Andrew’s Blog

Ruckingenur II is a Windows game about reverse engineering small electronics in order to bypass their security features. The story is all about some sort of military conflict (grumble grumble) in the year 2016… but they seem to still be using through-hole components. Maybe there was a surface-mount rebellion in 2013?

OK, I think one joke about electronic packaging is enough for a lifetime. Moving on.

For electrical engineers: You get a serial logic probe, three digital voltmeter probes, a pulse generator, and a simplified JTAG probe, and you have to figure out how to bypass the system’s security by observing and manipulating the traces between ICs. It’s great.

For others: After playing this game, you’ll have a really good idea about what an embedded systems engineer does all day. Except that instead of reverse engineering someone else’s stuff, we usually poke around on our own systems, trying to figure out why they aren’t working properly.

When people ask me why I like engineering, I usually answer “because it’s fun”. This game does a good job of presenting some of the fundamental skills that an engineer uses, and also captures the problem-solving challenge and enjoyment that engineers find in their work. I’m looking forward to whatever else Zach Barth comes up with.

Originally found on hack-a-day.

Yesterday I went down to the South Bay to hang out with Vicky and Matt. We went hiking on the Los Gatos Creek Trail…

… saw some wildlife in the Los Gatos Reservoir…

… stopped for coffee and a photo op…

… walked back, went for dinner, and called it a day. Happy birthday, Matt!

In early June, I was in Vancouver, visiting friends and working with a prof at UBC. On my last day in Vancouver, there was a Car-Free street fair on Commercial Drive. Pauline and I wandered around for a few hours. Here are some of the photos I took.

Click any of the pictures to go to the full album.

Mmmmm, plutonium.

found via woot blog