ROM dump

If you buy any kind of electronic gadget today, chances are it’s powered by a microcontroller with a program stored in its internal flash ROM. That program’s code is often jealously guarded by the manufacturer, who will try their best to make sure you can’t just read back the chip’s contents by using lock bits or some sort of encryption. Things were more laid back in the 1970s and ’80s, when code was stored unencrypted in standard EPROM chips, or, for high-volume applications, in mask ROMs integrated in microcontrollers. Reading back the code of such micros was still very difficult because chips simply didn’t have a way of dumping their contents. [Andrew Menadue] ran into this issue when trying to repair an old HP calculator printer, and had to apply a clever hack to dump the contents of its Mostek MK3870 chip.

The main trick [Andrew] used was one discovered by [Sean Riddle] and explained on his website. It makes use of the fact that the MK3870 has a TEST pin that can be used to disable the mask ROM and load alternative program code directly into the micro’s processing core. By setting up a LOAD instruction pointing at a ROM location and briefly disabling test mode while that instruction is executed, the ROM’s contents can be read out by the externally loaded program.

Simple as this hack may seem, actually implementing it was tricky enough because of the strict timing requirements between signals on the clock pins, the data bus, and the TEST pin. [Andrew] got it to work on his Raspberry Pi Pico setup most of the time, but somehow the micro still returned a plainly wrong value every few hundred bytes. Not willing to spend too much time debugging this issue, [Andrew] applied a rather crude hack to his code: instead of reading each byte once, it runs the read cycle 200 times, and only returns a result when all 200 runs return the same value. Dumping the entire 4 kB of ROM now takes several minutes, but this isn’t much of an issue since [Andrew] only has one chip to read out.

If you do have a bucketload of MK3870 chips that you need to dump, you might want to try and optimize the code on [Andrew]’s GitHub page. It’s a lucky coincidence that the ‘3870 has the exploitable TEST feature; often, the only way to get inside mask ROM code is by decapping the chip and optically reading the bits one by one. Mask ROMs are great for very long term data storage, however.

Continue reading “A 1970s Mask ROM MCU Spills Its Secrets” →

The Eight Biggest HR Trends In 2024

The Eight Biggest HR Trends In 2024

For those working in employee and people management, the focus in 2024 will be on managing the human implications of digital transformation.

In many organizations, this will mean tackling the challenges created by AI's increasingly omnipresent and disruptive emergence.

It's true that no one yet truly knows what impact AI will have on the human workforce, but for HR professionals, 2024 is going to be spent working it out.

So here are my predictions for the significant trends that will impact HR over the coming 12 months and beyond – a period that will see seismic shifts in many aspects of how we work and do business.

Generative AI – such as ChatGPT and the ever-growing number of tools that are built around the technology – will revolutionize everything about the way we manage talent and workplace dynamics. From a day-to-day perspective, HR professionals will be empowered to streamline many processes, such as recruitment, personal development, workforce planning and administrative tasks. At the same time, they will also need to navigate the human implications of this radical change, striking a balance between the efficiency of AI and human qualities that are still essential in business.

2024 will see growing numbers of Generation Z entering the workplace while millennials increasingly move into positions of seniority and management. For HR professionals, the challenge will be managing the different expectations of culture and working life held by younger members of the workforce, which often include a desire for improved work/life balance, continuous education and upskilling, and a greater emphasis on diversity, inclusion and sustainability.

HR professionals will be able to deploy a growing range of technologies and tools as they attempt to understand workforce trends and manage behavioral shifts. Online learning platforms, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) training tools, and workforce tracking systems capable of monitoring engagement and performance will all be part of the toolbox. Challenges will revolve around deploying them in ways that do not compromise staff privacy or data protection rights.

Managing opportunities and challenges around the ongoing shift towards flexible working arrangements will be high on the agenda of all HR professionals, particularly those working for larger organizations with geographically diverse workforces. While it offers the chance for greater employee satisfaction and to attract talent from further afield, it also means overcoming obstacles to developing a corporate culture, maintaining team cohesion, and ensuring consistent lines of communication and accountability are in place.

As the global economic outlook remains uncertain, workers increasingly look to employers to improve pay and conditions. Often, this leads to strikes and industrial action. In 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of work stoppages involving 1,000 or more workers increased by nearly 50 percent over the previous year. As well as a people management challenge, effective HR professionals will take the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations with employees about their needs and expectations.

A hugely important job for HR teams in 2024 will be to work out what skills will be necessary to their organizations in the near future as machines and AI become more powerful and capable. This means understanding how transformative technologies like generative AI will augment existing roles and what human qualities and abilities (strategic thinking, complex problem solving, creativity, emotional intelligence) are needed to complement machines.

As businesses attempt to attract workers back to the office, HR professionals have the job of ensuring workers see the value of getting into cars or onto trains and heading into the workplace. This isn't about providing beanbags and table football – it's about ensuring workplaces provide opportunities for collaborative productivity, professional development and networking that can't always be replicated remotely.

One impact of successfully training and upskilling your workforce for the AI age is that they become highly sought-after by competitors or even in entirely unrelated industries. To retain their valuable investments, businesses must offer a real reason for their workers to be loyal. This means fostering a culture of reward and recognition as well as offering opportunities for continuous development and learning. Staff – particularly very good ones – will always want to move on to new challenges, but focusing on retention strategies means the best people are more likely to remain happy and engaged.

HR Service Delivery: Five Areas To Consider

North America, Director of Marketing & Sales at Neocase. Over 15 years of experience in the HR technology industry.

There's a commonly accepted ratio adopted by many organizations: hiring about two full-time HR employees per every100 people. Two HR employees are then tasked with juggling the concerns, questions, and shepherding that goes into managing 100 people on any given day.

Of course, HR employees could be dealing with an even heavier workload. But it's difficult for each issue to be addressed in a timely manner, which can lead to employee frustration.

Depending on the industry, a stressed HR team can lead to catastrophic mistakes. When HR makes a mistake on payroll or lets a concern slip through the cracks, the consequences can be fatal to both employee satisfaction and the company's reputation. That's why considering HR service delivery can be crucial.

Here are five areas that you should consider to ensure you are delivering a great experience in your HR.

1. HR Service Delivery: A Variety Of Models

If you're wondering what service delivery is, you're not alone! Think about it this way. The goal of the human resources team is to facilitate, enhance and develop the employee experience. If employees aren't feeling safe, happy and empowered, HR isn't doing its job. The employee journey is incredibly complex, and this is augmented by the sheer number of employees HR must interact with.

At the end of the day, HR is engaging in service delivery. The HR processes that touch every part of the employee lifecycle are a service. Such services may include onboarding, offboarding, handling harassment complaints, payroll, benefits and much more.

Most people are familiar with how HR service delivery is traditionally run: An outnumbered HR team works directly with each employee, managerial and executive request individually. This model leads to a team that is spread out and often overworked. While the personalized service is great, it is often strained. HR teams find themselves consumed by repetitive tasks, relentless requests and endless complexities.

This can also be frustrating for employees. If they have a question about their most recent check, an answer within two weeks isn't good enough. They need and expect answers now.

Fortunately, there are multiple HR service delivery models. For many, implementing technology with multi-tiered HR service delivery is the way to go. As a disclosure, my own company, Neocase, is a provider of such HR tech solutions.

2. Shared Services

Human resource service delivery is a complex game. There are so many moving parts with a great deal of both necessary knowledge and emotional labor required.

That's where a multi-tiered model comes in. In this model, employee issues are broken up into three groups.

In this first group, responsibilities are dealt with directly through technology by HR professionals. This team conducts triage for human resources issues. They're the first line of response and are responsible for most day-to-day issues.

With the implementation of new technology automating certain tasks, HR teams are finding themselves better equipped to handle the sheer volume of repetitive, easy-to-solve requests and focus their attention on more complicated concerns.

With the right software, an employee portal can be a great supplement to your shared services team. If an employee has a quick question about benefits, payroll, increased sick leave or PTO, they can consult the self-service portal. This can often be implemented through a company app, secure software and/or other specialized portals.

These self-service capabilities serve well to improve employee satisfaction, particularly if your employee demographic skews younger. Millennials and Gen Zers are used to finding the answers themselves and appreciate the simplicity. Empowering them with self-service employee portals is a great way to improve the employee journey.

3. Cultivating HR Centers Of Excellence

The second group of the HR team focuses on complex issues. They handle such delicate concerns as harassment claims, pay disparities, sensitivity training and so forth.

These issues may not come up every single day. But they still occur often enough that quality HR specialists are essential. This crew will often handle benefits, pay raises, performance reviews and so forth. This is another benefit of offering HR service delivery — everything is divided up, so no employee loses track of the cases they are responsible for.

It also means that no cases, challenges or complaints slip through the cracks. Everyone is assigned to certain cases based on their skill level, and repetitive tasks aren't allowed to consume the whole day.

4. Expanding To The Business Partners Level

Want to leverage human resource service delivery to make it as cost-effective as possible? If so, the business partners level might be a good place for your company to consider expanding.

This is where the most sensitive, revenue-adjacent issues are handled. This team often builds iterative programs that support the company's future.

Building programs for recruitment, making contingency plans and handling people problems that impact revenue are crucial to business partners. When choosing between HR service delivery models, an expansion into the business partners level can better ensure your success.

5. Personalizing The Employee Experience

Crafting a holistic employee journey requires calculating every step of the way. Do your employees have the benefits, pay and insurance necessary for them to succeed outside of work? Is their work environment conducive to safety and productivity?

Another benefit of HR service delivery is the ability to make this journey unique. Fortunately, this can be done by eliminating the need for investing employee resources in repetitive, time-consuming tasks. Rather, strategic sorting and delivery of HR requests to a multi-tiered service model can bring greater satisfaction to both your HR team and those they serve.

More About Service Delivery

Embracing HR service delivery at your company can save time and money, improve the employee experience, increase revenue and boost employee satisfaction. I encourage readers to seriously consider expansion into the five areas described above, as they hold the potential to transform the employee experience throughout any organization.