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Submission + - 27-Year-Old EXE becomes Python in minutes AI-Assisted reverse engineering (adafruit.com)

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: Reddit post detailing how someone took a 27-year-old visual basic EXE file, fed it to Claude 3.7, and watched as it reverse-engineered the program and rewrote it in Python. It was an old Visual Basic 4 program they had written in 1997. Running a VB4 exe in 2024 can be a real yak-shaving compatibility nightmare, chasing down outdated DLLs and messy workarounds. So! OP decided to upload the exe to Claude 3.7.

Submission + - The "Nubbin bug" lives – A Star Trek prop resurrection with 3D Printing (adafruit.com) 1

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 1, Episode 25 (May 1988), “Conspiracy”, was one of my favorites. It featured a mind-controlling alien parasite referred to as the “Nubbin bug”, or at least by The Greatest Generation Star Trek podcast. Back in 1998, there was not a lot of computer CGI, so it was a stop-motion prop. Years later, the co-hosts of The Greatest Generation, a fun Star Trek podcast, stumbled upon the original silicone molds used to create the Nubbin bug while a listener found in a warehouse clearance sale in Van Nuys, California. The podcasters acquired the mold. Shortly after, a listener from Atlanta who works at a prop studio offered to help preserve the prop since the original rubber material would decay over time. This led to the creation of archival-quality plaster casts to preserve the iconic alien for generations to come. And they did some more, using 3D scanners – the Nubbin bug was recreated as a 3D model, allowing for exact replicas to be printed. Over 100 of these replicas were made, each one hand-painted and assembled to match the original as closely as possible. Their handmade / 3D-printed versions look almost identical to the bugs that appeared in the episode. They also designed a Playschool-style retail packaging box to package the bugs. Fans of the podcast can purchase the limited-edition replicas. I don’t know if they will post the 3D files, but I’ll email and ask. This is a really cool project from one of the weirdest/best episodes, and I am thrilled that someone was able to preserve this piece of Sci-Fi history in such a cool way.

Submission + - Is it time to update the Open Hardware Definition for AI or make a parallel one?

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: In a recent blog post, Adafruit explores whether it's time to update the Open Hardware Definition (OHD) to include considerations for AI, or if a parallel definition should be created specifically for AI hardware. The current OHD was established to promote open, accessible hardware designs and ensure that hardware creators can share their work freely. However, as AI becomes increasingly embedded in hardware projects, the definition may need to evolve to address the complexities AI introduces, such as data ethics, software dependencies, and hardware performance transparency.

The article raises key questions about how AI-integrated hardware could impact the open hardware community. Should the OHD be expanded to cover AI-specific concerns, or would a separate definition be more appropriate to address the nuances of AI hardware? The discussion invites input from the community on how best to maintain the spirit of open hardware while accommodating the rapidly advancing field of AI.

Read the full post on Adafruit’s blog: Is it time to update the Open Hardware Definition for AI, or make a parallel one for AI?

Submission + - SPAM: Is Stratasys a 3D printing patent troll? Stratasys v. Bambu Lab

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: What’s a solution? And not just for this, but really any 3D patent trolling a structured prior art database is probably the easier first step, because then anyone who is targeted by one of these could use it to go after the patent. There have been other efforts to do similar things, and the relatively focused scope of 3D printers could make it effective. An organization like the Open Source Hardware association could help lead this effort, coordinating the community for a fund that could be used to preemptively invalidate 3D printing patents and build a giant structured corpus of prior art to use in shared defenses.

Could also be a “donate” button on a Prusa order on check out “donate to the invalidate 3D printing patents fund” which would be the prior art database.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Open-Source electronics maker Adafruit switches to producing face shields & (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: Tom's Hardware talked to Adafruit about what it’s like to switch from selling tech to selling protective gear, and when hobbyists can expect things to return to normal. In March of 2020, Adafruit was deemed an essential service and business for critical manufacturing in NYC by executive order 202.6, making face shields and making/shipping critical components and electronics for COVID-19 related efforts and testing.

Submission + - Rumblefish claims it owns "America the Beautiful" by United States Navy Band (adafruit.com)

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: Adafruit is now shipping the USA made open-source Arduinos, in celebration Ladyada the engineer posted a Arduino rotating in front of an American flag with the public domain “America the Beautiful” by United States Navy Band as the music. Adafruit immediately received notice from from YouTube stating that the song is owned by Rumblefish. Rumblefish previously claimed to own copyright to ambient birdsongs too.

Submission + - Open source hardware pioneer Ladyada interviews the new MakerBot CEO (adafruit.com)

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: Open source hardware pioneer and founder of Adafruit, Limor "Ladyada" Fried sat down and interviewed the new CEO of MakerBot, Jonathan Jaglom. She asked some really tough questions had some suggestions for them too if they're going to turn things around. Discussed: Is there a desire for MakerBot to patch things up with the open source community? Assuring the 3D community there was not any plans to DRM filament and specifically hearing "patents are not the way to win" from the new CEO. Lastly, she suggest the open-sourcing of some specific elements of the MakerBot to get back to its open-source hardware roots — Full overview here.

Comment Re:Are you backing away from Open Source HW? (Score 4, Informative) 139

by ptorrone (#45457299) Attached to: Interview: Ask Limor Fried About Open-Source Hardware and Adafruit

hi there, i'm one of the folks who work with limor at adafruit and i'm familiar with this product. this is one of the few products that we had to sign many NDA's in order to develop, so we are not able to open source it as per the agreement(s). for that reason we do not put the OSHW logo on it. we will be doing more with BTLE and for those we will have fully open source designs.

Submission + - Hardware is now open (sourced) for business

Submitted by ptorrone
ptorrone writes: CNBC has an interesting article about the growing trend of hardware companies going open-source "The open-source hardware movement is migrating from the garage to the marketplace. Companies that follow an open-source philosophy make their physical designs and software code available to the public. By doing so, these companies engage a wave of makers, hobbyists and designers who don't just want to buy products, but have a hand in developing them". Also in the article, New York City based, open-source hardware company, Adafruit, hit $20 million in revenue this year, tripling year over year.
Open Source

Submission + - Hardware Hacker Ladyada Proposes Patent and Education Reform to President of USA (eff.org)

Submitted by
ptorrone
ptorrone writes: "In a welcome turn of events, President Barack Obama spoke directly to the patent troll problem and the need for more comprehensive patent reform yesterday in a "Fireside Hangout" — a live question and answer session hosted in a Google+ hangout. The President was responding to a question by the prominent electrical engineer and entrepreneur Limor "Ladyada" Fried of Adafruit Industries, who in 2009 won an EFF Pioneer Award for her work with free software and open-source hardware."

Comment Re:Company, good, as a person, I'm not sure (Score 1) 56

by ptorrone (#42349587) Attached to: Open-Source Hardware Hacker Ladyada Awarded Entrepreneur of the Year

hi "anonymous" - there isn't anyone that's worked with us at adafruit and limor that hasn't continued to work with us in some way that i am aware of. i've been part of just about every meeting or interaction on any of our products and limor has never said anything about "money" ever. if you've actually worked with her (or us) you'd know how bizarre your comment is. anyone is welcome to contact mitch altman, or jay silver or anyone we work with (we're very proud of all the makers we work with) - everyone at adafruit loves working here, it's a real family and you're free to contact any of us and me directly and i'll gladly have you chat with anyone here if you're actually someone we've worked with. no full time employee has left the company and we've never fired anyone :)
Open Source

Submission + - Open-source hardware hacker Ladyada awarded Entrepreneur of the Year (entrepreneur.com)

Submitted by
ptorrone
ptorrone writes: "Limor "Ladyada" Fried of open-source hardware company Adafruit Industries was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by Entrepreneur Magazine. From the article — "Recognizable by her signature vivid-pink locks, Fried (or Ladyada, as she is known on the internet) is one of the dominant forces behind the maker movement--a legion of do-it-yourself-minded folks who create cool things by tweaking everyday technology. Last year New York City-based Adafruit did a booming $10 million trade in sales of DIY open-source electronic hardware kits"."

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