings.org

2008.05.09

  • “This Film is Not Yet Rated” (IMDB) - some movie my friend Adam recommended; looks like the full version is online, for now, at Google Videos

  • Univ. of Manchester, Advanced Processor Tech. Group - good link for some software projects and papers relevant to processors

  • “In Defense of Lost Causes” - Slavoj Zizek (Amazon)… maybe an interesting book from a “Slovene sociologist, philosopher, and cultural critic.” who describes himself as a Marxist

  • “Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe” - Arianna Huffington (Amazon) . . . just in case you needed more anti-conservative propaganda

  • Past public lectures from Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics are available here (though videos look like mostly Windows Media Player or Flash).

  • SIMH: software from the Computer History Simulation Project, able to simulate (not emulate?) a variety of rather old hardware, like the DEC PDP

2008.05.16

  • Excerpts from Einstein’s letter to Eric Gutkind on 1954-01-03 - expresses some of his views on religion pretty well… apparently lining up a bit with the “Deus sive nature” views of Spinoza

  • Reconfigurable computing… worth learning about.

  • Microcode… also worth learning about, particularly with x86

  • FpgaC: “FpgaC compiles a subset of the C language to net lists which can be imported into an FPGA vendors tool chains… excellent alternative to VHDL/Verilog for algorithmic expression of FPGA reconfigurable computing tasks.” . . . like an HLL rather than an HDL.

  • Atmel FPSLIC: AVR microcontroller and SRAM-based FPGA combined on one die

  • Achronix: FPGAs running up to around 2 GHz

  • OpenCores: Designs and publishes core designs (for FPGAs, CPLDs, ASICs in general) under a license based on the LGPL

  • OpenFPGA: Promote FPGAs in blahblahblah by trying to have open standards and information and practices

  • Pragmatic Marketing: I dunno, but I’ve read a few useful links here

2008.05.16

Scratchelectronicslinuxpoliticsprogramming

Alix.1C board & Edirol repair

Scrap notes, 2008.04.25ish-2008.05.03