"TRS-80 Basic decoded and other mysteries" has the ROMs disassembled and commented.
I have the full service manuals for the TRS-80s and others, you could buy them.
There were all sorts of sanctioned "mods" (double density, numeric keypads,etc etc etc)
And it was all documented, explained and available.
I hand coded, hand assembled a very basic printer driver for a Heathkit 6800 system for one of my classes . Had to punch in the HEX codes by hand.
It had to take a piece of text over the serial port and send it to the parallel port while checking line length,CR,LF + underline
and a couple of other quirks in the text file.
Fun times....
I started with a Dick Smith Systems-80 (A TRS-80 M1 Clone), and I still own one (as well as a bunch of others)
It was probably the peak time for interesting hardware, hundreds of different hardware designs, processors, I/O, DOSs, etc etc etc.
Variations of Basic (And even FORTH on the Jupiter Ace), the advent of colour and sound, joysticks, light guns.
The Magazines were useful, they had construction articles, software articles, how-to articles, the adverts were even useful for information.
It was like evolution on steroids, new and interesting designs were thrown out there to see what worked and what didn't
Todays computing landscape in comparison is pretty bland in its sameness and Magazines articles are really just advertorials.
Discussions back then were useful and people did not care what you used, it was new , it was interesting , now they degenerate into flame bait Mac/Windows/Linux sucks rants.
NOBODY watches channels, they watch PROGRAMS.
No one ever said "Love the Big Bang theory now if only it was on channel 3 instead of 10 I would watch it"
If these idiots ran a supermarket they would be telling you "Yes, but you have to include 3 items from isle 4, 2 chicken based products and at least 1 feminine hygiene product before you can check out with your loaf of bread, and because you also have milk you are required to buy Bacon, a wooden spatula , and a birthday card for a 3 year old boy, or if you buy a card for a 3 year old girl you will also need to buy 1 pound of Himalayan Salt".
No, just NO NO NO NO NO.
And NO, I am also NOT going to pay you money so you can also show me adverts,
Probably true, right up until they get to the realisation "USA first" means "USA last" for the 96% of the worlds population (and 80% of the world GDP) who are no US citizens.
The US has put at risk over $2 Trillion in exports. Those exports are often made by high tech, high paid workers (e.g. Boeing), what happens when Asia stick on a 30% tariff on US goods, the EU does well, the US does not. And things can be made difficult for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Adobe, HP, Facebook, Twitter, Intel, etc etc etc etc.
In the end it will all flow back to those American Firsters who will probably suffer the most for the longest period.
The thing they forget is "Can the world survive without the USA", the answer is yes, if all trade with the USA stopped it would hurt for a while, but it will open up opportunities for others and within a decade or two it will be "who cares".
The Brits are about to find this out too, Yes, its their choice to leave the EU, but if they ever want to join again it will be on the EUs terms (e.g. single currency , drive on the right, etc etc etc). Will the EU suffer, yep for a wee while, they will recover. Who knows the "divorce" may mean all the kids have to go home, UK workers require visas , work permits, etc, etc etc etc. They too have forgotten that once you are out of the game you can no longer make up the rules.
I found it hilarious that the US government is "concerned" about possible Russian funding of Afghan terrorist groups when the US was funding those exact same groups when Russia was the occupying force.
The USA meddles in the internal politics of other countries, funds terrorists (or freedom fighters until they change sides, then they are terrorists again), run espionage rings in other countries , Bullies other countries, etc etc etc, but they get upset when someone does it back to them.
Always happy to have a beer anywhere in the world.
My next "must" beer trip is to Ireland and go through the Guinness factory tour. Last time I was there I simply did not get time.
My one claim to Fame is that while I was in Detroit (30 years ago) I got smuggled into the players bar and I have had a beer with Gordie Howe the Canadian ice hockey great. Nice guy, nice beer, winning combo:-)
You hear about businesses talking about "transactional friction", i.e. the difficulties in doing a transaction, the lower it is the more it gets used.
Well the "friction" for visiting the USA is simply too high, the risks for tourists too high, the risk of loosing phones and laptop too high. Where as the friction for other countries is much lower.
Our next "big trip" (they usually are 4-8 weeks) will be into Asia in a couple of years, then back to Europe (via Asia) a few years after that, then a cruise around Australia. The USA has been removed from consideration, its too hard.
Yep you are hundreds to times more likely to be murdered by a family member, work college, neighbour , or friend than you are to be involved in a terrorist act.
The "Scareware" terrorism has nothing to do about keeping Americans safe, it is all about removing right and freedoms.
Scared people are only too happy for someone else to make the decisions for them if they think it will "keep them safe".
Over the last 20 years I think more people have been killed by vending machines falling on them than by terrorists
Perhaps you want to compare those figure to the millions who have recently ended up in Europe
They would prefer to been at home, but home is full of war, death and destruction.
We have a lot of Americans who have taken up citizenship in New Zealand, if its so good there why did they leave ?
Now YOU dont care, but the people whose job depends on tourists do, tour guides do, hotels do, airlines do, tourist attractions do.
Its not OUR attitude, its the US attitude that making the difference, and tourists are now voting with their wallets.
And so they should.
The Murder rate in the USA is huge compared to the UK (and Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc etc etc)
The prison population in the USA is huge compared to the UK (and Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc etc etc)
The "facts" prove citizens from the USA pose a significant increase in risk
You will soon see its become really bad when the number of flights to/from the USA each day start falling.
Our family is unlikely to visit the USA ever again
Work encourages us to go to conferences outside the USA
Flights to UK/Europe are booked via HongKong, Singapore, etc etc etc in preference to going via the USA
If you must go via the USA, work laptops/phones can not be taken with you
Yep, our family has written off the USA as a place to visit (I have been about 6 times, family twice)
We are also encouraged at work not to go the Europe via the USA, or attend conferences/training in the USA, risks are too high.
Dropping tourist numbers is already removing billions from the US economy, and the fall is only going to accelerate.
So just remember as you shout USA first, 96% of the worlds population and 80% of the worlds GDP is saying USA last.
The world has become a lost more accessible, countries have modernised , tourism is easier and cheaper than ever before, there are more flights to more destinations than ever before, so choosing "not the USA" is no longer a problem, people are missing out on less and less each year.
Given the high number of Murders/Prison population in the USA compared to other 1st world countries it would make just as much sense to bar US citizens from travelling to those countries.
But what is happening is that Tourists are now avoiding the USA and thats going to cost tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in lost income.
Feel free to start a trade war, the US is only 4% of the worlds population and 20% of the worlds GDP.
Asia is where all the real growth is, China is the biggest economy and growing, US firms could see themselves locked out of the Asian market.
"Friends" of the USA have seen how Trump treats them, countries if they have any sense will be planning on what to do if the US is no longer there as a trading partner. Sure its going to hurt for a wee while, but everyone will recover. It will open opportunities for the likes of Airbus and Boeing gets sidelined, it will open up opportunities for EU companies to replace Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, HP, etc etc etc etc etc.
Peak USA was the 1960/1970s , it has been slowly slipping since then. Trump will simply increase the rate of fall.
So keep being scared, Keep being paranoid, Build your walls, alienate the rest of the world, the world will learn to get on just fine without the USA.
We can go back to sane copyright laws, sane patent laws, sane gun laws , etc etc etc etc
11. For the price of 2 Movie tickets I can BUY the DVD/Blueray and watch it as many times as I like. I can still haul out the entire star wars set when the grandkids come over, the entire Terminator movies and still have the option of Finding Nemo for the younger ones on a different TV.
ALL without paying another cent.
Better yet, about 1/2 my DVDs ( I have hundreds) are from 2nd hand shops, so I typically get 6-8 DVDs for the price of ONE movie ticket.
Thanks, but until I am being paid millions, I will watch my pennies my way, and that includes not paying for grossly over priced cinema tickets just so the actors and directors can make millions of dollars.
A crap movie in 3D is not made better because all the effort went into the 3D effects which are so grossly overdone it makes it worse not better
A GOOD movie, with a good plot, good flow and is engaging is still good without 3D, the fact there is no 3D may reduce the distraction for the pretty special effects and actually improve the movie.
So, we have a back door. It is easily proven that without backdoors various groups have been able to hack into the NSA, CIA, US Navy, etc etc etc. WITH a backdoor it will be even easier.
So with a back door, I assume it will be up to the government to PROVE that any files, encrypted or otherwise, were not put there by some 3rd party, that the back door has not been used.
Seems like a get out of jail free card with the use of a good lawyer.
Oh, and please give over the source code so my defence team can see how the backdoor works so we can check if it has been used.
Backdoor = lots of people getting off because the LEOs don't want to spill the beans about the back door, seems self defeating to me.
Been using Netflix for a couple of years now.
Here's what we have noticed:
1. We HATE adverts on TV with a passion now, all they do is force us over to Netflix
2. We HATE watching a series over weeks now, we prefer to binge watch so you keep the continuity
3. Channels....what are channels ?, we watch programs on Netflix the idea of Channels showing large volumes of crap with minor breaks for a program you wants to watch is abhorrent.
4. The ONLY ting we watch on regular TV is the news, because it is local
5. The attempts to make the News more 'entertaining' is pushing us away from those News Shows, if I want giggles I will watch a comedy
6. The NZ$16 (approx) a month for Netflix is about all I am willing to pay for a service (for 4 simultaneous users)
7. I am not willing to suffer adverts, if Netflix starts showing ads my account will be closed
8. No one promised actors, writers, studios that there would be a life long cash cow, its about time they realised they are a commodity now and have incomes aligned with that reality.
9. My wife watches Chinese/Korean soaps with english subtitles and enjoys them, the market is not just the USA, you too can price yourself out of the global market
10. No, I am not willing to pay more for HD/UHD, try that trick and my money goes elsewhere.
Time will tell.
It maybe that those other countries will have growth opportunities made available because the UK has exited.
I think that the UK is about to realise that things will not "keep calm and carry on", who knows, maybe Scotland will become part of the EU or part of Ireland and get into the EU that way. I really don't expect the USA to treat the UK any better no matter how much grovelling the UK PM does or how many Royals get whored out to meet Trump.
Yes, and while you keep shouting USA USA USA and USA First, the rest of the world will simply go USA last.
Why should any other country take US made goods ?
Its only worth $2 Trillion to the US economy
Likewise, people from all around the world are avoiding the USA now, hundreds of billion is lost revenue from Tourists
The USA makes up 4% of the worlds population and 20% of the worlds GDP, Asia makes up over 60% of the population, Chinas GDP is already bigger than the US and it will not be too many years before the EU is bigger too, and Asia is where all the consumer growth is, does the USA want to be locked out of that ?
Tell us what happens when Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter, HP, Dell, Amazon, Walmart, etc etc etc get locked out of Asia, it may well be the Americans go to Asia to find jobs. Alibaba is already massively more profitable than Amazon.
Slashdot Mirror
Well healthcare in the USA is the highest per capita by a VERY large margin. You are paying more, not getting more.
Worse, given the massive costs, tens of millions of Americans do NOT have adequate health care options.
And then it turns out that the infrastructure is also ageing, needing over $1 Trillion to fix it
And China is doing quite well, its now a bigger economy than the USA, its modernising rapidly in all areas.
Communism with corruption is a failure, but then so is capitalism with corruption.
something like this https://bernd-paysan.de/httpd-... ?
Yeah, but without the DRM.
"TRS-80 Basic decoded and other mysteries" has the ROMs disassembled and commented.
I have the full service manuals for the TRS-80s and others, you could buy them.
There were all sorts of sanctioned "mods" (double density, numeric keypads,etc etc etc)
And it was all documented, explained and available.
I hand coded, hand assembled a very basic printer driver for a Heathkit 6800 system for one of my classes . Had to punch in the HEX codes by hand. It had to take a piece of text over the serial port and send it to the parallel port while checking line length,CR,LF + underline and a couple of other quirks in the text file.
Fun times....
I started with a Dick Smith Systems-80 (A TRS-80 M1 Clone), and I still own one (as well as a bunch of others)
It was probably the peak time for interesting hardware, hundreds of different hardware designs, processors, I/O, DOSs, etc etc etc.
Variations of Basic (And even FORTH on the Jupiter Ace), the advent of colour and sound, joysticks, light guns.
The Magazines were useful, they had construction articles, software articles, how-to articles, the adverts were even useful for information.
It was like evolution on steroids, new and interesting designs were thrown out there to see what worked and what didn't
Todays computing landscape in comparison is pretty bland in its sameness and Magazines articles are really just advertorials.
Discussions back then were useful and people did not care what you used, it was new , it was interesting , now they degenerate into flame bait Mac/Windows/Linux sucks rants.
So much good was lost.
As soon as I saw Channels I read "Fail"
NOBODY watches channels, they watch PROGRAMS.
No one ever said "Love the Big Bang theory now if only it was on channel 3 instead of 10 I would watch it"
If these idiots ran a supermarket they would be telling you "Yes, but you have to include 3 items from isle 4, 2 chicken based products and at least 1 feminine hygiene product before you can check out with your loaf of bread, and because you also have milk you are required to buy Bacon, a wooden spatula , and a birthday card for a 3 year old boy, or if you buy a card for a 3 year old girl you will also need to buy 1 pound of Himalayan Salt".
No, just NO NO NO NO NO.
And NO, I am also NOT going to pay you money so you can also show me adverts,
So far Netflix 1 others nil.
Probably true, right up until they get to the realisation "USA first" means "USA last" for the 96% of the worlds population (and 80% of the world GDP) who are no US citizens.
The US has put at risk over $2 Trillion in exports. Those exports are often made by high tech, high paid workers (e.g. Boeing), what happens when Asia stick on a 30% tariff on US goods, the EU does well, the US does not. And things can be made difficult for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Adobe, HP, Facebook, Twitter, Intel, etc etc etc etc.
In the end it will all flow back to those American Firsters who will probably suffer the most for the longest period.
The thing they forget is "Can the world survive without the USA", the answer is yes, if all trade with the USA stopped it would hurt for a while, but it will open up opportunities for others and within a decade or two it will be "who cares".
The Brits are about to find this out too, Yes, its their choice to leave the EU, but if they ever want to join again it will be on the EUs terms (e.g. single currency , drive on the right, etc etc etc). Will the EU suffer, yep for a wee while, they will recover. Who knows the "divorce" may mean all the kids have to go home, UK workers require visas , work permits, etc, etc etc etc. They too have forgotten that once you are out of the game you can no longer make up the rules.
In the past ???
I found it hilarious that the US government is "concerned" about possible Russian funding of Afghan terrorist groups when the US was funding those exact same groups when Russia was the occupying force.
The USA meddles in the internal politics of other countries, funds terrorists (or freedom fighters until they change sides, then they are terrorists again), run espionage rings in other countries , Bullies other countries, etc etc etc, but they get upset when someone does it back to them.
Always happy to have a beer anywhere in the world.
:-)
My next "must" beer trip is to Ireland and go through the Guinness factory tour. Last time I was there I simply did not get time.
My one claim to Fame is that while I was in Detroit (30 years ago) I got smuggled into the players bar and I have had a beer with Gordie Howe the Canadian ice hockey great. Nice guy, nice beer, winning combo
The world is MUCH MUCH bigger than Canada.
Getting into Europe, the UK, Asia has been a much more pleasant experience over the last couple of years.
Tourism is exactly the same a shopping, if the Hassle in one store/country becomes too high, you vote with your wallet and go elsewhere.
And that is what people are doing, going elsewhere, taking their tourist $ to other countries. And thats what my family and I are doing too.
We (my family) won't be back.
You hear about businesses talking about "transactional friction", i.e. the difficulties in doing a transaction, the lower it is the more it gets used.
Well the "friction" for visiting the USA is simply too high, the risks for tourists too high, the risk of loosing phones and laptop too high. Where as the friction for other countries is much lower.
Our next "big trip" (they usually are 4-8 weeks) will be into Asia in a couple of years, then back to Europe (via Asia) a few years after that, then a cruise around Australia. The USA has been removed from consideration, its too hard.
Yep you are hundreds to times more likely to be murdered by a family member, work college, neighbour , or friend than you are to be involved in a terrorist act.
The "Scareware" terrorism has nothing to do about keeping Americans safe, it is all about removing right and freedoms.
Scared people are only too happy for someone else to make the decisions for them if they think it will "keep them safe".
Over the last 20 years I think more people have been killed by vending machines falling on them than by terrorists
Because its better than where they were.
Perhaps you want to compare those figure to the millions who have recently ended up in Europe
They would prefer to been at home, but home is full of war, death and destruction.
We have a lot of Americans who have taken up citizenship in New Zealand, if its so good there why did they leave ?
Now YOU dont care, but the people whose job depends on tourists do, tour guides do, hotels do, airlines do, tourist attractions do.
Its not OUR attitude, its the US attitude that making the difference, and tourists are now voting with their wallets.
And so they should.
The Murder rate in the USA is huge compared to the UK (and Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc etc etc)
The prison population in the USA is huge compared to the UK (and Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc etc etc)
The "facts" prove citizens from the USA pose a significant increase in risk
Too late, tourists have already been put off.
You will soon see its become really bad when the number of flights to/from the USA each day start falling.
Our family is unlikely to visit the USA ever again
Work encourages us to go to conferences outside the USA
Flights to UK/Europe are booked via HongKong, Singapore, etc etc etc in preference to going via the USA
If you must go via the USA, work laptops/phones can not be taken with you
USA has just become too hard, too much risk.
Yep, our family has written off the USA as a place to visit (I have been about 6 times, family twice)
.
We are also encouraged at work not to go the Europe via the USA, or attend conferences/training in the USA, risks are too high.
Dropping tourist numbers is already removing billions from the US economy, and the fall is only going to accelerate
So just remember as you shout USA first, 96% of the worlds population and 80% of the worlds GDP is saying USA last.
The world has become a lost more accessible, countries have modernised , tourism is easier and cheaper than ever before, there are more flights to more destinations than ever before, so choosing "not the USA" is no longer a problem, people are missing out on less and less each year.
Given the high number of Murders/Prison population in the USA compared to other 1st world countries it would make just as much sense to bar US citizens from travelling to those countries.
But what is happening is that Tourists are now avoiding the USA and thats going to cost tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in lost income.
Feel free to start a trade war, the US is only 4% of the worlds population and 20% of the worlds GDP.
Asia is where all the real growth is, China is the biggest economy and growing, US firms could see themselves locked out of the Asian market. "Friends" of the USA have seen how Trump treats them, countries if they have any sense will be planning on what to do if the US is no longer there as a trading partner. Sure its going to hurt for a wee while, but everyone will recover. It will open opportunities for the likes of Airbus and Boeing gets sidelined, it will open up opportunities for EU companies to replace Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, HP, etc etc etc etc etc.
Peak USA was the 1960/1970s , it has been slowly slipping since then. Trump will simply increase the rate of fall.
So keep being scared, Keep being paranoid, Build your walls, alienate the rest of the world, the world will learn to get on just fine without the USA. We can go back to sane copyright laws, sane patent laws, sane gun laws , etc etc etc etc
And yet people have been getting away scot free because the LEO were unwilling to show how they caught the person.
The secret became more valuable than the prosecution.
11. For the price of 2 Movie tickets I can BUY the DVD/Blueray and watch it as many times as I like. I can still haul out the entire star wars set when the grandkids come over, the entire Terminator movies and still have the option of Finding Nemo for the younger ones on a different TV.
ALL without paying another cent.
Better yet, about 1/2 my DVDs ( I have hundreds) are from 2nd hand shops, so I typically get 6-8 DVDs for the price of ONE movie ticket.
Thanks, but until I am being paid millions, I will watch my pennies my way, and that includes not paying for grossly over priced cinema tickets just so the actors and directors can make millions of dollars.
3D...ugh
A crap movie in 3D is not made better because all the effort went into the 3D effects which are so grossly overdone it makes it worse not better
A GOOD movie, with a good plot, good flow and is engaging is still good without 3D, the fact there is no 3D may reduce the distraction for the pretty special effects and actually improve the movie.
So, we have a back door. It is easily proven that without backdoors various groups have been able to hack into the NSA, CIA, US Navy, etc etc etc. WITH a backdoor it will be even easier.
So with a back door, I assume it will be up to the government to PROVE that any files, encrypted or otherwise, were not put there by some 3rd party, that the back door has not been used.
Seems like a get out of jail free card with the use of a good lawyer.
Oh, and please give over the source code so my defence team can see how the backdoor works so we can check if it has been used.
Backdoor = lots of people getting off because the LEOs don't want to spill the beans about the back door, seems self defeating to me.
Been using Netflix for a couple of years now.
Here's what we have noticed:
1. We HATE adverts on TV with a passion now, all they do is force us over to Netflix
2. We HATE watching a series over weeks now, we prefer to binge watch so you keep the continuity
3. Channels....what are channels ?, we watch programs on Netflix the idea of Channels showing large volumes of crap with minor breaks for a program you wants to watch is abhorrent.
4. The ONLY ting we watch on regular TV is the news, because it is local
5. The attempts to make the News more 'entertaining' is pushing us away from those News Shows, if I want giggles I will watch a comedy
6. The NZ$16 (approx) a month for Netflix is about all I am willing to pay for a service (for 4 simultaneous users)
7. I am not willing to suffer adverts, if Netflix starts showing ads my account will be closed
8. No one promised actors, writers, studios that there would be a life long cash cow, its about time they realised they are a commodity now and have incomes aligned with that reality.
9. My wife watches Chinese/Korean soaps with english subtitles and enjoys them, the market is not just the USA, you too can price yourself out of the global market
10. No, I am not willing to pay more for HD/UHD, try that trick and my money goes elsewhere.
Time will tell. It maybe that those other countries will have growth opportunities made available because the UK has exited. I think that the UK is about to realise that things will not "keep calm and carry on", who knows, maybe Scotland will become part of the EU or part of Ireland and get into the EU that way. I really don't expect the USA to treat the UK any better no matter how much grovelling the UK PM does or how many Royals get whored out to meet Trump.
Being protectionist / isolationist will achieve the same thing, just faster.
Yes, and while you keep shouting USA USA USA and USA First, the rest of the world will simply go USA last.
Why should any other country take US made goods ?
Its only worth $2 Trillion to the US economy
Likewise, people from all around the world are avoiding the USA now, hundreds of billion is lost revenue from Tourists
The USA makes up 4% of the worlds population and 20% of the worlds GDP, Asia makes up over 60% of the population, Chinas GDP is already bigger than the US and it will not be too many years before the EU is bigger too, and Asia is where all the consumer growth is, does the USA want to be locked out of that ? Tell us what happens when Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter, HP, Dell, Amazon, Walmart, etc etc etc get locked out of Asia, it may well be the Americans go to Asia to find jobs. Alibaba is already massively more profitable than Amazon.