High School Dropout, Self-Taught Chip Designer

High School Dropout, Self-Taught Chip Designer 816

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:30PM from the games-people-play dept.

circletimessquare writes "The QVC television shopping network has recently found a hit in its product the C64, which emulates the classic Commodore 64 in a small form factor, a joystick. But the story of the designer of the product is more interesting than the product. Meet Jeri Ellsworth [NYTimes. You know what that means], whose life story emulates the golden age of garage-based computer design. She is proof that the passion of the homebrew electronic hobbyist is still a viable force in an age when well-funded and well-staffed corporate design teams dominate chip design."

High School Dropout, Self-Taught Chip Designer

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Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

by _PimpDaddy7_ ( 415866 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:31PM (#11139337)

is she HOT?

Maybe (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:33PM (#11139354)

Maybe in 20 years she can design a P75. That will show those corparte giants who is boss.

that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:3, Funny)

by Triumph The Insult C ( 586706 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:34PM (#11139370) Homepage Journal

keep your pants on boys ... she's kind of cute [c64upgra.de]

don't mod up :( (Score:5, Funny)

by ack154 ( 591432 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:34PM (#11139371)

damnit - i really did mean to post as AC ...

Jeri...ooh (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:35PM (#11139389)

We've covered this before, and everyone debated the included game list. But, it does pose the question...what sounds does an army of salivating nerds make? ;-)

Re:Yes but... (Score:5, Funny)

by Just Some Guy ( 3352 ) writes: <kirk+slashdot@strauser.com> on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:35PM (#11139390) Homepage Journal

She's pretty good looking [google.com], even if she wasn't a female hard-core geek who designs and fabricates CPUs for the hell of it.

A girl-geek and slashdot (Score:5, Funny)

by Hoi Polloi ( 522990 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:35PM (#11139391) Journal

Start rolling out the "She is hot" and "I'd like her to play with my joystick" comments.

One more thing, can Slashdot's editors please stop whining about NYT's registration? To read their news for free just for filling in some info seems like a generous trade.

Finally I can get a Comadore 64... (Score:2, Funny)

by Socrates Demise ( 833373 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:35PM (#11139399) Homepage

and see what all of the fuss was about.

But what about Porn? (Score:2, Funny)

by DeathFlame ( 839265 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:36PM (#11139403)

When will someone create a 'joystick' with 30 different kinds of porn, instead of having to use that old 'internet' thing.

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:4, Funny)

by JaffaKREE ( 766802 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:38PM (#11139426)

Definitely cute, but standing next to a male skull with RAM sticks lodged in the cranium serve as an effective deterrent to sexual advances.

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:5, Funny)

by grasshoppa ( 657393 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:44PM (#11139496) Homepage

You're new here, aren't you?

I'd hit it! (Score:4, Funny)

by beldraen ( 94534 ) writes: <{moc.liamg} {ta} {risialptnom.dahc}> on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:44PM (#11139504)

Oh, wrong site.. Sorry.

Well (Score:5, Funny)

by paranode ( 671698 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:45PM (#11139517)

She looks like a conniving elf in the picture. So in Slashdot terms, yes she's hot.

Re:Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

by gUmbi ( 95629 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:50PM (#11139567)

is she HOT?

6 beers.

Re:Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

by caluml ( 551744 ) writes: <slashdot@spamgoe ... minus herbivore> on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:51PM (#11139579) Homepage

Well, she's slim, which in my book is 75% :)

New York Times? (Score:5, Funny)

by michael path ( 94586 ) * writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:54PM (#11139615) Homepage Journal

[NYTimes. You know what that means]

That they're just making shit up?

Darn (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @03:54PM (#11139617)

Dont you hate it when you're looking for -1 Martyr and you get Funny?

Re:I think I'm in love. (Score:3, Funny)

by jxyama ( 821091 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @04:10PM (#11139776)

>The important question, is she single?
from the lack of the ring... i believe she is...
but you missed the more important question first:
is she straight?
(of course, i assumed the question to the question that comes before that: are you a male?

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:4, Funny)

by dimator ( 71399 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @04:10PM (#11139788) Homepage Journal

Pants officially off!

Re:There will always been room for the underdog (Score:3, Funny)

by ConceptJunkie ( 24823 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @04:11PM (#11139790) Homepage Journal

I think "Scion" is Japanese for "butt-ugly".

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:3, Funny)

by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @04:11PM (#11139798)

Maybe, but I prefer the brunette standing next to her.

Is Stroker on the joystick? (Score:3, Funny)

by hal2814 ( 725639 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @04:30PM (#11140015)

With all the girl-geek comments going around, has anyone checked to see if Stroker [lemon64.com] is on the C64 joystick?

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:5, Funny)

by iamhassi ( 659463 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @04:56PM (#11140336) Journal

sorry for the troll but.... damn she's cute!!!
Even if she wasn't a 30 yr old high school dropout self-taught chip designer and was just a normal person I'd still consider her cute.

Re:impossible? (Score:2, Funny)

by i41Overlord ( 829913 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @04:57PM (#11140346)

No, but they had the resources of the US government and their academic institution to back them up. Chip fabrication is not cheap, therefore it really is difficult to get into the chip design field.

On the contrary, I made an advanced chip fab in my kitchen using only twine, sticks, matches and an old pair of reading glasses. Of course I had an outside contractor (MacGuyver) help me.

Re:Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

by freshman_a ( 136603 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:02PM (#11140404) Homepage Journal

Even more remarkable than a hot girl designing microchips, is the fact that QVC is selling something I would actually buy.

even more remarkable is that this is prolly the only article in /. history where a post by an AC consisting only of the word "Yes", in reponse to the question "is she hot?", got modded as "insightful"

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:2, Funny)

by dAzED1 ( 33635 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:07PM (#11140470) Journal

why aren't you modded as funny?

You were just being funny...right?

Re:Yes but... (Score:5, Funny)

by b1t r0t ( 216468 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:22PM (#11140619)

is she HOT?
She's female and she knows VHDL. That makes her pretty hot as far as I'm concerned.

Re:Yes but... (Score:3, Funny)

by c64cryptoboy ( 310001 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @05:58PM (#11140990) Homepage Journal

QVC is selling something I would actually buy
I'm sure the small print says "Jeri not included".

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:3, Funny)

by Dasein ( 6110 ) writes: <tedc@codebig. c o m> on Monday December 20, 2004 @06:09PM (#11141099) Homepage Journal

And I'm practically old enough to be your typical slashdotter's father. Seems okay to me.

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:5, Funny)

by pHatidic ( 163975 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @07:01PM (#11141624)

So .8333 out of 10? Dude that's harsh.

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Custard ( 587661 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @07:19PM (#11141777) Homepage Journal

she really is pretty cute... but look at all the stiff competition you'd find if you tried to pick her up at a hobby show: http://home.earthlink.net/~randy128/expo2002/pix5/ MVC-304S.JPG [earthlink.net]

Re:Yes but... (Score:2, Funny)

by paedobear ( 808689 ) writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @09:05PM (#11142672)

Feh - still hot. Or is there a rule that we can only objectify real women now?

Re:Sexism (Score:3, Funny)

by LittleGuy ( 267282 ) * writes: on Monday December 20, 2004 @11:31PM (#11143822)

I'm halfway through the responses and haven't yet encountered a single comment about the greatness of this project!

So, is the project HOT?

Jerri Fan Site (Score:2, Funny)

by Stopher2475 ( 780930 ) writes: on Tuesday December 21, 2004 @12:20AM (#11144168)

My question is which one of us is gonna be nerdy enough to collect all the pics of her and make a fan site?

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:3, Funny)

by unitron ( 5733 ) writes: on Tuesday December 21, 2004 @07:40AM (#11145789) Homepage Journal

But she has her own temperature-controlled soldering station, how can you not fall in love?
I'll bet she even does wire-wrap.

There may be more comments in this discussion. Without JavaScript enabled, you might want to turn on Classic Discussion System in your preferences instead.

Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

Maybe (Score:5, Funny)

that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:3, Funny)

don't mod up :( (Score:5, Funny)

Jeri...ooh (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Yes but... (Score:5, Funny)

A girl-geek and slashdot (Score:5, Funny)

Finally I can get a Comadore 64... (Score:2, Funny)

But what about Porn? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:4, Funny)

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:5, Funny)

I'd hit it! (Score:4, Funny)

Well (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

New York Times? (Score:5, Funny)

Darn (Score:1, Funny)

Re:I think I'm in love. (Score:3, Funny)

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:4, Funny)

Re:There will always been room for the underdog (Score:3, Funny)

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:3, Funny)

Is Stroker on the joystick? (Score:3, Funny)

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:impossible? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Yes but... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Yes but... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:that noise you are about to hear ... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Yes but... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Sexism (Score:3, Funny)

Jerri Fan Site (Score:2, Funny)

Re:No Reg Required... (Score:3, Funny)

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