Thank you google and the hostap mailing list!
It brought me from this (card totally fried due to a screwup by me while flashing the firmware):

Dec  2 22:23:58 syslog@ridley/ridley kernel: hostap_cs: Registered netdevice wlan0
Dec  2 22:23:58 syslog@ridley/ridley kernel: wlan0: trying to read PDA from 0x007f0000: OK
Dec  2 22:23:58 syslog@ridley/ridley kernel: wlan0: NIC: id=0x800c v1.0.0
Dec  2 22:23:58 syslog@ridley/ridley kernel: wlan0: PRI: id=0x15 v1.1.1
Dec  2 22:23:58 syslog@ridley/ridley kernel: wlan0: Failed to read STA f/w version - only Primary f/w present

to this (we have signs of life):

Downloading to volatile memory (RAM).
OK.
Components after download:
  NICID: 0x800c v1.0.0
  PRIID: 0x0015 v1.1.4
  STAID: 0x001f v1.7.4

and finally this (the card is permanently fixed in flash):

Downloading to non-volatile memory (flash).                                     
Note! This can take about 30 seconds. Do _not_ remove card during download.     
wifi0: NIC: id=0x800c v1.0.0                                                    
wifi0: PRI: id=0x15 v1.1.1                                                      
wifi0: STA: id=0x1f v1.7.4                                                      
wifi0: Card initialized successfully after flash download                       
OK.                                                                             
Components after download:                                                      
  NICID: 0x800c v1.0.0                                                          
  PRIID: 0x0015 v1.1.1                                                          
  STAID: 0x001f v1.7.4                 

Now my formerly fried wireless card is back to life, with the firmware I originally wanted on it (supports ESSID hiding).

What a crappy present

My favorite language turned 16 today.

Woo. After I pick up some gift cards on Monday and my amazon order shows up I'll be done with Christmas shopping. With 5 days to spare this year. I did a lot of shopping online, you just can't beat it - no crowds or fighting with angry drivers for a parking space. Parking at the mall at christmas in a pickup truck just SUCKS.