Retrograde @Retrograde@oldbytes.space

Tonight's #retrocomputing project: replacing the original kernal with a (switchable) JiffyDOS kernal in my cherished Original #C64 breadbin that I got when I turned 13.

Kernal is not socketed, so needs to be desoldered and replaced with a socket.

&@#%$*@ desoldering station died on me, again, half way through, so it was solder wick and hand pump from there. But I persevered, it works, and I managed to not lift pads or traces!

(Oh, and now I ordered a Hakko FR-301 because enough is enough. Expensive piece of kit but I've easily spent as much trying to keep that blasted ZD-8915 in a working state.)

This #C64 BeamRacer expansion looks pretty wild: 🤯​ https://beamracer.net/ (check out this video demonstating it in use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amQ_HtbORDY)

First, you impulse buy this #retrocomputing thing. And then realize, of course, you need another one for parts. But that unit turns out to have only a minor issue, easily fixed. So you need another for parts. And now, there are 3 of this thing on your shelf. 😩​ #somebodystopme

Just migrated a bunch of private repos to #SourceHut, out of BitBucket. I already feel less encumbered. 😇​

Migration's a breeze as well, just remove the current origin remote and a new one under your space at git.sr.ht and push there. Then follow the link in the response to finish setting up the project.

I may or may not have purchased another #C64. 😬​ I'm sure you'll agree not having a model G is a severe hole in any collection that needs to be plugged. #retrocomputing

Firmware upgrading the 1541 Ultimate-II... And the 1541 Ultimate-II+... And the Ultimate 64... And the Ultimate 64 Elite... 😅​ #c64 #retrocomputing

In other news, the people dissing CP/M for being dog slow on the C64 were not exaggerating. ​

So, I actually have this #C64 CP/M cartridge working now! 🤓​

Using a Reloaded Mk.I board with an R1 VIC chip in, and a Pi1541 as drive, all 3 versions of the #CPM 2.2 images from zimmers.net are booting and running without problems.

I tried to switch back to a modern VIC and then I immediately got the boot or run-time freezes that made Commodore pull the plug on this product.

(The VIC owns the bus arbitration and there are subtle timing differences between the initial VICs and the laters ones that impact this cartridge. Would be interesting to try and characterize and quantify that at some stage.)

#retrocomputing

Never too late to put this on the reference shelf. #6502 #retrocomputing

But deep down, I know it's not about the technology. Because the web used to BE the small web. And any moderately successful alternative is bound to be subjected to the same forced, unless more fundamental changes in what we value as societies take place. And this is what we should be trying to change, not the technical protocols.

In the meantime, while these initiatives are not yet (or longer) moderately successful, they still offer hope. The catharsis of accessing these alternative spaces is real.

I want to stay.

Episodes like this has made it clear to me lately how much of a need there is for a space that is not about corporations selling guaranteed outcomes by "converting" (subverting) my every activity into consumption. Mechanisms that could help with that was in place but are continuing to erode, such as the original idea with TLDs. Suppose you confined all commercial activities to .com domains for instance, and you'd be able to bound the information spaces at least at a crude level when navigating it. But with commercial interests now preciding over TLDs it's eroded to the point at which the TLD has almost no significance whatsoever.

Possibly technologies that do not lend themselves as easily to commercial subversion, such as Gemini or even old sk00l gopher, could serve as dams for the onslaught. I can feel my interest in these "small web" technologies and communities rising.

Today, I was trying to find (using commercial search engines) information about a topic. Maybe 9 out of 10 or more "relevant" results was about purchasing items related to the topic. Not ads placed in the result page, no, the actual results.

I remember how, when I was younger, I used to marvel at all the information out there on the web. How it was like a giant library.

I scarcely recognize the place now. If you want to search information about a topic you don't go into a mall. But that's what it feels like I'm forced to do.

I remember going to the library and pulling out drawers of index cards to locate the relevant non-fiction shelves with good content on topics I wanted to learn about. Imagine if those index cards had been mixed with cards with advertisements on them. Increasingly diluting the content with junk. That is the web of today.