/tmp/lab

Le week end des 2 et 3 octobre, c’est code trail au /tmp/lab.

Le principe est simple : passer un week end entre personnes désireuses de s’aventurer en terrain peu connu, et progresser en échangeant connaissances et compétences.

Celui de début octobre sera consacré au processus de boot d’OpenBSD et à l’architecture ARM, et plus particulièrement le sheevaplug. L’objectif est d’arriver à faire démarrer un noyau ramdisk, et d’interagir avec le système via la console série.

Vous trouverez instructions, tutos et docs sur le wiki. N’oubliez pas de vous enregistrer.

It is with great excitement that I am announcing the release of Milkymist 0.3. This release marks a significant milestone for the project: since now, it’s no longer tens of thousands of lines of code for nerds only. It’s also an actual MilkDrop implementation, rendering good-looking visual effects that EVERYBODY can appreciate.

But, see for yourself. If you have a Xilinx ML401 board, grab your JTAG cable and fetch a binary kit from the usual location. See the wiki for setup instructions. Put on some music, turn on random preset selection, and enjoy!

If you don’t have a ML401, here is a video for you to chew on before the Milkymist One boards are available:

(download MP4 file)

On to the technical change log of this release:

• Major TMU redesign (TMU2):
  • Improved performance (2-3 times faster)
  • Rectangular rendering primitive
  • Bilinear texture filtering
  • Texture wrapping
  • Subpixel texture resolution
  • New vertex format
• PFPU modified to support the new TMU vertex format
• Additional MilkDrop features in the demo firmware:
  • More wave modes
  • Borders
  • Motion vectors (experimental)
  • Texture wrapping
  • Random preset chooser
  • Fine-grained decay

If you want to discuss and keep instantly updated about the project, I encourage you to come and idle in the #milkymist channel on the FreeNode IRC network. See this page.

See you there!

A workshop/coding party will take place at the /tmp/lab in order to finalize the porting of the OpenWrt Linux distribution to the Milkymist open hardware system-on-chip.

Every interested person is welcome.

Venue: http://www.tmplab.org/contact
Date: Monday Dec 21st 2009, starting at 17:00

UPDATE!!!! Because the train that goes to /tmp/lab has suddenly broke down, the event is moved to DigitalNonSense (Paris 17) at 19:00

You certainly know about ipcalc, this simple but pretty utility that enables people to calculate netmasks and IP addresses notations easily? What about ss7calc (download)… Well, to start with, SS7 is even more complicated than IP netmasks. SS7 is the network protocol that enable you to send SMS, to receive calls on your mobile and even to change location while staying on the line. But SS7 “addresses” are not like IP addresses, mainly because they can be coded on 14 or 24 bits. They are called “Point Codes or “Signaling Point Codes”.

Now a new open source project by /tmp/lab member helps you calculate ss7 signaling point codes: http://github.com/philpraxis/ss7calc. Thanks Github. Thanks ipcalc for the model.

There will be a workshop on SS7 hacking at 26C3. Get in touch on /tmp/lab mailing list. If requested, we can do a pre-workshop session at /tmp/lab before.