@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 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!

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,
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@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

ran out of white flour last night, so I subbed in 3/4 of it with whole wheat flour i had sitting around.

results appear promising 😋

A bread round taken out of the oven. The top looks like an erupted volcano, showing the inner texture of the bread.
Top view of the whole wheat bread round. It looks like a volcano has erupted crusty, hot, bread magma.

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,
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@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,
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@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 there's an old saying that stuck with me over the years

"there are two great days for a boat owner: the day you buy it, and the day you get rid of it"

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 😆

NunavutBirder, to worldwithoutus
@NunavutBirder@mas.to avatar

So, this was released today. My third stamp with Canada Post. Qarlinngua (The pants). And technically my second stamp with a family member in it, as the tiny figure in it is my son Travis. Now for one with Hilary in it.

I’ve very proud of all of these, beyond the cache. They are about my home, and family. And also my family has a long history with the Post Office, 101 years. My grandfather, father, and brother were all postmasters in Roblin.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@NunavutBirder wow, congrats! i'll be sure to grab a packet of these :)

shadsy, to random
@shadsy@digipres.club avatar

I think I have an academic article in me about the "peperony and chease" tombstone form The Oregon Trail as an artifact of the game industry's failures to preserve its own history

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@shadsy one related feat would be to find the original commenter of the 'here lies andy' screenshot who described it as being from a tombstone pizza commercial that they had seen, and had written the epitaph in their elementary school classroom

it was posted as a comment on metafilter (or one of the other 2000s-era blog sites?) way back when. when the url went dead ten years later, people remembered the tombstone pizza commercial, but didn't remember the name of the commenter who related the story.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@shadsy there was a much, much earlier post (in the mid-2000s) that andy replied to. his tumblr post seems to be from 2012.

edit: the comment had a lot of detail on where/when/why - which was historically valuable

jabartik, to random

This one goes out to @vga256

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@jabartik i am just in the midst of finishing BaK at the moment in fact. it’s amazing how faithful it is to the series to this day

ThreeOhFour, to random
@ThreeOhFour@mastodon.social avatar

@vga256 It grieves me to confess that you have gotten me re-addicted to Snood.

vga256,
@vga256@dialup.cafe avatar

@ThreeOhFour yup for me too. i'm surprised that there is so much variance game to game.
and like all brilliant games, i know when i've screwed up, and it's my fault, not the game's

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.

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