@Middaparka@mastodon.social
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

Middaparka

@Middaparka@mastodon.social

Just keep pressing the keys and hope nobody notices.

An old and broken software developer with an interest in retro and vintage computing history and preservation.

Made the https://mastodon.social/@retrospecs iOS app amongst other things.

Ineffectually fighting the death of possibility / living the #MECFS dream. 🤔 #pwME

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

mcc, to random
@mcc@mastodon.social avatar

Today is my birthday!

If you'd like to do something for me for my birthday, would you please reply to this with—or by other means send me— something with colors you liked? Like an image or a video or a link. Music would also be acceptable if it gives you a strong synesthesiac association with color.

If this request confuses you, here are some examples of images with colors I found striking [Artists: Laurie Barmore, Vian Borchert, Erica Aurahack]. But your reply can be whatever colors you like.

Abstract art by Vian Borchert
Abstract art by Vian Borchert

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@mcc Hopefully not too late.

(Belated happies if that’s the case.)

nivrig, to random
@nivrig@mastodon.social avatar

Debugging a new take on my scroller and wondering why some fill-up strips are rendering four pixels too short 🤦🏻‍♂️

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@nivrig You use C for Amiga dev?

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@nivrig Cool.

Is there some kind of abstraction layer for things like blitter operations and the copper list, or do you have to drop down to 68k for that?

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@nivrig Nice.

That seems like a good middle-ground. 👍

nivrig, to zxspectrum
@nivrig@mastodon.social avatar

The Horace Collection:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixeljockey/the-horace-collection

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@nivrig Christ. 😬

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Woke up this morning with some exciting new screeching tinnitus tones. I wish there was more medical response for this beyond “mask the sound”. I do that using the excellent White Noise+ at night, and ambient sound had mostly been enough during the day. Not now.

I’m hoping these sounds will fade. (I always have some tones but others can come and go.) If these are new permanent ones: urgh.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell Fingers very much crossed for you. 🤞

I've had a persistent tone in my left ear for longer than I can remember and was somewhat alarmed when a new challenger to the throne arrived in my right ear shortly before Christmas. Thankfully it diminished after a few weeks, so hopefully yours will do the same.

nivrig, to random
@nivrig@mastodon.social avatar

Fixed an edge case in my v-scroll that sometimes displayed a single frame of wrong data for the topmost pixel line by setting the palette to all-black for that line.

I know what's causing the corruption, but it would be an absolute arse to fix properly, and you can live with 239 lines instead of 240 😎🧙🏻

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@nivrig Still 39 more lines than NTSC. 👍

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Just played the Mario vs Donkey Kong demo on the Switch with the child. She loved it. I checked the pre-order price. 50 quid. I head online. 40 quid if you buy the physical release. Most places are selling it for 35. Yeah. I think I’ll stick with cartridges, thanks.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell You can sort of understand Nintendo not wanting to piss off retailers, but even so.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell Yep, that way madness lies.

ctietze, to random
@ctietze@mastodon.social avatar

I've now tried it for 2 years:

"Canceled"

It just doesn't feel right! It ought to be

"Cancelled"

British English has the upper hand here. Or maybe it's my schooling kicking in late. Idk.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@ctietze Speaking as a native British English user, “center” definitely makes more sense than “centre” though.

Middaparka, to random
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

It’s here and it’s stunning.

Kudos to @mwichary and of course @glennf.

An image of the stunningly bound and packaged Shift Happens book in its slipcase.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@glennf @mwichary I was anticipating a hefty customs charge, so it was fantastic when it arrived and was exempt.

Thanks again for braving the world of pain that is the post-Brexit UK customs system. 🙌

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Here’s what it looks like for me. Maybe there’s a setting somewhere for this, but I’ve not found it yet – and this happens with other apps too. It’s not just Safari. (So iA Writer, Notes, etc.)

Video that shows the sidebar hinting in macOS Sonoma that’s an accessibility (motion) trigger.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell Weird - I don't get that at all on Safari or Notes, etc. 🤔

This is using Sonoma?

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell I'm still stuck in Intelland™ - perhaps Apple deems my machine too weedy for such extravangaces.

Damn irritating "feature" though.

Alice, (edited ) to random
@Alice@beige.party avatar

Thinking about creating a dating profile just so I can brag about owning a Ford Probe since it doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere with my coworkers or neighbors.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@Alice I’ve never heard of it, but im prepared to refer to it as a “sweet ass ride” on LinkedIn if that’ll help.

🤔

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Remembering my first Mac experiences: https://reverttosaved.com/2024/01/24/my-first-mac-experiences/

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell I was lucky enough to work for an Apple dealer in Belfast for a few weeks work experience as a part of my college course around 1989/90.

Whilst I'd lusted after such things on the pages of Byte and PCW, actually getting to use them in real life was an absolute game changer.

thisnorthernboy, to random
@thisnorthernboy@mstdn.social avatar

Dropping a bottle of 240 vitamin tablets on the floor was not how I planned on starting my day.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@thisnorthernboy [ Several days pass. ]

To be fair, the floor is looking great.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

I’m going to need to haul down the CDR box of doom from the attic soon, to get all my files into one place. Any recommendations for a reasonable external shiny disc drive for a Mac? Ideally tray loading vs slot, and UK availability.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell I ended up getting the snappily named ASUS SDRW-08U9M-U a few years back for CD "archival" purposes and it's still happily trundling along.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

At the dentist. Receptionist panics a bit because I have a mask on. Because Covid is rampant locally. But since no-one else has one they were worried I have Covid. Which is understandable given the current lack of sensible guidance in the UK, but it does make my head swim a bit. (GP surgeries are no different in the UK. I see Spain just shifted to “masks, please”, though, naturally reported in bits of the UK press as if the EU has a problem that we don’t.)

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell Jesus wept.

The wanton lack of guidance in the UK is just galling, though not a surprise from this shower.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Had a nice relaxing week and a half. Got anxiety this morning. And it hasn’t gone away. Bah. Not sure why I’m suddenly feeling like my insides have been tied in knots. But then I suppose this stuff isn’t rational.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell That whole “it's a new year” vibe. 🫂

damieng, to random
@damieng@mastodon.social avatar

A system font really instils a personality upon a system.

So... better or worse?

image/png
image/png
image/png

Middaparka, (edited )
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@damieng Amazing the difference the character sets make - the Amstrad with ZX Spectrum char set in particular feels jarringly off.

(As does the BBC Micro.)

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Last bit of copy filed. Still a bit of admin to do, but that’s me otherwise finished for the holidays. Which means there’s about a 95% chance I’ll be ill tomorrow as my body does its usual full-troll thing for December.

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell Yep, I finished yesterday and I’m certainly feeling it today. 😬

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

That’s it for this year of Daily Retro Game. Last work day for me tomorrow and then I get to collapse in a heap for a week and change. Back in 2024!

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell A very well deserved rest.

(Loving your weeknotes, incidentally.)

Middaparka,
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

@craiggrannell Yeah, they're probably the remaining reason I still use Feedly. RSS for the win, etc.

[ Stoically remembers the Google Reader era in silence. ]

Middaparka, to random
@Middaparka@mastodon.social avatar

Hmm… I appear to be retreating from social media.

So that’s nice.

Until next time. 🫠

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