carbontwelve, to programming
@carbontwelve@notacult.social avatar

Reading another book from the 80s, this time “Writing BASIC adventure programs for the TRS-80” by Frank Dacosta.

A rather dense book compared to the others I have read in this genre but has this banger of a quote!

governa, to random
@governa@fosstodon.org avatar
RetroFunPL, to retrocomputing
@RetroFunPL@8bit.red avatar

I found the following gem from 1972 while doing research for the article:

(Oh, yes, I WROTE A POST that I'm half-proud of! Was BASIC really THAT BAD? Why did Dijkstra say it crippled the mind?
Let's find out the broader context of the famous quote! Please share and comment if you like the post :))

🇺🇸 https://retrofun.pl/2023/12/18/was-basic-that-horrible-or-better/ and Polish version coming up soon)

#retrocomputing #programming #BASIC #PLI #COBOL #Fortran :-)

popey, to random
@popey@ubuntu.social avatar

Went into the loft to get the Christmas decorations. Stumbled on this old thing. No idea if it all works. I guess that’s my Sunday sorted.

till, (edited )
@till@ubuntu.social avatar

@popey I also had a computer, when I got 16, after having borrowed a (3.5 KILObytes of RAM) for 2 or 3 months. Unfortunately, I do not have it any more, as I never had the money to buy a new computer without selling the old one ...

I programmed in , , and on it.

Who has none, get (for 38911 Basic bytes free) and (for the adventure games)

itnewsbot, to retrocomputing
@itnewsbot@schleuss.online avatar

BASIC in Your Browser - If you are a certain age or just like retrocomputers, you probably have a soft spo... - https://hackaday.com/2023/12/07/basic-in-your-browser/ #retrocomputing #softwarehacks #tiddlywiki #basic

jerzone, to programming
@jerzone@techhub.social avatar
kdriscoll, to c64
@kdriscoll@aoir.social avatar

Gemini will peer over the precipice but it refuses to jump

itnewsbot, to retrocomputing
@itnewsbot@schleuss.online avatar

Is Microsoft BASIC Hidden in This Educational Child’s Toy? - The VTech PreComputer 1000 is a rather ancient toy computer that was available in ... - https://hackaday.com/2023/11/30/is-microsoft-basic-hidden-in-this-educational-childs-toy/

jbzfn, to retrocomputing
@jbzfn@mastodon.social avatar

🧑‍💻 BBC BASIC - Write your own programs
https://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcsdl/index.html

amoroso, to zxspectrum
@amoroso@fosstodon.org avatar

A friend of mine is looking for a reimplementation of Sinclair ZX Spectrum BASIC for modern operating systems.

I mean an implementation of the ZX BASIC language with close source compatibility with legacy programs, designed to run BASIC on and leverage the environment of Windows or Linux. Not a Spectrum emulator, a cross compiler, or an alternate BASIC dialect.

I found SpecBAS:

https://github.com/ZXDunny/SpecBAS

Any other recommendations?

itnewsbot, to 8bit
@itnewsbot@schleuss.online avatar

BBC BASIC remains a remarkable learning tool, and now it’s available everywhere - Enlarge / A vintage 1981 BBC Micro computer. Fun fact: it was rather tr... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1987057

vwbusguy, to ai
@vwbusguy@mastodon.online avatar

The correct answer is "No"

stevelord, to amateurradio
@stevelord@bladerunner.social avatar

Does anyone know of any modern implementations with good compatibility across older platforms? I'm contemplating a digital radiogram and would like it to be easy to run, possibly this structure:

  1. Instructions on how to run.
  2. Data files for program.
  3. Program.
  4. Screenshot.

I'd probably use RTTY and SSTV or MFSK32/64 depending on the data being transmitted. I thought of BASIC initially as it runs on older systems, but would like to try other languages later.

bbbbbr, to gameboy
@bbbbbr@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

New minor release of : 1.4.7

Console build: (Linux, Windows, Mac): https://github.com/bbbbbr/gbtoolsid/releases/tag/v1.4.7

Web app: https://bbbbbr.github.io/gbtoolsid_web/

An app for identifying tools used to build ROMs (such as , , , , etc)


bbbbbr,
@bbbbbr@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar
ef1j, to random
@ef1j@post.lurk.org avatar

I’ve embarked on a holiday COVID isolation journey to run the original Altair BASIC written in 1975.

First stop: punching the 4K tape.

ef1j,
@ef1j@post.lurk.org avatar

More iterations! So slow! I’m beginning to doubt those floating point math routines that Mr. Davidoff wrote. #BASIC #tty #Mandelbrot #ASCII

moorejh, to esp32
@moorejh@mastodon.online avatar

Did you know the ESP32 processor has a built-in BASIC interpreter? https://hackaday.com/2016/10/27/basic-interpreter-hidden-in-esp32-silicon

lefebvre, to retrocomputing
@lefebvre@hachyderm.io avatar
f_dion, to retrocomputing
@f_dion@mastodon.online avatar

In the early 80s, both Radio-Quebec (now TeleQuebec) which I watched on UHF channel 17 (Montreal broadcast) and TVOntario (both similar to PBS in the USA) would produce educational programs to teach people how to use and program computers.

The radio-quebec program had even homework you had to send through mail. The TVOntario show had really intricate animation to explain concepts. For example, a pulse wave generation (and a PET).

scruss, to random
@scruss@xoxo.zone avatar

This is a way to release software: show no updates on the download page, and secretly have a newer version (substitute '2.6' for '2.5' in the d/l link) you update every few months without changing any file names:

http://www.moria.de/~michael/bas/

(it's a very decent interpreter for Linux/Unix, btw)

scruss, to retrocomputing
@scruss@xoxo.zone avatar

If you want to see the sort of early BASIC code that made folks like Dijkstra write screeds against the language, take a look at:

https://archive.org/details/digital_edu_number_4/page/n1/mode/2up

1/5

stefanhoeltgen, to retrocomputing German
@stefanhoeltgen@mastodon.social avatar

I brought my to Heidelberg to prepare an own implementation (as a kind of quintessence from my latest research). I will exhibit that at next year's in Munich.

glitch25, to Miyoo
@glitch25@clacks.link avatar

So I might be catching the bug.

I picked up a recently, and have been having fun getting that one working too. It is really pocketable and great for some of the lower end 8 bit systems.

My was the closest I got to game consoles until I bought my Xbox 360. Never owned any of the handhelds over the years. I'm realizing how much I missed out. And the fun part now is that I can have all those AND the Commodore games I remember.

The Ambernic is the direct competition, and I chose the Miyoo in part because of the Wi-Fi and the Net Play. I will miss the HDMI, but I've also decided that this one really is for the portable small screen experience.

So far so good!

zirias,
@zirias@techhub.social avatar

@glitch25 it's just a side note, but IMHO, the was a game console.

I know ppl are surprised by that claim, but then look at the hardware first: The gfx chip (-II) controls the bus (CPU runs in sync with it), shares RAM with the CPU, offers versatile and efficient tiled display modes (as well as bitmapped), offers hardware interrupts, dedicates most of its silicon to , etc. The sound chip () offers a full programmable 3-channel synthesizer. There are I/O ports with both digital and analog lines suitable for lots of game controller devices. There's a clever banking logic allowing to make good use of the whole 64K RAM.

Now look at the half-assed OS. There's the (sic!) by , mostly offering I/O streams and only using some timer interrupt, more or less what a could do. On top of that, there's just Microsoft's as the only user interface. None of that can make use of any of the hardware features described above. 😏

Question to those not in the USA, and who have lived outside the USA.

I’ve been thinking about something and want to check an assumption I have. I only hear directly from other people in the USA, and interract with the global community through memes. How are the gun regulations/laws different from yours in terms of strictness, and do you wish there was more or less where you live?...

grabyourmotherskeys, to asklemmy in Question to those not in the USA, and who have lived outside the USA.

I have lived in Switzerland.

They have mandatory service and many people choose the military service option.

As I understand it, they get basic training and then do annual service. Most people seem to enjoy this as they serve with people from where they grew up and hae a lot of fun (and beer).

Each of these people has a military rifle in their home (and uniform, etc) with live ammo. They are a standing army. A well ordered militia, maybe?

You often see them on the train in fatigues with their weapon on the way to training.

www.ch.ch/en/…/military-service/-training

www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryPorn/s/I1GLtIcQ4c

While the Swiss do tragically have “mass shootings”, they are not US style terror attacks, typically: …wikipedia.org/…/List_of_mass_shootings_in_Switze…

josipretrobits, to c64

PETSCII Art with 3D Effect

0a=1-a*(a<41):?cH(149+(aaN7))cH(205+(aaN3));:pO199,a:gO

brainwane, to random
@brainwane@social.coop avatar

New long blog post: Eldercare, Family Caretaking, and End-of-life Logistics: Stuff I Learned

http://harihareswara.net/posts/2023/eldercare-family-caretaking-end-of-life-logistics-learned/

Topics:

You HAVE to take care of yourself

Changes to expect in the months/weeks/days before death

Checklists for before & just after death

Wills, powers of attorney, & advance health care directives

Easy-to-eat food; letting your friends help you

Hospital chaplains can do a lot

Patient advocacy (catching mistakes)

Medical notetaking at appointments and the bedside

[1/n]

brainwane,
@brainwane@social.coop avatar

📒 Medical notetaking at appointments and the bedside https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2023/eldercare-family-caretaking-end-of-life-logistics-learned/#medical-notetaking :

🧪 Researching specific treatments and how to perform at-home procedures: look up science and instructions by professionals so you can know what's happening and how to troubleshoot. https://www.harihareswara.net/posts/2023/eldercare-family-caretaking-end-of-life-logistics-learned/#research-treatments

[5/n]

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