The Amp Hour

An Interview with Ken Shirriff

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Welcome Ken Shirriff from Righto.com!

  • Ken uses a metallugical microscope and the hyugens software package to stitch together the images.
  • Inside fake RAM chips
  • Armour etch will remove the top layer of oxide
  • Analyzing a vintage 8008
  • Mining bitcoin with pencil and paper. Ken made a video of this as well.
  • Mining bitcoin on a Xerox Alto!
  • Xerox Alto , precursor to (all computers, but also the) Xerox Star
  • Alan Kay
  • yCombinator contacted Ken to rebuild theirs.
  • The IBM 1401 demo lab
  • Living computer museum in Seattle
  • Smalltalk -
  • BCPL
  • The 76477 sound chip 
  • Integrated Injection Logic
  • Day 31 of restoration
  • The Alto had the first version of tons of modern computer peripherals:
    • Mouse
    • Laser Printer
    • Ethernet
    • Ken displayed his work at the recent VCF
    • They found a disk with an early version of Voice over IP!
    • Bell Labs discovering big bang (microwave background radiation)
    • Sinclair calculator simulator
    • Ken was inspired by the Visual 6502
    • CuriousMarc is a YouTube channel that followed the Alto rebuild
    • TI Calculator simulator
    • Ken uses lots of patents like this one from TI
    • There are interesting things happening in Mac chargers (and the ripoffs)
    • DS2413 1-Wire switch
    • iPad chargers were interesting as well
    • Sprite_tm talking about FTDI parts
    • Ken also tears down vintage parts like the 555
    • Figured out transistors on die from books, LT Spice
    • Transfluxors - core memory
    • Read more on righto.com or follow Ken on Twitter as @KenShirriff
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      The Amp HourBy The Amp Hour (Chris Gammell and David L Jones)
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