Tricky Bits with Rob and PJ

Enjoying the show? Hating the show? Want to let us know either way? Text us!Exploring NVIDIA's Move from ARM to RISC V in GPUsRob and PJ return to discuss NVIDIA's strategic shift from Falcon and ARM microcontrollers in their GPUs to the open-source RISC V. The conversation delves into the history, technical considerations, and licensing challenges of microprocessors. They examine why ARM's longstanding presence is being challenged by RISC V, especially for embedded controllers, its flexibility, and cost advantages, alongside security concerns and the future potential of open-source hardware.00:00 Welcome Back to Tricky Bits00:27 NVIDIA's Shift to RISC V Microcontrollers02:02 The Role of Microcontrollers in Modern Devices04:33 Technical Challenges and Limitations06:18 Designing Custom Microcontrollers16:33 RISC V: The New Contender18:00 Comparing ARM and RISC V24:13 Apple's Strategic Choices31:48 RISC V Maturity and Market Penetration33:58 Challenges and Security Concerns36:53 Financial Incentives and Reference Models40:48 Comparing RISC V and ARM42:25 Security Concerns with Chinese RISC V Chips49:22 Microcontrollers and Their Ubiquity54:34 Future of Processor Diversity58:28 Open Source Innovation and Ecosystem

Enjoying the show? Hating the show? Want to let us know either way? Text us!WWDC is coming up and Rob and PJ have some opinions!AI is in the air for everyone this season and WWDC is likely going to be no exception....but with so much AI processing happening in the cloud and Apple having been so focused on data privacy, security, AND user experience...how IS Apple going to thread this needle?Will they push more stuff to the cloud to bring the widest support to folks?WIll they deprecate more hardware to make the user experience the best they can do?Should they even bother with AI at this time in any meaningful way ahead of having some strong use cases?Join Rob and PJ as they make some prediction ahead of WWDC...and see how well they did during the event itself!

Enjoying the show? Hating the show? Want to let us know either way? Text us!Microsoft recently introduced its CoPilot + PCs as a fully integrated lineup...based on ARM processors (Qualcomm's Snapdragon specifically), unified memory, and requirements around the onboard TPUs.Hmm...sound very Apple-like, no?With an apparent revitalized push back into the consumer space, what does this mean for the future of the hardware? Specifically, the Wintel era meant infinite flexibility, configurability, and backwards compatibility, stemming all the way back in time.Will the voices of prosumer builders be silenced on Windows? Will developers rejoice as Windows powered machines with MacBook form factors come to bear? Could this actually be better for everyone to have more stable hardware platforms?Come join us as we dive into these topics to prognosticate towards a potentially better future for computing...

Enjoying the show? Hating the show? Want to let us know either way? Text us!Hype is all around around the tech stories that are out there....Apple has a terrible ad for a thinner iPad!Google is leaving San Fran and moving jobs overseas!Announcements around AI that is going to revolutionize everything!!!Tech companies are acting like big corporations!!!Maybe it is just us...but does anyone get the impression that tech news is actually a bit boring right now? Perhaps we are just exhausted from the constant barrage of "bigger", "smaller", "better", "faster", "newer", "revolutionary, "evolutionary", "different"...But it does feel like a moment when tech is really trying to keep its whizz bang growth cycle going...and not start to admit that these companies, while still wildly profitably, are transforming into the value, blue chip stocks (oh, no, we're IBM!) who are trying to eek out more profit from ads on smart TVs rather than actually innovate.Join us as we rant a little bit on the current state of affairs!

CPUs have been around for forever as the heart of computers....then came GPUs to enable cool real time graphics...and later bitcoin mining...then some clever folks figured out how train AIs on them...which leads to a new explosion of processing units tuned specifically for AI development (see Google's TPUs, Apple's Neural Engines, Meta's MTIAs).Why do we have them all? And what the heck do they all mean? And why should we care? Come explore a bit of the magic and differences amongst these different types of processing units that is powering your phones, games, and the explosion in AI development!

In the arms race of computational performance gains and big market splashes...security issues can pop their ugly head, something going all the way down to the hardware level...and when they happen, they can be brutal.In this episode of Tricky Bits, Rob and PJ discuss a recent article and research on hacking into the M-series chips, using clever attacks to extract data that is, ideally, supposed to be kept secret. What are the nitty gritty details of how this attack is successful?How does company culture and processes affect approaches to hardware development? And did we back ourselves into a corner by becoming less efficient programmers?Link to article: https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/hackers-can-extract-secret-encryption-keys-from-apples-mac-chips/Link to research:https://gofetch.fail/

Ever wondered why a virtual rollercoaster can leave your stomach in knots, despite never leaving your living room? Strap in and brace yourself as we unpack the enigma of VR-induced nausea with the expert insights of Nemanja Milosavljevic from Neurosync Labs. Our latest episode of Tricky Bits zooms in on the battle between our eyes and our inner ear when diving into the digital deep end, bringing to light the vestibular system's pivotal role in the physical disorientation we face in virtual landscapes.Hold onto your headsets — this session isn't just about identifying problems; we're all about the solutions. Learn about how the groundbreaking C-Infinity device can sync your senses, offering an immersive experience with a solid grip on reality. By integrating force measurements with natural motion, this ergonomic innovation could be the key to unlocking a future of comfortable, nausea-free virtual exploration for a number of VR experiences. Join us as we envision an electrifying era of VR, where the technology we discuss today might just redefine our gaming experiences tomorrow.NeuroSync Labs:  https://neurosyncvr.com/

Hardware is where the digital meets up with physical reality.In the modern world, software can be developed and deployed worldwide in timescales measured in minutes....but despite advances in development, consumer hardware at scale still presents many difficult challenges.Although there are many modern avenues to prototyping hardware solutions, making the leap beyond RPi, Arduino, ESP level projects into mass market devices encounters challenges including funding, development, manufacturing, shipping, supply chains, and revenue models.In this episode, Rob and PJ explore the world of hardware development, understand its pitfalls, and look at where it might be going.

So much of Tricky Bits is an ongoing conversation between Rob and PJ about various tech topics. This particular episode revisits some old topics around game development, its history and costs, and what factors come into play that shape the market today.As a heads up...this one is more conversational than some of the past episodes as we  build up to a larger discussion for a future conversation around big and small media in various contexts (games, movies, television). Finally...we announce our Discord server, where you can comment on individual episodes. You can find the link to the thread for this episode here: https://discord.com/channels/1146929485694902282/1217606185159491695Come let us know what you think!

Could Apple be quietly gearing up to redefine the AI landscape? With all eyes on Siri's evolution and Apple's famed secrecy, we delve into the tech giant's delicate dance between user privacy and the cutting edge of AI innovations. Join Rob and PJ  as we unravel Apple's enigmatic strategy, considering the possible hardware constraints and their steadfast commitment to a reliable assistant amidst the whirlwind of AI advancements.Apple's Siri has been a household name, but it's not without its critics. In this episode, we dissect the challenges it faces, balancing user privacy with the need for more personal and proactive functionalities. We speculate on the potential for Apple to introduce more generative AI capabilities and how this might revolutionize user experience while sticking to their privacy-first mantra. Moreover, we explore the juxtaposition of Apple's hardware prowess with their approach to personalized AI, pondering the efficiency and practicality of running inference models on mobile devices.Wrapping up our deep dive, we tackle the broad implications of AI in our daily tech interactions. From ethical concerns over data usage to the burgeoning role of edge computing, we question whether AI will be the next big revolution or a passing trend.(And yes...this description WAS in fact generated from the Episode transcript and AI...wild times, right folks?You know what what is really going to get your noodle later on? Did the AI write this footer? )

2024 and Tech Layoffs still continue...more than a headline; they're a wake-up call to evaluate the true resilience of our skills in an ever-changing industry. In this episode, we take on a tough subject to better understand the realities of job security, debunking the myth that exceptional programmers are safeguarded from the chopping block. We also challenge the notion of generalist vs. specialist and instead focus on the all important question of "what is the value delivered" and "what skills do you need to deliver that value."Finally...we remind everyone... your self worth is not something that is defined by any company...you have value far and above your job.

Maps...we use them almost every day of our lives.....but...what makes maps hard? From the paper maps we used to pull out on car trips to the digital and dynamic maps that we have our smart phones, the problems around making and maintaining maps have been with us for a while. Fortunately...we've got an expert to help us out here.Cory Whittaker, a long time self professed "map nerd", takes Rob and PJ on a journey on maps and how they are used in the modern day.Come and join us for our first interview episode!

Rumblings of a major XBox announcement in a post Activision/Blizzard acquisition world slated for mid-Feb 2024 started a number of rumors around what might happen...would all XBox games go cross platform?  What would this mean for the XBox hardware?!?Then on Feb 15th....Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty fulfilled the special announcement...with a whopping 4 games (all unnamed) slated to go cross platform...followed by a lot of corp speak. And, ahead of that, there was an internal meeting where they seemed to be doubling down on the XBox hardware.So it seemed like the wild speculations...were untrue....or were they?In this episode, Rob and PJ pick apart the XBox strategy...analyze what is there and speculate what is still yet to come...

We chatted about the Apple Vision Pro previously and now the reviews are in....how are they stacking up for the Vision Pro and how did our predictions work out for themselves, so far? And what predictions to we have from here?Also...Meta announced dividends at its last earnings call...and now Goldman Sachs analysts are (maybe) portending that this will lead Alphabet and Amazon to do the same. But do we actually think that this is as imminent as the headlines suggest? As an aside....PJ published a blog post about this very topic on 2.7.2024...check it out here: https://trickybitsblog.github.io/2024/02/07/meta-earnings-report-dividend.html

Performance Reviews! Everyone's most beloved topic and favorite activity...but how does that impact company culture...and what kind of incentives do they give rise to? Rob and PJ dive deep into these questions and explore how much past behaviors that gave rise to success....actually become more important that the pursuit of success itself?

In this episode, Rob and PJ explore the history of consoles. How did some of the technological advances from the 80s and 90s influence the rise of capabilities we see today?With the increasing convergence in hardware between the XBox and Playstation towards a PC model, where does the market go from here? Is Nintendo the big winner?Finally, does this convergence play into the current set of layoffs, where skills become more fungible across platforms?(And yes...a tiny addendum at the end on mobile gaming...)

In the second of their two part series on AR, Rob and PJ discuss the Apple Vision Pro, the use case displayed thus far, and whether this thing has legs in the marketplace.They also explore the social (or more precisely, anti-social) aspects of the AR, VR, XR space and question whether this is the right direction to be going in.Finally, they also ask the question...how big a resolution do you actually need before it really looks "real world"?

In our first two parter...Rob and PJ explore VR, AR, and XR, discussing some of the challenges that these related pieces of technology have faced off, how companies have tried to solve these problems, and where limitations still exist.Unafraid to dive into the deep details, Rob and PJ discuss optics, latency, cameras, and displays, going down the rabbit hole of technologies that form the backbone of all things VR, AR, and XR today....and help explain why we don't quite super vision, yet.

“What, another tech podcast? Why?!?”Having been in the tech industry for multiple decades across a slew of different companies, Rob and PJ may not have seen it all…but they have seen a LOT.More specifically, they have seen what works, what doesn't and everything in between.This podcast is a deep dive into the technical side, unafraid to take on the nitty gritty details. It also covers recent tech news with Rob and PJ's honest (and sometimes brutal) take…It is a podcast that isn't afraid to ask “what the frigging hell is going on here?” Only they don't say “frigging”.In this inaugural episode, Rob and PJ talk about why they started this and dive into their origin stories for how they got where they are today…

Barely in 2024, the week of January 8th saw layoffs across multiple tech companies: Google, Twitch, Discord, and Unity. To be sure...this is foreboding sign for 2024.How did we get here? What happened from high flying, highly profitable tech companies that once touted that "they would be different" to becoming just like any other business?In this episode, Rob and PJ discuss how any why why got here, what effects we think it is going to have on the tech industry, and, unfortunately, some of the areas where we think the layoffs are still yet to come.Buckle up, folks...it is going to be a ride...

On December 20th, Insomniac Games was hacked and had games, financial, and HR files leaked to the world. Having both worked there, Rob and PJ dive into the particulars of the situation and analyze where things are and where they might go from here.