mos_8502 :verified:

Retrocomputing Maker and Designer in Ontario, Canada. I make stuff without promising a delivery date. I don't do crowdfunding, but I do gratefully accept Patreon and Ko-Fi support for what I do. 

Public Key

npub10wsmpgddr3tl4a5xa4h4mfhape70hree4rjqmx266054dq360u2s9lrxeh

NIP-05 Address

mos_8502_at_studio8502.ca@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs8hgds5xk3c4l676rw6m6a5m7sul8m3uu63eqdn9dd862ksga879g7r6z0f

Author Public Key

npub10wsmpgddr3tl4a5xa4h4mfhape70hree4rjqmx266054dq360u2s9lrxeh

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Last Notes

2024-08-17 03:00:36

How come Access Control Lists haven’t supplanted Unix permissions yet?

2024-08-05 03:45:46

I would make it illegal to manufacture or sell a computer, or a device which contains a computer, which is not capable of being reprogrammed by the owner.

2024-08-04 05:17:13

Baldr thinks he’s a model now.
#catsofmastodon
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/902/054/367/243/088/original/1c2f43d0ec29b689.jpeg

2024-08-03 23:10:10

Soldering tips from K: Make your own flux pen!
Go to Dollar Tree or an art supply store, and get yourself some of these refillable pens that have brush tips.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/900/608/076/326/679/original/57341b68287274ec.jpeg

2024-08-02 20:00:05

Spending ten minutes or so thinking about my Micro 8088 build.
Specifically, I'm thinking about video output. See, CGA is right out -- I have no compatible monitor, and I ain't shipping one. Too risky. Same goes for MDA and EGA, either of which is otherwise a good pick.
I'm leaning pretty hard towards the Graphics Gremlin, which can be a CGA, MDA, or TGA video card outputting to a standard VGA screen -- I just worry about the cost.

2024-07-28 05:12:35

When asked about all the couch memes, JD Vance reclined to comment.

2024-07-26 22:23:28

Please, Gods of Politics, let the Democrats take the lesson that when they go on the attack, the voters respond with renewed enthusiasm.
I'm tired of screaming about literal fascists. I want to live in a world where I can focus on trying to pull Liberals to the left, not keep fascists from murdering us all.

2024-07-26 22:07:57

These are TO-220 heat sinks, as you would use with a voltage regulator. The black ones are from Mouser, and cost CAD$1.38 each. The silvery ones are from AliExpress, and come with thermal pads, screws, and little white insulators, and cost me CAD$3.00 for ten, or CAD$0.30 each.
You tell me which is the better deal.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/855/056/597/390/095/original/b2cc8bedd913d7b3.jpeg

2024-07-24 01:43:33

You know, for a $50 bit of Chinese no-name tat, it's actually not too terrible a microscope.
Hooray, you can see how ugly my hand paste soldering of 0402 parts is.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/838/923/673/988/794/original/2f3757417d4e1689.jpeg
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/838/923/705/670/422/original/65b71d31869c64e9.jpeg

2024-07-23 16:41:16

Reasons K is unemployable:
If your interview process involves whiteboard coding, I’m going to insult you in ways that would make the late Don Rickles piss himself laughing.
I sent you my Git repos. There’s my code. If that isn’t good enough you’re too stupid to work for.
A job interview isn’t me proving I’m worthy to work for you. It’s you proving you’re worthy of my time. You scheduled an interview with a greybeard Unix/C coder who’s been writing code since your C suite was sucking teat, don’t get it twisted when I call you on your stupidity.

2024-07-23 03:18:34

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@npub1l3g…vu48 There won’t be a debate. Trump won’t walk willingly into his own execution.

2024-07-21 19:14:01

This is what jumping spiders look like to me.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/826/070/491/118/692/original/e0f08b655ee58fe6.png

2024-07-20 18:17:12

Them: “You’re not trans, why are you always defending them?”
Me: “I am also not a domestic cat, and if I see you abusing one of those I’ll kick your ass too.”

2024-07-20 05:49:22

When they say I should be nicer to bad people:
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/817/246/074/181/637/original/65334f91469e5396.jpeg

2024-07-18 16:55:06

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@npub18yv…xxyn
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/808/539/203/922/085/original/1395a783d356f85f.png

2024-07-16 20:11:42

This screenshot is real, and just won me a bet.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/797/987/752/478/868/original/e1dd934d36a28586.jpeg

2024-07-14 01:43:21

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@npub10sy…cdrt I find it frustrating that everyone forgets that it’s not just right wing nutjobs in the states who have guns.

2024-07-13 20:38:11

How many problems in society have at their root the fact that schools teach only a partially-accurate introductory version of the truth, and present it as the final word on the subject?

2024-07-10 04:13:06

Nobody hates computers as much as someone who loves computers.

2024-07-08 21:32:45

I couldn't resist.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/753/006/047/338/665/original/47a875cb50b1d774.jpeg

2024-07-05 18:34:17

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/735/316/586/860/664/original/a9a7f46afed7ce72.png

2024-07-03 02:51:34

When I put "Trans rights are human rights" on my PCB design, it's because it's my sincere opinion, and I wanted to express it in a way that would A) make the people who need to see it feel better that someone is on their side, and B) annoy the hell out of exactly the people I don't want using my stuff. Fuck'em if they don't like it. Let them throw a hissy fit over it.

2024-07-02 16:13:16

I am so tired of repeating this, but it seems to be evergreen:
The people behind a project cannot and will not avoid forcing their politics on the project. Software, like art, is inherently political. This cannot be changed. Therefore you must judge a project not only by technical quality of the code, but by the conduct and opinions of the people who write it.

2024-07-02 07:57:11

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/715/823/805/852/200/original/1ab29f83ac8a7114.png

2024-06-30 16:08:16

Identifying as an artificial intelligence from now on so that the law will let me do whatever I want.

2024-06-28 01:57:00

What… do you people actually think debates impact the vote?
Anyone who is going to vote knew how they were voting over three years ago.

2024-06-26 19:07:40

There are lots of kinds of security models:
Security by obscurity: you can’t steal what you can’t find.
Security by complexity: you can’t mess with what you can’t comprehend.
Security by inconvenience: you won’t bother stealing this because there are much easier targets out there.
Security by nonexistence: you can’t steal what doesn’t exist.
Security by consequences: if you mess with this I will break your knees with a lump hammer.

2024-06-26 18:23:09

"This snap package depends on this that and the other snap packages"
Well to me that just sounds like dpkg with extra steps and a thick topping of bullshit.

2024-06-26 17:58:25

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@npub16u7…uend LLM research has created the Perfect Idiot. Not the LLM itself, but the people who rely on it for anything other than the plausible bullshit generator it is.

2024-06-25 20:51:42

Guys have we considered that maybe using web browsers for everything is a bad idea?

2024-06-24 16:50:09

Being born in the early 1980s means being Gen X in essentially every measurable attribute but constantly being lumped in with millennials because the most popular set of date cutoffs was badly done by an old person. This is ironic, since being screwed over by some geriatric stranger with a scrap of arbitrary authority is about the most Gen X thing there is.

2024-06-21 20:36:54

Fuck's sake -- the rumours actually are true, YouTube works better in Firefox if you spoof the user agent to Chrome.
That type shit should be illegal.

2024-06-21 19:57:22

I used to look at GNU’s old web design, or lack thereof, and think they were insane to not make prettier pages. Then I grew up, and realized that all that shiny chrome was usually a distraction from the absence of useful content - the more flash, the less substance. Nowadays I would honestly prefer a web that was all human curated text, using proper tags that I can style to my own preference.

2024-06-21 19:54:03

What I want you to understand is that the people behind LLMs replacing genuine human knowledge are the same people for whom “truth” is a matter for the powerful to decide.

2024-06-20 19:42:07

Idea for someone more interested and energetic than I, feel free to take it and run:
A mastodon client that runs on an ESP32 via wifi, and exposes a text-stream API over serial that any old computer can use with native code to display and interact with the Fediverse as they like.

2024-06-14 01:11:25

The only “trans” I want to hear any hate about is the fatty acids. Those can do one.

2024-06-14 00:02:44

The Osborne and Kaypro are why I always check the pile of sewing machines at any thrift store or the like.

2024-06-06 16:01:48

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@npub19st…u9g9 It actually does. Real value endures. Everyone who matters knows AI is this year’s cabbage patch doll - grab all the profit you can and get out, and whoever is left holding the bag of shit at the end loses.

2024-06-06 15:55:45

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@npub19st…u9g9 It’s a bubble. AI is not a viable long term strategy, it’s a fad. All that value will evaporate as soon as the vogue passes.

2024-05-31 00:20:12

It’s been a bad week to be a rich white racist piece of shit.

2024-05-30 21:25:50

If I were the judge, I’d give him the maximum on each count, served consecutively, and let him appeal wearing an orange jumpsuit.

2024-05-27 07:11:19

Sir Clive Sinclair sold over twice as many Sinclair C5s as Elon Musk has sold Cybertrucks.

2024-05-21 17:57:38

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@npub10zx…ee0f Disney no longer cares if you’re queer. The only words that offend them are “Song of the South”.

2024-05-19 01:56:48

A quick first draft of the printout I'm putting in each shipping Sentinel 65X prototype box, explaining the power supply.
I welcome your feedback.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/465/264/085/577/214/original/9920f55d05f51451.png

2024-05-18 02:20:10

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@npub18yv…xxyn I can’t say I ever have more than five or six tabs open, and that’s if you include separate windows on different monitors.

2024-05-11 16:26:25

Hey, anyone got an nvidia GTX 1650 going spare?

2024-05-09 18:42:15

The real problem with outsourcing your forums and chat to services run by third parties is that they are run by third parties - you no longer own them.
Online and in life, you either own or you rent. Never choose to rent if you can avoid it.

2024-05-08 01:22:25

Jesus H. Motherfucker. Those are actual prices for actual CPUs.
Is this, like, because the market is just really flooded with parts from workstations that went to e-waste, or some kind of server upgrade fuckery, or what? I've paid more for lunch at McDonald's than for some of these CPUs.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/402/840/799/082/752/original/d6ba32b269f1c174.png

2024-05-08 01:07:52

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@npub1l3g…vu48 Eating one, or the invention thereof?

2024-05-04 04:39:42

Who else really wants to see the day when Microsoft releases Windows 3.1 under the same MIT license as they're using for DOS, so it can become just a default part of FreeDOS?
I would point out that Windows 3.1 in 386 enhanced mode can preemptively multitask DOS programs. Imagine a version of Windows 3.1 that the open source community had gone through and improved? More stable, able to handle more memory and more running applications.

2024-05-03 02:08:53

This is just lovely.
Devzat is a custom SSH server that serves an IRC like chat service instead of a shell login.
https://github.com/quackduck/devzat

2024-05-03 01:46:34

I seriously think my big discomfort with systemd and wayland and such is that they are, in a way relatively new to Linux, very Not Unix. What I mean is that, traditionally, Linux has been a Unix-like OS, but now it’s being mutated into something else. It’s not that that something is necessarily bad, it’s just not compatible with why I used Linux for so many years.

2024-05-01 01:51:00

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@npub1km9…rh4n Just don't make it conditional -- I keep plugging along making stuff no matter who does and doesn't join the Patreon or send irregular Ko-fi donations, and thank those who do whenever I can.

2024-05-01 01:47:42

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@npub1km9…rh4n I mean, I have way more Patreon support than I probably deserve…

2024-05-01 01:43:58

I've gained a bunch of new followers lately.
Hi!
If you find me entertaining or educational, feel free to join my Patreon, which is how I fund pretty much all the cool stuff I'm working on.
https://www.patreon.com/Studio8502

2024-04-29 15:39:37

Retro people who sneer at FPGA recreations of out of production chips piss me off.

2024-04-28 16:31:42

Worries over the future of Z80 part availability were somewhat overblown.
If they won't make it for us, we'll make it ourselves.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/349/796/872/275/015/original/51163013818a149c.png

2024-04-28 14:59:35

I am strongly pro wireless charging in phones. Not because I hate wires, but because whether it’s USB-C or lightning, a port that gets as much hard use as a phone charger will wear out too damn fast.
I just wish the wireless charging could be more efficient.

2024-04-27 20:47:42

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/345/140/954/638/105/original/292dea57bf5f1a09.png

2024-04-27 00:37:52

Xerox PARC was so far ahead of their time in 1980 it’s beyond belief. Among their greatest products was Smalltalk; not merely a language, Smalltalk-80 was essentially the entire operating system.
Sadly, it was just too different from what people expected computers to be like for it to achieve what it could have. But ideas from the 1980 version are still appearing in new languages today.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/340/387/156/063/996/original/29b95055ced5c10d.png

2024-04-23 04:08:10

Did you know KiCad will let you use whatever SVG you want as a footprint?
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/318/562/142/992/950/original/fdc4c24988230ab7.png

2024-04-22 06:20:56

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/313/422/750/955/859/original/990858cee60edd6c.png

2024-04-22 05:57:45

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/313/332/666/109/963/original/bee6fdd69a4960c2.png

2024-04-22 04:53:00

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/313/076/116/283/908/original/53486ab277646ba1.png

2024-04-22 03:14:42

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@npub14n4…y3e3 This is why Facebook has multiple reaction types.

2024-04-20 23:27:09

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/306/130/064/877/722/original/90bbb400be89b750.png

2024-04-19 04:24:46

I’m sad about the Z80 finally leaving production. But then again, given how many they made over it’s lifespan, hobbyist quantities of the chips will be available for many years yet.

2024-04-19 02:34:20

"What this programming language needs is its own package manager" - statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged

2024-04-19 02:13:55

Her: "K, you're a homeowner with 100% equity, why are you rooting for a housing market crash?"
Me: "That's exactly why I'm rooting for it. I own this pile of wood and bricks, and the land it's on, outright. Long as the property taxes get paid, I'm beyond the reach of capitalism's attempt to enslave me under threat of homelessness. Unless I sell the place, I never have to think about rent or the market again. So fuck the investors, let their assets depreciate, so my friends and family can maybe afford to join me in escaping the rental treadmill."

2024-04-17 20:18:59

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@npub16pa…sxgh Literally a right wing propaganda outlet.

2024-04-17 19:43:07

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@npub1yck…ujmw Everyone’s local paper is owned by a conglomerate.

2024-04-17 19:00:38

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@npub1yck…ujmw Call me when one of them buys out a national media chain and shuts it down, or does something else that actually matters.

2024-04-17 18:50:44

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@npub1yck…ujmw Why not name your cousin's Facebook profile as left-wing media if your standards are that low?

2024-04-17 18:24:51

There is no left-wing media. It doesn't exist. All media is right-wing. When right-wingers screech about "liberal media" they mean "media owned by right-wing Jews".

2024-04-17 15:26:11

The Walnut Creek CD-ROM collection is a must-own for collectors of 90s retrocomputing paraphernalia. In the days when a 28.8 kilobit dial-up connection was worthy of considerable bragging rights, Walnut Creek provided by mail-order large volumes of content that would have been prohibitive to download for most people, and was far more convenient on CD-ROM than taking up space on the limited hard drives of the day.
https://archive.org/details/walnutcreekcdrom

2024-04-16 20:28:38

I get it, you love the language, and that’s okay, but “written in rust” is not a feature worthy of front page listing.

2024-04-16 05:58:44

Somewhere between Suckless, Toybox, and Musl, there is a lean, full-function, GNU-free Linux distro waiting to be born.

2024-04-14 17:18:56

Apparently Usenet is back, under new management, and actually doing something about the spam problem.
Nice to see.
Usenet, IRC, SMTP, FTP, Gopher -- these are the original protocols of the Internet, before the Web ate the universe. Things were better when they were dominant in their areas. We were outside corporate control, governments could barely be bothered to participate let alone police, we considered these things to be solved problems.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/30/usenet_revival/

2024-04-13 20:25:29

In 2004, German demogroup .theprodukkt released a first-person shooter called ".kkrieger", which was especially notable for being a fully playable, 3d-rendered FPS whose total size was only 97,280 bytes -- it used procedural generation to generate textures, models, etc. This was the first place winner of the 96k game competition at Breakpoint 2004 in Bingen.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/265/770/651/489/852/original/d65715d538e84cc5.png

2024-04-13 19:56:18

Hot take: Private ownership of more than two total dwelling units by a single legal entity or entities under the control or ownership of an individual or organization should be illegal.
In a world where housing is available to all, I don't have a big problem with the well-to-do having a second home, but there is no world where corporations controlling housing is okay.

2024-04-10 03:44:35

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@npub12uf…6hdv Not the first public humiliation self-inflicted with regular expressions, but certainly the funniest in recent memory.

2024-04-09 03:00:26

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/239/026/165/124/871/original/7ba0364c83201765.jpeg

2024-04-05 00:43:30

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The world doesn't need another POSIX operating system. It doesn't need another Windows.
Arguably it may need a new Mac, since Apple seems dead set on "evolving" macOS into something unusable.

2024-04-05 00:41:10

Ultimately, I have to admit I'm kind of biased against cross-platform software development.
I feel that platforms should all be meaningfully distinct -- they should have their own identities, their own things they're good at, their own ways of doing things. Heterogeneity is a good thing. Cross-platform programming works against that idea, it homogenizes computing.

2024-04-04 20:26:37

These two trucks have the same bed size. One of them is actually useful, the other is a station wagon with delusions of masculinity. I will judge you based on which truck you think is which.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/214/825/386/363/790/original/b08b70e5e623b7e1.png

2024-04-04 03:53:21

If you are a masochist, or wish to impress the youngins, you can play Doom in the terminal.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/210/921/595/923/671/original/b08d85457b7cd693.png

2024-04-04 01:18:00

I should do up some content about Roff. Being the original killer app for Unix, and still maintained and working well to this day, it's mature, stable, documented, and completely ignored by entire generations of people who like Linux/BSD.

2024-04-02 15:35:36

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@npub1l3g…vu48 Me too.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/202/359/221/457/415/original/73b0bf7f460fb585.png

2024-04-01 19:24:18

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@npub1rut…24wl I genuinely believe retrocomputing speaks to a deep desire in a certain kind of person to have a world of computing that is comprehensible and which exists not to sting you for micropayments and sell your identity, but to do whatever you tell it to do without complaint.

2024-03-31 21:17:11

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@npub19qm…sn8k Exactly. Star Trek's original series doesn't seem that "political" to young people because the politics that were somewhat progressive in 1967 are incredibly obsolete in 2024.

2024-03-30 22:32:33

Fundamental to both the "hacker" and "maker" mindsets (which are really just digital and physical incarnations of the same idea, in my opinion) is the attitude one takes of looking at a thing not for what it is, or what it was intended to be, but for what you can make of it -- finding the potential in things, and actualizing it.

2024-03-30 06:31:34

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/183/230/436/956/225/original/24f2a56243106de8.png

2024-03-29 05:22:02

I should be allowed to hunt conspiracy theory whack jobs for sport, on horseback, with shotguns loaded with baton ("beanbag") rounds.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/177/289/565/731/915/original/eca6ec23b1478eca.png

2024-03-27 21:21:42

Two diametrically opposed methods of social media:
The firehose. You are presented with an algorithmically-generated suite of content, and given tools to remove content you find objectionable.
The curation. You are given nothing by default, but are free to add whatever pleases you to your feed.
This fundamental difference is why Fediverse integration with services like Threads or whatever can never work.

2024-03-26 20:44:33

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/163/934/765/019/186/original/658facc8ee527565.png

2024-03-25 20:08:54

So close, yet so far (far away…)
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/158/131/012/266/189/original/ad6df941bca93398.png

2024-03-20 23:50:30

If you know, you know.
https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/130/692/022/145/981/original/80698bcd373ba29e.jpeg

2024-03-20 22:56:50

https://studio8502.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/130/481/890/665/222/original/7912c0b191cbaea2.jpeg