Re: Best place for shareware/freeware? (re: trustworthy downloads)

Posted on 2023-09-30, 01:45

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by Jo22

in Marvin \ Software

in Marvin \ Software

Shareware CD-ROMs, either real or as ISO, are/were a good source of shareware, freeware and public domain. They're also anti-virus checked and read-only. Downloading them shouldn't be an issue, either. Because, the shareware rule (license terms) of the 90s said that a copy is not allowed to cost …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-30, 00:04

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by Jo22

in Milliways

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But again the smaller the crt the sharper the image. That's been my experience (and I've many many monitors of all sizes). We weren't talking about mono or color but size. Now there is nothing as sharp as say a black and white monitor, even one that's worn to hell. And I mean big ones. There's 1 …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-29, 14:56

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by Jo22

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But back to the topic ... Some time ago I was seriously considering buying a Commodore SX-64. It is a Commdore 64, it looks nice, it is portable ... but it has no cassette port and there is no convenient way to add one. What a joke! It could be such a great machine if it had one. And I'd be glad to …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-29, 14:31

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by Jo22

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I've never heard of anyone who'd actually WANT tape on a C64. When I got my C64 in 1984, it was common to buy a package with both the C64 and the datasette bundled. A disk drive was more expensive than the C64 itself, so in those days, hardly anyone had one. A few years later, prices came down, so …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-29, 10:03

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by Jo22

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Someone said here Amiga? Never owned one but watched and red plenty of reviews about Amigas and comparisons between Amigas and PCs. As I understand, Amiga was way ahead of IBM PC, IBM PC XT and even IBM PC AT (with i286). But when came out i386, Amigas were done. So for me, not being a gamer and …

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Re: What?? Both VLB and PCI slots on a 486 mobo?

Posted on 2023-09-28, 23:50

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by Jo22

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

VLB had a Short life between 1993-95 mainly. If you plan on building a 486 computer I would go with an ISA motherboard or PCI. PCI motherboard will provide best performance and will be less expensive to build with Newer bios too. There are different goals for different builds. Best performance may …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 19:30

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by Jo22

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What also comes to mind in the C64 vs PC discussion are the Thomson computers by our French neighbors (I owned a TO7-70 once). The TO7-70 and especially TO9 were some sort of in-between of a home computer and a PC. The TO7-70 also looked a bit like a Texas Instruments TI99, I think. https://en. …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 19:01

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by Jo22

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Yea, but that's a storage tube, so basically your CRT *is* the video ram. There's no framebuffer, and no need to send the framebuffer to the screen at a high refresh rate. It's more like an advanced vector display where you 'zap' individual pixels to turn them on/off. Yes, that's correct. For …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 18:42

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by Jo22

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In short, the PC mindset doesn't apply to other platforms such as C64 and Amiga. Maybe, not sure. It's about having different standards, I suppose. 🤷‍♂️ The host/terminal relationships of the 1960s/1970s were quite similar to the later PC, too. Just think of ATMs. Or booking terminals at the …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 17:42

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by Jo22

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The Amiga actually had quite an advanced OS for the time, with hardware abstraction and dynamic link libraries. The problem was: game devs came from platforms such as the C64, where there was no OS, and they accessed hardware directly, for maximum performance and tricks. They just continued doing …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 17:17

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by Jo22

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Having such compatibility layer while being able to upgrade the hardware (albeit in a brute-force fashion in the case of IBM PC compatibles) wasn't trivial task given that developers at the time wanted direct control of the hardware to avoid any overhead and be able to perform optimizations that …

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Re: 240p compatible 1920x1200 or 2560x1440 LCD Monitors

Posted on 2023-09-28, 16:55

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by Jo22

in Marvin \ Video

in Marvin \ Video

Just get a CRT TV.. They're free sometimes (road side, deceased relatives/neighbors etc).

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 16:25

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by Jo22

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It's a crazy myth that computers that have better sound and graphics are somehow NOT capable of running business software. It makes no sense whatsoever. And in the light of the capabilities of PC graphics today, it makes no sense to still believe in that myth, because the evidence to the contrary …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 14:21

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by Jo22

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A Tandy 1000 is a toy really. It's a PC clone in a cheap plastic case to get the price down, and it adopts the PCjr's enhanced graphics and audio to make it less completely unsuitable for games, music and such. But it still wasn't exactly good at any of it. It was just one of the best allround PC …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-28, 13:52

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by Jo22

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Good news, out of the pile, there were at least two usable terminal programs for C64 with 80 column support, thus matching standard printer resolution (was 80 columns, too). It's Term 80 and X-Term . The latter is by Markt&Technik, no surprise. ( ANSI Term had experimental 80 column support, not …

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Re: Alright: The dream magazine. Have at it!

Posted on 2023-09-28, 07:24

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by Jo22

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[..] in the c64 days programs could come in many different flavors. Form a Datasette, from a floppy, from a cardridge OR you can just type in the whole program in basic. The cheapest way to publish programs in magazines was just to print out the code of the program for the user to type it in. …

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Re: The difference between a computer user (even advanced user) and a guru. How to be one?

Posted on 2023-09-28, 06:47

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by Jo22

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That's a guru here, I think (cool dude with the blue sweater). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc4ROCJYbm0

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Re: The difference between a computer user (even advanced user) and a guru. How to be one?

Posted on 2023-09-27, 21:46

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by Jo22

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aries-mu wrote on 2023-09-27, 21:36: Interesting! Thanks!! You're welcome. ^^ Here's a quick summary about the hobby by the Radio Society of Great Britain. Each country has its equivalent here. I've chosen this one because it's English. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x6x_6mDVlQ

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Re: The difference between a computer user (even advanced user) and a guru. How to be one?

Posted on 2023-09-27, 21:11

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by Jo22

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Learning for an amateur radio license also teachs a basic understanding of electronics, physics and high frequency. - If it's not exactly the Technician Class (very basic, more about rules than technology). Computer pioneers in the 1970s were often radio amateurs, as well. It were those people who …

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Re: C64 fans seem to me more passionate and committed than retro-computing fans

Posted on 2023-09-27, 18:37

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by Jo22

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Yes, C64 had their own BBS systems, like C-Net: https://commodore.software/downloads/category/468-c-net Cool, thanks a lot! 😃 I've just found a YT video about someone calling a real C64 BBS via 2400 Baud telephone modem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bce1dNJenCo The user is using an Apple II w/ …

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