I Really Like aufs...

Being able to overlay a tmpfs on top of a read only file-system is really handy for embedded systems, particularly ones where a read-only device (e.g. ROM) or a limited-write-cycle device (e.g. flash) is used for the root file-system.  To programs running on the device, the file-system appears-and-acts writable, but files created, modified, or removed are done so in a RAM-based tmpfs instead of being persisted to the backing storage device.  Not only does this help increase device write lifetime (in the case of flash), it can also improve device stability in the field.

Certainly there's a number of "union" file-systems out there, but I've had good experiences (and stability) with aufs.

Hey, a Browser-based IDE... Wait, What?

A good friend of mine clued me onto an interesting offering from the folks over at mbed: a browser-based IDE for their ARM-based dev boards!  Appears to support syntax highlighting and some version control for your source files, among other things.  Neat!  Now if they could just figure a way to integrate a debugger...

TI Still Selling MSP430 Dev Kit for $4.30!

I was pleasantly surprised to see Texas Instruments is still selling their MSP430 LaunchPad dev kit (part of their "value line") for $4.30 (plus shipping).  Great way to affordably tinker around with a handy 16-bit microcontroller, and it comes with Code Composer Studio, a decent (well, for the bit I've tinkered with mine, it seems decent) IDE, too, for creating, compiling, and debugging.  I believe there's also a free version of an IAR IDE available, but I haven't tried it.

Now if I could just get a Rapsberry Pi distributors to sell me a model B board...