modrobert @modrobert@qoto.org

Who likes old computers? Seen in a shop window in Stockholm.

Microsoft announces a new marketing strategy for the Year of the Linux Desktop 😉 Thank you for doing this. 😂 Nobody asked for this kind of product that breaks all privacy and safety standards. So choose wisely

I'm trying to get the Acorn Archimedes core for the Mister working.

I'm able to boot it with the Ridcos 3 rom, and the desktop starts. However, I have so far failed to add a hard disc image to it. I created an empty file, and used 'configure idefsdiscs 1' as instructed in the readme for the core. I've had varying degrees of success with this (seeminly depending on the size of the image), but even when a disc is detected, it tells me it's not formatted.

I apparently need a tool called HDform, which I downloaded a floppy image and ran. However, it gives me an error saying it doesn't recognise the disc.

One tried all sorts of variations, and nothing works. Is there anyone with Archimedes experience that can provide some tips?

#retrocomputing #mister #acorn #archimedes

This is a reminder to everyone that security is more than just memory safety. https://www.phoronix.com/news/sudo-rs-security-ubuntu-25.10

#rust #vulnerability #sudo_rs

Do you like 68000 assembly source code? Then here is some..

https://github.com/djh0ffman/TTE_Circumvent

Next on the digitization death march are 3.5" floppies. I've been sent thousands of them over the years. I'm going to just image and scan them and pack them for perm storage.

May I present the first 847.

https://archive.org/details/2025_01_NOOKS_AND_CRANNIES

Floppies read by Applesauce, and the front of the floppies scanned in a flatbed at 600dpi.

I won't be stopping until all my donated floppies are online.

The FBI is trying to unmask the owner of infamous archiving site Archive.is, according to a subpoena the site posted. No other information given, the site quietly posted the document a few days ago. FBI telling domain registrar to hand over all sorts of ID'ing info
https://www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to-unmask-owner-of-infamous-archive-is-site/

If you feel you're not good at your job and it's making you depressed, consider this: the recent investigation into the heist revealed that the password to access the Louvre's video surveillance system was 'Louvre'.

in case that was possible.. how would you use #radare2 from inside #vim?

A meteor, the Milky Way and Mount Fuji captured by photographer Hayata Suzuki.

Back in 1987, Karsten Obarski released Ultimate Soundtracker for Amiga. Soon after, the program was disassembled and reworked by various developers. One of these groups was The Jungle Command. And in March 1988, they released their own reworked SoundTracker II.

It appears that the Jungle Command peeps knew that the code would be further disassembled and hacked by other developers (and it did). Dozens of clones and variations of SoundTracker would appear, and it all kicked off the Amiga tracker scene (which is still very much alive today). Knowing this, the developers hid some code inside the SoundTracker II replay routine.

Earlier today, Heikki "shd" Orsila pointed out some curious code he discovered inside the SoundTracker IV replay routine. It seemed to have some easter egg in it that was cleverly disguised as data. The code would normally not be referenced directly, but a strategically placed eor instruction (exclusive or) would modify the code in a way that the data would get called as a subroutine.

So what does the subroutine do? I disassembled it to find out. If both control key and joystick button are pressed down during playback, the music player code will stop and start displaying a full screen alert message forever:

SoundTracker V2
© The Jungle Command

The fact that this code survived from 1988-03-01 until today (nearly 38 years) is quite remarkable. The code has now been patched away from the replay routine.

- The Ultimate Soundtracker by Karsten Obarski:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Soundtracker
- SoundTracker II by The Jungle Command:
https://demozoo.org/productions/221272/
- Reversed easter egg code: https://gitlab.com/uade-music-player/uade/-/merge_requests/67#note_2867819662
- mod.echoing (classic soundtracker module by Fab) rendered with UADE oscilloscope: https://zakalwe.fi/uade/oscilloscope/chip/mod15/mod.echoing.mp4 (original https://janeway.exotica.org.uk/release.php?id=59992)

#demoscene #retrocomputing #trackermusic #hacking

Saw this on #LinkedIn

#AI #GenAI #DangerWillRobinson

true

It's difficult for me to think of a more badass woman than Sigourney Weaver as Ripley -- all the men follow her naturally because she's an incredible leader. "I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit... it's the only way to be sure." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9aM4rH692M

You wanna know what time it is?

𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑮𝑨 time!

Dammit Robin, get your head on straight!!