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Latest Comments by Dunc
You can now order a PC case that looks like the classic Commodore 64
24 Oct 2020 at 6:37 pm UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: ValckHeh, I grew up with a ZX81 which didn't even have keys at all :D
But that allowed me to convert it into The World's First Portable Computer™, fit snugly inside my breakfast box with the key membrane on the outside, reducing the case size to half. It was easily powered by a 9V block battery, at least for a few minutes. Of course entirely pointless without a battery powered TV set, which back then were more expensive than gold, and just as rare :)
Heh! :) I have a very vivid memory of unplugging mine and walking around the room with it, thinking that in The Future, we'd actually be able to do that and use the machine at the same time. (One thing about the ZX81, it was light.) I'm now back in my parents' house, looking after my mum, and it's a strange experience to sit in that same room with my phone, realising that I was right.

Quoting: ValckBelieve it or not, I actually liked both of these–the membrane for its literal flexibility, see post above, and the chiclet for its ergonomic improvement upon the membrane :D

What made them bearable was the way Sinclair implemented their BASIC interpreter to accept single key strokes as keyword tokens, thereby reducing the need for typing every letter in a command, and at the same time reducing the memory requirements for program code too.
Oh, that's true. I never really got along with the ZX81 keyboard (my first Christmas present after I got one for my birthday was a Memotech replacement [External Link], and I never had a rubber-key Spectrum, but yes, there's no doubt the single-key entry system made them easier to live with.

And don't get me started about MANUALS!
They were really well-written, comprehensive, educational text books, not some shoddy three "page" PDF you get these days, IF you are lucky...
I had a Spectrum +, and later a 128, which didn't come with those great manuals, and I still have the pages I photocopied out of a friend's with the memory map, system variables, character set, and so on. And if I had a kid who wanted to learn about computers, I'd still put him in front of a Spectrum emulator with Steven Vickers's manual.

*A really nice piece of kit, actually. All-metal construction, and I don't know what switches it used, but they were way better than they probably needed to be given the speed of the machine: you could easily outpace it, even though the interface module had a small buffer. The Cherry switches on my current board don't feel unfamiliar. In fact, if it wasn't for the lack of a proper spacebar, I might be looking into hacking a USB connection on to the thing.

According to a Stadia developer, streamers should be paying publishers and it backfired
23 Oct 2020 at 3:00 pm UTC

Streaming is advertising.

Now, I'm not suggesting that publishers should be paying streamers either, since the latter also benefits from the audience “draw” of a big title, but the idea that it should be vice-versa is absurd. (As, in my opinion, are music royalties, but that ship sailed decades ago.)

Minecraft Java will move to Microsoft accounts in 2021, gets new social screen
22 Oct 2020 at 5:14 pm UTC Likes: 4

Quoting: DebianUserAny suggestions on must-have mods ?
If you're coming from Minecraft, then Mineclone2, definitely. It can be installed from within the game.

Now, don't misunderstand: it's not quite an exact recreation of the other game, certainly not the current release, but coming back to Minetest a couple of years ago after switching to the “real thing” in 2013 or so, I was hugely impressed by how close it gets to the core experience of Java Minecraft around the time I started playing it, or even a little after. Which, for many players, will be more than enough. Although there are a few annoyances - the double- and right-click shortcuts in the crafting screen don't work, for example - once I got into my stride, I genuinely forgot I was playing a clone. Honestly.

Quoting: GuestSometimes reading comments like these on the internet i get the impression these kind of trolls are irritated by the fact that what Stallman/the FSF and others said are true.
It's the “shouldn't be allowed to play games” bit that gets me. Some people need to grow up.

Minecraft Java will move to Microsoft accounts in 2021, gets new social screen
22 Oct 2020 at 1:46 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: Hori
Quoting: tmtvlIf there ever were a reason to switch to Minetest, this is it.
While I appreciate the project, and that was the first Minecraft-like "game" I played (even before Minecraft itself), it at best provides 1% or less of what Minecraft has.
I was about to ask, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and just say it: you haven't played the Minceclone mod.

Godot Engine to get improved Linux support in the upcoming Godot 4 release
21 Oct 2020 at 4:41 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: PhlebiacI don't know the complexities involved, but it seems to me that GIMP handled multiple windows for the last 25 years or so?
There is a certain irony in the fact that a single-window mode was celebrated as a great advance for the GIMP, and now a multi-window mode is being presented as an advance for Godot.

In fairness, I didn't mind the old GIMP interface, but find myself using single-window mode all the time now, and as I said, multiple windows will definitely come in useful in Godot.

Godot Engine to get improved Linux support in the upcoming Godot 4 release
20 Oct 2020 at 2:37 pm UTC

Multi-windows could be seriously useful in a multi-monitor setup.
I know I'm in the minority here, but the current layout can be very cramped on a 5:4 display. Being able to offload some less-used windows to a second screen will be a huge help.

You may want to avoid Linux Kernel 5.9 if you want fully supported NVIDIA drivers
19 Oct 2020 at 3:06 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: 1xokIt will go on somehow I hope. Nevertheless, I will probably slowly switch to AMD. But we (family and friends) still use NVIDIA cards in many systems. NVIDIA cards age quite well as I have noticed. My now already somewhat aged GTX 970 still runs great, especially with Proton. I recently enjoyed the first part of Sega's Yakuza series. On ultra settings the GTX 970 does not even reach 50% utilization.
960 here, and it's much the same. I could use some more memory and faster storage (I'm still on spinning rust all round), but I don't feel any great pressure to upgrade my GPU.

When I do, it's likely to be AMD, though.

The runner-shooter 'Vecter' is intense, colourful and free - out now
18 Oct 2020 at 5:57 pm UTC

Quoting: robvvFun racing game with surprisingly-responsive controls and good music.

Had some issues with the controller configuration but found that binding the keyboard controls to my Steam Controller worked. Could not get my Logitech F710 to be recognised in-game though.
Yeah, there's something not right with the controller support. I sometimes have to restart to get it to recognise my 360 controller, and it occasionally forgets again (although, oddly, not, so far, mid-game).

You can now order a PC case that looks like the classic Commodore 64
18 Oct 2020 at 5:55 pm UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: slaapliedje
Quoting: Duncthe A1200 ... I've got four of them sitting around not doing much, but never had a “big box” Amiga with a wired keyboard.
I'll take one off your hands...
I keep meaning to put a couple up on eBay, but I'd rather fix them up first and get some decent money rather than selling them as untested for parts. I know, for example, that they were cannibalised in various ways (although not especially heavily) to keep one good one running back when I was still using it as a daily driver, so there's no guarantee that any of them works.

The weird thing is, I never set out to collect them or anything. I don't know where they all came from. I remember buying one, back in the day, and I think one came from a friend of my brother's. I've a vague recollection that another maybe came in a job lot with a PC about 20 years ago, but that's far from certain. And it still leaves one. :huh:

You can now order a PC case that looks like the classic Commodore 64
16 Oct 2020 at 5:32 pm UTC

Quoting: slaapliedjeAlmost on topic, I built one of these tonight for my Amiga V4SA to use a spare A4000 keyboard with it, works brilliantly!

https://github.com/tkoecker/amigakb [External Link] Got my order from PCBWay really fast! Like 3 days?
Oh, cool. It's a bit unfortunate that it doesn't work with the A1200, because it's the one “console” Amiga that would be comfortable acting as a keyboard for another machine. And I've got four of them sitting around not doing much, but never had a “big box” Amiga with a wired keyboard.

Those Mitsumi switches weren't the best in the world, but I always liked them.