Top all-time · #2714
Pepijn de Vos
Personal blog · pepijndevos.nlprogramminghardware
Pepijn de Vos writes Wishful Coding, a personal blog at pepijndevos.nl about programming and hardware. Since 2010, 28 different Hacker News readers have linked it 50 times, most often “VHDL to PCB”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-02-17, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (5) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog for hardware and FPGA projects: compiling Verilog/VHDL to 74-series logic schematics, a Lego analog tide-predicting computer, and the multiple index problem. Comments only link posts as sources or examples.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 5 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Didn't you ever wish your computer understood you?
Most-linked posts?
- VHDL to PCB4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2019-07-22
- Predicting the tide with an analog computer made from Lego3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-01-30
- Raspberry Pi mp3 player2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2014-04-21
- Does a compiler use all x86 instructions? (2010)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2016-08-24
- JPEG compress your LLM weights2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2024-12-02
- The only good open-source software is for software developers2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2019-04-08
- The Multiple Index Problem (Clojure)2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2012-09-11
What Hacker News says?
Funny, I made this only yesterday: http://pepijndevos.nl/the-age-of-apis-and-virtual-ghost-town...
Comment linking /the-age-of-apis-and-virtual-ghost-towns
on “Bitly News”Submitted Does a compiler use all x86 instructions? (2010) as a story · 278 points
HN discussionhttp://tapirgo.com/ For reference, that is what I'm currently using on my website, http://pepijndevos.nl
Comment linking /
on “Swiftype (YC W12) Builds Site Search That Doesn’t Suck”Submitted Predicting the tide with an analog computer made from Lego as a story · 154 points
HN discussionI gave a Game Boy programming workshop at SHA2017 if anyone is interested. The material can be found on my blog: http://pepijndevos.nl/2017/08/06/introduction-to-game-boy-ha...
Comment linking /2017/08/06/introduction-to-game-boy-hacking-at-sha2017.html
on “Gameboy hello world”Submitted Does a compiler use all x86 instructions? (2016) as a story · 103 points
HN discussionAs someone who has built an MP3 player with the RPi, I can tell you that the RPi is NOT made to run of a battery. http://pepijndevos.nl/2013/11/21/raspberry-pi-mp3-player.htm... The 2200Mah battery will only last a couple of hours.
Comment linking /2013/11/21/raspberry-pi-mp3-player.html
on “PiPhone – A Raspberry-Pi-based Smartphone”Submitted Catch 'em All: Using an Arduino to Trade Pokemon as a story · 72 points
HN discussionAnother fun one is the multiple index problem: http://pepijndevos.nl/2012/08/12/the-multiple-index-problem....
Comment linking /2012/08/12/the-multiple-index-problem.html
on “Two Vexing Problems in Functional Programming”Submitted How much Clojure do you know? as a story · 63 points
HN discussionIn the video comments he posted a link [1] to his blog where he explains the design process using simulated annealing. Amazing how close he got to the targeted final ratios using only a sequential gear train. [1] http://pepijndevos.nl/2022/01/30/predicting-the-tide-with-an...
Comment linking /2022/01/30/predicting-the-tide-with-an-analog-computer-made-from-lego.html
on “Predicting the tide with an analog computer made from Lego”Submitted Branch-free FizzBuzz in Assembly as a story · 47 points
HN discussionIt's been done before ( http://pepijndevos.nl/2019/07/18/vhdl-to-pcb.html see also Hackaday), but not exactly a standard use of yosys.
Comment linking /2019/07/18/vhdl-to-pcb.html
on “Build a RISC-V CPU from scratch”Submitted Why is a Guillotine blade diagonal? as a story · 46 points
HN discussionNah… http://pepijndevos.nl/2011/11/09/vacuum-balloon.html
Comment linking /2011/11/09/vacuum-balloon.html
on “Atlas: A Human-Powered Helicopter”Submitted Loefflers Discrete Cosine Transform Algorithm in Futhark as a story · 45 points
HN discussionThis makes me wonder if there might be a project out there that can compile Verilog to a schematic or netlist for 74-series logic. Edit: unsurprisingly, the answer is yes - http://pepijndevos.nl/2019/07/18/vhdl-to-pcb.html
Comment linking /2019/07/18/vhdl-to-pcb.html
on “Build your own FPGA (2012)”Submitted I'm tired of the NoSQL buzz, and bring you SlouchDB as a story · 25 points
HN discussionSEEKING WORK, remote possible. I love robots, hardware, Clojure and functional programing in general. I also do mainstream stuff sometimes. http://pepijndevos.nl
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Freelancer? Seeking freelancer? (May 2012)”Submitted TRC post-mortem as a story · 6 points
HN discussion>who insisted we build a virtual CPU using only fundamental components. No VHDL for us! A little convoluted, but apparently a couple of people have coaxed Verilog and/or VHDL into understanding 74xx logic chips: http://pepijndevos.nl/2019/07/18/vhdl-to-pcb.html
Comment linking /2019/07/18/vhdl-to-pcb.html
on “Electron tube New Automatic Computer”Submitted JPEG compress your LLM weights as a story · 4 points
HN discussionhttp://pepijndevos.nl/ The site is mostly about my personal projects. Everything from the web to Z80 assembly to electronics. Currently ongoing: homebrew modular synth The design is quite old, most recently updated with a mobile layout. Powered by Jekyll with very plain HTML and CSS with a smudge of JS for the rotating wheel. Search is broken and I have not found an alternative.
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Show Us Your Personal Website/Blog?”Submitted Sysenv: virtualenv for system packages as a story · 4 points
HN discussionHah, this is a lot more fun than generating dot files. I should do Twitter mentions again. http://pepijndevos.nl/2010/03/tweet-o-graph
Comment linking /2010/03/tweet-o-graph
on “JavaScript Mindmap (with cool demo)”Submitted A new Clojure seque as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Rock your baby to sleep with Lego as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted JPEG compress your LLM weights as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Pokemon GO on a Game Boy Color as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Dining Philosophers in core.async as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
