Hackaday Newsletter 0x98

How far will you go to save ten cents? [HACKADAY]() Why x86 Needs To Die [Read Article Now»]( Too Much Over-optimization is Never Enough! By [Elliot Williams]( A discussion came up on [the Hackaday Discord PCB design channel]( about resistor networks, and it got me thinking about whether we (the hacker community) use them in designs or not. These handy devices often take the shape of an IC, SMD or otherwise, but between the pins are a bunch of resistors instead of active silicon. They come in all sorts of configurations and tolerances, but the point is usually the same: When you need a bunch of similar resistors, it’s cheaper to go with a network package. But how much cheaper? I did a quick search for 1 kΩ resistors and the corresponding network, and came up with similar prices for the resistors and networks – but the network has eight resistors in it! That’s an eightfold savings! Which, at a price of roughly one cent per piece, is less than a dime. While it’s certainly true that if you’re making a million widgets, saving a penny per widget matters. But do you spend the time to optimize your projects down to such margins? I want to say “of course not!” but maybe you do? For me, worrying about seven cents in a PCB design that I may make ten of is foolishness. But still, I’ve used resistor networks for their other side effects: the resistors in a common package tend to be very tightly matched, even if their overall tolerance isn’t. If you’re making something like [an R-2R DAC](, that’s a definite advantage. Or if you’re space constrained, or just hate placing lots of tiny resistors, the networks shine. I often forget about resistor networks, and when I do think of them, I think of them in terms of cost savings in industrial applications. But maybe that’s not fair – maybe they do have their hacker uses as well. Are there other parts like this that we should all know about? From the Blog --------------------------------------------------------------- [User Beware: The Fine Line Between Content and Code]( By [Tom Nardi]( When a desktop theme installs software for you, all is not as it seems. [Read more »]( [The Roller Ship Was Not An Effective Way To Cross The High Seas]( By [Lewin Day]( This is the worst, and craziest, ship design you have ever seen. [Read more »]( [Tech Support… Can AI be Worse?]( By [Al Williams]( Al had such a bad time with tech support, he wonders if AI could be worse. [Read more »]( [Hackaday Podcast]( [Hackaday Podcast Episode 264: Cheap Minimills, 65-in-1 Electronics, and Time on Moon]( By [Hackaday Editors]() What happened last week on Hackaday? The Podcast will get you up to speed. [Read more »]( If You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [LoRA, With No Radio]( [Dodge, The Weird Tripod Robot]( [Clever E-Ink Driver Does 32 Levels of Grey, Avoids Update Flicker, And More]( [2024 Home Sweet Home Automation: [HEX]POD – Climate Tracker and Digital Nose]( [Webserver Runs on Android Phone]( [Homebrew GPU Tackles Quake]( [Hackaday]() NEVER MISS A HACK [Share]( [Share]( [Share]( [Terms of Use]( [Privacy Policy]( [Hackaday.io]( [Hackaday.com]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update preferences]( Hackaday.com · 61 S Fair Oaks Ave Ste 200 · Pasadena, CA 91105-2270 · USA