Top all-time · #455
Computers Are Bad
Personal blog · computer.rip · on HN as jcrawfordorsystemshardware
Computers Are Bad is a personal blog at computer.rip about systems and hardware. Since 2020, 124 different Hacker News readers have linked it 243 times, most often “Computers Are Bad: A newsletter”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-25, and you can follow it by feed.
Sometimes recommended · 10 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link computer.rip for well researched technology history, especially retrotech such as teletypes, Minuteman missile communications, the OSI model and ATMs. Commenters call its writing interesting and a favourite.
- Recommended for · 10 comments
- One commenter calls a post a very good read; another calls the author's work excellent and a favourite.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Computers Are Bad: A newsletter7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2020-09-11
- The Actual OSI Model6 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2021-03-28
- Free Public WiFi6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2023-07-30
- Flock and Urban Surveillance6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2025-12-27
- The Top of the DNS Hierarchy4 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2024-02-12
- Plastic Money3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-09-04
- The Parallel Port3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-01-29
- A pedantic review of the Las Vegas loop3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-08-13
- Memories of .us3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2025-11-25
- Computers Are Broken3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-08-08
What Hacker News says?
Good article on this by a fellow hner https://computer.rip/2025-11-11-dot-us.html
Comment linking /2025-11-11-dot-us.html
on “.name Termination”Submitted ShotSpotter: listening in on the neighborhood as a story · 523 points
HN discussion> Step zero is actually having a process/protocol where any phone is tamper evident meaning we can tell 100% that this call came from this operator and the operator knows the call came from this user. This basically doesn't work because the mapping between phone numbers, users and operators isn't exactly 1:1:1. Some businesses have a single number that they use as Caller ID on all their calls , despite having one co…
Comment linking /2023-08-07-STIRred-AND-SHAKEN.html
on “AT&T says criminals stole phone records of 'nearly all' customers in data breach”Submitted Buy payphones and retire as a story · 476 points
HN discussionThe pager isn't top secret. Pagers employ unencrypted communications and (because they are receive-only devices) use a broadcast system to deliver messages to the pager. [0] Israel is publicly very, very friendly with at least one very wealthy Five Eyes country, and may have less-public support from many other wealthy and technologically sophisticated countries. If Israel happened to not have the domestically-develo…
Comment linking /2020-12-15-weird-wireless.html
on “Hezbollah pager explosions kill several people in Lebanon”Submitted Why radio receivers won’t tune 800-900 MHz as a story · 439 points
HN discussionI wanted to share one of his pieces with a friend, so I sent the URL in a text message, and my friend (a network technician) responded with "Uh, is that link safe?" The title of the piece was "Free Public WiFi" which makes it look even more suspicious, haha... https://computer.rip/2023-07-29-Free-Public-WiFi.html
Comment linking /2023-07-29-Free-Public-WiFi.html
on “Buy payphones and retire”Submitted Just disconnect the internet as a story · 402 points
HN discussionYes, that essay is outstanding! I largely left out mention of IPv6 because it's a whole different can of worms, but as that article presents, it aims to make the situation radically simpler but in practice, well, doesn't. Cue the XKCD about making a new standard. A bit ago I touched on various competitors to IP on my blog-thing ( https://computer.rip/ ) but I need to find time to give the topic a more thorough treat…
Comment linking /
on “How Do Routers Work, Really?”Submitted Minuteman missile communications as a story · 387 points
HN discussionHandy place if you get caught short, at least if there was a roll - https://computer.rip/f/minuteman/teleprinter.jpg
Comment linking /f/minuteman/teleprinter.jpg
on “Minuteman missile communications”Submitted RuBee as a story · 347 points
HN discussionThere's actually a KML link buried in the text: https://computer.rip/f/minuteman/90th-mw.kmz It will open directly in Google Earth and put you right on the scene in Armageddon, Wyoming, which appears to be roughly eighty miles south of Bumfark, Nowhere.
Comment linking /f/minuteman/90th-mw.kmz
on “Minuteman missile communications”Submitted IPMI as a story · 280 points
HN discussionHere is a great run down of that history: https://computer.rip/2024-02-25-a-history-of-the-tty.html Early versions had to be mechanically synced at the sending and receiving side. The typists had strict timings so the other end could receive it. This led to a version of punch cards that could be pre-typed and then fed in automatically, reducing the skill needed of the operator. The linage to teletypes were almost ob…
Comment linking /2024-02-25-a-history-of-the-tty.html
on “A USB Interface to the "Mother of All Demos" Keyset”Submitted Air Traffic Control as a story · 264 points
HN discussionThe OSI model hasn't been accurate representation of ip networking since pretty much day 1. It was made specifically for a different protocol, but in the stack we use today some layers are better split up in 2, some protocols exists in multiple layers. It's a nice metaphor but I think it's time to drop it! https://computer.rip/2021-03-27-the-actual-osi-model.html
Comment linking /2021-03-27-the-actual-osi-model.html
on “The journey of an internet packet: Exploring networks with traceroute”Submitted Secret Military Telephone Buttons as a story · 250 points
HN discussionPeople trying to apply the principles of democracy to corporations are misguided. And therefore, corporations function most efficiently, essentially, as autocracies with fascist features. It is not difficult to compare the corporate style with fascism in many elements: certainly more similarities there than a socialist nation, or a liberal democracy, where we've often said that politicians shouldn't be businessman,…
Comment linking /2024-09-08-private-lines.html
on “California is chasing wealth that has feet”Submitted The Actual OSI Model as a story · 232 points
HN discussionHere’s that article you’re asking for. Smart Cards originated from pay phones https://computer.rip/2023-09-03-plastic-money.html
Comment linking /2023-09-03-plastic-money.html
on “Misunderstanding about the details of how Apply Pay works”Submitted USB On-The-Go as a story · 208 points
HN discussionhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41019604 https://computer.rip/2024-07-20-minuteman-missile-communicat...
Comment linking /2024-07-20-minuteman-missile-communications.html
on “The guidance system and computer of the Minuteman III nuclear missile”Submitted Omnimax as a story · 201 points
HN discussionOSI was was two network stacks fighting with each other, the circuit-switched telco X.25 successor and the packet-switched DEC / Xerox anti-Internet. See also https://computer.rip/2021-03-27-the-actual-osi-model.html and https://dotat.at/@/2024-03-26-iso-osi-usw.html
Comment linking /2021-03-27-the-actual-osi-model.html
on “The Rise of Worse Is Better (1991)”Submitted A History of the TTY as a story · 192 points
HN discussionDid someone say "religious"? https://computer.rip/2020-06-14-manifest-telephone.html I said that religion does not thrive under capitalism, and of course this was the fate met by the Bell system. The breakup of the Bell system in 1982 occurred primarily in response to their very high rates, which were (accurately) seen as symptomatic of the monopoly they enjoyed. CNBC Reporting Live from Jack Welch's funeral, March…
Comment linking /2020-06-14-manifest-telephone.html
on “Power Failure: The downfall of General Electric”Submitted Memories of .us as a story · 184 points
HN discussionhttps://computer.rip/
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Favorite blog in 2024?”Submitted The Top of the DNS Hierarchy as a story · 178 points
HN discussion
