Hackaday Links: December 7, 2025

We stumbled upon a story this week that really raised our eyebrows and made us wonder if we were missing something. The gist of the story is that U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, who has degrees in both electrical and mechanical engineering, has floated the idea of using the nation’s fleet of emergency backup generators to reduce the need to build the dozens of new power plants needed to fuel the AI data center building binge. The full story looks to be a Bloomberg exclusive and thus behind a paywall — hey, you don’t get to be a centibillionaire by giving stuff away, you know — so we might be missing some vital details, but this sounds pretty stupid to us.

First of all, saying that 35 gigawatts of generation capacity sits behind the big diesel and natural gas-powered generators tucked behind every Home Depot and Walmart in the land might be technically true, but it seems to ignore the fact that backup generators aren’t engineered to run continuously. In our experience, even the best backup generators are only good for a week or two of continuous operation before something — usually the brushes — gives up the ghost. That’s perfectly acceptable for something that is designed to be operated only a few times a year, and maybe for three or four days tops before grid power is restored. Asking these units to run continuously to provide the base load needed to run a data center is a recipe for rapid failure. And even if these generators could be operated continuously, there’s still the issue of commandeering private property for common use, as well as the fact that you’d be depriving vital facilities like hospitals and fire stations of their backup power. But at least we’d have chatbots.

Well, that won’t buff right out. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, suffered a serious setback last week when it damaged the launchpad at Site 31/6 during a Soyuz launch. This is bad news because that facility is currently the only one in the world capable of launching Soyuz and Progress, both crucial launch vehicles for the continued operation of the International Space Station. As usual, the best coverage of the accident comes from Scott Manley, who has all the gory details. His sources inform him that the “service cabin,” a 20-ton platform that slides into position under the rocket once it has been erected, is currently situated inside the flame trench rather than being safely tucked into a niche in the wall. He conjectures that the service cabin somehow got sucked into the flame trench during launch, presumably by the negative pressure zone created by the passage of all that high-velocity rocket exhaust. Whatever the cause of the accident, it causes some problems for the Russians and the broader international space community. An uncrewed Progress launch to resupply the ISS was scheduled for December 20, and a crewed Soyuz mission is scheduled for July 2026. But without that service cabin, neither mission seems likely. Hopefully, the Russians will be able to get things tidied up quickly, but it might not matter anyway since there’s currently a bit of a traffic jam at the ISS.

We saw a really nice write-up over at Make: Magazine by Dom Dominici about his impressions from his first Supercon visit. Spoiler alert: he really liked it! He describes it as “an intimate, hands-on gathering that feels more like a hacker summer camp than a tech expo,” and that’s about the best summary of the experience that we’ve seen yet. His reaction to trying to find what he assumed would be a large convention center, but only finding a little hole-in-the-wall behind a pizza place off the main drag in Pasadena, is priceless; yes, that mystery elevator actually goes somewhere. For those of you who still haven’t made the pilgrimage to Pasadena, the article is a great look at what you’re missing.

And finally, we know we were a little rough on the Russians a couple of weeks back for their drunk-walking robot demo hell, but it really served to demonstrate just how hard it is to mimic human walking with a mechanical system. After all, it takes the better part of two years for a new human to even get the basics, and a hell of a lot longer than that to get past the random face-plant stage. But still, some humanoid robots are better than others, to the point that there’s now a Guinness Book of World Records category for longest walk by a humanoid robot. The current record was set last August, with a robot from Shanghai-based Agibot Innovations going on a 106-km walkabout without falling or (apparently) recharging. The journey took place in temperatures approaching 40°C and took 24 hours to complete, which means the robot kept up a pretty brisk walking pace over the course, which we suppose didn’t have any of the usual obstacles.

hackaday.com/2025/12/07/hackad…

I wonder what D&D would look like without ability modifiers?

AD&D didn't really have them, they were scoped so differently. I've seen a lot of OSR stuff use them these days, so much OSR pulls from OD&D and also 3rd edition for some reason. I feel like the scoping of them as linear is weird, especially with the standardization of the d20, so commonly people are getting +3 to +4 at level 1, and then need a +1 from its abilities to represent skill. So 1/5th to 1/4 of the die's spread is covered. So a 10 is "easy" and a 15 is "normal". And then it makes this giant chasm between "skilled" and "unskilled". So a level 8 wizard with 8 strength might have a 30% chance of failing to climb a wall a level 1 fighter with 18 strength would have a 50% chance of scaling. But to keep pace it means your characters are quickly getting +10s or more, or +0s, so your DCs kinda fall into "impossible or trivial" with no other options.

Similarily there's a bunch of design space you could in theory touch with the 3-18 scale using separate dice or using some tricks around the weighting at the top or bottom of the scale. I dunno, it's a thing I noodle over a lot.

USB Video Capture Devices: Wow! They’re All Bad!!

[VWestlife] purchased all kinds of USB video capture devices — many of them from the early 2000s — and put them through their paces in trying to digitize VHS classics like Instant Fireplace and Buying an Auxiliary Sailboat. The results were actually quite varied, but almost universally bad. They all worked, but they also brought unpleasant artifacts and side effects when it came to the final results. Sure, the analog source isn’t always the highest quality, but could it really be this hard to digitize a VHS tape?

The best results for digitizing VHS came from an old Sony device that was remarkably easy to use on a more modern machine.
It turns out there’s an exception to all the disappointment: the Sony Digital Video Media Converter (DVMC) is a piece of vintage hardware released in 1998 that completely outperformed the other devices [VWestlife] tested. There is a catch, but it’s a small one. More on that in a moment.

Unlike many other capture methods, the DVMC has a built-in time base corrector that stabilizes analog video signals by buffering them and correcting any timing errors that would cause problems like jitter or drift. This is a feature one wouldn’t normally find on budget capture devices, but [VWestlife] says the Sony DVMC can be found floating around on eBay for as low as 20 USD. It even has composite and S-Video inputs.

For an old device, [VWestlife] says using the DVMC was remarkably smooth. It needed no special drivers, defaults to analog input mode, and can be powered over USB. That last one may sound trivial, but it means there’s no worry about lacking some proprietary wall adapter with an oddball output voltage.

The catch? It isn’t really a USB device, and requires a FireWire (IEEE-1394) port in order to work. But if that’s not a deal-breaker, it does a fantastic job.

So if you’re looking to digitize older analog media, [VWestlife] says it might be worth heading to eBay and digging up a used Sony DVMC. But if one wants to get really serious about archiving analog media, capturing RF signals direct from the tape head is where it’s at.

Thanks to [Keith Olson] for the tip!

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Neat Techniques To Make Interactive Light Sculptures

[Voria Labs] has created a whole bunch of artworks referred to as Lumanoi Interactive Light Sculptures. A new video explains the hardware behind these beautiful glowing pieces, as well as the magic that makes their interactivity work.

The basic architecture of the Lumanoi pieces starts with a custom main control board, based around the ESP-32-S3-WROOM-2. It’s got two I2C buses onboard, as well as an extension port with some GPIO breakouts. The controller also has lots of protection features and can shut down the whole sculpture if needed. The main control board works in turn with a series of daisy-chained “cell” boards attached via a 20-pin ribbon cable. The cable carries 24-volt power, a bunch of grounds, and LED and UART data that can be passed from cell to cell. The cells are responsible for spitting out data to addressable LEDs that light the sculpture, and also have their own microcontrollers and photodiodes, allowing them to do all kinds of neat tricks.

As for interactivity, simple sensors provide ways for the viewer to interact with the glowing artwork. Ambient light sensors connected via I2C can pick up the brightness of the room as well as respond to passing shadows, while touch controls give a more direct interface to those interacting with the art.

[Voria Labs] has provided a great primer on building hardcore LED sculptures in a smart, robust manner. We love a good art piece here, from the mechanical to the purely illuminatory. Video after the break.

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Єврокомісія більше не має доступу до панелі управління рекламою в X після того, як ЄС оштрафував платформу на €120 млн, – Politico.

"Ваш рекламний обліковий запис було закрито",
– написав керівник відділу продуктів X Бієр.

🤔 Помста від Маска

Зеленський "майже божество серед лівих", але Україна "набагато більш корумпована, ніж росія", – Дональд Трамп-молодший на конференції в Досі.

Син Трампа також заявив, що США можуть згорнути підтримку України, а його батько може вийти з переговорного процесу. 🇺🇸

🤡 За його словами, українські багатії залишили країну, залишивши воювати "селянський клас"

Польщу виключили з обговорення щодо завершення війни України з росією, – повідомляє Polsat.

Країну не запросили на саміт 8 грудня в Лондоні, де обговорюватимуться кроки для врегулювання війни в Україні.

🤨Польські ексвисокопосадовців розцінили це, як ознаку падіння міжнародної ролі країни.

Anatomy Of A Minimalist Home Computer

There are plenty of well-known models among the 8-bit machines of the 1980s, and most readers could rattle them off without a thought. They were merely the stars among a plethora of others, and even for a seasoned follower of the retrocomputing world, there are fresh models from foreign markets that continue to surprise and delight. [Dave Collins] is treating us to an in-depth look at the VTech VZ-200, a budget machine that did particularly well in Asian markets. On the way, we learn a lot about a very cleverly designed machine.

The meat of the design centres not around the Z80 microprocessor or the 6847 video chip, but the three 74LS chips handling both address decoding and timing for video RAM access. That they managed this with only three devices is the exceptionally clever part. While there are some compromises similar to other minimalist machines in what memory ranges can be addressed, they are not sufficient to derail the experience.

Perhaps the most ingenuity comes in using not just the logic functions of the chips, but their timings. The designers of this circuit really knew the devices and used them to their full potential. Here in 2025, this is something novice designers using FPGAs have to learn; back then, it was learned the hard way on the breadboard.

All in all, it’s a fascinating read from a digital logic perspective as much as a retrocomputing one. If you want more, it seems this isn’t the only hacker-friendly VTech machine.

John Dalton, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Apple in crisi: lascia anche il responsabile dei chip Johny Srouji

Apple sta attraversando un periodo di grandi cambiamenti ai vertici, con l’uscita di figure chiave che hanno contribuito in modo determinante allo sviluppo tecnologico dell’azienda. L’ultimo dirigente a dare l’addio è Johny Srouji, Senior Vice President delle Tecnologie Hardware, noto per aver guidato lo sviluppo dei chip interni Apple, dalla serie A per dispositivi mobili fino ai recenti processori M per computer desktop.

Secondo fonti riportate da Bloomberg, Srouji avrebbe comunicato a Tim Cook la volontà di lasciare l’azienda, ipotizzando un futuro incarico in un’altra società. La sua uscita segue quella di altri dirigenti di rilievo: a dicembre hanno lasciato Apple anche John Giannandrea, responsabile dell’intelligenza artificiale, e Alan Dye, capo del design dell’interfaccia utente, quest’ultimo passato immediatamente a Meta.

Srouji è entrato in Apple nel 2008, guidando inizialmente lo sviluppo del chip A4, primo sistema su chip realizzato internamente. Negli anni, ha coordinato l’evoluzione della progettazione dei processori, fino a diventare vicepresidente senior delle Tecnologie Hardware. Recentemente, ha anche avviato il progetto di modem interno per sostituire componenti Qualcomm.

Bloomberg segnala che Tim Cook sta cercando di trattenere Srouji, proponendogli una maggiore remunerazione e il possibile ruolo di Chief Technology Officer (CTO), che lo porrebbe al secondo posto nella gerarchia Apple. Tuttavia, alcune fonti interne ritengono che Srouji potrebbe non accettare di lavorare sotto un CEO diverso da Cook.

Rimpasto dirigenziale e nuovi equilibri

Gli addii recenti hanno innescato il più significativo rinnovamento dirigenziale di Apple degli ultimi decenni. Diversi ex dirigenti hanno trovato collocazione in Meta: oltre a Alan Dye, anche Ke Yang, responsabile delle funzionalità di intelligenza artificiale di Siri, si è trasferito nel colosso di Zuckerberg.

In parallelo, Apple ha annunciato alcune nuove nomine: Jennifer Newstead, ex responsabile legale di Meta, sostituirà Kate Adams come consulente legale generale, ruolo che Adams ricoprirà fino alla pensione prevista per fine 2026. Anche Lisa Jackson, vicepresidente per l’ambiente, le politiche e le iniziative sociali, ha confermato il ritiro.

Secondo Bloomberg, il potere decisionale in Apple si sta concentrando su quattro dirigenti chiave: John Ternus, potenziale successore di Cook, Eddy Cue (servizi), Craig Federighi (software) e Sabih Khan, nuovo COO.

Tim Cook e le voci sul suo stato di salute

Parallelamente alle dimissioni, il CEO Tim Cook, 65 anni, è stato oggetto di speculazioni circa possibili problemi di salute, alimentate dall’osservazione di lievi tremori durante alcune riunioni interne.

Fonti vicine al CEO hanno però smentito ogni indiscrezione. Al momento, non è previsto un suo ritiro a breve termine, ma la successione resta un tema centrale nei dibattiti interni all’azienda.

L'articolo Apple in crisi: lascia anche il responsabile dei chip Johny Srouji proviene da Red Hot Cyber.

E se domani agli USA girasse male e ci spegnessero il cloud? L’Europa? Paralizzata in 2 secondi

Negli ultimi mesi due episodi apparentemente scollegati tra loro hanno messo in luce una verità scomoda: l’Europa non controlla più la propria infrastruttura digitale. E questa dipendenza, in uno scenario geopolitico sempre più teso, non è soltanto un rischio economico, ma una vulnerabilità sistemica.

Il primo campanello d’allarme è arrivato quando Microsoft ha improvvisamente disabilitato l’accesso ad Azure all’unità di unità di intelligence israeliana. Si trattava dell’Unità 8200, precedentemente accusata di aver spiato i palestinesi nei territori controllati da Israele utilizzando la tecnologia Microsoft. Nessun preavviso, nessuna gradualità: un interruttore che si spegne e mostra quanto il potere decisionale su infrastrutture critiche sia nelle mani di poche corporation globali.

Il secondo episodio è di oggi, ancora più emblematico, riguarda la recente disputa fra X (la piattaforma di Elon Musk) e la Commissione europea. Dopo una multa da 120 milioni di euro per violazioni delle norme europee, X ha cancellato l’account pubblicitario della Commissione, accusandola di aver utilizzato in modo improprio gli strumenti della piattaforma. Bruxelles si è difesa ricordando di aver sospeso da mesi ogni forma di pubblicità su X e di aver utilizzato soltanto gli strumenti messi a disposizione.

Al di là delle dinamiche tra multinazionali e istituzioni, il messaggio è chiaro: la capacità dell’UE di comunicare sui social media, informare i cittadini e attuare politiche digitali è subordinata alla volontà commerciale di aziende non europee delle quali non ha nessun controllo.

La fine dell’illusione: la tecnologia non è neutra

Questi episodi mostrano un punto chiave: chi controlla la tecnologia controlla anche i comportamenti, la comunicazione e persino la politica delle nazioni. L’Europa lo ha scoperto tardi, per anni convinta che la globalizzazione digitale fosse sinonimo di neutralità.

Ma parlare di tecnologia proprietaria significa affrontare una realtà molto diversa:

• servono anni di ricerca e sviluppo;
• serve visione politica di lungo periodo, indipendente dai cicli elettorali;
• serve percepire la tecnologia non come un settore industriale, ma come un pilastro strutturale della sicurezza nazionale.

E soprattutto significa accettare che nessun Paese è realmente sovrano se dipende da altri per servizi cloud, sistemi operativi, chip e infrastrutture digitali critiche.

Una dipendenza che ci espone a shock globali

Nel mondo iperconnesso di oggi, ogni incidente tecnologico ha effetti immediati e globali. Lo abbiamo visto recentemente con i blackout di AWS, Azure e Cloudflare (primo incidente e secondo incidente) hanno paralizzato servizi pubblici, aziende, banche, giornali, mobilità e sanità in mezzo mondo. Non si tratta più di “problemi tecnici”, ma di veri e propri rischi sistemici.

L’Europa, priva di un proprio stack tecnologico completo, vive in una condizione di dipendenza totale. Siamo un continente altamente digitalizzato che poggia… su fondamenta costruite altrove.

Serve un cloud europeo. E un sistema operativo europeo. E hardware europeo

Affermare la sovranità tecnologica non significa rifiutare il cloud, anzi: significa costruire il nostro.

Un cloud europeo, basato su hardware europeo, sistemi operativi europei, hypervisor europei e software europeo. Una filiera completa, dall’hardware all’applicazione.

Quanto tempo occorre? 20 anni!

Un percorso lungo, complesso, costoso. Ma oggi necessario più che lo sviluppo delle armi. Perché le armi del futuro, le armi “economiche”, sono queste e possono essere usate con un solo click.

• Serve un sistema operativo europeo, base di tutta la catena.
• Serve un hypervisor europeo, per garantire che la virtualizzazione non dipenda da logiche esterne.
• Serve un cloud europeo che risponda alle leggi europee, non a quelle di altri Paesi.
• Serve una filiera hardware, dal microchip ai server.

E serve soprattutto una scelta politica: programmare questo percorso per 20-30 anni, non per una legislatura.

Perché nell’attuale scacchiere geopolitico, chi controlla la tecnologia controlla le economie, le difese e le democrazie.

E oggi l’Europa non controlla nulla di tutto questo.

L'articolo E se domani agli USA girasse male e ci spegnessero il cloud? L’Europa? Paralizzata in 2 secondi proviene da Red Hot Cyber.