Embedded.fm · 31 Mar 2016 · 55m
Kelly McEvers, host of NPR’s All Things Considered and the new podcast Embedded, discusses her definition of 'embedded' reporting, ranging from war zones in Iraq and Syria to Skid Row in Los Angeles. She details the specific hardware she uses for field recording, including dual-recording devices, lavalier microphones, and satellite uplinks, while explaining the ethical and legal constraints of hidden mics. McEvers also reflects on the psychological toll of conflict reporting, the impact of drone technology in Yemen, and the importance of engineers considering the real-world consequences of their designs.
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Hackaday editors Mike Szczys and Elliot Williams review the week's top hacks, including DIY ribbon microphones, underclocked ESP8266 communication, and an IPv6 LED display. They discuss articles on the 50th anniversary of the 'Mother of All Demos' and the end of the Chevy Volt era. Guest Bob Baddeley joins to discuss his article on the widespread and invasive use of facial recognition technology in public spaces and private venues.
Ross Yeager, VP of Device Platform Software at Skydio, discusses the company's vertically integrated manufacturing in California and its pioneering fully autonomous drone technology. He details the engineering challenges of building complex embedded systems with multiple microcontrollers and SoCs, emphasizing the critical need for safety, reliability, and rigorous testing in high-stakes government and first responder applications. Yeager also reflects on his career path, from early Kickstarter projects and work at Boosted Boards and Altera to leading software architecture at Skydio.
Chris Gammell, a developer advocate at Hologram and founder of Contextual Electronics, joins Elecia and Chris White of Embedded.fm to discuss hardware prototyping, learning strategies, and industry tools. The conversation covers the challenges of cellular IoT connectivity, the utility of the HackRF software-defined radio, and debugging techniques using the J-Trace Pro. They also explore pedagogical concepts like the Dreyfus model for learning programming and hardware, emphasizing the importance of iteration and mental health in engineering careers.
Alvaro Prieto and Jen, hosts of the Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast, discuss their backgrounds in firmware engineering at companies like Apple, Amazon, and Planet. They contrast the high-volume, rapid-cycle nature of consumer electronics with the flexible timelines of industrial hardware, highlighting challenges like silicon errata, OTA update strategies, and the difficulty of finding competent firmware engineers. The conversation covers reverse engineering techniques, including protocol analysis and firmware dumping, inspired by creators like Micah Elizabeth Scott and Dimitri Greenberg.
Jen and Alvaro, hosts of the Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast, discuss 2025 trends including the consolidation of media power, the Right to Repair movement, and the rise of surveillance technologies like Flock cameras. They highlight the work of 404 Media, iFixit, and researchers like Ben Jordan and Jon GainSec in exposing privacy violations and promoting repairability. The conversation also covers the ethical implications of AI, the democratization of hardware via cheap microcontrollers like the ESP32 and RP2040, and personal projects involving debugging tools and vintage computing.
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