Firmware, Netburner and Semiconductors - Chris's Capitalism Colloquy

As much as electronics is about the technology, knowing the basics behind businesses can be important to having the capital to keep making fun projects and gadgets that can impact the world.

• HackaDay is looking for a new home (and a new editor). Jason Calcanis is looking to sell it to move onto something else and Caleb Kraft (former editor-in-chief) is moving on to other projects.
• Dave has been having a heckuva time getting his MakerBot firmware to work. He can't get ahold of a simple AVRdude EXE file.
• Sometimes there aren't steady builds because they expect you to build it yourself. This stems from firmware repositories and the idea that you should have access to the source code.
• What firmware revision control do you use? Dave and Chris have both used SVN but haven't dove into Git (which seems to be the defacto standard these days).
• The Microsoft architect who was the first paid traveler into space was Charles Simonyi
• But why go to space when you can just have your picture taken up there? The ARKYD telescope was funded on Kickstarter to the tune of $1.5M!
• Hardware is hard...who knew?
• Investing is hard too!
• Chris has been thinking about low capital businesses. Topping the list are software and brands...which is why VCs love them. Chris also thinks mining, but Dave has seen the large up front capital outlays.
• There is a rise in one-person million dollar businesses (but not really, since some of it is outsourcing tasks)
• Thanks to our sponsor this week, NetBurner! Check out their offer for 20% off dev boards for listeners. Go to NetBurner.com/theamphour
• The Leap Motion is surprisingly mostly software and then IR LEDs. Mike Hord from Sparkfun shows off the hardware and the current consumption.
• The "Systemization" of chips continues, with vendors pulling in more and more of the design. This is driving the Internet of Things.
• Chip of the Week: A Bluetooth Chip from Dialog Semiconductor, the DA14580. This rivals TI's CC254x and Nordic Semiconductor's nRF51822.
• If you don't want to buy an SoC that has everything on board, you can grab a design from TI's precision library.
• Or you could go learn how to be an IC designer. But how? The question was asked on the EEVblog forum recently. (hint: slowly and with good credentials)
• Tektronix is headed to the fab for their next generation ADC SoC (which is the heart of real time scopes). They are tapping the 350 GHz SiGe IBM Process (WOWZA!).

If you're in New York City, Chris is planning a meetup for Friday the 19th in the city (he picks up his Google Glass the following day). Also, if you want to win a t-shirt, submit links or ideas to The Amp Hour Subreddit.

Thanks to Bryan Champ for the picture of the “Capitalism Works For Me!” sign.