Okay, so I have told you that my programming experiences date back to 1987 when I was about 8 years old. I even did a little chip programming back then. I do not remember enough to tell you a good story so I am looking into the tools you need to program a EEPROM chip. Amazon as well as other places sell these chip programming devices. I have been looking at something like the SETCTOP TL866II Plus USB Programmer. I found this on Amazon and chose the one with the most options at the higher price. Why would someone that designs websites want to program computer chips you ask? Well because I am an education seeking geek and I might need the knowledge as the inventor in me might think up something else.
I am bad about being just flat out honest! I had two books that I owned growing up. The Bible and a book on growing bonsai trees. So when it comes to me buying books sometimes I go overboard! I bought books dating back to 1987 on assembly language for the IBM computer. For the most part they are too out of date to use. On the other hand, I might be able to do something with these EEPROM chips with some of the knowledge I learn from the older books.
My mom pitched in and bought me a book titled Electronics Drafting which is by John Frostad, dating back to 1992. Why bother, you ask again? Because these books tell how electronics and computers were programmed and built before the internet. So, you may say! If you have had computer science classes you know that you have to study the history of computers but it is basic hardware and not the nuts and bolts. I don’t remember studying one computer program from back in the day or the popular programming languages.
Why would all that matter? Well I have decided to learn C++ because it’s base language C Standard was around back then. Still don’t get it? Back around the first of the personal computers, as for desktops, they had 8 bit programming and then 16 bit programming like around Windows 3.1 and it doubled each time. 32 bit, 64 bit. If I know how the 8 bit base was programmed and how they went to compute the addition of the next 8 bits I know how to make the 16 bit processing work. Why care, you ask? Well if I can learn how to program the increments together I can work at programming a 128 bit processor for the basic personal computer.
See, we have 64 bit processors and the next step up is 128 bit. The next big thing after the 128 bit processor for personal desktops and laptops is the 256 bit processor. Well to be honest as slow as things are working for me now with all I have going, one of you readers will probably come up with it first because I gave out the next step in computer programming for Intel and AMD.
Maybe you think I should not share my ideas and make the money for myself. I look at it like this: I will be able to learn as I go and might not be the one to patent the 128 bit processor but I will be able to buy a computer with the technology someday. So it works for me. Sometimes The Lord asks me to share ideas that I will not make money on. Why? Because some people are too stressed to know what to do with their education and are really blessed and loved by The Lord. They just have to know where to start and besides, I know The Lord will thank me later. It is like paying it forward!
Getting back to what I want to teach you in this blog post, I will take references from the book I told you about Electronic Drafting. Why, you ask? Because every good idea starts with a drawing and some thought. Now, I have not read all of this book yet, but from what I see, the author is telling us that there are a number of jobs that deal with a technical drafting document like an electronic drafting diagram.
I am bad for trying to do it all myself, which is why I am getting to the root of the computer board you might say, but knowing that you do not have to be the only person to work on a project makes going into the electronics development field much easier. To understand my first self attempt at a patent idea I worked for about twenty weeks before telling anyone what I was doing. I was in the fifth grade and was worried the whole time the idea would be shot down because I didn’t do it right. It was almost a nightmare! But my father managed to find an engineer that took the time to check the measurements and draw out the plan for others to understand for production.
The morale of this is sometimes you need to get your education first. I don’t know but from the looks of the EEPROM chips you can program with the SETCTOP TL866II Plus USB Programmer, the older education might come in handy. As for on Amazon the biggest storage chip I found was 16 Mbit for about $9.00. I was telling someone (before I studied what I have now) that for each pin on a processor you could have an eight core processor programmed. Is that possible? I am sure it is but I am yet to understand it. It may be that it takes two of those pins, one for input and one for output.
After you read this post and let it sink into your central processor, don’t forget to learn and have fun with it. Whether you are using a Snap Circuit kit from elenco.com or a Snapino Kit with an Arduino from elenco.com, keep it safe and fun! Never quit learning and inventing new ways to do old things. That is how technology advances!
