Proving You Can Find a Needle: From the Weak Write Test Mode Saga

Needles don’t occur in every haystack. Suppose you have developed a new method to detect a needle. Now prove it! Easy, you say—just toss some needles into a haystack and go find them. I faced this scenario with proving that Weak Write Test Mode would work. Two things needed to be proved: Did the new…

Of TRS80s, PDP11s and Antennas: My First Technical Document

For an engineer, I’m weird; I like to document. Not sure if the challenge of communicating to others motivates the problem solver in me, or if it’s the yearning for precise language. My Dad certainly instilled the need for precise language in me and my siblings. When we worked on maintaining the family cars he…