Newly ordained Hackaday editor-in-chief Elliot Williams and staff writer Dan Maloney jump behind the podcast mic to catch you up on all this week’s essential hacks. We’ll have a Bob …read more (https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/hackaday-podcast-149-ballerina-bot-balances-flexures-track-cat-food-pcb-goes-under-the-knife-and-an-attiny-does-the-555/)

Error Codes and the Law of Least Astonishment
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/error-codes-and-the-law-of-least-astonishment/

Do you know the law of least astonishment? I am not sure of its origin, but I first learned it from the excellent “Tao of Programming.” Simply put, it is …read more (https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/error-codes-and-the-law-of-least-astonishment/)

Building a Custom Branding Iron With Swappable Date Blocks
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/building-a-custom-branding-iron-with-swappable-date-blocks/

Branding can be done on wood with just about any old bit of hot metal, but if you want to do it well, properly-crafted tooling will go a long way. …read more (https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/building-a-custom-branding-iron-with-swappable-date-blocks/)

3D Printing A Cyclonic Dust Seperator
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/3d-printing-a-cyclonic-dust-seperator/

[rctestflight] recently purchased a big CNC router, and that meant it was time to arrange for some dust extraction in the workshop. Naturally, he set about building this himself! Using …read more (https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/3d-printing-a-cyclonic-dust-seperator/)

Implementing A CPU Using 555 Timers And Logic Synthesis
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/implementing-a-cpu-using-555-timers-and-logic-synthesis/

https://hackaday.io/project/182915-555enabled-microprocessor
" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/1703451639230442821.png?w=400" data-large-file="https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/1703451639230442821.png?w=800">There is many a comment on these here pages along the lines of “Why did you use a microcontroller, when you could just have easily used a 555 timer!” And, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/implementing-a-cpu-using-555-timers-and-logic-synthesis/)

The Second Worst CAD Package Ever
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/the-second-worst-cad-package-ever/

A while back, [Heavydeck] remembered stumbling across the worst CAD package ever, which is a schematic editor whose existence was purely intended for use to make quick circuit sketches for …read more (https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/the-second-worst-cad-package-ever/)

SDR Toolkit Bends Weather Station To Hacker’s Whims
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/sdr-toolkit-bends-weather-station-to-hackers-whims/

We probably don’t have to tell most Hackaday readers why the current wave of low-cost software defined radios (SDRs) are such a big deal for hackers looking to explore the …read more (https://hackaday.com/2021/12/17/sdr-toolkit-bends-weather-station-to-hackers-whims/)