I was briefly confused how an open source flashlight firmware had anything to do with this… then I noticed this post wasn’t in the Flashlight forum. So apparently Anduril is a war contractor AND a great flashlight firmware but are not related at all.
I did a quick search, so I’m basically an expert now. imaginary hair flip
So, some flashlights have multiple brightness modes. I guess that’s controlled via a tiny, low power microprocessor.
And if it’s a computer, it can be hacked!
So the firmware does things, depending on the capabilities of the hardware in the flashlight, but you can set it to override defaults for brightness, change how many levels of brightness you have, add (or remove) a blinky SOS mode, sleep timers in case it’s accidentally left on, and even add a way to check the battery percentage via a button press pattern, that the flashlight responds to with a series of blinks.
No lie, kind of fascinating stuff. I like to hack other stuff, like smart appliances (replacing firmware so it doesn’t share my data, but I still get to use it as a smart device). I don’t think I would be into talking to my flashlight via Morse code, but I can see the appeal as both a hobby, and for folks who need flashlights as safety equipment.
Yeah, Anduril the company has been around for a minute (Since 2017). Luckey got in early on selling weapons tech to the government after he sold Oculus.
I was briefly confused how an open source flashlight firmware had anything to do with this… then I noticed this post wasn’t in the Flashlight forum. So apparently Anduril is a war contractor AND a great flashlight firmware but are not related at all.
Why the hell would a flashlight need firmware?
I did a quick search, so I’m basically an expert now. imaginary hair flip
So, some flashlights have multiple brightness modes. I guess that’s controlled via a tiny, low power microprocessor.
And if it’s a computer, it can be hacked!
So the firmware does things, depending on the capabilities of the hardware in the flashlight, but you can set it to override defaults for brightness, change how many levels of brightness you have, add (or remove) a blinky SOS mode, sleep timers in case it’s accidentally left on, and even add a way to check the battery percentage via a button press pattern, that the flashlight responds to with a series of blinks.
No lie, kind of fascinating stuff. I like to hack other stuff, like smart appliances (replacing firmware so it doesn’t share my data, but I still get to use it as a smart device). I don’t think I would be into talking to my flashlight via Morse code, but I can see the appeal as both a hobby, and for folks who need flashlights as safety equipment.
And Aragorn’s sword :c
Yeah, Anduril the company has been around for a minute (Since 2017). Luckey got in early on selling weapons tech to the government after he sold Oculus.
What’s with some really scary companies (Anduril, Palantir) cribbing their names from LOTR?
Peter Thiel is a Lotr fan
maybe a Sauron fan more like
Yeah, totally didn’t understand the morality of the book and thinks sauron is a good role model