Hackaday Newsletter 0x94

Wireless options are so good, you won't miss cables! [HACKADAY]() Parts We Miss: The Mains Transformer [Read Article Now»]( Wireless All the Things! By [Elliot Williams]( Neither Tom Nardi nor I are exactly young anymore, and we can both remember a time when joysticks were actually connected with wires to the computer or console, for instance. Back then, even though wireless options were on the market, you’d still want the wired version if it was a reaction-speed game, because wireless links just used to be too slow. Somehow, in the intervening years, and although we never even really noticed the transition as such, everything has become wireless. And that includes our own hacker projects. Sure, the ESP8266 and following other WiFi-capable chips made a big difference, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for the nRF24 chipset, which made at least point-to-point wireless affordable and easy. Others will feel the same about ZigBee, but the point stands: nothing has wires anymore, except to charge back up. The reason? As [this experiment comparing the latency of many different wireless connections]( bears out, wireless data links have just gotten that good, to the point that the latency in the radio is on par with what you’d get over USB. And the relevant software ecosystems have made it easier to go wireless as well. Except for the extra power requirement, and for cases where you need to move a lot of data, there’s almost no reason that any of your devices need wires anymore. Are you with us? Will you throw down your chains and go wireless? From the Blog --------------------------------------------------------------- [Electrical Steel: The Material at Heart of the Grid]( By [Dan Maloney]( When you need an efficient giant transformer, you need electrical steel. [Read more »]( [Ethernet For Hackers: The Very Basics]( By [Arya Voronova]( You want to know how ethernet works at the physical level? Jump in with Arya! [Read more »]( [Hands On: Bus Pirate 5]( By [Tom Nardi]( Tom takes the brand new Bus Pirate out for a spin. Sometimes a decade's patience pays off. [Read more »]( [Hackaday Podcast]( [Hackaday Podcast Episode 258: So Much Unix, Flipper Flip-out, and the Bus Pirate 5]( By [Hackaday Editors]() What happened last week on Hackaday? The Podcast will get you up to speed. [Read more »]( If You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [Why Stealing a Car with Flipper Zero is a Silly Idea]( [3D Printing Silicone Parts]( [Pi 5 and SDR Team Up for a Digital Scanner You Can Actually Afford]( [Benchmarking Latency Across Common Wireless Links For MCUs]( [Have a Ball with This 3D Printed Sphere-Making Machine]( [Lift Those Pins With Ease]( [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