pleroma.debian.social

pleroma.debian.social

Jonathan Dowland | @jmtd@pleroma.debian.social

Principal Software Engineer on #OpenJDK #RedHat. #Debian developer (dormant). Computer Science PhD student. Amateur Computing historian (Computer Science and H/W, esp. Commodore Amiga). Guerilla archivist.

So yeah various blog stuff broke, some is still broken, my new SSLLabs score is only a B, etc.: all this will be addressed eventually.

I recently migrated my blog to a new VM. In times gone by, I would have taken pride in doing a professional job of that, but in recent times I’ve increasingly wanted to do stuff *less professionally* when it’s hobby versus day job. The same principle applies to hobby coding, not that I get much of that done at the moment, but that has more interesting consequences.

@mart_brooks @slp that’s a good point. Despite all its other shortcomings, it’s the narrative elements of ffe that make it compelling to me

@mart_brooks @slp one of them that I’ve really never got on with (and iirc you did) is elite: dangerous

I’m fascinated by “Frontier: Elite II”, a space game from 1993 featuring:

- 3D graphics.
- Flight and space physics (lightweight, but still).
- Factions, trade and combat.
- Ship customization.

All that implemented originally in 250000 lines of 68000 assembly, with the whole game fitting in a single double density disk.

Seriously, if you have an emulator and some time to spare, spin it up and give it a try.

https://www.lemonamiga.com/games/details.php?id=1782

@ross @slp oh i forgot I blogged about this (ten years ago!) https://jmtd.net/log/ffe/ maybe it’s time I fire it up again

@ross @slp i’d add that the sequel has a lot of merit: there are some decompile/recompile projects for Linux for that as well (jjffe, glffe, etc): they’re all quite janky but there’s still fun to be had

@ross @slp me too! Someone disassembled the Atari version and made a Linux build that used GL: https://github.com/pcercuei/glfrontier . I haven’t played even *that* for over ten years but from what I recall it’s a blast

I had a brain idea so I made a picture of it.

A very wide image labeled:

Top text: There's more pride than the eye can see

In the center is a version of the 8-stripe pride flag, rotated so that the stripes are vertical, which fades out at the left and right.

Bottom text: Left: "Ultra Pride"  Center: "Visible Pride"  Right: "Infra Pride"

It's similar to the kind of diagram that demonstrates that the visible light spectrum is only a subset of all wavelengths of light (photons)

Dear printer-fighting fediverse,

I'm afraid that our printer is reaching the end of its life, and I'm considering buying a new one: I believe that the recommendation for printers that print and don't try to trick you into subscriptions is Brother, and the usual shops I buy these things from either don't have them, or they are huge multifunction ones (and they are out of stock anyway).

do you have recommendations for ships with a website to buy printers from, ideally in it or at least in eu?

(I'm looking for a colour laser, with ethernet)

@fraggle I hadn’t, thank you!

Introduction to Reverse-Engineering Vintage Synth Firmware

https://ajxs.me/blog/Introduction_to_Reverse-Engineering_Vintage_Synth_Firmware.html

Catnip!

One of the hidden tracks is 78RPM so I’d need to record it and speed it up to hear it properly

I bought this at the time and I’ve never played it. I was planning to flip it but I might enjoy it this week first

Reminding myself on the truly wacky list of hidden features on Jack White’s “Lazaretto” LP https://www.discogs.com/release/5764967-Jack-White-Lazaretto

@fred are you self-hosting a Mastodon or Mastodon-like?

In DC news, the debut is getting reissued: https://thedurutticolumn.bandcamp.com/album/the-return-of-the-durutti-column-expanded-remastered

Vini is posting a lot on FB and does not seem to be in a good place :(

New Cate Le Bon track recalls Vini Reilly/Durutti Column https://catelebon.bandcamp.com/track/about-time

Quite enjoyed this Tanpura generator/mixer as work-musik this morning https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/tanpuraDroneGenerator.php

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