+
+ Project Lifeblood!
+also Stripe Sessions 2025!
+2025-04-21
+written by Niko Viau-Chow-Stuart (Founder)
+ +
+
+ + hello vorers! if you've been following the askLyphe development closely (i.e. on our + discord server), + you may have noticed that we've been a bit silent for the last week or two. +
++ this is because for the last few weeks, we've been working on a very secret project which i'm very excited + to announce! +
+Project Lifeblood
+
+
+ lifeblood is a very small pcb computer, about the size of a business card, with a usb-c jack that provides
+ power and exposes the operating system as a serial device!
+
+ it uses a very limited risc v microcontroller with only around 10kib of RAM, and runs a very minimal
+ multitasking operating system that we call "lifebloodOS",
+ and because of these imposed limitations, components alone cost just under $1 per board!
+
+ you may be wondering why we've made such a limited and basic computer, and that's for a very simple reason: +
+ + we will be using lifeblood computers as business cards! + ++ for 2025, we were invited to Stripe Sessions, a technology conference run by Stripe (our payment processor), + that normally costs like $600 to attend. (which means, yes if you somehow have $600 to spare and live in the + San Francisco Bay Area, + you can meet us!) +
++ we figured that we might as well use this chance to have some fun, and since we don't have any business + cards, + we figured we could have some fun with those! (: +
++ if anyone reading this is somehow actually also going to this random tech conference, then we'll be giving + away these lifeblood-based business cards for as long as we have any left! +
+ + however, if you aren't going then we also plan to sell lifeblood boards on our website! + ++ we plan to hopefully sell them for around $5 a piece, + although this price may change depending on component cost changes due to the stupid fucking tariffs that + are being applied to the US. +
++ of course, once they're released to the public, we'll also be open sourcing everything from the pcb designs + to the operating system, + so if you don't want to pay us then you can also build your own from scratch! :D +
++ more details about both the board and the operating system will be announced closer to the planned + release date of May 6, so stay tuned! +
+askLyphe updates
++ although this project has taken up quite a bit of our time, we definitely haven't abandoned askLyphe! +
++ we're still working hard to get askLyphe to a state in which we can release a public beta, and internally + we use askLyphe as our main search engine! for those who have private beta access, we'll still be + maintaining the private servers, and making sure that any downtime is as short as possible. +
++ as always, feel free to support us on liberapay if you like what we do! we're incredibly thankful for + everyone who has donated so far, and as such we plan to send anyone who has donated before may 6 a + free lifeblood board if you email us! +
+ +
+
+ + as always, thanks for reading and happy voring! :3 +
+ ++ +
+ image made by @cathodegaytube!
+