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The awesome Motorola 6809 8-bit microprocessor

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Zuzebox’s Blog takes a look at the Motorola 6809 microprocessor from the early 1980s.

Motorola’s 6809 is often said to be the best of the 8-bit microprocessors that came out of the 1970’s.

But it came a little too late for the first personal revolution and home computer scene that followed. As almost all computers from this time used either the 6502 or the Z80. Which is a shame because it was a really good microprocessor and many including myself consider it the best 8-bit microprocessor ever made.

Tandy Color Computer and Color Computer II, the Dragon 32 and 64 and the awesome Vectrex video console. As well as numerous video arcade machines. And finally it was also considered for the Apple Macintosh and was used in a very early proof of concept design.

Read more including lots of source links in the post here.

Ed. note: I selected the 6809 microcontroller for a speech synthesis project I built in 1985 in my senior year at Caltech and a project for interfacing to a synthetic aperture radar for JPL. A very nice chip.

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jepler
10 hours ago
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if I bought a modern 8-bit SBC I might pick 6809 just because it is so relatively un-loved. There are a couple different boards on tindie, and I assume you can get the chips for a reasonable price.
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Google Will Use Machine Learning To Estimate a User's Age

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Google will soon use machine learning to estimate the age of its users. From a report: In an update on Wednesday, Google said it's testing a machine learning model in the US to help determine whether someone is under 18, allowing it to "provide more age-appropriate experiences" across its platforms. The age estimation model will use existing data about users, including the sites they visit, what kinds of videos they watch on YouTube, and how long they've had an account to determine their age.
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jepler
10 hours ago
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crud I think my google account's old enough to vote.
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Rotary Tool

2 Comments and 3 Shares
It was great until my thumb slipped and I accidentally launched my telescope into the air at Mach 8.
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jepler
7 days ago
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dental drills are 300krpm? I had no idea. wow.
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fxer
7 days ago
Now I’m curious how it achieves that: > The speed is needed to give the bit/burr some rotational momentum to provide torque. There is no direct connection between the source of the energy- compressed air - and the burr. The compressed air is only at about 2.7 bar and spins a turbine in the head of the drill, which the burr is attached to. You can hold the burr with your fingers stationary from start-up - no torque like a concrete bit
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alt_text_bot
7 days ago
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It was great until my thumb slipped and I accidentally launched my telescope into the air at Mach 8.

Microsoft Quietly Makes It Harder To Install Windows 11 on Old PCs Ahead of Windows 10's End of Support

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Microsoft has intensified efforts to block unsupported Windows 11 installations, removing documentation about bypassing system requirements and flagging third-party workaround tools as potential malware. The move comes as Windows 10 approaches end of support in October 2025, when users must either continue without updates, upgrade to Windows 11, or purchase new hardware compatible with Windows 11's TPM 2.0 requirement.

Microsoft Defender now identifies Flyby11, a popular tool for installing Windows 11 on incompatible devices, as "PUA:Win32/Patcher." Users are also reporting that unsupported Windows 11 installations are already facing restrictions, with some machines unable to receive major updates. Microsoft has also removed text from its "Ways to install Windows 11" page that had provided instructions for bypassing TPM 2.0 requirements through registry key modifications. The removed section included technical details for users who acknowledged and accepted the risks of installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware.
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jepler
8 days ago
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Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, and Microsoft will never again increase hardware requirements. hahaha.
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Microsoft Will Not Support Office on Windows 10 After October 14

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Microsoft will stop supporting its Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365) desktop applications on Windows 10 after October 14, the day the company is retiring the old operating system, it said.
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jepler
28 days ago
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harsh.
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Google is Making AI in Gmail and Docs Free - But Raising the Price of Workspace

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Google is bundling its AI features into Workspace at no extra charge while raising the base subscription price by $2 to $14 per user monthly, the company said Wednesday. The move eliminates the previous $20 monthly fee for Gemini Business plan that was required to access AI tools in Gmail, Docs and other Workspace apps.
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jepler
28 days ago
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you didn't want AI? f--- you, you're only the goddamn customer
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