peter

peter, 10 months ago to linux

What desktop #linux distribution do you use on a modern laptop?

My venerable laptop is 10 years old and it's battery isn't what it is so I've a new one on it's way.

Now I've used Ubuntu and Mint over the years for desktop use, alternating between the two.

As this one currently has Ubuntu on it I'll probably try the current Mint but what other distributions are people using for daily Desktop/Laptop use?

#linux #desktop #laptop #ubuntu #mint

peter, 9 months ago to retrocomputing

One of the machine's I've been after for ever was the Apple IIc, probably after seeing it in use on a beach in the film 2010 the year we make contact by Arthur C Clarke.

Well, I managed to get one really cheap. It arrived today & it's in excellent condition.

It's an NTSC machine but with a modern PSU so it works in the UK. Also means the composite output is colour (PAL is mono).

Now I need to learn how to use it #retroComputing #retroApple #apple2c

peter, 10 months ago to 8bit

This is something I've not seen before, not even heard a rumor of it being done.

A replacement power supply for the BBC Micro - using USB-C !

Not affiliated with them but never seen this before https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364356212896

#bbcMicro #PowerSupply

peter, 11 months ago to retrocomputing

This is a retro machine I've never seen before.

Apparently it's a luggable Macintosh Plus from 1986

Spotted it whilst browsing eBay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166185774408

#retroComputing

peter, 10 months ago to RaspberryPi

Last October I preordered the ClockworkPI uConsole...

Well I just had the notification from FedEx, it should arrive on Tuesday 😂

So hopefully I'll finally have a portable 4G capable #raspberryPi - it'll only been 9 months since I ordered it to getting it

#linux #clockworkPi #uConsole

peter, 10 months ago to TwitterMigration

For those who are new here and miss tweetdeck, you can get the same in Mastodon - just go into settings and enable the Advanced UI - you will then get a multiple column customizable view

#twitterMigration

peter, 10 months ago to retrocomputing

Another 5.25" floppy for the BBC Micro just arrived in the post.

This one is the Acornsoft Ltd ELITE Demonstration Disc from 1984, with the warning "Not for loan, hire or resale"

#retroComputing #bbcMicro #retroGaming

peter, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to retrocomputing

I never thought I'd see myself buying disk boxes for 2.5" ssd's but now I've started using them like floppies 💾 it's sort of like I've gone full circle.

#modernComputing Vs #retroComputing

peter, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago) to random

Rebuilding a 2Gb #raspberryPi 4B & when I powered it on I had smoke coming out of the SD slot, & it wasn't a little bit either.

Turned out the SD card got damaged at some point & there's a crack going across the card.

You can see where it started burning which is on part of said crack.

The PI seems fine with another SD card.

Now trying to think how the card got damaged.

peter, 21 days ago to random

They should be sanitising their database inputs rather than change the input data!

"A local authority has announced it will ban apostrophes on street signs to avoid problems with computer systems."

North Yorkshire Council to phase out apostrophe use on street signs - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-68942321

#database #bobbyTables

peter, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

Time for a fun poll...

What type of Printer do you use?

#poll #printer

peter, 9 months ago to retrocomputing

On this day (1977 Aug 3), 46 years ago, the Tandy TRS-80 was released

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80

"The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of Tandy Radio Shack, Z80"

#retroComputing

peter, 9 months ago to random

This sounds dodgy to me...

Crooked house pub:

• Closed after burglary in June when interior trashed
• Burned down Saturday night, fire crews appeared to be hampered by the lane blocked with mounds of earth
• Monday demolished

The latter happening so soon afterwards - if the scene was still being investigated for the cause then wtf?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66434719

Wikipedia page for that pub https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_House

peter, 8 months ago to random

For some reason my phone thinks I'm in Elgin.

Elgin is on the north coast of Scotland.

I'm in my local pub in Kent, about as far away from Elgin you can get on the mainland.

peter, 6 months ago to homelab

Had a power cur about 1.5 hours ago and it's taken me until now to get the nas back up 😢

ZFS had a real issue this time causing truenas to have issues restarting.

Turned out the main pool wouldn't come back online until I manually cleared errors then it reappeared.

I'm now having to do a scrub on a 24 disk array to see if that will fix the remaining issues

#zfs #homeLab #powerFailure

peter, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to retrocomputing

Programming the 6502 by Rodnay Zaks. This will go nicely with his Z80 book I already have #retroComputing #books

edit: Spotted autocomplete changed his name :-(

peter, 7 months ago to RaspberryPi

The Raspberry Pi 5 are out in the wild, as I just got mine

#raspberryPi

peter, 1 year ago to random

Ok, I somehow missed that @homeassistant now supports VoIP - been a busy week.

https://next.home-assistant.io/integrations/voip/

I see they support a VoIP adapter but I'm now wondering if it will work with my PBX so I can use any of the phones in the house?

Looks like I've yet another project to add to the growing list of things to do...

#homeassistant #voip

peter, 8 months ago to mastodon

Hmm, just upgraded #mastodon to 4.2.0 and it seems to be up but things seem to be broken... looks like this evening's going to be getting this working 😢

peter, 10 months ago to retrocomputing

A BBC Microcomputer model B in its original box.

The box is a bit tatty (good side in pic) & it needs a clean (original owner was possibly a smoker?), But otherwise it looks in decent condition.

The original Securicor delivery sticker is still there, was delivered in the afternoon of the 9th February 1987

#retroComputing #bbcMicro

BBC Microcomputer model B with manual

peter, 9 months ago to retrocomputing

Anyone after #retroComputing fonts?

Just found this GitHub repository full of fonts for quite a few systems

https://github.com/robhagemans/hoard-of-bitfonts/tree/master

peter, 9 months ago to RaspberryPi

After seeing a post about the TC001 Thermal Imaging Camera on here and where someones got it to work with a Raspberry PI I just had to get one.

Got it direct from their UK store rather than eBay as was about same price but next business day delivery.

So expect some #raspberryPi thermal images/videos soom

#thermalImaging

peter, 7 months ago to retrocomputing

The Protek 1200 Modem from 1984.

It's an acoustic coupler so you just place the headset onto it, no wires.

It supports either 1200/1200 or 1200/75 which was common when this came out.

It's even battery powered taking 4 AA batteries with a supposedly battery life of 30-50 hours, so it was useful for when out and about...

This one needs some cleaning up as the foam on the ear/mic pads has started to crumble as 39 year old foam does.

#modem #acousticCoupler #retroComputing #hackers

View of the box for the Protek 1200 Modem
Promo photograph of the film Hackers (1995). As they are using payphones they would be using Acoustic couplers like this one.

peter, 7 months ago to RaspberryPi

Installing the latest #raspberryPi os on one of my PI4B's which has the official touchscreen & an interesting dialogue on setup...

Asks you to choose between Firefox and Chromium with the option to delete the unused one if you want...

Nb: doing it on this pi first as some have questioned if there would be issues with the screen.

Screen works at this point but touch doesn't, got to get to that later

peter, 9 months ago to RaspberryPi

So that's Deneb & Vega clearly visible.

30 second exposure, #raspberryPi Camera 3 wide

Second image is from Stelarium showing the same view

Same view as seen in Stellarium. Deneb is the one circled