Ethan Blanton @elb@mastodon.sdf.org
Pinned post
It looks like a #SDF #Mastodon update at the end of 2021 caused a number of instances from other parts of the #fediverse to lose follower/following status from SDF users. I lost about half of the accounts I was following and a somewhat smaller proportion of followers.
If I was following you, or you were following me, and the connection was lost, it wasn't intentional! Please re-follow or remind me that I used to follow. I'd hate to lose that good #retrocomputing or #floss content!
It is monumentally annoying that the keybinding for opening a private browsing window is different between Chrome and Firefox, but both of the "wrong" keybindings open a new window anyway.
In other news, while it is unpossible that I have only one dobok (I found two sets of belts, for example), I sure can only find one.
I just found my terminal diploma, for a degree that I spent 9 1/2 years on, from a large public university in the United States ... and it's just as disappointing as I remembered. Bad line spacing, poor kerning, and the entire thing is in Palatino all-caps (not small caps) without tracking.
It looks like something that they might have gotten in the awards aisle of a department store.
My high school diploma is substantially cooler.
Ethan Blanton
boosted
Review of "CP/M assembly languageprogramming" (4 stars): A great beginning-to-end primer for a programmer
I've kind of wanted to write a #MUD for years. Not just create a MUD world, but write the MUD itself. Why? No reason, particularly, just that I've wanted to.
I kind of want to write it in #CommonLisp or #scheme, so that the object behaviors can be written and loaded in the same language as the MUD itself, and I kind of want to use a lisp or scheme with safe evaluation of untrusted code, so that users can write code.
So ... a MUD in #guile?
(I probably won't do this soon. Probably.)
Upgrading #TrueNAS to release 13 fixed my NFSv4 with krb5 auth and privacy, which hasn't worked the entire time I used release 12. Krb5 is fragile enough that I always questioned whether it was my Kerberos or other machines (despite that many other things worked), but nope ... it was TrueNAS.
Ugh. But at least it works again.
I just had to restart my cable modem because ... I had to restart my cable modem.
I cannot WAIT for the competition to (literally) light up on this street. I check daily. There are still bundles of fiber coiled up alongside the box at the end of the street, so I suspect it will be a while.
Ethan Blanton
boosted
I got a reasonably priced copy of the book "Z-80 and 8080 Assembly Language Programming" by Kathe Spracklen, 1979. It provides a clear and concise reference and comparison of the Z80 and Intel 8080 instruction sets.
I posted some notes on why I like the book:
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/brushing-up-8080-and-z80-assembly
Ethan Blanton
boosted
I read these great books and often browse them as reference resources on Intel 8080 Assembly and CP/M programming:
- "Mastering CP/M" by Alan Miller
- "8080/8085 Software Design" by David Larsen et al.
From BYTE Magazine, August 1981:
Status Report: 5-Inch Winchester Disks: Disk manufacturers are rushing into the 5-inch Winchester market with drives providing up to 13 megabytes of storage (unformatted) in the volume of a standard 5-inch floppy-disk drive.
Imagine! 13 MB in the volume of a (full height) 5.25" drive! It puts my RL02 to shame.
I replaced the microswitch in an #Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II this morning, hopefully getting another couple of decades of #retrocomputing service out of it.
Want to see a #retrocomputing unicorn? Check out this 5150 drive bay cover.
I recently got a second IBM-branded 5.25" floppy drive for my 5150, and I cleaned and fixed it today, then installed it in the 5150. I was going to put Area 5150 on it and experience that on the hardware, but I kind of ran out of energy.
Ethan Blanton
boosted
Flipping through this old (1981) issue of Microcomputing and I see a picture of an H-89, and I thought hey, my dad had an H-89 when I was a kid -- then I see the byline and I realize, oh, my dad wrote this article :D
I have a failed Samsung 850 PRO SSD here, and Samsung makes it so hard to figure out how to put in a warranty claim that I assume they're hoping I'll just give up.
Ethan Blanton
boosted
There are a lot of "programming is like..." metaphors that focus on industry. Programming is like a construction project. Programming is like a manufacturing floor.
Those work, as far as they go, when you're trying to have a mental model for how programming produces products in organizations. But it doesn't really capture, in my mind, what programming is like for the individual. And it also kind of excludes a huge number of hobbyist and amateur1 programmers.
Programming is an art and a craft. It's honestly a lot like sewing. Yes, it's often cheaper in the modern world to buy pre-made things -- but it's a valuable skill for everyone to have at some level, even if that level is "I can replace a button". People learn to sew because they want to repair something they love, or made modifications (bam now my skirt has pockets!), or because they find joy in making things, or because they want to make things that don't exist "off the shelf", or...
1: Keep in mind that "amateur" means "one who loves"; it isn't and should never be a criticism
Few things are more pleasing than a "Very Good" used book turning up in basically "Like New" condition. This one has "DDT; A,D,M,L,S,T,U" penned below the title on the title page, for some reason, but otherwise appears to be pristine.
And a quick shout out to @amoroso and @goosey for the book recommendation.
The pack-in trickle charger for the Yaesu FT-70D is part number SAD-25, and I think that's apropos. #hamradio
Hey, wanna feel old? I just read that the AOL/Time Warner merger was in the year 2000.
