2025 One Hertz Challenge: Op-Amp Madness
Sometimes, there are too many choices in this world. My benchtop function generator can output a sine, square, or saw wave anywhere from 0.01 Hz up to 60 MHz? Way too many choices. At least, that’s what we suspect [Phil Weasel] was thinking when he built this Analog 1 Hz Sinewave Generator.
Sometimes we make things much more complicated than we need to, just to see if we can. This is one of those times. Are there much simpler ways to generate a sine wave? Yes — but not exclusively using op-amps! This entry brings stiff competition to the “Ridiculous” category of the 2025 One Hertz Challenge.
Enquête over Gaza
Onlangs hebben wij een enquete gehouden over de situatie in Israel en Gaza. Ruim 200 van jullie hebben gereageerd en dat motiveert ons om in de toekomst vaker dit soort onderzoeken te doen onder onze leden. De belangrijkste uitslagen van de Gaza-enquete zijn als volgt: Ben je er voorstander van dat er een partijstandpunt wordt […]
Het bericht Enquête over Gaza verscheen eerst op Piratenpartij.
Gian Carlo Caselli in Commissione Antimafia smaschera i tentativi di riscrittura sulle stragi
@Giornalismo e disordine informativo
articolo21.org/2025/07/gian-ca…
Gian Carlo Caselli, intervenendo oggi in Commissione parlamentare antimafia, ha spazzato via la
When Online Safety Means Surrendering Your ID, What Can You Do?
A universal feature of traveling Europe as a Hackaday scribe is that when you sit in a hackerspace in another country and proclaim how nice a place it all is, the denizens will respond pessimistically with how dreadful their country really is. My stock response is to say “Hold my beer” and recount the antics of British politicians, but the truth is, the grass is always greener on the other side.
There’s one thing here in dear old Blighty that has me especially concerned at the moment though, and perhaps it’s time to talk about it here. The Online Safety Act has just come into force and is the UK government’s attempt to deal with what they perceive as the nasties on the Internet, and while some of its aspirations may be honourable, its effects are turning out to be a little chilling.
As might be expected, the Act requires providers to ensure their services are free of illegal material, and it creates some new offences surrounding sharing images without consent, and online stalking. Where the concern lies for me is in the requirement for age verification to ensure kids don’t see anything the government things they shouldn’t, which is being enforced through online ID verification. There are many reasons why this is of concern, but I’ll name the three at the top of my list.
As anyone who has helped their non technical friends secure their networks will tell you, nothing boosts technical expertise more than presenting a 13-year-old with an online restriction. It’s already been shown how a tech-savvy kid can use an AI generated fake ID to watch online smut, and I am thus certain that the Act just won’t work. Kids will trade ways to get round it just like they traded floppies full of dodgy JPGs in the playground back in the ’90s.
The scope of the Act extends way beyond merely the porn sites you might expect, so your average Brit is going to find themselves uploading their drivers’ licence or passport an awful lot. The probability of a data breach involving all that valuable data will approach one, and all those identities will be compromised. Making more laws won’t stop this happening, after all the very definition of a criminal is a person with a disregard for the law.
And finally, that broad scope is catching all manner of inoffensive and blameless online communities who don’t have the resources to put the age verification and other measures in place. Your classic car forum, a support group for people with mental health problems, even possibly Wikipedia. Of course it’s important to protect children from inappropriate content, but killing the British internet for everyone else shouldn’t be a side effect.
This issue is likely to rumble on for a while in the UK, as at the time of writing a petition for its reform stands around 350k signatures. Thus a further parliamentary debate seems very likely, and no doubt we’ll see a few of our overlords wriggling a little to avoid the inevitable repercussions. You can sign it if you’re a Brit, and meanwhile if you’d like to restore access to the internet that the rest of the world sees, you can join the hordes of Brits running to acquire VPN access.
Palace of Westminster header image: Diliff, CC BY-SA 2.5.
Hexagonal Lighting Brings a Touch of Elegance to the Workshop
Sometimes, we’re faced with what should be simple household tasks that we choose to make more difficult. Sure, you could buy a clock, hang it on your wall, and move on with your day, or could spend a week or two building the perfect one. [Nejc Koncan] was in one such situation recently when he needed some new overhead lighting. He wanted hexagonal lights — and since none of the off-the-shelf solutions met his exacting requirements, he built his own.
Unlike most of the cycling RGB hexagonal lighting solutions available on the market, [Nejc] wanted elegant white outlines that he could control via HomeAssistant. After some careful design and quite a bit of trial-and-error, he ended up with a highly modular and very professional-looking installation. The hexagons are constructed from LED strips set into aluminum extrusions, with junction PCBs at each intersection. To complete the look, all of the strips and wiring are hidden by diffusers that slot into the extrusions — and of course, the whole thing is open source.
We see lots of lighting projects here at Hackaday, and even other hexagonal lights — but this might just be one of the most refined. Sometimes it’s worth the extra effort to build a totally over-engineered custom solution.
Targeting und Transparenz: Bald greifen die neuen EU-Regeln für politische Online-Werbung
netzpolitik.org/2025/targeting…
„Schmutzige“ Arbeit: Deshalb wollen Influencer keine Influencer mehr sein
netzpolitik.org/2025/schmutzig…
#Trump e la bufera #Epstein
Trump e la bufera Epstein
Con l’aumentare delle polemiche sul progressivo insabbiamento del caso Jeffrey Epstein da parte dell’amministrazione Trump, un paio di settimane fa l’FBI aveva diffuso pubblicamente un filmato di circa undici ore di videosorveglianza carceraria che m…www.altrenotizie.org
Fine della libertà su Android: bootloader bloccati, ROM vietate, tutto in nome della sicurezza
Samsung blocca il bootloader con One UI 8 e in Europa si apre l’era del controllo: addio a ROM personalizzate e libertà su Android.Lorenzo Delli (SmartWorld)
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Un’armatura elettronica contro i droni ucraini? Il nuovo sistema made-in-Russia
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
La crescente rilevanza dei sistemi unmanned nel conflitto in Ucraina, utilizzati in modo sempre più estensivo, ha comportato di pari passo un’accelerazione nello sviluppo di varie tipologie di sistemi anti-drone da parte di entrambe le fazioni coinvolte nel conflitto.
Addio Shunsaku Tamiya: l'uomo che ci ha dato le cose migliori da costruire
Per la maggior parte di noi, la parola "Tamiya" evoca l'immagine di una scatola dai colori vivaci e ben illustrata, con il caratteristico logo Tamiya rosso e blu, contenente un kit di modellismo, un'auto telecomandata o un altro meraviglioso pezzo di ingegneria in miniatura. I bambini sono plasmati dalle esperienze che i loro giocattoli offrono loro e, sebbene possa sembrare strano citare i modellini in plastica come un'influenza chiave per un hacker hardware, ecco giocattoli che potevano essere costruiti in tutti i loro intricati dettagli.
La storia di Tamiya è iniziata nel settore del legname, per poi diversificarsi nei giocattoli in legno e poi, proprio come la LEGO dall'altra parte del mondo rispetto alla sede di Shizuoka, negli stampaggi a iniezione di plastica. Shunsaku Tamiya era famoso per la sua attenzione ai dettagli, che si rifletteva in modo evidente nei suoi prodotti.
hackaday.com/2025/07/31/farewe…
@Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
Farewell Shunsaku Tamiya: The Man Who Gave Us The Best Things To Build
In the formative experiences of most Hackaday readers there will almost certainly be a number of common threads, for example the ownership of a particular game console, or being inspired into engin…Hackaday
Farewell Shunsaku Tamiya: The Man Who Gave Us The Best Things To Build
In the formative experiences of most Hackaday readers there will almost certainly be a number of common threads, for example the ownership of a particular game console, or being inspired into engineering curiosity by the same TV shows. A home computer of a TV show may mark you as coming from a particular generation, but there are some touchstones which cross the decades.
Of those, we are guessing that few readers will not at some point have either built, owned, or lusted after a Tamiya model kit at some point over the last many decades, so it’s with some sadness that we note the passing of Mr. Tamiya himself, Shunsaku Tamiya, who has died at the age of 90.
Shunsaku Tamiya
For most of us the word “Tamiya” conjures up an image of a brightly coloured and well illustrated box with the trademark red and blue Tamiya logo containing a model kit, remote controlled car, or other wondrous piece of miniature engineering. Kids’ are shaped by the experiences their toys give them, and while it might seem strange to cite plastic models as a key influence for a hardware hacker, here were toys that could be built in all their intricate detail.The Tamiya story started in the lumber business, diversifying into wooden toys, and then just like LEGO on the other side of the world from their Shizuoka base, into plastic injection mouldings. Shunsaku Tamiya was famous for his attention to detail and this very much came through in his products.
I learned this first-hand through a professional modeler friend who had the job of making the models featured on British Tamiya packaging. Though she dealt with the British agents of the company and could have spent her entire tenure talking to their marketing department, she found herself dealing with Mr. Tamiya personally. His box models were made by one of the best in the business, but even the quality of the packaging in a distant export market mattered to the boss.
We are sure the Tamiya company will continue to produce the best in plastic modeling, and we envy the kids who are now discovering them for the first time and sharpening an interest in making things that will stay with them for life. Thank you, Shunkasu Tamiya.
hackaday.com/2025/07/31/farewe…
Perché la Cina convoca Nvidia
L'articolo proviene da #StartMag e viene ricondiviso sulla comunità Lemmy @Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
L'autorità cinese di regolazione del cyberspazio ha convocato i rappresentanti di Nvidia per discutere della sicurezza del microchip H20. Secondo Pechino, il processore - le cui vendite sono da poco state "sbloccate" da Trump - potrebbe contenere dispositivi di tracciamento
Cosa farà Leonardo con Iveco Defence Vehicles. Parla Giovanni Soccodato
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
Con l’acquisizione del gruppo Iveco Defense Vehicles, Leonardo diventerà un attore integrato per i mezzi terrestri. L’operazione segue l’alleanza strategica con Rheinmetall e porta il gruppo di Piazza Monte Grappa a guardare sempre più a cooperazioni con le realtà europee
VPN su Kodi: la guida per streaming sicuro, veloce e anonimo
@Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
Usare una VPN con Kodi permette di sbloccare contenuti geolocalizzati e garantire privacy durante lo streaming. Le migliori VPN offrono velocità elevate, ampia compatibilità e facilità d’installazione. È legale ma va usata con add-on ufficiali per evitare problemi legati al copyright
L'articolo VPN su Kodi:
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Proxy web e filtraggio dati: le raccomandazioni Cnil per i titolari del trattamento
@Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
La Cnil apre alla consultazione pubblica, entro il 30 settembre, della bozza di raccomandazioni sui proxy web. Una guida operativa per i titolari del trattamento dati e per i professionisti con un triplice intento. Ecco quale
L'articolo Proxy web e filtraggio
Fincantieri accelera, ordini in crescita e nuovo slancio nell’underwater
@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo
I risultati del primo semestre 2025 confermano la traiettoria di crescita di Fincantieri, con performance in progresso in tutti i segmenti di business e una solidità finanziaria che rafforza la visione a lungo termine delineata nel piano industriale 2023-2027. Il consiglio di
I.A. e precisione delle risposte
@Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁)
Lo scopo di questo articolo è riflettere su alcuni aspetti dell’intelligenza artificiale tra cui il prompting ossia la capacità di effettuare correttamente una domanda all’algoritmo d’intelligenza artificiale per ottenere risposte […]
L'articolo I.A. e precisione delle risposte proviene da Edoardo Limone.
L'articolo proviene dal blog
Martina Oppelli è morta in Svizzera
Il suo ultimo video: “Costretta ad andare all’estero, il mio appello è caduto nel vuoto. Ogni dolore va rispettato”
Dopo i 3 dinieghi della azienda sanitaria, la triestina, affetta da sclerosi multipla, è stata accompagnata da Claudio Stellari e Matteo D’Angelo, volontari di Soccorso Civile, l’associazione per le disobbedienze civili sul fine vita di cui è responsabile legale Marco Cappato, con l’aiuto di altre 31 persone
Venerdì 1° agosto alle 13:30, a Trieste, è prevista una conferenza stampa presso l’Antico Caffè San Marco, in via Cesare Battisti 18. Sarà possibile seguire la Conferenza anche dal canale YouTube dell’Associazione Luca Coscioni. Sono previsti gli interventi di Marco Cappato, Claudio Stellari, Matteo D’Angelo e Felicetta Maltese.
Martina Oppelli, 50enne triestina, affetta da sclerosi multipla da oltre 20 anni, è morta questa mattina in Svizzera, dove ha avuto accesso al suicidio medicalmente assistito. È stata accompagnata da Claudio Stellari e Matteo D’Angelo, iscritti a Soccorso Civile, l’associazione che fornisce assistenza alle persone che hanno deciso di porre fine alle proprie sofferenze all’estero, e di cui è rappresentante legale Marco Cappato. Insieme a loro, hanno fornito aiuto logistico ed economico altre 31 persone, i cui nomi saranno resi pubblici.
Lo scorso 4 giugno, Oppelli aveva ricevuto il terzo diniego da parte della azienda sanitaria ASUGI in merito alla verifica delle condizioni per accedere al suicidio medicalmente assistito: secondo l’azienda sanitaria non era sottoposta ad alcun trattamento di sostegno vitale, nonostante la completa dipendenza dall’assistenza continuativa dei caregivers e da presidi medici (farmaci, catetere e macchina della tosse).
Per questo motivo lo scorso 19 giugno – assistita dal team legale coordinato da Filomena Gallo, avvocata e Segretaria nazionale dell’Associazione Luca Coscioni – Oppelli ha presentato un’opposizione al diniego, accompagnata da una diffida e messa in mora nei confronti dell’azienda sanitaria. A seguito della diffida, è stata avviata una nuova procedura di valutazione da parte della commissione medica, ma Martina Oppelli ha deciso di andare in Svizzera per accedere all’aiuto alla morte volontaria perché era impossibile per lei attendere altro tempo per una risposta: le sofferenze non erano in alcun modo tollerabili.
Queste le parole di Martina Oppelli affidate all’Associazione Luca Coscioni in un video registrato in Svizzera.
youtube.com/embed/qjv8w4lWwE0?…Gentili parlamentari e concittadini tutti, non so se vi ricordate di me, sono Martina Oppelli. Più di un anno fa feci un appello a tutti voi affinché venisse promulgata e approvata una legge, una legge sensata che regoli il fine vita, che porti a un fine vita dignitoso tutte le persone, malate, anziane, ma non importa, prima o poi tutti noi dobbiamo misurarci con la fine della nostra vita terrena. Sì, questo appello è finito nel vuoto.
Io all’epoca, ormai due anni fa, mi appellai alla sentenza Cappato per poter accedere al cosiddetto suicidio assistito presso l’azienda sanitaria della mia Regione. Per ben tre volte mi è stato negato, benché io ne avessi il diritto, ma chissà, forse non abbastanza, forse non lo so perché, io non ho tempo per aspettare un quarto diniego, ma anche se fosse un assenso io ero allo stremo delle mie forze. Sono in Svizzera, sì, forse una fuga direte voi, no, no, no, è un ultimo viaggio.
Ho pensato che forse avrei dato meno fastidio, meno problemi, fuggendo all’estero, com’è la cosiddetta fuga di cervelli all’estero, ma non importa, sono qui e voglio restare qui e morire dignitosamente qui in Svizzera. Ma perché, perché dobbiamo andare all’estero, perché dobbiamo pagare, anche affrontare dei viaggi assurdi? Io ho fatto un viaggio lunghissimo, dopo che non uscivo da casa da più di un mese e non lasciavo la mia città da oltre undici anni, è stato veramente uno sforzo titanico, ma l’ho fatto per avere una fine dignitosa alla mia sofferenza, per piacere. Io non voglio che questo iter si ripeta per altre persone, non potete rimandarci sempre a settembre, ogni anno a settembre, perché ci sono urgenze più grandi.
Sappiate che sono pienamente consapevole che esistono tragedie enormi, genocidi, terremoti, alluvioni e che magari la misera vita di una singola persona e la sua sofferenza appaiono troppo piccole in confronto a una guerra, ma il macrocosmo è fatto da infiniti microcosmi, già, e ogni microcosmo ha un proprio dolore e ogni dolore è assoluto nel momento in cui viene vissuto e va rispettato. Quindi, per piacere, ascoltate anche noi, non accomunate immagini di guerre, battaglie, terremoti anche alla mia immagine o all’immagine di altri malati, come se fossi quasi offensivo, sì, è offensivo pensare di sperare, di porre fine alle proprie sofferenze, quando altre persone fanno di tutto per vivere. Anche noi abbiamo fatto di tutto per vivere, credetemi.
Io sono 30 anni che mi arrampico sugli specchi pur di conservare questo sorriso che si sta lentamente spegnendo, rispettate ognuno di noi. Simone Weil, grande filosofa francese, scriveva “ognuno ha il proprio olocausto privato.” Così, il fine vita tocca a tutti prima o poi, può accadere a 120 anni, può accadere a 50, può accadere prima, ogni scelta va rispettata.
Fate una legge che abbia un senso, una legge che tenga conto di ogni dolore possibile, che ci siano dei limiti, certo, delle verifiche, ma non potete fare attendere due, tre anni prima di prendere una decisione. In questi ultimi due anni il mio corpo si è disgregato, io non ho più forza, ma non ho più forza nemmeno di respirare delle volte, perfino i comandi vocali non mi capiscono più. Ecco, io ho anche il catetere vescicale, ho un tubo di scappamento come una macchina al quale non sarei mai voluta arrivare, perché io non sono una macchina, sono un essere umano, io non funziono, io vivo e voglio vivere dignitosamente fino alla fine, o desideravo. Adesso desidero morire dignitosamente, per piacere.
Fate una legge sensata, cercate di mettervi nei panni di chiunque, di chiunque. Non esiste nessuna guerra utile in questo mondo, ogni battaglia è inutile, mettiamo da parte le diatribe politiche, perché non esiste destra o sinistra o centro, siamo tutti esseri umani, tutti, per piacere, per piacere, legiferate, ma legiferate con buon senso. Scusate il disturbo, me ne vado in silenzio, io miro all’oblio, non cercavo la fama, forse cercavo solo di evitare la fame in questi anni, lavorando onestamente, pagando le tasse onestamente, pagando anche i contributi di chi mi assisteva giorno e notte in questo paese onestamente. Perché sono dovuta venire qui all’estero? Perché non ce la facevo più ad aspettare, non ce la facevo più. Per piacere fate una legge che abbia un senso e che non discrimini nessuna situazione plausibile. Scusate il disturbo.
L'articolo Martina Oppelli è morta in Svizzera proviene da Associazione Luca Coscioni.
Hands On: The Hacker Pager
It should come as no surprise that the hacker community has embraced the Meshtastic project. It’s got a little bit of everything we hold dear: high quality open source software, fantastic documentation, a roll-your-own hardware ethos, and just a dash of counterculture. An off-grid communications network cobbled together from cheap parts, some of which being strategically hidden within the urban sprawl by rogue operators, certainly sounds like the sort of thing you’d read about it in a William Gibson novel.
Quality hardware that offers a turn-key experience will be critical to elevating Meshtastic from a hobbyist’s pastime to something that could actually be fielded for applications such as search and rescue. Plus, let’s be honest, even those of us who like to put together our own gadgets can appreciate a more consumer-oriented piece of hardware from time to time. Especially if that hardware happens to be open source and designed to empower the user rather than hold them back.
Enter the Hacker Pager from exploitee.rs. As the name implies, it’s still very much a device intended for hackers — a piece of hardware designed for the halls of DEF CON rather than trekking through the wilderness. But it’s also an important step towards a new generation of Meshtastic hardware that meets the high standard of quality set by the software itself.
All in One, One For All
Before diving into the device itself, it would be helpful to take a moment to explain how users typically interact with Meshtastic, and what makes the Hacker Pager different.
Generally speaking, there are two types of Meshtastic devices: stationary nodes placed on rooftops and other vantage points to provide the infrastructure, and mobile nodes that a person would carry with them that allows access the network. This isn’t strictly accurate as each mobile device can also relay messages and contribute to the overall mesh network, but for the purposes of this discussion that’s not really an important distinction.
The mobile nodes are essentially radio modems that connect to your smartphone. You might have one strapped to your backpack, or mounted to the roof of your car. An app on your phone allows you to use the radio to tap into the Meshtastic network, and provides (among other features) an SMS-like interface for sending and receiving messages. This can be a little ungainly if you’re physically plugged into the mobile node, but Bluetooth is also an option.
Now, what makes the Hacker Pager different is that it not only works as gateway device to provide access to the Meshtastic network to a tethered smartphone, but it can also be used as a stand-alone communicator. This approach is truly the best of both worlds, as you get all the functionality of the smartphone application, while also giving you the freedom to subtract the phone from the equation entirely.
hackaday.com/wp-content/upload…
The Hacker Pager isn’t the first Meshtastic device to provide this capability, but at the time of this writing, it’s still one of only a handful of options that offer it. It is however the first one to come in the classic pager form factor, which brings with it a certain nostalgic appeal. The unique layout and interface of the Hacker Pager does come at a cost though; at least for now, it can’t run the mainline Meshtastic firmware and has its own independent fork. But we’ll get back to that in a minute.
Built By Hackers, For Hackers
I mentioned earlier that the Hacker Pager isn’t designed for a rugged environment, but that doesn’t mean it’s a wimp, either. It’s built like a brick, which I mean in the most positive way possible. But more than that, it’s built how a hacker would build it. Laser-cut acrylic panels, 3D printed body and buttons, you can still see how each component could be produced by a well-equipped home gamer should they need or want to.
That’s something we often see get inadvertently overlooked by open source hardware projects, and I’m happy to see that it seems to have remained a guiding principle for the Hacker Pager. It’s no mean feat either — we always release the design files for our annual Supercon badge, but that’s not to say they’ve always been easy to recreate for the hacker who couldn’t make it out to Pasadena. It’s not that we ever intentionally design the badge to be hard to replicate, it can just get away from you sometimes.
While going with a larger footprint for some of the components would have made DIY rework a little easier, there’s nothing about the Hacker Pager that would keep you from either building one yourself or using it as a basis for another design. That includes the license, as the hardware side of the project is available under the CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2.
I could easily see the Hacker Pager becoming another Beepy — an OSHW project that resonates so strongly with the community that it inspires a whole line of clones.
A New Way to Mesh
The firmware for the Hacker Pager is forked from the upstream Meshtastic project, and as such, the device is fully compatible with all the infrastructure that’s already out there. Similarly, when used in conjunction with the official Meshtastic smartphone application, you’ll have all the features and functions you’re used to. But when you use the Hacker Pager on its own, it’s unlike any other Meshtastic device out there.
That’s largely due to the fact that the retro-inspired hardware of the Hacker Pager demands a different sort of user interface than any of the existing Meshtastic devices. The menu system makes excellent use of the vibrant 192×64 pixel monochrome LCD, and banging out messages using the on-screen keyboard and directional buttons is a breeze. Users from the younger generations may need some time to adapt, but for those of a certain age, it feels like home.
hackaday.com/wp-content/upload…
One of my favorite features doesn’t even kick in until you’ve put the Hacker Pager down for a bit. Once the device has hit the user-defined idle timeout, the screen backlight turns off and the screen shifts over to an ambient clock display that also shows critical status information such as battery level, number of nodes in the area, and a new message indicator.
It’s also got the features you’d expect from a modernized pager. You can be notified of incoming messages by the classic audible alert or vibration, naturally. But there’s also 36 addressable RGB LEDs and a dozen UV LEDs that are more than happy to put on a light show each time something hits your inbox.
More Than Idle Talk
Honestly, if everything I’ve just covered was all the Hacker Pager could do, I’d still have come away impressed. But the team at exploitee.rs took things a step further by adding in several tools that should prove useful for anyone who’s into hacking around on Meshtastic or other flavors of LoRa.
The Packet Capture mode (and matching Wireshark plugin) lets you explore the actual communication protocols at work, and the Spectrum Analyzer will visualize anything broadcasting between 850 to 950 MHz and optionally export the results. While there’s no official word on additional tools, it’s not hard to imagine how either exploitee.rs or the community could expand on these capabilities on the future with new functions such as a WiFi or Bluetooth scanner.
Joining the Pager Revolution
If you want your own Hacker Pager, it will set you back $200 for the standard Green/Black model shown here, or $250 for the Special Edition colors (Pink/Black, Orange/Black). Unfortunately, they’re currently out of stock.
We made every effort to time the release of this article to coincide with availability of the Hacker Pager, but folks have been chomping at the bit to pick one up since they were first unveiled last year, and demand was simply too great. Sorry about that.
But don’t worry, you haven’t missed your chance. We’re told that units will be available at DEF CON 33 next week if you’re making the trip out to Vegas, and if not, you can put your email down to be notified when the next batch of Hacker Pagers will be ready to go.
In the meantime, you can read up on the promise of the Meshtastic project and maybe even setup your first node.
Farewell Shunsaku Tamiya: The Man Who Gave Us The Best Things To Build
In the formative experiences of most Hackaday readers there will almost certainly be a number of common threads, for example the ownership of a particular game console, or being inspired into engineering curiosity by the same TV shows. A home computer of a TV show may mark you as coming from a particular generation, but there are some touchstones which cross the decades.
Of those, we are guessing that few readers will not at some point have either built, owned, or lusted after a Tamiya model kit at some point over the last many decades, so it’s with some sadness that we note the passing of Mr. Tamiya himself, Shunsaku Tamiya, who has died at the age of 90.
For most of us the word “Tamiya” conjures up an image of a brightly coloured and well illustrated box with the trademark red and blue Tamiya logo containing a model kit, remote controlled car, or other wondrous piece of miniature engineering. Kids’ are shaped by the experiences their toys give them, and while it might seem strange to cite plastic models as a key influence for a hardware hacker, here were toys that could be built in all their intricate detail.
The Tamiya story started in the lumber business, diversifying into wooden toys, and then just like LEGO on the other side of the world from their Shizuoka base, into plastic injection mouldings. Shunsaku Tamiya was famous for his attention to detail and this very much came through in his products.
I learned this first-hand through a professional modeler friend who had the job of making the models featured on British Tamiya packaging. Though she dealt with the British agents of the company and could have spent her entire tenure talking to their marketing department, she found herself dealing with Mr. Tamiya personally. His box models were made by one of the best in the business, but even the quality of the packaging in a distant export market mattered to the boss.
We are sure the Tamiya company will continue to produce the best in plastic modeling, and we envy the kids who are now discovering them for the first time and sharpening an interest in making things that will stay with them for life. Thank you, Shunkasu Tamiya.