# 164: Heatsink in a Shoebox

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2016-08-09
- Length: 1h 08m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox

## Summary

Host Elecia White and guest Matthew White, a mathematics professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, discuss Christopher White's project to resurrect an Apple ][+ computer. They explore the hardware challenges, such as replacing a bad RAM chip and dealing with floppy drive issues, and review the software they wrote as children, including games like 'Eye of Eternal Death' and 'Lemonade Stand'. The conversation highlights the educational value of early 80s computing, contrasting the transparency of the 6502 architecture with modern opaque systems, and touches on Matthew's later work with a Timex Sinclair Z81 and his career choice to become a musician rather than a software engineer.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=6) Introduction: Elecia White, Christopher White, and Matthew White
- [1:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=77) Book Recommendation: Making Embedded Systems
- [7:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=420) Resurrecting the Apple ][+: Hardware Repair and Data Recovery
- [12:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=774) Learning to Program: Manuals, Magazines, and Early Software
- [22:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=1343) Childhood Games: Eye of Eternal Death and Lemonade Stand
- [38:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=2302) Hacking Copy Protection and Disk Drives
- [43:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=2635) The Timex Sinclair Z81 and the Heatsink in a Shoebox
- [53:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=3185) Modern Hardware vs. Vintage Simplicity: 6502 and VR
- [58:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox#t=3526) Matthew White's Career: Music, Math, and Software Engineering

## Topics

- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- Apple ][+ (product)
- Timex Sinclair Z81 (product)
- 6502 (chip)
- ADT Pro (tool)
- Making Embedded Systems (other)
- Eye of Eternal Death (product)
- Lemonade Stand (product)
- Castle Wolfenstein (product)
- Alien Rain (product)
- TRS-80 (product)
- ZX 80 (product)
- ZX 81 (product)
- Timex Sinclair 1000 (product)
- Memotech RAMpack (product)
- Forth (other)
- Arduino (product)
- Raspberry Pi (product)
- MSP430 (chip)
- Venus Probe (other)
- Eric Schlaepfer's Monster 6502 (product)
- Grant's 6502 Computer (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Ep 322: Fake Hackaday Writers, New Retro Computers, and a Web Rant](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2025-05-23-ep-322-fake-hackaday-writers-new-retro-computers-and-a-web-rant) (Hackaday Podcast)
- [An Interview with Ken Shirriff](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2017-09-25-an-interview-with-ken-shirriff) (The Amp Hour)
- [Apple HQ and Vintage Arcade Games - The Mothership Manifesto](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2011-06-15-apple-hq-and-vintage-arcade-games-the-mothership-manifesto) (The Amp Hour)
- [An Interview with Voja Antonic - Gerontogenous Galaksija Genesis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2015-04-30-an-interview-with-voja-antonic-gerontogenous-galaksija-genesis) (The Amp Hour)
- [005 - Circuits That Go Nowhere](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2017-11-06-005-circuits-that-go-nowhere) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-08-09-164-heatsink-in-a-shoebox. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.