Top all-time · #3144
josh.com
Personal blog · wp.josh.comhardwaresciencesystems
josh.com is a personal blog at wp.josh.com about hardware, science and systems. Since 2013, 24 different Hacker News readers have linked it 46 times, most often “Adventures in Autorouting (2017)”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-04-22, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (12) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link josh.com's technical posts on PCB autorouting, WS2812 LED protocols, and online scams and cloaking. Comments mainly cite them as references for hardware and security discussions.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 12 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Adventures in Autorouting (2017)4 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2017-10-30
- Google AdWords Exploit Seen in the Wild4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2019-05-07
- Deconstructing Kitty2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2018-05-11
- iPhone texts and calls can go to the wrong number2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2016-10-26
- Idea Dump 20182 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-02-11
- Why did Google declare war on HTTP? (2016)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2021-07-16
- /2014/05/13/ws2812-neopixels-are-not-so-finicky-once-you-get-to-know-them/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-07-20
- Is bitcoin different from a cookie store coupon code without any cookie store?2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-02-22
What Hacker News says?
I don't think the consequences are the same, but I do think the underlying idea is applicable. Two things to keep in mind: A) uBlock Origin doesn't just protect me from ads, it also protects me from many trackers. I'm in the (maybe minority, I don't know) camp that says that excessive tracking and de-anonymization attempts cause people tangible harm. They're not as drastic or as harmful as installing malware on my c…
Comment linking /2019/05/06/breaking-news-google-adwords-exploit-seen-in-the-wild-yikes/
on “Google to restrict modern ad blocking Chrome extensions to enterprise users”Submitted Google AdWords Exploit Seen in the Wild as a story · 461 points
HN discussionBe careful which search result you click: https://wp.josh.com/2019/05/06/breaking-news-google-adwords-...
Comment linking /2019/05/06/breaking-news-google-adwords-exploit-seen-in-the-wild-yikes/
on “I lost €4k in a Facebook scam”Submitted Deconstructing Kitty as a story · 320 points
HN discussionTopoR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TopoR#Features TopoR, destroy all autorouters: https://wp.josh.com/2017/10/23/adventures-in-autorouting/
Comment linking /2017/10/23/adventures-in-autorouting/
on “The Efficiency-Destroying Magic of Tidying Up”Submitted Outlook 2016’s New POP3 Bug Deletes Your Emails as a story · 227 points
HN discussionA great blog post here ( https://wp.josh.com/2017/10/23/adventures-in-autorouting/ ) about some different auto-routing software.
Comment linking /2017/10/23/adventures-in-autorouting/
on “Darpa invests $100M in a silicon compiler”Submitted Can you figure out how this single part boost converter works? as a story · 101 points
HN discussionMy intuition is that you should leverage your strengths, rather than try to fit your talents into someone else's idea. It sound like you have a broad array of talents, which can be a blessing for some businesses and a curse for others. Consider not even creating a new new business. Do someone else's better than them. And there are several companies that seem to grossly overvalued by the standard of "if I gave you [t…
Comment linking /2017/10/23/adventures-in-autorouting/
on “Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea”Submitted Adventures in Autorouting (2017) as a story · 89 points
HN discussionThis isn't a new problem. Cloaking[1] has been around for a long time. Google[2], and Facebook[3] have been fighting this problem for years. Even Google hasn't had perfect luck with fighting off cloakers[4]. [1]: https://charlesngo.com/cloaking/ [2]: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6020954?hl=en#31... [3]: http://fortune.com/2017/08/09/facebook-cloaking-spam-adverti... [4]: https://wp.josh.com/2019/05/06…
Comment linking /2019/05/06/breaking-news-google-adwords-exploit-seen-in-the-wild-yikes/
on “Twitter accounts are being hijacked for spam”Submitted Build a giant live scrolling tickertape display as a story · 56 points
HN discussionGreat work! I was just thinking the other day how an interface like this would be useful, it seems strange we don't see more UI attempts beyond basic linear chat. I find most need for managing context for problem solving. I describe a problem, LLM gives me 5 possible solutions. From those I immediately see 2 of them won't be viable, so I can prune the search. Then it is best to explore the others separately without…
Comment linking /2018/02/11/idea-dump-2018/
on “Show HN: Git for LLMs – A context management interface”Submitted iPhone texts and calls can go to the wrong number as a story · 38 points
HN discussionIME, you can use 3.3V logic with 5V WS2812B/SK6812 strips, no trouble. Each LED reforms the signal before sending it to the next LED in the chain, so voltage dropping over distance shouldn't a huge issue for the logic line unless the strip is very far away from the controller. And the datasheet almost agrees with my experience; the "high" voltage threshold is listed as 0.7×VDD, and 0.7×5=3.5V. That's a bit over 3.3V…
Comment linking /2014/05/13/ws2812-neopixels-are-not-so-finicky-once-you-get-to-know-them/
on “Building DIY LED strips for fun”Submitted Inductive Power on the Cheap – Philips Imageo Teatlight Teardown as a story · 18 points
HN discussioniMessage has had some interesting bugs: * 2014 -- if you switch from an iOS device to an Android device, iPhone users who try to send you text messages that are channeled via iMessage will have their messages silently vanish ( https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-fix-apples-imessage-bug/ ; IIRC after a lawsuit, they added a remarkable little support page, https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/ ) * 2016 -- Ap…
Comment linking /2016/10/26/divorced-by-apple-in-california/
on “The Valentine’s Day Text Message Mystery”Submitted SPI with a Blindfold On- speed up by letting go and trusting the machine as a story · 16 points
HN discussionThe price is a good conversation about globalizing supply chains. But what's really cool is they have a way to program radios which are sealed inside a cardboard shipping box, without batteries installed. https://wp.josh.com/2017/03/18/capacitive-coupling-casestudy...
Comment linking /2017/03/18/capacitive-coupling-casestudy-programming-the-public-radio-without-removing-it-from-its-sealed-shipping-box/
on “Why The Public Radio is sixty dollars (2018)”Submitted Plates vs. Coils – An alternative approach to wireless power transmission as a story · 15 points
HN discussionhttps://wp.josh.com/2025/10/30/a-billion-digits-of-pi-experi... has some details. Seems plausible?
Comment linking /2025/10/30/a-billion-digits-of-pi-experiments-in-ultra-microprinting-with-gold-on-sapphire/
on “Gotham Silicon: 1μ CMOS process that will ship custom chips for –$100 in <24hrs”Submitted Flux 3D Printer: First Look and Teardown as a story · 9 points
HN discussionThe WS2812 protocol is simpler than it first appears. Here's a great blog post about it: https://wp.josh.com/2014/05/13/ws2812-neopixels-are-not-so-f...
Comment linking /2014/05/13/ws2812-neopixels-are-not-so-finicky-once-you-get-to-know-them/
on “Apple Lightning”Submitted Is bitcoin different from a cookie store coupon code without any cookie store? as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to remember everything you have ever said or heard. Forever. For $60 as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted The mystery of the Zombie RAM (2014) as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why did Google declare war on HTTP? (2016) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted A man walks into a bank – A Bitcoin parable (2018) as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Some of the more interesting air conditioners I have met as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Idea Dump 2018 as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
