Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My Business Card Runs Linux

thirtythreeforty.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 415 posts

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#61

Post by chucksmash »

nl wrote: post #43
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't know why the downvotes either. Its not intuitive, but a sad fact of life and just the way supply and demand works.

Yeah, maybe it's a "I don't like this" vote. I tend to agree - I find embedded software engineering skills quite intimidating. Nevertheless, the market demand just isn't as high.

Where's the mystery? Someone looks at what this guy did for his business card and, to paraphrase, says "Wow, look at this guy's skills. He must charge a very, very non-average amount of money for them."

Your response to this is "But actually, according to payscale.com, an average embedded software engineer only makes X."

1. Nobody likes but-actually posts.

2. Quoting average salary when someone is commenting on how non-average a guy's skillset is isn't really relevant.

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#62

Post by pkolaczk »

jaclaz wrote: post #10
nilsb wrote: post #3

While it's a fascinating project I'd have some security concerns about plugging someone's USB business card into my computer.

Well, it is appropriate as a business card for an embedded systems engineers, not so much for a system security one! More seriously, I never managed to understand the "obsession" with ROHS (this here is just an example): >I made sure to have a lead-free process—the boards, parts, and solder paste are all RoHS—so that I wouldn't feel bad about giving them to people. I mean, you are creating something that (besides bei…

I don't get this lead-free hatred on internet forums. People say they can't solder with lead-free, and that it is terrible, and that joints look dull. So much hatred that I actually tried it out. And I found the process is basically just the same and there is nothing to be afraid of. Just set the solder iron temperature a bit higher and that's it. Works like a charm.

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#63

Post by tluyben2 »

Nice work! MicroPython is nice as well although I prefer C for now, but that's probably just because MicroPython would not be very feasible at the moment for projects we do.

I have been dreaming about making our card (see my profile here if interested) run a real (well embedded but) OS; we had a version which could run some embedded OSes but to cut on material costs, we had to remove a mcu which got us down now to less than 23kB of workable memory. It is possible to run 'an OS' in that like computers from the 70-80s; the speed of the current mcu matches more with that era as well.

I like this kind of thing, but I would want a display on it and maybe no USB (just a radio circuit communicate with it for updates etc).

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#64

Post by mikece »

Maybe I'm twisted but my first thought if that if I were a pen tester I would want business cards exactly like this. And yes, they would run Linux... and some other things. :-)

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#65

Post by LeonM »

chrismmay wrote: post #53

Very cool project! It would be neat to incorporate WiFi into the next version instead of USB. Then you could publish a mobile app to communicate with it. It would be fun to play with at parties. https://www.gridconnect.com/products/esp8266ex-tiny-wireless... .

> instead of USB

And how would you power the card?

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#66

Post by hvasilev »

I wonder what world would we be living in if people like this fellow were actually focusing on automation and not on making business cards that run Linux.

Maybe we wouldn't be living in such a lowly automated reality, using concepts from the previous centuries. Robotics might even make sense...

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#67

Post by neurostimulant »

To me it's truly mind-bogging that a tiny $1.42 chip contains almost everything needed to boot Linux: a 500mhz cpu, 32MB SDRAM, 2D GPU, SD/MMC support, and USB controller, all packaged inside a 10mm x 10mm chip? It makes me really want to get into embedded development.

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#69

Post by interfixus »

Tech- and designwise, very neat.

And then there's the occasional sourfaced old party pooper like myself. Two seconds in, and I no longer see the sweet wizardry or the polished black surface; I only see @gmail, internally translating to "someone who doesn't really care".

Re: My Business Card Runs Linux

#70

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

This is cool as it showcases his embedded engineering prowess.

Years of startup meets[1] have left a bad taste in mouth for the business cards. I've seen people exchange business cards ceremoniously, only to give a missed call to each other immediately.

Business cards are a waste of money, paper and I don't want to get started on the plastics. I honestly thought that proliferation of NFC in smartphones would help to change this behaviour, but with Google shutting down Android Beam(its reasoning: no one is using it) and newer, cheaper smartphones without NFC; I think that ship has sailed.

At-least, in WhatsApp countries; people share contacts via WhatsApp.

[1]https://hitstartup.com/honest-startup-meet/

Post reply on HN