WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:01.800 What if you had a short cut, like a way 2 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:04.719 to really get how the devices we use every day 3 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.480 actually come into being. You know, how they're made, how 4 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:11.400 they break, and even how the designs themselves shape our world. 5 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:15.000 That's exactly what we're digging into today. Welcome everyone, We're 6 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.239 doing a deep dive into the world and the really 7 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.640 sharp insights of Andrew Bunny Huang. He's a well, a 8 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:23.039 truly renowned hardware hacker. 9 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:26.079 Yeah, and for this deep dive, we're pulling from excerpts 10 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:30.120 from his fantastic book The Hardware Hacker Adventures in Making 11 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:32.520 and Breaking Hardware. You look at the reviews and man, 12 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:36.399 you instantly see why it's considered essential. Joy Itedo from 13 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:39.520 MIT Media Lab. He calls it a hacker's point of 14 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:43.240 view bible, and he really highlights Bunny's, you know, practical 15 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:45.840 hands on experience and his knack for explaining the whole 16 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:46.920 hardware ecosystem. 17 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:49.880 And Lamar Freed Ladiata from ad of Fruit. She says 18 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:53.119 Bunny is the ultimate tour guide of hardware hacking. She 19 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:55.320 points out how the book takes you right into the factories, 20 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.880 covering the tech side, sure, but also the bigger implications 21 00:00:57.880 --> 00:00:59.479 of all this stuff we make him buy. 22 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:03.039 Right. Then there's Mitch Altman, the TV begun inventor. He 23 00:01:03.159 --> 00:01:07.480 just calls it entertaining and informative on China's manufacturing. So 24 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:10.519 our mission here is pretty clear. We're going to unpack 25 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:15.400 Bunny's unique view from navigating these super complex supply chains 26 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:19.799 in China to thinking about ip ethics and even getting 27 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:21.359 into hacking biology. 28 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:24.799 It sounds wild, but it connects. Get ready for some 29 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:29.640 really surprising facts, those aha moments that will definitely change 30 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:30.920 how you see the world as stuff. 31 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.599 Okay, so let's jump right in. Where better to start 32 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:38.359 than manufacturing Bunny's adventures in China, especially that hardware ecosystem. 33 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:40.799 The scale and speed just jump out, don't they. 34 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:43.400 Oh? Absolutely, it's kind of mind bending. Bunny talks about 35 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:46.640 his first trip to Shenzhen's SAG electronics market. This was 36 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:48.840 back in two thousand and seven. Yeah, he thought, you know, 37 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:51.879 Akihaba and Tokyo is the peak, the absolute center of 38 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.079 the electronics. 39 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:54.799 World, right, the classic spot exactly, But. 40 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:57.280 Then he hits seg and describes it as an orgy 41 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:02.040 of consumer and industrial electronic purchasing, just way beyond anything 42 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:03.959 he'd imagined. Colossal is the. 43 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:06.560 Word, and the scale wasn't just the market, right, the 44 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:07.359 whole city. 45 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.319 The whole city shen Zen in two thousand and seven, 46 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:16.080 nine million people. Places like Fox Cohn, you know where 47 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:18.199 so much of our tech gets made. It had its 48 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:21.840 own freeway exit over two hundred and fifty thousand employees. 49 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:24.719 Just think about that number for a second. 50 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:26.919 It's hard to even picture. And that's saying the one 51 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:29.199 about food minisi wage. 52 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:33.759 Shit, yeah, people consider food divine. Bunny saw this truckload 53 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.360 of pigs heading straight for Fox Cohn off the highway. Wow, 54 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:39.719 it really paints a picture, doesn't it, Not just of 55 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:42.439 the sheer number of people, but the whole infrastructure built 56 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.919 around supporting them. It's more than just assembly. 57 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:47.800 Lines, absolutely, and that human element. It wasn't just about numbers. 58 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.719 It was crucial for quality, even in high volume stuff. 59 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:53.479 That story about the late night debugging, oh yeah. 60 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:55.759 The Chumby factory June two thousand and seven. He's there 61 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.080 at three am trying to figure out this problem, and 62 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.039 the factory manages the text. They're right there with him. 63 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:02.319 All night, providing gear too, right. 64 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:07.199 Everything, soldering irons, X ray machines, microscopes, No complaints, just 65 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:08.400 focused on fixing it. 66 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:10.719 And the kicker is it wasn't even their fault. 67 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:12.680 Exactly took out to be a firmware bug from the 68 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:17.520 US side. And their reaction not anger, just relief. 69 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:19.439 That says so much about their dedication. 70 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.000 It really does. It ties into what Bunny calls the 71 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:25.000 craft's people element. Like there was this one guy, a 72 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:28.400 connector guy, yeah, hand placing connectors on every single Chumby 73 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:31.360 for maybe five cents a unit, but it saved like 74 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:33.280 two dollars per Chumby overall. 75 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.960 Incredible human skill beating automation. 76 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.759 On cost sometimes Yeah. And then there was Master Chow. 77 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:41.680 This guy was a master pattern maker. He worked on 78 00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:45.759 cosmetic bags, for brawn cases for Microsoft, even medical braces. 79 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:46.439 Wow. 80 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:51.080 Bunny points out before sophisticated machines, craft was literally the 81 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:53.639 only way you got quality. It makes you appreciate the 82 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:54.680 skills still involved. 83 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:57.439 But there's that weird mix too, right, the automation paradox. 84 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:01.560 Oh, definitely like chip on board Kobe technology. It saves 85 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:04.319 costs by bonding the silicon dye right to the board 86 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:07.560 used in fancy electronics and cheap toys. 87 00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:08.240 So high tech. 88 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.719 Well yes, but here's the paradox you'd see these super 89 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:17.839 advanced automated wire bonders making these tidy connections incredibly fast, 90 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:21.040 right next to a line where other chips were being 91 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.839 glued down and encapsulated totally by hand. 92 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.680 So high tech automation side by side with manual labor exactly. 93 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.079 It really messes with your image of a factory floor. 94 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:34.240 Speaking of precision, getting the chumney cases right with injection molding, 95 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.279 Bunny said that was no small hill to climb. 96 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.720 Yeah, And the keyword he uses is precision, absolute precision. 97 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:42.000 How precise are we talking? 98 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:46.519 Molds cut from hardened steel with tolerances better than hair thin. 99 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:50.560 And after the initial cutting, there's this process called EDM 100 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:52.600 electrical discharge machining. 101 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:53.720 That sounds intense, it's. 102 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:56.839 Terrifically tedious, he says, yeah, uses electrical sparks to slowly 103 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:01.360 erode the steel into these super intricate shapes, but very slow. 104 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:04.519 And they did complex stuff too, like the rubbery back right. 105 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:07.199 The over moolding, putting that soft tpe layer over the 106 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:10.680 hard abs plastic for the chumbies back bezzle that needed 107 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:14.000 a special two shot mold where parts actually spun around inside. 108 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:15.040 It's really an art. 109 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.120 But all this precision. All this complexity leads to challenges, 110 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:22.720 especially managing quality from AFAR and the cultural. 111 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:27.000 Differences huge challenges. Bunny gives this great example, tell us engineer, 112 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:28.959 I need a button here. Yeah, pretty much know what 113 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:33.720 you'll get in China, though you might get something awkward 114 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:38.279 and clunky, but as he puts it, darn cheap. The 115 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:40.959 priorities and interpretations can be really different. 116 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:44.680 And the story about the QA manager Shell Lee building 117 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:47.759 Chumbies but not knowing what the World Wide Web was. 118 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:51.480 Yeah, Bunny felt like a spoiled snob realizing his basic 119 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:55.120 assumptions weren't shared. That disconnect, if you're not careful, can 120 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:57.040 cause real problems with the final product. 121 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:00.480 So that's why big companies send teams over Apple and 122 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:01.959 mordor pretty much. 123 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.720 Yeah. Apple sends a cadre of engineers to places like 124 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.279 fox Conn for these intense stints. They know you need 125 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:08.680 eyes on. 126 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.000 The ground, and Bunny's approach was similar, being there himself. 127 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:15.120 As much as possible. Yeah, being on the floor using processes. 128 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.920 The factory was already comfortable with treating new stuff as 129 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.279 multi week challenges, not just overnight changes. 130 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:22.519 He even trained workers personally. 131 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:26.839 He did like attaching these fiddly EMI shields with copper tape. 132 00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:31.600 He mentioned the language barrier, but relying on facial expressions 133 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:34.240 body language to see if they got it really hands on, 134 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:38.079 and that hands on approach highlights the cost of distance, 135 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:38.519 doesn't it? 136 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:42.560 Oh massively? He said new processes could take weeks to 137 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:45.240 get right when he was remote because of FedExing samples 138 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:49.319 back and forth versus versus maybe a few hours if 139 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:51.839 he was right there on the factory floor. That time 140 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:53.000 difference is huge. 141 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:55.959 It really hammers home the value of just being there. 142 00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:58.240 So when he couldn't be there, he built his own 143 00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:00.560 system checks. 144 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:03.519 Yeah, a homegrown audit system for the chummy test results 145 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:06.959 allowed him to debug from the US. But also crucially, 146 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:11.199 the factory knew someone was watching the data accountability from AFAR. 147 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:13.720 That's clever, which kind of leads us into this whole 148 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.199 other side of the Chinese hardware scene, the Shanzhai gonkai. Yeah, 149 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:18.959 this different philosophy of openness. 150 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.319 Yeah, it's fascinating. It's way more than just copycats. 151 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:23.800 Like his phone repair story, exactly. 152 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:27.079 Gets his phone screen fixed in Shenzen half an hour 153 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.000 costs less than just shipping the parts to Singapore whateff. 154 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:32.959 That tells you something about the repair and recycle culture there. 155 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.720 Okay, so Shanzhai, what does it really mean beyond copycat? 156 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:41.920 Well, the characters literally mean mountain fortress. It carries this 157 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:47.800 connotation of rebellious, individualistic sort of underground entrepreneurs. Bunny describes 158 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:49.879 them as Robinhood meets che Guvara. 159 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:50.920 Ah. Okay. 160 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:53.720 These were often tiny outfits back in two thousand and nine. 161 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:56.519 Some were churning out two hundred thousand mobile phones a 162 00:07:56.600 --> 00:07:59.439 month with under two hundred and fifty people. Wow. 163 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:01.120 And they weren't copying. 164 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:03.920 No way, they were invading in their own style, integrating 165 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:07.000 wacky features. He calls them like seven point one stereo 166 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:09.439 sound on a phone, dual sim cards way before they 167 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:13.720 were common, even functional cigarette lighters or uvleds to spot fake. 168 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:15.879 Money seriously, a cigarette lighter yep. 169 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.879 And creating these mashups like a Ferrari branded phone or 170 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.319 phone watch combos that actually came out before the first 171 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.319 smart watches. They were remixing and experimenting. 172 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:27.240 So how did IP work in that world? It sounds chaotic, 173 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:28.519 It's completely different. 174 00:08:28.600 --> 00:08:32.240 It's more like community enforced rules because many shans I 175 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.679 owned their own factories. Sharing blueprints wasn't just giving away secrets. 176 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:38.240 It was like advertising exactly. 177 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.440 Blueprints acted as advertisements to attract business for their manufacturing capabilities. 178 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:47.600 Totally unlike Western IP, which Bunny says aims to create 179 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:52.159 impenetrable monopoly positions, it fosters a different kind of ecosystem. 180 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.840 And the twelve dollars phone is a perfect example of 181 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:56.320 this Gonkai system in action. 182 00:08:56.600 --> 00:09:00.879 A perfect tangible example, a real quad band GSM, Bluetooth, 183 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:05.639 MP three player, oled screen keypad, all for twelve bucks contract. 184 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.279 Free and rumored to cost less than ten dollars. 185 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:11.080 To make, Yeah, under ten dollars. The design was incredibly 186 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:14.639 cost optimized, no screws, It all just snapped together, hardly 187 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:18.399 any internal connectors components, even the battery soldered right onto 188 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.200 the board, plus bonus decorative LEDs. 189 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:23.159 AH, and the chip inside was super cheap too. 190 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.559 The media Tech MT six two fifty zero DA rumored 191 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:29.039 to be under two dollars in bulk. That's cheaper than 192 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:30.840 the micro controller and Arduino board. 193 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:33.120 So how did they design these things so cheaply? Where 194 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:34.240 did the plans come from? 195 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:39.879 That's the Gonkai part. Schematics board layouts software tools basically 196 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.240 available for free, he says, if you knew Chinese and 197 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:47.360 where to look online, though crucially often without the original 198 00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:49.000 copyright holders legal out. 199 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:53.480 Okay, so it feels open source but isn't legally right. 200 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:56.919 Buddy nails it. It feels like open source, but it's not. 201 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:01.039 It's a different kind of open ecosystem, open through practice, 202 00:10:01.080 --> 00:10:03.159 through sharing, not through licenses. 203 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:06.879 Okay, so how does that differ legally from Western open source? 204 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.759 Bunny did some reverse engineering himself, right with Fernvale. 205 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:12.639 He did with his colleague jobs. They relied on a 206 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.879 key principle in US law from the Vice Publications case. 207 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.320 Facts aren't copyrightable. 208 00:10:17.720 --> 00:10:20.039 So they could document how the chip work exactly. 209 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:23.559 They carefully navigated things like the DMCA and CFA, made 210 00:10:23.559 --> 00:10:26.480 sure they got files from public servers, use devices without 211 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:28.679 restrictive eolas to stay within fair use. 212 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:32.120 For Bunny, then open hardware isn't just about the license. 213 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.519 No, it's broader, he says, whether it's Gonkai or open source, 214 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:38.240 open hardware is about empowering users to be the masters 215 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:40.679 of their own technology. It's about freedom. 216 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:43.120 He even calls it a basic human right. 217 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:47.279 Freedom to learn, tinker, and improve technology is so core 218 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:49.639 to my person that I view it as a basic 219 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:53.559 human right. It's a really powerful statement about ownership and 220 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.360 control over the tech that surrounds us. 221 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:58.080 It really is, and you see that philosophy clearly in 222 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.279 his own projects like Chumby. 223 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:04.519 Definitely the Chumbi one. The later version was deliberately made 224 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:09.120 much more hackable, firmware on a micro SD card, easy 225 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:09.879 to swap. 226 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.759 Out, hardware with no secrets, right, that. 227 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:15.360 Was the motto. They posted everything online, schematics, gerber files 228 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.639 for the PCB layout, the source code under GPL. 229 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:21.120 And those test points so tech astronomy, Uh. 230 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:24.799 Yeah, little hacker easter egg. Those test points could actually 231 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.639 bypass the authentication chip's rite protection, a clear signal we 232 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:29.799 want you to tinker. 233 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:31.720 With this, and people did right, turn them into routers 234 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:32.080 and stuff. 235 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:34.440 Oh yeah, three g to Wi Fi routers at touching 236 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:37.399 keyboards for a console shell. The openness invited that kind 237 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:38.080 of creativity. 238 00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:42.840 Then came Novina, the laptop project that seemed even more hardcore, hacker. 239 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:46.639 Focused, totally bespoke. Bunny and Ops basically built the laptop 240 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:49.320 they wanted to use every day, kind of ignoring standard 241 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:50.519 market demands, and it. 242 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:52.440 Had some unique hardware features. 243 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:55.759 Absolutely USB on the go, a utility e prom for 244 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:00.759 storing settings, a powerful spartan six FPGA connected like RAM, 245 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:05.360 analog inputs, PWM headers, even a Raspberry Pie compatible header. 246 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:08.120 It was packed with potential and it opened itself. Yeah, 247 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:11.559 an internal gas spring and they intentionally left the internals 248 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.559 exposed naked for easy access and modification. 249 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.879 Plus that pikare like a breadboard for hardware. 250 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:20.960 Exactly designed with Nodu Peak from MIT, a grid of 251 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.279 threaded holes so you could easily attach custom peripherals or 252 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.279 mounts without drilling into the case. All about hackability. 253 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:29.639 And the special wood case for the heirloom version. 254 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.759 Oh, the heirloom Novina. Yeah us this amazing custom wood, 255 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:38.480 composite cork, fiberglass wood, super tough, super resilient. He'd bended 256 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:41.000 ten millimeters and it just bounced back, didn't break. 257 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:43.919 Imagine a laptop doing that. But manufacturing wasn't all smooth 258 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:45.159 sailing even for them. 259 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:49.080 Never is right. They still hit snags with injection molding, 260 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.679 things like sink marks where plastic cools unevenly, or flow 261 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:57.720 marks streaks from cooling too fast, led to, as Bunny 262 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.480 put it, a small hill of scrap plastic while they 263 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:01.279 dialed it in. 264 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:02.919 And they had to fix a clock issue. 265 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.320 Yeah, the built in real time clock wasn't great, so 266 00:13:05.320 --> 00:13:08.840 they just made a dedicated external module for it. Sometimes 267 00:13:08.840 --> 00:13:10.960 fixing is better than fighting a flawed component. 268 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:16.759 Okay. Third platform chibb Atronics circuit stickers sounds simpler. 269 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:21.039 Deceptively simple. Building circuits on flexible polymide using Z tape 270 00:13:21.320 --> 00:13:24.639 tape that only conducts electricity vertically. Super clever way to 271 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:26.039 make circuits you could stick anywhere. 272 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.960 The manufacturing simple things can be hard. To that test, 273 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:29.960 they designed. 274 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:33.879 The process capability test. Genius. Really, they designed a sheet 275 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:37.559 of stickers with variations specifically meant to break the manufacturing process, 276 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.840 define the weak spots exactly. The factory initially refused, said 277 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:43.320 it was impossible to make, but it helped them understand 278 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:46.399 the limits and make the final product more robust. 279 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:50.240 And that lesson. Not all simple requests are simple for everyone. 280 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:51.840 Like the multimedia right the. 281 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:55.960 Circuit sticker sketch book needed a non conductive spine. Simple idea, 282 00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:58.360 but they had to physically teach the book printer how 283 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.919 to use a basic five dollars moulditer to check it. 284 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:05.000 You can't assume knowledge crosses industries. Another smart move avoiding 285 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:06.440 multiple firmware versions. 286 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:10.240 Oh yeah, Lesson learned if a component can be placed incorrectly, 287 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:13.480 it will be so. Instead of four different sticker types 288 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:15.039 needing four firmware. 289 00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:17.000 Files, they made one firmware. 290 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:21.240 One firmware, and the sticker's behavior blinking, fading, whatever, was 291 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:25.000 set by just adding one external resistor. Much simpler to 292 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:26.080 manage on the factory floor. 293 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:29.720 But language was still a barrier sometimes even for blinking lights. 294 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:33.159 It seems absurd, but yeah, Trying to translate the subtle 295 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.480 difference between a fading pattern and a twinkling pattern into 296 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.840 Chinese was tough. They used videos, but it still caused 297 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:41.000 quality control headaches. 298 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.559 Wow, and logistics Chinese New Year huge impact. 299 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:47.720 Individual vendors might take two weeks off, but because everyone's 300 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:50.759 holiday is staggered, the whole supply chain basically grinds to 301 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:51.679 a halt for a month. 302 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:55.000 You have to plan way ahead, and shipping wasn't straightforward 303 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:58.559 either air versus Ocean. Surprisingly, yeah, for a shipment of 304 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:01.840 sixty cartons, Ocean ended up being more expensive than air 305 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:04.879 freight because of various search charges. They just weren't shipping 306 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.600 in a volume to make ocean efficient, another hurdle for 307 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:08.360 smaller players. 308 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:10.840 Okay, so we've seen the making side. Let's switch to 309 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:16.519 the breaking side, the art of hardware hacking itself, tools techniques. 310 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:18.639 Bunny's approach seems practical. 311 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:22.000 That's about fear, definitely practical. He says, you have to 312 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:24.559 break eggs to make an omelet. Likewise, you have to 313 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:27.840 be willing to sacrifice devices to hack a system, no 314 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.360 fear of breaking things. His rule of three start with 315 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.399 three identical devices, one to tear down completely, one to 316 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:37.080 probe wallet's working, and one kept pristine as a reference. 317 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:38.480 Smart way to manage the. 318 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:42.519 Process and hacking that PIC micro controller. It started with 319 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:43.840 getting inside. 320 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:47.279 Yeah, using failure analysis services companies that specialize in this 321 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:50.960 to decapsulate the chip, basically dissolve the epoxy package. 322 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:52.639 And inside he found shields. 323 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:55.600 Unusual metal shields right over the security fuses that peaked 324 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:56.120 his interest. 325 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:59.799 His insight came from old tech, from uve proms. 326 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:03.159 He knew flash memory could be erased by UV light. 327 00:16:03.720 --> 00:16:07.080 The challenge was getting the light past those metal shields. 328 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:09.080 And the solution was physics. 329 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:13.399 Basic physics, refraction index mismatch, like when you're underwater looking 330 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.159 up the surface can look like a mirror at certain angles. 331 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:18.639 He figured out how to use that effect to bounce 332 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.799 UV light under the shields and erase the security fuses. Brilliant. 333 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:26.039 Okay, what about SD cards? That started with a practical. 334 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:29.799 Problem, Yeah, investigating potentially fake sd cards during Chummy production. 335 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:34.279 But then it evolved into a darpafunded project. Could you 336 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:36.519 make an SD card do something completely unintended? 337 00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:39.480 And the tool they built the RPL. 338 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:42.879 An interactive RPL shell, mostly built by ox Ops. RPL 339 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:45.639 stands for read Evil Print Loop. Basically, it gave them 340 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:49.600 a command line inside the sd card's own little microcontroller. 341 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:51.080 So they could run their own code on the card. 342 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:54.799 Itself exactly real time arbitrary code execution. Huge step for 343 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.159 understanding and potentially manipulating. 344 00:16:56.600 --> 00:17:01.080 Them and net TV hacking HDMI without breaking HDCP. 345 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:04.559 That was super clever. The goal wasn't to decrypt the movie, 346 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:07.799 which is illegal. It was to overlay their own content 347 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.160 onto the already encrypted video stream. 348 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:11.440 How did they manage that? 349 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:14.160 They built a device with an FPGA that sat between 350 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:16.920 the source and the TV. It pretended to be a 351 00:17:16.920 --> 00:17:20.880 display snooped on the HDMI communication channel the DDC to 352 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:24.119 grab needed info and then use that to encrypt their 353 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:27.240 own graphics overlay using the same encryption stream. 354 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.839 So it works with the encryption, not against it. 355 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.799 Precisely. It's hacking around the security, not through it. A 356 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:36.279 really elegant legal and technical workaround. 357 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.440 It's amazing how he applies that thinking even beyond electronics 358 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:41.440 to biology. 359 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:43.720 Yeah, this is where it gets really mind bending. He 360 00:17:43.799 --> 00:17:48.279 sees biology life itself as this ultimate reverse engineering challenge. 361 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:52.960 Organisms as complex systems, just ones with absolutely no documentation, and. 362 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:55.759 He sees parallels to hardware parts lists totally. 363 00:17:56.279 --> 00:17:58.480 He looked at the published data for a Bacterium M 364 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.799 pneumonia and said, the supplemental material read just like a 365 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:05.039 bill of materials for a product, enzymes listed with functions 366 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:07.160 gene sequences as the source code. 367 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:08.920 Framing biology like engineering. 368 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:11.000 It makes it approachable, right, And then he applies that 369 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:12.920 to something like the flu virus H one N. 370 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:15.079 One, seeing it as data as bits. 371 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:17.799 The entire H one N one genome just twenty six 372 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:20.720 twenty two bits about three point two kilibites. He finds 373 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.359 it chilling that it takes about three point two kb 374 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.480 of data to code for a virus that has a 375 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:28.240 non trivial chance of killing a human. 376 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:30.319 That efficiency is terrifying, and. 377 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:33.839 Hacking it means knowing tiny changes in that code, like 378 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.519 one amino acid of position six twenty seven in the 379 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:39.440 PP two gene, can drastically change how deadly it. 380 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:42.160 Is, so you could theoretically creak it. 381 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:45.279 Theoretically, yes, make it more virulent, or maybe alter it 382 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.839 just enough to evade antiviral drugs. It highlights how programmable 383 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:50.039 life is at its core. 384 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:51.920 Which leads straight into antibiotic resistance. 385 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:54.640 The superbugs like that one to four dot h four 386 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:58.039 outbreak in twenty eleven. Analyzing its genome, they found over 387 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:00.559 eleven hundred genes were a perfect mass, which to known 388 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:04.720 drug resistance genes is basically carrying a huge arsenal defenses. 389 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:06.839 And resistance spreads easily like open source code. 390 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:11.279 That's Bunny's analogy. There's this reservoir of resistance genes out 391 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:14.920 there in the microbial world. Even if resistant bacteria are rare, 392 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:18.119 they hold onto those genes, and because genetic code is 393 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:22.480 somewhat interoferable between bacteria, those resistance traits can get passed around, 394 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:23.519 shared between. 395 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:27.160 Different species like bacteria downloading updates pretty. 396 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.640 Much yeah, which brings us to crispercuss, the gene editing 397 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:34.160 tool that emerged around twenty twelve. Bunny calls it the 398 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:36.599 integrated circuit of gene editing. 399 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:39.240 And it comes from bacteria to their immune system exactly. 400 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:42.680 Bacteria use these Crisper sequences, short repeating patterns in their 401 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:46.559