Two Stop Bits | spc476's comments

spc476 144 days ago | parent | on: 6502 is a Good Starting Point for Beginning Assemb...
If, according to the article, the "S" in RISC stands for "Simple", I would love to know what the rest of the acronym stands for, because I always thought the "S" stood for "Set" (Reduced Instruction Set Computer).
- bmonkey325 144 days ago
  Yes.head scratcher. It’s a short read that tries to dispel the idea that assembly language is hard to do and hard to learn and think they or their AI proofreader got tripped up with simplicity and simple to fit a narrative
  Overall. Flaws and all I would hope it would inspire some to give ASM a while and realize it’s not nearly as difficult as it’s made out to be.
spc476 287 days ago | parent | on: CP/M forty years on -- what it was, and why it sti...
Starting with MS-DOS 2.0, a program has five open files available to it [1], stdin, stdout, stderr, stdaux and stdprn. By default, the first three point to the CON: device, stdaux to the AUX: device (usually the serial port) and stdprn to PRN:. I suppose a paper tape punch could be either AUX: or PRN:, but the reference I'm using (_The MS-DOS Encyclopedia_) doesn't have a reference for a paper tape at all.
[1] Much like Unix programs have three open files.
spc476 439 days ago | parent | on: Researchers still don't know why this Atari 2600 g...
Here is a much better link about the maze: https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2024/01/the-endless-maze-alg.../
- ddingus 437 days ago
  Thanks! I will be watching this.
- bmonkey325 438 days ago
  The video is in the category of "oddly satisfying". I think I sat through it 4 or 5 times
spc476 554 days ago | parent | on: The 8-bit Guy's restoration videos
Adrian's Digital Basement (https://www.youtube.com/user/craig1black/videos) also does a lot of restoration---it's primarily his focus.
- Retronomicon 554 days ago
  TBH I find them both far less enjoyable than Noel's Retro Lab (https://www.youtube.com/@NoelsRetroLab), who is probably the last hold out on youtube against the 'it's all about me!' style that every other channel seems to have adopted.
  - djr 551 days ago
    the RetroChannel is very lo-key as well, I enjoy both these channels: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRetroChannel
spc476 567 days ago | parent | on: Doom Is 30, but Hasn’t Aged the Way Games Are Supp...
Doom has probably been ported to more diverse hardware than any other game I can think of.
spc476 579 days ago | parent | on: Unit testing on an 8-bit CPU
Or a mechanism to run unit tests inside the assembler.[1][2]
[1] https://mos.datatra.sh/guide/unit-testing.html
[2] Some thoughts on the assembler running unit tests: https://boston.conman.org/2023/11/29.2
- bmonkey325 579 days ago
  If your assembler supports it - very cool.
spc476 611 days ago | parent | on: Forth: The programming language that writes itself
The only significant program I know of written in Forth is the 80s game Starflight. You fly around the galaxy, exploring planets (each procedurally generated) and eventually solving a mystery. And ... I can't think of any other program.