@vga256@dialup.cafe
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

vga256

@vga256@dialup.cafe

indigenous canadian, recovering academic → game dev & interactive media artist with a penchant for dial-up modems, the 4o3 bbs scene, 1-bit art, trackers/mods, classic macs, and 80s and 90s gaming. curator of internet, canadian & gaming obscura.

game development: tomodashi studio
https://tomodashi.com

current major project: tomo, a decentralized discussion group network that's better than reddit https://tomo.city

🇨🇦
#nobot #nobots #noindex
(profile pic: a 1988 red fox 6¢ canada stamp)

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

vga256, to random
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

to celebrate @SpindleyQ's upload of PaRappa iOS (see https://gamemaking.social/@SpindleyQ/112414210000096420), I am happy to contribute The Longest Journey HD for iOS. This has been missing from the app store for more than 6 years, and was recovered from a ten year old ipod touch I had sitting in my desk.

TLJ is easily in the top five adventure games of the past 25 years, and the iOS version is exceptional. it's an absolute shame that it was never ported to 64-bit.

this IPA runs on 32-bit iOS devices running iOS 7-10. sideloadable, or however you'd prefer to install it. grab it here:

https://archive.org/details/tlj-ios

#gamePreservation

vga256, to Canada
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar
lunarloony, to openSUSE
@lunarloony@dosgame.club avatar

Did another Mac thing! After a false start last night, is now up and running. And it's blummin' fast for an old girl.

Best part is, it turns out the fastest processor this Mac can take is like £15-20 on eBay. That plus a bit of extra RAM will make this into a tidy little performer. (Not a Performa, sadly.) (Also not that little.)

Quiet enough to keep in the living room, too.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@lunarloony with a 5,1, the only limitation is that you cannot mix ECC and non-ECC, and Registered and non-Registered RAM. It automatically downclocks the memory bus to handle slower RAM. It has no problems with DDR3 that is faster than the CPU is rated for.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@lunarloony it's possible that the RAM is bad, but you can rule that out with a few diagnostics:

  • a ram failure is indicated by 1 or 3 flashes on the power LED
  • if you get a bad ram flashing LED, you can determine which DIMM went bad. each ram slot on the processor tray has a red LED beside it - the red led will light up on a bad DIMM.

all on page 23 and 32 of the service manual:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nun6558o7fjk32x/macpro_mid2010-macpro_mid2012.pdf?e=1&dl=0

page 21 also shows the recommended dimm slots depending on the number of dimms you're using. i'm assuming that you have a single-processor tray, so you'll be using slots 1-4.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@lunarloony also - i just remembered this bit of obscure knowledge: you cannot use "Quad Rank" RAM in a 5,1. I have no idea why, but it never seems to work.

source:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2r-dual-rank-vs-4r-quad-rank-ram-on-cmp-5-1.2063032/

vga256, to retrocomputing
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

i love that even 25 years later i still find free big box games locally 😻

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@hohokam the previous owner sure did!

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@alien i mean who wouldn’t want that bowl cut

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@llanion 😆 wow!

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@stormkeepergu 😅it’s an addiction, but there are worse ones!

kalleboo, to retrocomputing Japanese
@kalleboo@bitbang.social avatar

So this #Newton MessagePad 130 showed up on PayPay Fleamarket for $45. Never seen a Newton go for this cheap in Japan (even with massive a black screen burn spot), and they're rare to show up to begin with.

The photos didn't show the screen, but revealed some bad battery leakage (which was also disclosed in the description), but I figured at least it could be used for parts (my pen on my 120 has lost it's end cap!)

It arrived today so let's see what we got!

#VintageApple #RetroComputing #mb

Yahoo Fleamarket ad showing a newton messagepad 130 rear with battery leakage
A newton messagepad and keyboard wrapped in bubble wrap on a tatami floor

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@kalleboo congrats! great save.

sinbad, to random
@sinbad@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

It’s interesting to go back and read acquisition press releases made by big companies when they, after a few short years, shit-can a good portion of what they aquired.

It really underlines how completely full of shit the execs at those companies are and how you should never believe a word of it https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/03/09/officially-welcoming-bethesda-to-the-xbox-family/

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@sinbad my favourite part of all this was watching gamers cheer on MS and say “now go acquire <my pet developer>!”

it’s like no one remembered that MS is MS.

vga256, to Bread
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar
heydon, to random
@heydon@front-end.social avatar

sigh I have an American client who is having trouble, they say, being able to convert to £ (their end) for paying me. I have business bank account for my LTD that only accepts £ or €, apparently.

Anyone know of a way around this? A service either they or I could use? I would really prefer not to change bank accounts. Wish I'd know Starling was this limited at the outset.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@heydon I have used Wise.com to deal with global payments like this. The interface sucks, but the transfer fees are incredibly reasonable.

Gammitin, to random
@Gammitin@mastodon.social avatar

I've decided that my next refurb project will be my Toshiba T1200 [1987], she needs to live!

image/png
image/png
image/png

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@Gammitin I have the T3200, and it is by far one of my most interesting machines. the gas plasma display is unlike any other kind of monitor i have.

i can't tell from photos - the T1200 looks like it has some kind of inverted LCD with a backlight?

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@Gammitin interesting. polar opposite of the gas plasma!

vga256, to macos
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

🤔 i wonder which of these programs has a memory leak

fwiw, i have never seen this prompt in 25 years of running OS X. congrats, transmission!

Tinrocket, to Gshock
@Tinrocket@mastodon.online avatar

I got a set of extension tubes ($35) for my Sony A6000, hoping to move the lens closer and not buy a macro lens. Success!

Sorry about the screen protector. 🤓

image/jpeg
image/jpeg

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@Tinrocket nicely lit!

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@Tinrocket surprisingly soft/warm. did you run it with a low temperature bulb?

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@Tinrocket slick!

ve3qbz, to random
@ve3qbz@mastodon.radio avatar

The conservation area I live next to has a small marina in it, and every summer, they have a boat auction - maybe it's common, but it surprises me people abandon or forfeit boats. Yes, they are usually pretty beat, but we're talking cheap.

I am completely smitten by the design of this boat, and I suspect it's one that will go up for auction. I've never seen a small sailboat with an enclosed bridge/cabin like that up top - it's SOOO FREAKING cool imo.

I wonder if it will go up for auction?

Small sailboat up on stands. It has a raised cabin up top, unlike a lot of flatter topped sailboats.
Small sailboat up on stands. It has a raised cabin up top, unlike a lot of flatter topped sailboats.
Small sailboat up on stands. It has a raised cabin up top, unlike a lot of flatter topped sailboats.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@ve3qbz haha. i love boats - grew up with one, and love every minute of being out on the water

but good christ i never want to own one. i already have enough broken down repair jobs that give me 1 day of joy for 364 days of work

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@ve3qbz 🤣
watching and helping my dad do fibreglass hull repair on weekends for years gave me an appreciation for sitting in my living room, reading a book, and enjoying my life

i mean, if you don't mind having a 25 foot hunk of plastic sitting in your yard (or setting $ on fire with dockage fees) for years at a time, it's a no brainer 😆

hisham_hm, to random
@hisham_hm@mastodon.social avatar

My home state in southern Brazil is suffering with heavy rains that are causing floods, deaths and destruction.

My city, Porto Alegre, is flooded right now. The river is at its highest level ever, surpassing the flood of 1941. (Last boost has a video.)

I live close to the river. It's been raining for the whole week. The flood has reached my street tonight. I'm fine, and I have water, power and internet, but I expect to the stranded in my apartment for the next couple of days.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@hisham_hm glad you managed to get your kitties out of there. my family went through the same hour-by-hour rollercoaster during the 2022 floods up here. exhausting.

RetroFox, to random
@RetroFox@bitbang.social avatar

Nothing for flea market Friday this week - thought Saturday would be the same but actually came across some things. Started off finding a Apple branded box of DVD-Rs for $1. Just thought it was interesting and 4/5 are sealed. Wonder what premium Apple charged for these…

image/png

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@RetroFox TIL it uses PATA drives!

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@ChartreuseK @RetroFox funny - i hadn't realized that it came out before the Time Capsule. makes sense.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • cisconetworking
  • hgfsjryuu7
  • magazineikmin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • tester
  • ethstaker
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • ngwrru68w68
  • mdbf
  • rosin
  • kavyap
  • thenastyranch
  • PowerRangers
  • anitta
  • DreamBathrooms
  • khanakhh
  • normalnudes
  • modclub
  • Durango
  • vwfavf
  • InstantRegret
  • everett
  • cubers
  • Leos
  • osvaldo12
  • tacticalgear
  • provamag3
  • All magazines