Best of Hardware — April 2025

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   Article

   Jeff Geerling·1y

   Raspberry Pi cluster spotted inside $6k audio processor

   The Orban Optimod 5000-series audio processors, which cost between $6,000-15,000, include a 3-node Raspberry Pi cluster. Each node in the cluster serves a different function: one for remote control and firmware updates, another for multi-stream audio processing, and an optional third for watermarking audio streams. This setup is popular among broadcasters for its power efficiency and long-term vendor support using Pi CM4/CM5 modules.

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   Hacker News·1y

   Why I Maintain a 17 Year Old Thinkpad

   Maintaining an old ThinkPad is a testament to its robust design, modularity, and repairability, as explained through the lens of Nassim Nicholas Taleb's theories of fragility and robustness. Unlike modern MacBooks, which are powerful but fragile due to soldered components and limited repair options, ThinkPads remain serviceable and useful for basic tasks because of their swappable parts and open ecosystem. The ThinkPad's longevity aligns with the Lindy Effect, suggesting it will continue to be useful for many years to come.

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   Hacker News·1y

   Tabular Programming: A New Paradigm for Expressive Computing in Constrained Environments

   Exploring the concept of tabular programming inspired by the m8 Dirtywave tracker, this post discusses how a minimal, portable hardware interface can lead to a unique and expressive programming environment. By leveraging a tabular format and stack-based model like Forth, this approach encourages breaking down complex operations into simpler, composable functions, enabling innovative creative applications such as pixel art editors and music tools.

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   Phoronix·1y

   Ubuntu 25.04 vs. Windows 11 CPU Performance For The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 Review

   The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 was tested for CPU performance on both Ubuntu 25.04 and Windows 11 using a Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6. The comparison involved benchmarks of Zen 5(C) cores with configurations left at their defaults. The hardware included 32GB of LPDDR5-7500 memory and a 1TB Kioxia NVMe SSD.

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   Article

   xkcd·1y

   xkcd: Anchor Screws

   xkcd comic about anchor screws, highlighting that comics can be copied and shared freely as long as they are not sold, under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

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