# Bonkers Birthday Badinage

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2012-06-18
- Length: 1h 09m
- Episode: 100
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/the-amp-hour-100-bonkers-birthday-badinage/

## Summary

Hosts Dave Jones and Chris Gammell celebrate the 100th episode of The Amp Hour, discussing the show's growth to 5,000 listeners and the launch of a new discussion server based on the Hacker News engine. They analyze the semiconductor industry, noting TSMC's $8-10 billion investment in a 450mm wafer fab and Intel's dismissal of ARM as a competitor. The episode also covers practical engineering topics, including the use of gallium nitride (GaN) FETs, the TI LM5113 driver, and the feasibility of sourcing cheap Chinese electronics components for product design.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=0) Introduction and 100th Episode Celebration
- [3:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=197) Dave Jones's Custom Fluke Multimeter Cake
- [7:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=443) New Discussion Server and Community Growth
- [23:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=1394) Semiconductor Industry News: TSMC Fabs and Intel vs ARM
- [38:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=2335) Job Seeking: PCB Business Cards and Interview Tactics
- [47:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=2837) Cheap Chinese E-Book Readers and Component Sourcing
- [52:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=3157) FPGA Security Claims and Through-Silicon Vias
- [1:01:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage#t=3716) Gallium Nitride FETs and the TI LM5113 Driver

## Topics

- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- TSMC (company)
- Intel (company)
- ARM (company)
- Texas Instruments (company)
- LM5113 (chip)
- Gallium Nitride (material)
- Fluke (product)
- Hacker News (tool)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode 25: Challenges for the Semiconductor Industry to Grow to $1 Trillion](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2023-07-17-episode-25-challenges-for-the-semiconductor-industry-to-grow-to-1-trillion) (The Circuit)
- [EP: 126 NVIDIA/AMD Back in China! TSMC Earnings, and Agentic AI Causes Total Infra Upgrade](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2025-07-21-ep-126-nvidia-amd-back-in-china-tsmc-earnings-and-agentic-ai-causes-total-infra) (The Circuit)
- [Headline: Intel Throws a Curveball | The Book on Gallium Nitride](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2021-03-26-headline-intel-throws-a-curveball-the-book-on-gallium-nitride) (EE Times Current)
- [The Circuit Ep:1 - Introductions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2022-12-21-the-circuit-ep-1-introductions) (The Circuit)
- [ON Semi’s Acquisition | TSMC’s Finer Nodes | Tesla’s AI Chip | China’s Fabless Companies](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2019-04-26-on-semis-acquisition-tsmcs-finer-nodes-teslas-ai-chip-chinas-fabless-companies) (EE Times Current)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-06-18-bonkers-birthday-badinage. 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 The Amp Hour.