Re: legality of backup copies

Posted on 2019-09-26, 19:28

by

by SirNickity

in Milliways

in Milliways

The ridiculous fallacy to that line of thought, is to assume that I, as a consumer, am willing to buy the rights to a song for my car, my phone, and my home stereo. I'm not. If law and technical constraints prevent me from making essentially as many copies as I want for my own personal use, I will …

---

Re: NEW iPhones

Posted on 2019-09-26, 19:17

by

by SirNickity

in Milliways

in Milliways

I, too, sympathize when you're left out in the cold because a company went a different direction. But this goes a little too far, IMO. E.g., you don't like the large screen, so you want a smaller one. But you don't think there should be multiple sizes to cater to the crowd that DOES want a larger …

---

Re: Advice about retro speakers

Posted on 2019-09-25, 19:59

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

There were some wedge-shaped Bose models available at my local computer store back in the day. (Mid 90s?) So you can kind of get away with a period-correct argument. They weren't beige -- they already had a little of the "Executive model" look about them. I think they were gray and silver. But, the …

---

Re: Starcraft MIDI files?

Posted on 2019-09-25, 19:50

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Haha... well, yeah, that's about what I expected. :-) So there probably wasn't ever a "MIDI version" per se, but probably session files in whatever DAW they were using at the time. It would have to be set up with all the same hardware. I could almost do this... I have SC, JV, and Kurzweil synths, …

---

Re: Very compact retro PCs?

Posted on 2019-09-25, 19:39

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I am impressed that even your keyboard, in that picture, is moaning "killll meeeee". X-D I really love the form-factor of those Unises, but I have found it utterly frustrating trying to do anything useful with mine (5001). Runs hot, only one IDE channel (no CD-ROM), the slot is too small to fit most …

---

Re: NEW iPhones

Posted on 2019-09-25, 19:23

by

by SirNickity

in Milliways

in Milliways

OK, it's clear at this point we just disagree -- and that's fine. But, eh, I enjoy a good argument -- nodding in agreement gets boring quickly -- so just for funsies... This isnt elegant, its a mess. I wonder if you're capable of looking outside the boundaries of your own aesthetic? Is it beautiful? …

---

Re: NEW iPhones

Posted on 2019-09-25, 19:05

by

by SirNickity

in Milliways

in Milliways

That's true -- brand loyalty is a thing I don't totally understand. I use what works, and while reputation plays into that, I won't hesitate to jump ship when/if it stops meeting my needs. I also don't "get" sports. ("You're rooting for laundry.")

---

Re: Boxed Original AdLib

Posted on 2019-09-24, 22:06

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

CMS in some form is not really hard to come by. The chips are available cheap on Ebay, and you can just pop those into an OG SB 1.5. The SB 2.0 requires a glue logic chip that has been cloned. The original CMS card -- i.e., not a Sound Blaster, but aka the Game Blaster -- that's an expensive card. I …

---

Re: What is that? ... Only agpx2

Posted on 2019-09-24, 20:46

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I agree with both of you on most points, actually. The CuMine cores were also fragile. I never cracked one myself, but I worked at a computer store during that era and it was something we had to be careful about when dealing with product exchanges and service calls on our white boxes. I don't think …

---

Re: LS-120, how it work???

Posted on 2019-09-24, 20:37

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Here's my approach. Maybe it provides some inspiration? If not, just consumes a few bytes of space on the Vogons server. :-D Every one of my retro PCs has a floppy drive. All but two (PCjr and T-1000 RLHD) have 3.5" 1.44MB drives. All but three (PS/2 M30 286) have a CD-ROM drive. The biggest problem …

---

Re: NEW iPhones

Posted on 2019-09-24, 20:16

by

by SirNickity

in Milliways

in Milliways

The amount of vitriol in this thread is unbelievable. This is my main point, really. It's a practical design decision to raise the bar on picture quality without moving parts or prohibitively sophisticated optics. So yeah, elegant -- at least in a DFM sense. Sure, the aesthetics are subjectively …

---

Re: iomega tape 250 problem

Posted on 2019-09-23, 23:51

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Looks to be a drive wheel -- like the capstan in a cassette tape deck.

---

Re: ABS plastic repair

Posted on 2019-09-23, 23:50

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I'm not sure 5000 grit is going to do much about scratches and dings. Scuffs, maybe. Is that what you're dealing with? I tried to resolve an unsightly scratch in an N64 controller once. I had to send so deep around it that a hairline blemish turned into one the size of a penny. Not worth it, IMO. …

---

Re: NEW iPhones

Posted on 2019-09-23, 23:45

by

by SirNickity

in Milliways

in Milliways

I could be wrong, because I haven't tried an 11 yet, but my understanding is that the user doesn't need to know how to use three cameras. They just manipulate the image with common pinch gestures and UI widgets, and it composes the shot using one (or a combination of?) the lenses. You get the …

---

Re: Starcraft MIDI files?

Posted on 2019-09-23, 20:00

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Is there any record out there of what synth(s) were used to record them? I'm really skeptical that many of these better, higher-budget (for the 90s) soundtracks were just a MIDI file playing real-time into an SC, into a WAV recorder. That's not even how I did it back then, and I was just a hobbyist. …

---

Re: MB-32 : The mechanical MT-32

Posted on 2019-09-23, 19:53

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

(Regarding OP): Do these have the buffer overflow bug?

---

Re: iomega tape 250 problem

Posted on 2019-09-23, 19:23

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I suppose that's why they're so rare to find these days. If nothing else, I guess it makes an adorable 3.5" bay filler. 😀

---

Re: What is that? ... Only agpx2

Posted on 2019-09-23, 19:18

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Because they cost a friggin mint. :-) I bought a Tualatin-capable PIII board and installed an old 733 (or something like that) until "the Tualatins come down in price." Which, I guess they have now. But I moved on to a Northwood P4 with DDR before the Tualatins made a compelling price/performance …

---

Re: What were the "the best nobody can afford speakers" back in 90' ?

Posted on 2019-09-23, 19:08

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

OK, for those with a modest budget, and no special hospital-grade AC outlets to plug their new stereo into: Klipsch ProMedia were the shizzle in the later 90s. klipschpromed.jpg Mid-late 90s, for the musicians and the rich kids with the MT-32s, a set of Rolands: rolandspk.jpg For most of the 90s, …

---

Re: Can someone give me ideas for a pad that I can put my hard drive on that won't catch on fire?

Posted on 2019-09-23, 18:59

by

by SirNickity

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Pull your trousers up, take the PSU apart, take some 90deg metal brackets, drill screw holes for the drive sides, and rivet it into place on the PSU lid. 😁

---