Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years

Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by betax on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @12:59AM (#3185496)

This was at the top of the front page of HN and HN classic. It doesn't even tangentially touch upon entrepreneurship, hacking, or startups. I won't rule out it being a honeypot of some kind, but maybe it's time to think about ways to halt the drift?

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by LVB on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @01:06AM (#3185514)

I'm quite new to HN and am just getting a feel for what's posted here. I did, however, just read the HN Guidelines recently to help figure it out. First two sentences on what to submit:

Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups.

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by derleth on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @02:53AM (#3185692)

Hacker News has always been broader than just startups and programming.

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by j79 on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @01:11AM (#3185527)

Hacking is such a broad term. Is 14 hours of pounding on a keyboard writing algorithms hacking? Is circuit bending hacking? "Hack the Planet" hacking?

Personally, I visit Y Combinator for a wide range of topics - from entrepreneurship and start ups to "hacking" and technology. This seems to fall in the second half? Or, am I wrong?

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by mambodog on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @03:13AM (#3185737)

If anything, I'd rather see more of this stuff on HN, the deeply interesting articles on wider ranging topics were what kept me coming back here in the first place.

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by Androsynth on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @03:16AM (#3185743)

If this is a honeypot, then ban me now

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by HeyLaughingBoy on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @01:24PM (#3187884)

This to me is the very definition of hacking. This is digital circuitry built from individual transistors in a age (1970) when almost all electronics were analog. Trust me, this guy was considered a hacker in those times. Sure, today we could fit that entire circuit along with automatic daylight savings switchover in software into a single $2 chip, but that's not the point.

I was lucky enough to get started in electronics at the end of that era: in high school Radio Shack was still a useful resource. As an 11th grader I made circuit boards using a Sharpie, some press on decals for IC footprints and electrical tape cut into strips to mark where circuit traces would go.

Today, I'd fire up a freeware or open-source CAD program, email the output files to some PCB house in China or Bulgaria, and get back professional quality boards a few days later for $50. A far cry from screwing around with smelly chemicals in the sink and pissing my mom off with the stains it left behind.

You need to know where you came from to appreciate where you're going!

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by almost on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @04:30AM (#3185846)

If you don't see the relevance of articles like this tgen you're probably in the wrong place. Sorry.

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Re:Ring Counter Clock: still running after 40 years by oacgnol on Wednesday November 02, 2011 @02:15AM (#3185634)

The entrepreneurial spirit is one of DIYism. No foul here.

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