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  • zxm 5 days ago | parent | on: Restoring a ZX Spectrum+ Toastrack
    the original zx80 had 1k of ram so it was a way to save a lot of space for code.

    i had a zx +2 and wrote code on it in basic. the extra commands the 128k basic had allowed you to swap data in and out of the extra ram. it was still an antiquated basic compared to basics like the bbc or the amstrad cpc's which where around at the same time. but it was cheaper and had a massive user base. so much more software available.

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  • zxm 7 days ago | parent | on: Restoring a ZX Spectrum+ Toastrack
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_BASIC#48_BASIC
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  • zxm 13 days ago | parent | on: I Convinced HP's Board to Buy Palm for $1.2B. Then...
    if i could buy a brand new palm now i'd buy one in heartbeat. preferably with mini-sd slot for storage. bt for syncing instead of a cable. and b&w instead of colour so i can use it outdoors in bright light which the colour ones were awful at. even modern phones in an irish summer can be hard to read.
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  • zxm 15 days ago | parent | on: Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate: A Cultural Histo...
    of course if you want to store about 200k per a4 page then try http://ronja.twibright.com/optar/
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  • zxm 38 days ago | parent | on: DR DOS: Revenge of CP/M
    we used dr-dos into the 90s. aside from being a great dos with lots of ram. >720k it also had netwars which whiled away a few hours when you were waiting for someone to get back to you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a30Fwd-gisI

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  • zxm 43 days ago | parent | on: Lo8: Resurrecting 8-track as a data storage medium
    with the end of 3.5 disks and the rise of retro machines usage i do feel there is a place for some standard device that would fit in a 3.5" slot that would replace it. some sort of 'super floppy'. whether it writes to mini-sd, sd, compact flash or usb wouldn't matter much. just a way to easily transfer from modern compute to retro computer. something that will be around for the next 20 years.
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    • bmonkey325 42 days ago
      For 8 bits - Fuji net. Basically gives you mass storage access over a network. Atari, apple, coco , Adam and I saw some prelim work for IBM PC.

      https://fujinet.online/

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      • ddingus 37 days ago
        Artifacts are visuals that come from contrived abuses. Or that appear despite the intent for them not to appear.

        On the Apple, Woz leaned into NTSC and employed it to what I consider pretty great effect.

        Dithers are contrived uses, not abuses!

        The difference is one can dither on any display system and achieve visuals that convey greater color depth or more intensity granularity than the system design intent would allow for.

        Again, on the Apple, artists would combine artifact colors, as well as the lack of color, say black and white, in ways that suggest other colors not intended.

        The dot patterns can suggest various intensities and hues one cannot just ask for jn a COLOR = statement.

        Does that help?

        I will try and find an image or two to link a bit later.

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      • ddingus 38 days ago
        Hey I missed you linking a sample image generated on the color system I was musing about.

        https://twostopbits.com/item?id=5863

        https://hackaday.io/project/164212/gallery#0f87e94323e101952...

        I do not think it matches up. Too bad! But maybe the author will share details. I really wanted to know what they did.

        Also, after I get past this appointment, maybe we can chat about dither vs artifact.

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  • zxm 43 days ago | parent | on: The PlayStation Portable felt like the future
    the umd drive was for me what killed it. a brand new storage medium available no where else. and they want us to buy media in this format? when vcd was becoming increasingly popular at the time never mind dvd.

    sony makes beautiful hardware, some of the best. but they destroy it with bad practices like cd players that can't read cd-rs. digital music players that weren't mp3. they became about protecting their copyright and not doing what their customers wanted.

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    • ddingus 38 days ago
      I feel the same way.

      For a while, I had a SONY CD Changer in my car. You ever see the scratched up CDs often sold at flea markets for a buck each or less?

      Many computers and players won't read them.

      But that SONY does. And not only does it read them, the thing takes a bit longer to buffer due to all the scratches and massive error correction it has to do while buffering...

      But once it does all that, it will play the disc flawlessly! Bumpy roads, too cold, too hot, disc too scratched?

      All pretty much no problem.

      I would gladly buy another. Was that good, but it won't read ANY recordable format.

      Bummer.

      It went with the car when I sold it. I put some of the very worst discs I had ever seen in it for demo purposes too.

      Dude that bought the car loved it like I did. I did not mention CD-R largely because the player was going with the car no matter what.

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  • zxm 64 days ago | parent | on: Space Invaders on your wrist: the glory years of C...
    casio heli-fighter was the one i had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK0pbTxdwVk

    it wasn't great as to fire you had to press both buttons at same time.

  • zxm 70 days ago | parent | on: PDP-11/HACK
    reminded me of the song someone made from cosmos footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc
  • zxm 76 days ago | parent | on: Microsoft turns 50 today, and it made me think abo...
    i remember dos 5.0 fondly. we had been stuck on 3.30 forever. 4.0 had come but had used to much memory that i never encountered it in the wild. 5.0 was just so much better. edit, qbasic, freed up more memory for applications.
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