Daily Archives: 2025-04-17

NEW PRODUCT – Adafruit USB Type C CC Resistor Fixer

Source: adafruit industries blog

Article note: It has been hard to find these gadgets, but it's an obvious fix for all the extremely shittily implemented things that use a USB-C connector to accept 5V power input without the required sense resistors.

NEW PRODUCT – Adafruit USB Type C CC Resistor Fixer


Do you have any devices with USB C connections that don’t seem to power or work when plugged into another USB C port? Chances are, the designers skimped a few pennies or just forgot to put in the two 5.1K CC resistors required for C-to-C connections at 5V. It can drive you batty because some computers care and some don’t!

That’s why we designed the Adafruit USB Type C CC Resistor Fixer, a collab between our  sunken USB socket and USB Plug breakout. It’s the only product we hope we can discontinue one day, sooner rather than later! This small PCB assembly fits onto a cable or into the mis-designed port. It passes through the two data pins and the Vbus and Ground power lines, while adding the missing 5.1K resistors on the port side and a power good LED.

Note that the USB plug pinout doesn’t carry the sideband wires or the high speed pins, so this is good for USB charge/sync but not for high speed or specialty protocols. If you’re not sure, then it’s very unlikely you need them: those products aren’t going to mess up the CC resistors.

Posted in News | Leave a comment

Google loses ad tech monopoly trial, faces additional breakups

Source: Ars Technica

Article note: This is going to be interesting.

The verdict is in, and Google has been found to illegally hold online ad tech monopolies.

For over a decade, "Google has willfully engaged in a series of anticompetitive acts to acquire and maintain monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets for open-web display advertising," tying its publisher ad server and ad exchange together "to establish and protect its monopoly power in these two markets," the ruling said.

At trial, the DOJ argued that Google's ad business expanded to choke out competitors and benefit only Google. They argued that Google "rigged" ad auctions, allegedly controlling "multiple parts" of services used to place ads all over the Internet, unfairly advantaging itself in various markets.

Read full article

Comments

Posted in News | Leave a comment

A 1980s toy robot arm inspired modern robotics

Source: Hacker News

Article note: I got an Armatron at a yard sale as a kid, they are delightful toys that are really good at making you think about task complexity/dof/etc.
Comments
Posted in News | Leave a comment