Hackaday Newsletter 0x9C

Make or Build? Or Both? [HACKADAY]() NASA Is Now Tasked With Developing A Lunar Time Standard, Relativity Or Not [Read Article Now»]( Tool-Building Mammals By [Elliot Williams]( It’s often said of us humans that we’re the only “tool-using mammals”. While not exclusive to the hacker community, a bunch of us are also “tool-building mammals” when we have the need or get the free time. I initially wanted to try to draw some distinction between the two modes, but honestly I think all good hackers do both, all the time. We were talking about the cool variety of test probes on the podcast, inspired by Al Williams’ [piece on back probes](. Sometimes you need something that’s needle-thin and can sneak into a crimp socket, and other times you need something that can hold on like alligator clips. The infinite variety of jigs and holders that make it easier to probe tiny pins is nothing short of amazing. Some of these are made, and others bought. You do what you can, and you do what you need to. You can learn a lot from looking at the professional gear, but you can learn just as much from looking at other hackers’ bodge jobs. In the podcast, I mentioned one of my favorite super-low-tech hacks: making a probe holder out of a pair of pliers and a rubber band to hold them closed. Lean this contraption onto the test point in question and gravity does the rest. I can’t even remember where I learned this trick from, but I honestly use it more than the nice indicator-arm contraptions that I built for the same purpose. It’s the immediacy and lack of fuss, I think. So what’s your favorite way of putting the probe on the point? Home-made and improvised, or purpose-built and professional? Or both? Let us know! (And if you’re reading this in the newsletter version, swing by Hackaday on Saturday morning to get in on the conversation.) From the Blog --------------------------------------------------------------- [2024 Home Sweet Home Automation: The Winners Are In]( By [Tom Nardi]( Check out these awesome entries in our Home Automation Contest. [Read more »]( [Mining and Refining: Uranium and Plutonium]( By [Dan Maloney]( Radioactive elements are all around, but getting them into useful concentrations is the trick. [Read more »]( [VAR Is Ruining Football, and Tech Is Ruining Sport]( By [Lewin Day]( Lewin wonders if the instant replay is taking the fun out of professional soccer. [Read more »]( [Hackaday Podcast]( [Hackaday Podcast Episode 269: 3D Printed Flexure Whegs, El Cheapo Bullet Time, and a DIY Cell Phone Sniffer]( By [Hackaday Editors]() What happened last week on Hackaday? The Podcast will get you up to speed. [Read more »]( If You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [Corral Some Zippy Blue Flames Into 3D Printed Troughs]( [Tiny Prisms Let You See What Lies Beneath a BGA Chip]( [T3rminal Cyberdeck Has Looks to Die For]( [$1 TinyML Board For Your “AI” Sensor Swarm]( [3D Printed Wheels Passively Transform To Climb Obstacles]( [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