Our branch meeting is tonight! 6pm at Boorloo Activist Centre, near McIver station. See you there!
The project has very likely finished phase 3, and is ready for a redefinition of its current technical aims.
There has been a lot of research into both hardware and software.
A simple all-in-one ESP32 based microcontroller board has been discovered that completely solves the problem of video out.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNWI3dx
Up until now, the project had been relying on two raspberry pi picos linked together, one for VGA, the other for the BASIC interpreter.
https://www.hackster.io/sl001/a-vga-computer-based-on-esp32-and-fabgl-with-sound-graphics-976894
The digital archeology done on BASIC type in programs has been surprising. At least 5 BASIC text editors have been transcribed from magazines ranging in publication date from 1977 to 1983.
https://git.sr.ht/~vidak/peoples-permacomputer/tree/master/results/phase-3.md
The next phase will explore designing an all-in-one unit with a built in screen, and other types of design languages. The purpose will be to create a computer that is comfortable and engaging for people to sit in front of.
The 1986 paper "LISP as an Environment for Software Design: Powerful and Perspicuous" presented the features of Lisp for prototyping knowledge-intensive clinical applications, with examples and code in Interlisp.
I miss getting line printer printouts of code (BZZRT! BZZRRRZT! CHUNKADA!), going away from the computer, marking them up with pencil/red pen, then making changes when I get computer time again.
It's a slow, thoughtful way to work. Plenty of time to ponder the right way instead of the stupid hack you have in front of you.
That's why software today needs gigabytes of RAM to do what we used to do in 64K.
The High Court of Australia has ruled in favour of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, affirming its claim on disputed Crown land in Paddington, in Sydney's east. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-03/la-perouse-aboriginal-council-wins-over-paddington-land-claim/105728986
Three out of the five justices on the bench agreed the land was not "in use" by the current leaseholder Quarry Street Pty Ltd on the site of the now shut-down Paddington Bowling Club.
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act allows Aboriginal land councils to claim Crown lands that are unused. #auslaw #auspol #HCA
#Fediverse games, interactive bot accounts where Fediverse members can play together:
➡️ @votechess - Collaborative chess games, vote on next move
➡️ @ChessPuzzleBot - Daily chess puzzle, DM "help" to account for detailed instructions
➡️ @pokemon - Fediverse plays Pokemon collaboratively, vote on next move
➡️ @dungeons - Simple D&D RPG adventures with polls for actions
➡️ @chest_bot (main) & @chest_bot_atm (saving loot) & @chest_bot_shop (spending loot) - Open chests to discover treasure
#Gardening picks of the day:
➡️ @BRKitchenGarden - How to grow food in small urban gardens
➡️ @kate - Videos on gardening, homegrown food, nature etc
➡️ @thechattygardener - Award-winning freelance journalist on plants & gardening
➡️ @martijn - Gardening, homegrown food, cooking, coffee etc
➡️ @natureworks - Wildlife & forest garden designer, climate activist
➡️ @TradescantiaHub - Cultivar registration authority for Tradescantia (Commelinaceae) wildflower genus
🧵 1/4
I have a crazy idea that I can 3D print a D-sub connector. Specifically, the unobtainable 23-pin variety found on the Amiga. So I bought someone else’s DigiKey leftovers to give it a shot.
Surprisingly and helpfully, the printed engineering drawing was included. (Unhelpfully, it is in inches)
These are crimp contacts even though for the Spite Sprite they’ll be soldered directly to the board. TE actually does make push-in solder cup contacts, but they’re very hard to find these days.
here is a thing I have been working on for many months --->>>>>>
👾👾👾Wobble Web visual && code editor for making small websites👾👾👾
It is still very much in progress, but I would love to hear from you if you try it out or have ideas! I will reply to this thread with more details :)
Also new CYBER GOPHER HOLE entries:
gopher://cyberhole.online:70/1/phlog
OK, you can now save and load the dungeon
IN THE CYBER HOLE
https://cyberhole.online/dungeon/
Probably lots of bugs, but the basic game loop works.
Update notes on
gopher://cyberhole.online:70/1/
player initial random positioning completed!
https://git.sr.ht/~vidak/oats-for-my-goats/commit/5fc8143a5c864d0453fc9baaae0c701f69badfb8
9 REM SET UP PLAYFIELD BORDER
10 DIM A(10,20)
20 FOR B = 1 TO 10
30 FOR C = 1 TO 20
40 LET A(B,C) = 0 REM Make every playfield space blank.
50 IF B = 1 THEN A(B,C) = 1 REM Top border is all fences.
60 IF B = 10 THEN A(B,C) = 1 REM Bottom border is all fences.
70 IF C = 1 THEN A(B,C) = 1 REM Left border, all fences.
80 IF C = 20 THEN A(B,C) = 1 REM Right border, all fences.
90 NEXT C
100 NEXT B
499 REM GENERATE PLAYER POSITION
500 B = INT(RND(8)+2)
510 C = INT(RND(18)+2)
520 A(B,C) = 3
999 REM PRINT MAZE PATTERN
1000 FOR B = 1 TO 10
1010 FOR C = 1 TO 20
1020 IF A(B,C) = 0 PRINT ".";
1030 IF A(B,C) = 1 PRINT "X";
1040 IF A(B,C) = 2 PRINT "+";
1050 IF A(B,C) = 3 PRINT "@";
1060 NEXT C
1070 PRINT
1080 NEXT B
TIL, BASIC stands for "Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code"
dear italian dock workers, please shut all of europe down 🙏🙏🙏 PLEASE do it NOW 🙏🙏🙏
New site for OldTimeyComputerShow:
https://otcs.minuspoint.com/