_______________________________________________________________________________ /==============================================================================/ File: JournalArchives REVIEW/ADD/CHANGE CTRL-Home: Main Menu =========A========B========C========D========E========F========G========H==== 1| Journal Archives 2| 05/12/09 05/11/09 05/10/09 05/09/09 05/08/09 05/06/09 3|04/14/09 04/07/09 04/06/09 08/27/08 06/11/08 05/15/08 04/10/08 03/08/08 4|03/05/08 02/16/08 02/11/08 02/10/08 02/09/08 02/08/08 02/07/08 02/06/08 _______________________________________________________________________________ /==============================================================================/ ~~~~~~~~~~ 05/12/2009 10:45 PM ~~~~~~~~~~~ Today was an exciting day to be a citizen in the 8-bit nation as my 512k Apple Memory Expansion card arrived. This was the craigslist deal I spoke of earlier. I opened the package, and all seemed to be in order. The top came off the Apple and I rubbed the power supply 3 times for luck. And to discharge any static I may be holding, but mostly for luck. The card went into slot five. The Apple powered up. I did a PR#5 just to have a look. Nothing out of sorts. I brought up ADTPRO which saw the ram drive immediately. Awesome! 1024 blocks. So back to the PC where I fired up Ciderpress, made a custom image with a drive size of 1024 blocks, and opened up another instance of Ciderpress. In the second instance I opened images of Appleworks, ADTPRO, and Prodos Utilities and consecutively copied and pasted them to the first instance. Then I sent this newly created image to my Apple expansion card via ADTPRO. Perfect. I exited ADTPRO and the ramdisk fired right up. I wasn't expexting that. I saw that I had a few directory redundancies and created a new image, brought it over, and bingo. I am really enjoying this as it makes Appleworks even better than I was crowing about before as I now do not have to flip the floppies about as I write and edit and save and change documents. Beautiful. When I see how well this technology works with the fine software that so many have dedicated long hours to create, things seem right in the world. I suppose as Moore's Law progresses and technology grows exponentially to a singularity event wherein invention is created faster than our ability to purpose it, and we become spoiled because we can hand pick and choose from a larger cross-section of mythic devices, have only the best as our own, and not even fully exploit all of their possiblities before another creation comes into play and the duties are taken over. And that is what I like about this whole deal that I left behind so many years ago. My Apple COmputer when I looked back on it was in a vacuum. Stuck in the technology of 1990, never to more forward again. I didn't realize the I was wrong and that it had progress, and the very technological advances that had driven the wedge between us would be the very thing that would bring us back together. There are a few things I find I appreciate with my re-established friendship with the Apple IIe. The first is the people that have been the caretakers of these machines and there peripherals and have decided it was time to share the responsibilites. No one truly owns a classic Apple, you only get to take care of it for a while. Do not be negligent, as you will deprive others of the priviledge, and deprive yourself of the experience of rediscovery. If you have the patience I am learning, and the stars align, the people who are passing the experience on can be found and the asking price is reasonable. The second, is the expansion of my reticle of awareness. With my current eye on the Apple IIe and my quest to find a place for it in my life, I love that vendors, products software archive groups and festivals continue to occur, defiantly proving that the the usefulness of this device can still be found and that creative design will allow modern technology to retrofit. Third, being re-united. And it feels so good. ~~~~~~~~~~ 05/11/2009 10:36 PM ~~~~~~~~~~ I was nervous, but the trust paid off. I had gone to Craigslist searching for some items to round out my recently acquired Platinum IIe. Specifically I was interested in memory expansion (and still am). I was able to find a reasonably priced Apple Memory Expansion card, but it was in Syracuse, NY. I wrote an e-mail to poll whether or not the seller was open to shipping me some items. He was and I expanded my item selection to include an Apple IIe Joystick and a Mouse, should I find I would like to implement it. OK, I admit it, the mouse was an impulse buy, but still the items were reasonably priced, compared to the eBay premiums I have been seeing. There was one hitch to all this though. I had to trust him because he was out of town and wouldn't be able to ship the items until Saturday. I got the tracking number today and so far all is well. He has a rather diverse list of Apple II computers, software, manuals, and peripherals and is worth a look if you are shopping around. He is selling "Old Apple IIe Stuff" in the Syracuse craigslist, and mentioned he may end up on eBay selling under cslblkphantom. I am also pretty sure he put his list out in the Comp.Sys.Apple2.Market newsgroup as well. I have been thinking a lot about the ways to configure the slots in the Platinum IIe, ever since I saw a post on the Comp.Sys.Apple2 newsgroup a few weeks back. The 2005 post by Sean, asks for people to submit ideas a perfect maxed out Apple IIe configuration. I looked over the posts that follow and have been using as a guide line as I move my Apple IIe from stock to Suped Up. There are several posts that follow, and this method of information gathering I'm deploying kind of reminds me of a Beagle Bros program from one of their Tip Disks called "Guessitmation" where you state an object and number of guessers and let them guess the dimensions, relying on the hope that with a large enough data sample the average will prove to be the correct dimension. In that spirit, here is a spreadsheet of the data: File: AppleSlots Page 1 ========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========| Aux Slot Slot 1 Slot 2 Slot 3 Slot 4 Slot 5 Slot 6 Slot 7 ========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========| Meg80z WrkStatn SSC+ABS A2Mem1MB 3.5Drv 5.25Drv ApplSCSI 64k 80colCMS SCSI SSC TrnWrpII Mouse 3.5Drv 5.25Drv WrkStatn RamWorks WrkStatn Mouse MckingBd 3.5Drv 5.25Drv 512Focus 64k 80col SSC Mouse 3.5Drv 5.25Drv CFFA 128M Ext80RGB Grapplr Mouse 5.25Drv 3.5Drv 512MRam80A2Mem1MB SSC Titan3.5 Mouse Phasor TimeMstr RmWrksIIIAESrlPro SSC+ABS EPROMbrn Mouse SuperDrv 5.25Drv RamFast RmWrksIIIParllPro AESrlPro TransWrp Phasor RamFactr PCTrans* Vlcn40MB 64k 80colApplTalk SCSICard TimeCard Mouse UniDisk 5.25Drv TrnWrpII 64k 80col RamFactr TimeCard Mouse LaserUDC 5.25Drv *(A complex entry: PC Transporter, 8087, IIe install kit, dual drives and doubles as an Apple 3.5 drive controller.) This table of good knowledge gives me some great ideas about where to go with my expansion activities, although my ideas are subject to the whim of availability. Of course, my ideas will probably include the DoubleSeven slot expander that allow one to insert an extra card horizontally into Slot 7 and switch between the 2 cards. You can have a gander at it over at ReactiveMicro.com among a lot of other cool items. Very cool items. At one time perhaps these items were even k-kool, but in modern architecture we've gone past that, onto M-kool, and G-kool, so maybe the items are T-kool. Never thought I'd live to see 10^12-kool, or even be able to survive it if I did, yet here we are. Over the coming weeks as I find uses, and have ideas, I am sure that I will refer to this data often in hopes of creating a machine that was just pure fantasy as a youth. I know that I mention time a lot as I write about my experiences with this computer, but to me it is like time travel, a temporal displacement to another place. The mechanics and design process that goes into creating a great machine hasn't changed, only the availability and pricing has. Although there are some items that have become scare and by extension very expensive, even by their original factory price, a vast majority of them are less expensive. In the 8-bit nation, depreciation is a woman scorned. I should keep tabs on my build price compared to original manufacturer suggested retail price. Now, that seems interesting to me! ~~~~~~~~~~ 05/10/2009 5:53 PM ~~~~~~~~~~ (At the Platinum IIe in the basement) AppleWorks is easily in my top 5 picks of best software ever written, and may be THE best. That's what I am thinking today. As you can see, I have added an archive section to the title bar. I had not done this before because, well, I was too lazy. It was easy with AppleWorks though. The print function from AppleWin sends a spreadsheet directly to text and the next thing you know, you have a text table custom ordered to be just my style. I was speaking on the phone last night an had a realization: AppleWorks is the most universal word processor I that I am aware of. I thought of all the places that I could create a document, a database or a spreadsheet with AppleWorks... Apple Systems, PC systems, Linux systems, the NES console, the Wii console, Sony PSP, Palm handhelds, Pocket PC handhelds, Browser based Via Java, and there's probably more that haven't crossed my radar at all. All of the emulators necessary to execute AppleWorks are free, at least the ones I am familiar with, and easily obtainable, and utilized. I don't know of another word processing program that has the features and the flexibility to be used in so many mediums. Granted, there are some modern features that one would sacrifice to gain this universal ability. It seems to me that the losses one faces could be worked around and that there is a definite advantage to having less features in terms of producing the written word. When ones metacognition is not cluttered by trying to recall how to use an obscure feature that one feels is necessary instantaneously for their work to progress, amazingly, more work flows out and at a greater pace. I find it refreshing to create in AppleWorks, simply because I am familiar with the features and abilities of the program, they are limited, I know they are limited and I haven't found myself distracted saying aloud to myself, "Now AppleWorks should be able to do this . . .where is it?" (From the Windows XP machine sitting high atop the Platinum IIe) So I've decided to apply my thoughts and see if these machines interact the way I imagine that they do. So the first thing I do is save the AppleWorks document and then I boot up ADTPRO and send my disk to my Windows XP machine. Earlier I had started the program "ftpii" residing on The Homebrew Channel on the Wii console upstairs. When the program starts, it gives you the IP information you need to connect. I noted this and mounted the SD card, and continued to the basement to type this up. Now, I make a FTP connection to the Wii and send it AppleWorks and my data disks. Done. Disconnect. Shag it upstairs. . . (From the Wii in the living room) Although, you are reading this paragraph, it is a lie. None of the words I had written on the Wii actually saved to disk. This is a shame, as I was really enjoying sitting on the couch and looking at characters that had a height of about 1 inch. After this initial impression, I wanted to turn to you, if you could have been with me, and said, "If you're looking for Apple II heaven, well, slap on your cheaters and start peeping, son, because you're there!" Well I was wrong, we are not quite there yet with WiiApple for 2 good reasons. The first is the Wireless USB Logitech Wii Keyboard I was using did not translate well to the emulator. I noted several keys did not function, the most important was the shift key. As I typed the vapor-review of my experience, I had to toggle the CAPSLOCK key on and off as I made my way through the sentences. This was frustrating, but not insurmountable. Which brings us to the second reason that we are not quite there yet. Where's the Open-Apple key? I researched and could find no good information from the limited provided help screen, from the Homebrew resources, from the developers site itself. I was kind of left in the lurch, because without an Open-Apple, AppleWorks is completely neutered and your hard won paragraph disappears with a press of F-10 as you search for something that might act as an special key so you can save your document. Remember the infant and the keyboard analogy I used yesterday? Yeah, I did resort to that method of input. Not productive, yet satisfying none the less. Cue the trombones, another Ionfarmer experiment has ended in failure. (Via the Ipaq HP 6315 Wi-Fi, backyard, 64F, Sunny, Windy) I was able to ftp back to the Wii via the Ipaq and pick up a copy of AppleWorks and my data disk and then sat and experimented in the sun. The first program I tried was AppleCE. This booted AppleWorks but then dumped into machine language and told me it needed 128k to run AppleWorks. Bring back the trombone players, their work here is not done! I quickly moved over to Pocket //e. That's better. I was able to get a full boot cycle, load my file from the data disk, write this report, and save it. Saving it was tricky, because like WiiApple, the open-Apple key is not evident and I eventually found it by pressing the menu button on the keyboard extension and pressing "s". That was a damn weird combination, and If I had been using any other mode of text input, I would have written this off as well, and the trombone players would have gotten paid overtime. But this one was a success, and after the save I was able to ftp the data disk back to the Windows XP machine. There are downsides to writing with the Pocket PC. Firstly, 80-Colums on a 2 inch wide screen. Now my characters are about 1/16" high and damn near indecipherable. Secondly the means to input the text itself, although does include an external keyboard adapter, onscreen keyboard and handwriting recognition, is slow when compared to a full sized keyboard. Did I say slow? How about slow and hellish. That's right, I am sure that this device I have just used is a highly sought after prize to the Devil's minions. I can envision the teeming throngs of Hell now, chained in fire, suffering torment, hunched over, squinting and poking this device, eternally trying to create a nice letter to their mums and never any progress made. Yes, pure evil. Enough evil to have the Devil himself question weather the fire and the chains weren't just a little bit of rediculous overkill to begin with. Actually, in the artworks of the renaissance masters, I am sure that in any painting of Lucifer's fall from grace, if you ignore his contorted freefall and expression of anguish, and stare long enough at his waistline, there attached you will see an HP 6315, with the keyboard adapter, that I am sure was issued to him just before his journey. (Back to the Platinum IIe) So this document has made the rounds, none the worse for wear, other than the bit that was lost on the Wii. Of course the question will linger, "Why would anyone actually do this?" I don't know. I mean I didn't actually meet my mark. Maybe it could be met in about a year or so, if progress continues on WiiApple. I didn't really see anything addressing the Open-Apple issue, probably because it's just my weird issue and games really don't call on the Open-Apple that much. So maybe I oversold the idea that AppleWorks is the most dominate Word Process Species on the planet and I'll admit that my initial ideations of the abilities of technology to interface were idealistic. But all that aside, the question of why still lingers and I can tell you why I would do something like that. I did it for the pure joy of screwing around with an Apple on a Sunday afternoon. ~~~~~~~~~~ 05/09/2009 03:18 PM ~~~~~~~~~~ Earlier in this e-log, I had stated that I'd like to write a Apple II based program that would help me create this journal. This morning I realized that I already had one. It's called AppleWorks. So today, I am going to experiment with AppleWorks v3.0. Given the simple nature of this web page, AppleWorks is a natural fit. I am familiar with the workings of AppleWorks from my elementary school days, in which I found myself dreading writing a book report or history class report for weeks until the pleasure of not actually doing the report became overwhelmed by the painful reality of what would happen if I didn't create the report. Yes, I offered up my young academic knowledge at that time, whether it was a biography of Stonewall Jackson and his unusual hygiene practices or a book review of Hobgoblin by John Coyne, laced with snide observations to bolster my postulation that, in fact and despite the entertainment media's persistent observations to the contrary, one did not have to suffer a psychotic break from reality to enjoy fantasy war gaming. Of course, I used AppleWorks for my own purposes as well. One time I recall spending an entire weekend typing up a document that contained every title, writing credit, and lyric of every Iron Maiden song to that point. (Of course, it was just to that point, because if there were more lyrics, I would have found a whole new level of features AppleWorks didn't even advertise!) Then I printed it out. Pure Magic! Being 13, I knew how great this document was! Green and white fan fold computer paper, printed on a dot matrix printer that was low on ink so that the words were closer to a faint sepia than black. What a treasure! AppleWorks 3.0 is a great word processor still. At least it is for the application that I am going to give it. The interface is simple and clean, the open apple commands are easy to master, although it does take a moment to translate their rudimentary functions and mechanics when compared to modern equivalents. If you have a physical machine to actually use the program with, the experience is that much greater due to the sculpted Apple II keyboard. This may come down to personal preference, but the auditory and tactile experience of typing on a genuine Apple II keyboard has always inspired me to write even more. I know that keyboards have an intuitive nature by their design alone. One can take any infant or toddler and get the child near the keyboard to see an instant flash of recognition that this device has buttons and those buttons need to be mashed, vigorously and often. Mashing the buttons on a genuine Apple II though, it's a different experience, somewhere between silk and single malt, and one as an Apple II aficionado, which I appreciate keenly. Aside from the inherent tactile rewards, here is why I think I am sold on AppleWorks to write this journal: From the onset, this retro design (or lack thereof) screamed for 80-colum formatting, but as I was editing the line breaks by hand, I approximated very, very generally to fit the material. I wanted to re-format this site into 80-columns ever since I saw a Contiki/Apple II demonstration wherein my conciseness became aware that Apple II's and web-surfing were not mutually exclusive. I am very interested in getting my Apple II online, solely for the novelty, I admit, but regardless, I need a site that is friendly to go to and as the converse of that, I need a site that is friendly to come to. AppleWorks as executed by the AppleWin emulator nicely pre-formats my blog into 80-column when I print it. Here's how it works: I spend sometime typing up an entry on the real life Apple IIe for the reasons stated above. I use the ADT (Apple Disk Transfer) program to send my saved file, in my case IONFARMER.DSK to my windows machine. I open the file with my AppleWin emulator and 'print' it. The emulator sends the output to a textfile where I can strip the printer linefeeds with a find and replace from notepad. Perfect 80 column output and I don't have to format it by hand. Conceptually this represents perfect symmetry by synchronicity: 1.) Develop a log about using technology in a retro style. 2.) Act on an urge to revisit a computer from your past. 3.) Discover that is was the perfect vehicle to write your musings to begin with. There's also some technical ecstasy that will be associated with this experiment in 'productivity'. As stated earlier, I have a Wii that I have hacked using the Twilight Hack method. This hack grants me access to The Homebrew Channel, that gives me access to 2 important programs for this side-experiment. The first is WiiApple, an Apple II emulator that uses the Wii as a platform and demands an USB keyboard. The second is a program called ftpii that allows the Wii to function as a ftpii server. With these 2 programs I should be able to write a journal entry, using AppleWorks 3.0, on a Wii, save it, ftp the document disk to my main machine later, proof it, print it, process it, and post it. There is also one more way in which I will be able to unleash the fury of this beautiful program, and that would be via the HP 6315 Ipaq Pocket PC I acquired some years ago. Let me be up front, as a phone this conglomerated wreckage is a failure, as most conversations I had were inaudible, the speakerphone was really a white noise generator, and my favorite "feature"; the phone would randomly dial people in your address book, at random times. Let me stress the potentially embarrassing impact of random times at this point. But in an attempt to cut my losses, let me say that there are some features I discovered and liked for a handheld computer. The HP6315 phone/pda predated the iPhone and allowed me to watch movies, take pictures, listen to music, use wifi and Bluetooth, but the best thing for me is that it could be used with PocketPuTTY for ssh and telnet. I could telnet via Wifi or GPRS and that meant by using a unix shell account, I didn't need to load the memory up with a IRC client. . .I could use BitchX. It also had a remote VNC client I could use to access systems. But here's the great aspect of this older handheld. It has the ability to run Apple emulation, either AppleCE or Pocket //e 1.02 and I want to test the functions of this as it relates to this log. I am envisioning writing an entry in a waiting room somewhere, on the Ipaq, with AppleWorks 3.0, syncing the device when I get back home, accessing the file and posting it. There's just something damn satisfying about working with older tools and finding out that they still do their job as efficiently as their modern counterparts. Even if I do not. -Attempt less. -Accomplish more. ~~~~~~~~~~ 05/08/2009 11:09 PM ~~~~~~~~~~ A few years ago I was on my way to work, sleepily. As I left that morning, I noticed an older laptop computer sitting near the dumpster. I immediately recycled it and later learned that the hard drive was destroyed and it had no network card. Now that's a nice easy fix for a free Dell Inspiron 2500. What would I do with this fellow? Well as you can see from earlier posts, I like to repurpose my older rigs. It's easy to find things for them to do, an not every task needs massive CPU cycles to function in an excellent manner. I popped a 120 GB hard drive in it, thinking that maybe it would find a place as network storage. (This was before I discovered FreeNAS). It functioned for about a year as a Synchronet BBS. Eventually, This laptop became a Dual boot system between Windows XP and Ubuntu. I mainly use the Ubuntu side, but it's nice to have options. I was reading the comp.sys.apple posts today and saw a post from PZ that lead his blog displaying the 6502 code from the Terminator movie in great resolution. I immediately realized that these images would make a great desktop, but here comes the remix: If you grab some Apple II System Fonts and install them under Ubuntu, install conky and modify a simple conky config file, you can get the conky system monitor updates to match the style of 6502 assembly language output. I use this computer everyday as my comms box for Skype, chat, and e-mail and the like that so I reduce the load on my main machine. I bounce back and forth between the Unbuntu machine, the XP machine and the eeePC with a nice program called Synergy that allows me to use my mouse and keyboard on all 3 machines seamlessly. Yeah, I use that old laptop everyday as a poor mans's duo core and I *still* can't believe that someone tried to trash my version of The Terminator.
~~~~~~~~~~
05/06/2009
08:03 PM
~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a photo of the mightiest,
mightiest decal that I just received and promptly applied to my most portable
rig. Why, yes, it is a 6502 oval nationality sticker. Yeah, that's right,I'm
from the 8-bit Nation.
Hanging out in IRC today a reference was made to a seller on eBay selling an IBM
card of "Unknown Function". This prompted me to do a search for Unknown
Function and that revealed that this seller has cornered the market on devices
for IBM's with "Unknown Function". In fact, "Unknown Function" is now my
favorite eBay search who knows what that search will yield someday? Enough
pieces to build an Improbability Drive? The firmware for a time machine ala
Primer? Who knows, with all the mysterious references in the descriptions
of where it was found, computers repairs shops that have long since closed, the
lingering mystery of the term "Unknown Function" itself . . . the possibilities
are dreamlike. It's a technician's version of the famous Ghost in a Jar.
So in the Apple Software Department I explored the RPG Akalabeth, the Ultima
Series prototype or prequel if you will. This is an early Dungeon crawler and
embodied all I wanted to do as a lad: Going room to room killing monsters.
Despite this I still turned out all right, I think, disregarding my present
Apple II dementia. It is entertaining to me to play this graphical adventure
written in Applesoft, a little fact that reminded me all night as I dreaded the
slow appearance of another long hallway in the dungeon that I need to find an
accelerator, any accelerator, for this machine. Despite the wait times for long
hallways, I actually enjoyed my adventure within these caverns of doom. The
crude style of this RPG reminds me of my own crude adventures resolved in pencil
and paper. In fact, it was very much like my very first pen and paper adventure
with my friends, in which I had no idea what I was doing. I mean, why would I
draw a dungeon map when I had a perfectly good map from the board game "Clue"
that I could use? Akalabeth dungeons are a lot like that rectilinear style, and
so easy to map.
This was one of the first games that I really connected with, the very first
being between the cassette loaded Star Wars and Brick-Out. (Yeah, I BLOADed
those on some red and silver Radio Shack C-15 Cassettes, the shorter length
cassettes seeming to provide more consistent program loads). Lord British
presents Akalabeth in the title was probably the first inkling I had to the
concept of a computer related alias. Ah, Lord British. In my young mind there
was a torrent of fantasy ideas about the hero Lord British was (None of which
lived up to the true life adventures of the REAL Lord British). It wasn't
soon after my introduction to Lord British that these heroic ideas that the
Akalabeth title churned up were transferred to all sorts of Apple pirates with
their BBSes and thier flashy crack screens. Here was a uncharted
continent populated by an entire throng of heroic types just like Lord British.
I knew it to be true in my 12 year old logic, the Pirate names, the awesome
graphics, the very real power to crack software, These characters were more
than the fictions embodiments of graphic novels could ever come up with
because, to me, they were able to manifest thier super powers in real life.
And so, it becomes evident. In some ways to know me and why I have certain
default core beliefs, you have to understand my realtionship with the Apple II.
Applesoftsoft Basic and DOS 3.3 are my native languages. I speak others, but
these are my native tongues that I learned to use to manifest intangible ideas.
With every other system and code I have had to conform to their laws and
peculiarities. Working with them is similar to living abroad. It's the little
things that are different, and with time you don't notice how much you have
changed, but still, who can be still when they hear their native language after
so long?
Here is a great audio file concerning Apple II Pirate Lore by Jason Scott.
~~~~~~~~~~
05/05/2009
12:25 PM
~~~~~~~~~~
After some Apple ][ Shenanigans yesterday, I discovered that the Apple ][ could
be used as an 8-bit recorder. It has a unique broken tone that I think would be
great for a really dirty solo. Unfortunately as I only have 64K of RAM at the
moment I am limited to about a minute and 10 seconds of recording time. I made
a lo-res video.
~~~~~~~~~~
05/05/2009
01:48 PM
~~~~~~~~~~
The Apple ][ delirium is only becoming worse, I am afraid. It seems to me that
the Apple II system that I want to create is completely attainable, and
affordable, but, only by the proper application of time. The process of putting
a good system together holds for me the same intrigue and mental justification
of building a compelling conspiracy theory: the final product has to also
initiate its own creation. Every piece and part I desire seems available,
I just have to wait my turn, which is all right with me, as I find this whole
endeavor enjoyable and satisfying. This is the update on my acquired system so
far:
My Apple ][e Platinum arrived in great shape, with a Duo Drive, Super Serial
Card, and the Aux 80 column card. Unfortunately the Monochrome monitor was
shipped in a separate package and shipped by what I can only guess was the Surly
Postal Worker Express Service. I am not certain, but I think this service
involves some sort of indentured servitude to the Post Office, workers who are
kept in cages and poked at with pointy sticks while forced to maintain 100 hour
work weeks. I am also pretty sure that I saw a boot mark on the "FRAGILE" stamp
on the box. I guess Surly Postal Workers don't read Italian.
The package revealed upon opening: 1 RCA Video connection, 1 APPLE ][e Computer
AC Power cord, and one Green Screen Monochrome monitor with a destroyed housing
that lay in pieces inside the wrapping. This is terrible, I thought at first,
although it did bring my attention to the Carte Blanche project. Among the
feature rich environment of Carte Blanche is a Apple ][ to VGA possibility. But
as usual, time is the factor here. . .
So, this is where my mania really takes hold, because I have to find a monitor,
deploy my USPS insurance, and see if the system is functional as advertised. So
I take photos of the damage, make PDF's of the auction listing, the
correspondence, similar priced monitors on eBay, and file insurance online for
shipping the monitor and the full price of the auction. In 3 days the USPS cut
me a check and the ][e and Duo Disk and cards now weigh in at $18.00, the price
of shipping the ][e package. Nice! Now, I have some headroom to replace my
monitor. I ended up with the same model of the display, only crappier in it's
care and featuring a very poorly functioning CRT, and a damaged power
cord. I pulled parts off of my now spare parts monitor and made the power
supply safe to use and fired up the system. In the mean time, I ordered some
used 5.25" floppies from Colorado; 54 old floppies for 3.25 plus shipping,
about $10. They arrive the time as the 2nd monitor.
The system functions without a hitch. Well one hitch. I have no software.
This is the part where I learn that ADT - Apple Disk Transfer 1.1.2 is my new
best friend. After a little online research I reconfigure the Super Serial Card
to slot 2 and set the baud rate to 300 via dip switches. I matched this to the
USB Serial device driver on my PC and configure the software and am able to
bootstrap ProDOS and ADT itself and make my first disk, a copy of ADT. I never
knew a serial connection could be so exciting! Or so I thought. . .
Remember those eBay floppies I got from Colorado. Yeah, a closer look reveals
that the 100 Disk file box they came in was dry rotted on the inside, and I
could surmise that these babies were stored outside somewhere because
condensation had wrinkled some of the envelopes. I spent the day trying to
recover just 1 disk to use. The Disks that met my longevity/abuse tests in this
case were Verbatim Data Life Colors and Memorex 2D/2S. Good stuff. Well, half
of the disks were a write off by type alone. This was a mixed bag of IBM AT
High Density disks and the Disks I could actually use. Of the disks I could
use, cobwebs that had deteriorated left residue on the sleeve and the media
itself, and in addition to the dry rot / mold, things were looking grim. Over
the course of an entire day, I developed this method of salvaging old,
unimportant floppies. Be forewarned: It is a method that will be hailed by
people of low character and rebuked by and decent, law abiding technicians.
Necessary Tools: 70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol, 15-20 Cotton Swabs, and a stack
of Zombie Floppies from Outer Space.
Step 1: Wet Cotton Swab with Alcohol.
Step 2: Place Floppy on flat surface with side opposite label facing up.
Step 2: Lift Center Hub Hole on Disk Sleeve.
Step 3: Jam Swab between sleeve and disk media and clean it firmly like
cleaning a CD,making rays perpedicular to the hub. No need to get
every single square centimeter.
Step 4: Format Disk. Rotation of disk cleans the surface as well because of
the alcohol and fiberous lining inside the sleeve. If Format = Failed
GOTO Step 1.
Step 5: Hang your head in shame for resorting to such a method of desperation.
Feel the shame. Now let it drift away . . .
When this process was completed, I had salvaged 10 disks, which I then notched
and repeated the process on the opposite side. After that I opened up the
ancient DuoDisk Drive and proceeded to clean it using this excellent page over
at Apple2.info as a guide: Cleaning 5.25" Drive Heads.
After sucessfully creating an ADT disk with a floppy from beyond the grave (cue
the Theremin), I bumped up the serial transfer to 19,200 Baud and the bootstrap
rate to 9600. After reliving that blazing 300 Baud transfer rate I felt like
stepped into a time portal when I saw the rate of a 19.2K transfer. Radical!
My second disk was a ProDOS sytem utilities disk that I could format other
undead floppies with. During this time I seemed to notice that transfers might
have gone faster/smoother with a ProDOS Formatted disk from system utilities
compared to the stock ADT format but it may have been a hallucination, I do have
the Apple madness remember. . .
I swapped out the cruddy CRT with the nicer looking one that arrived from the
Surly Postal Workers. 3 of the 4 fastener studs that held the CRT retaining
screws were broken, from years of EM flux I suppose, I had no choice but to
super-glue them and attempt a installation. It worked and the monitor looks
crisp for an antique monochrome.
So now, I have system disks and am exploring this thing they call a
Platinum IIe. When I have the time . . . unfortunately my Apple ][ mania has
found me searching the dark corners of the internet, late at night, and in my
free time, searching in what feels like an eternal and unsatisfied quest for
accessories. Of course those are the same qualities that make a good life long
hobby.
My first peripheral experiment is with a Z80 card. I found a cheap generic Z80
card from a dealer that I can only imagine as one of the more questionable
noodle vendor kiosks from Blade Runner. I got my card and am just now starting
to educate myself with it. It seems like there are some problems with my
initial dabbling, but it mat be my inexperience with the system. I am currently
reading all I can about this setup and trying to educate myself enough so either
I can diagnose what I see or form a decent question about what I see. I seem
to have a lot of "productivity" software for CP/M which strikes as funny when I
think about using productivity software on an 8-bit. I mean no disrespect to
any software of it's time, but the temporal displacement makes it funny to me
because there are a lot of pointless activities one must engage in to create a
system in the first place to use this productivity software. It could very well
be the most unproductive activity one could engage in. Yet another
characteristic of a great life long hobby, or, as many around me must believe,
an untreatable symptom of the Apple fixation.
~~~~~~~~~~
04/14/2009
8:25 PM
~~~~~~~~~~
Well the Apple ][ mania has culminated this week as I have actually purchased an
Apple ][e Platinum from an auction. The machine ran $41.00 and looks to be in
excellent condition. I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. I am very interested
in seeing if I can get this old box online in any form and will contact
A2Retrosystems.com about the Uthernet card after I have had time to access the
box and ensure I have a working machine. The package includes a duo-disk drive
and what appears to be a monochrome green screen monitor, although this was not
clear from the photographs. Now, I have to begin a search for at least one
system disk to start this thing up with. In my discussions with my family I
have discovered that I have access to the Apple ][e of my younger years that I
though had long since joined the BBS Invisible. This was good news for me,
because in the leastit should give me access to some floppy disks and at the
most it would give me asecond 8-bit platform for whatever I could do with it.
In addition I have purchased a IDE to CF reader that will act, as I understand
it, as a drive to store and transfer disk images with. This is made by
ReactiveMicro.com and they have a slew of innovative products for vintage Apples.
~~~~~~~~~~
04/07/2009
8:26 PM
~~~~~~~~~~
]CATALOG
IONFARMER DOS V254
A 002 HELLO
*B 143 AKLABETH
*B 087 APPLE PANIC
*A 254 BALLYHOO
*A 054 BEAGLE BROS TIPS DISK
*B 113 BEER RUN
*A 801 CHIVALRY
B 118 DESECRATION
*B 154 DONKEY KONG
*B 112 DUNGEON & WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN
B 118 EAMON 001 MAIN HALL & BEGINNERS CAVE
B 086 ESCAPE!
*B 313 HACKER
*B 371 HITCHIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
B 216 LODERUNNER
B 231 MURDER ON THE ZINDERNEUF
*A 222 OREGON TRAIL
*A 222 PAC MAN
*A 222 RACE FOR MIDNIGHT
*B 014 ROBOTRON
*A 222 ROBOTWAR
*A 222 SILENT SERVICE
*B 111 SNEAKERS
*A 222 SARGON III
B 216 THE DRAGON'S EYE
*A 222 TRANSYVANIA
]
My current Apple ][ mania continues. I found a java based emulator by the name
of AppleIIGo. It seems to do a great job except for the continuous Apple ][
speaker noise I get when I use it and that only goes away when I completely shut
down my browser. Other than that, it does a fine job.during the quest for Apple
][ knowledge, I came across this site 1 MHz. It's a podcast
for Apple ]['s. HA! That's way funny to me. He actually does a really good
podcast. I've listened to about half the shows and they have been quite
informative to me as far as the continuing workthat is being done with these
machines. It's staggering to me really. I remember as I made mytransition out
of 12th Grade into higher learning, I felt a little betrayed by Apple. It was
alljust personal perspective, of course, but I was also very into the computer
brand name snobbery that users of that era held in high regard. Apple had a
great user base and had a communal type of network that facilitated the machine.
The first on-line guilds/clans/factions were created by computer brand name.
As a young and misguided computerist, I felt I had no were to turn after the
Apple IIe, and I did not quite get the new Apple offerings conceptually,
although I did get how visually applealing the graphics were. There was no way
I was going over to a IBM PC. I'd sooner use a Trash-80 or even a ColecoVision!
I think I floated for 5 years, digitally homeless, nomadically exploring my
analog roots before I broke down and started using a PC. That's because I am
stubborn. I didn't like the PC because you couldn't easily write programs for
it. To me there was no real interface, it hooked into the internet, came with
a mouse, and you could spent hours on the thing and never touch a keyboard.
And to be honest, I never have gotten over the direction that computer's took in
the late 80's and early nineties, probably because I never have gotten used to
the idea of someone advertising on my computer. I always hated that. And as
technology progressed, bandwidth opened up and machines began to explore the
physical limitations of their processing architecture, computing has become less
the utopian panacea of freethinking innovators and more an extra-diminsional
replica of television.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
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_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~~
04/06/2009
1:09 PM
~~~~~~~~~~
(My new Apple ][e Desktop. I need to change the wallpaper.)
I have been exploring the Apple ][ emulator "WinApple". This came about after
playing with disk images on my Twighlight Hacked Wii using the Homebrew Channel
Program "WiiApple". My Wii is hooked up to a 54" LCD and thus I am emulating
big-time. I thought 8-bit Strip Poker or the French Postcards applications were
racey back in the day you should just see that stuff on the big screen! Boy
Howdy!(There is something shockingly sad about giant 8-bit porn and by
association, those who view it! I am ashamed . . .) I ended up exploring my old
Apple .dsk images for the WiiApple emulator and began really getting into the
old Apple ][ stuff. After a little research, I was able to merge the main and
supplemental disk for CONTIKI into one hard drive image and now I am able to
e-mail, FTP, IRC, Telnet, and web surf in 8-bit style! So, that made me hungry
to make some new Apple ][ program thingies.
Here's the whole deal if you'ld like to experiment:
ContikiEMU.zip
Just unzip the files, open the WinApple folder, open the WinApple.chm, choose
the topic on Uthernet, read it, install the enclosed files or download your own
for Pcap or Ethreal depending on your preference. Start WinApple.exe, open
configuration and mount contiki.po as your hard drive on slot 7 on the WinApple
emulator.
(Jason Scott's textfiles.com as it was meant to be viewed!)
I am going to write some programs on the Apple, because I used to be good at it.
I have an idea that I could write a blog program that interviews someone and
prompts their memory with random questions and then have the blog program format
the answers into a HTML template. On WinApple the printer output translates
into a txt file. I could append that text file into a html file and maybe
figure out a way to schedule a ftp to update the website. Nothing earthshaking,
and some of the ideas are derivatives of things Wes and Darren showcased on
early www.HAK5.org episodes, but I think it would be cool to do and would allow
me a chance to play around with some cool vintage code.
While I was digging up things to help me re-learn all the Apple Programming
stuff, I came across some Beagle Bros disks. I used to love that software
company! I always thought that they "got" what software was about (note: I have
never used the term got in quotation markes before this post, either verbally
with the silly quotation mark influction of the voice, or in the written form)
and they made information so accessible that you wanted to explore deeply. I
came across the owner's manual for Beagle Bag, a games disk. Check out this
excerpt from the manual:
"BEAGLE BAG is a disk full of games for your Apple computer.
You may be surprised to find that it is a NORMAL DISK, just like ones
you have initialized yourself. Most other game disks on the market
are "locked up" and won't respond to everyday DOS commands. Not
Beagle Bag---- you can CATALOG it, LOAD from it, SAVE to it, DELETE
and RENAME programs... ALL that good stuff. Even ctrl-Reset works
"normally" (almost) instead of causing a memory-scrambling reboot.
Most software manufacturers lock their disks to (try to) prevent
piracy. Beagle Bros trusts you and leaves programs unlocked to
make them more friendly and more usable. We appreciate your
support; don't pirate our disks, and we won't pirate yours."
Awesome. Totally awesome.
~~~~~~~~~
8/27/2008
9:57 AM
~~~~~~~~~
SYSTEM UPDATE:
Screw the Six Month Moratorium!!!
If you thought I could wait that long without a single log on you were
sadly incorrect. The BBS is no more! The Retroshare Dark-net is no more!
These systems have been re-purposed due to lack of use, and I have to say they
are quite a bit more functional! The two computers that previously served the
community have been re-used as follows:
The first computer (Freedom Alley BBS) has been upgraded with 3 additional
network cards and functions as a firewall for 3 separate networks at the home.
The first network is the home net having all the computers hardwired via a
router. The second network is independent of the first and uses a Power Over
Ethernet (PoE) modified Linksys wireless router that supplies open wireless
access to the neighbors and is secure from my home network. The PoE Linksys
allows me to deploy the router in placed that have no electrical outlets up to a
100 foot run from the main box. The third network is secured from the other two,
and I believe that this will be my future ham radio network. The software that
allows me to do all this is a well documented distribution that is simple to
install called Smoothwall and is available here:
http://www.smoothwall.org/
The second computer (Retroshare) has been turned into a network attached storage
machine that uses my most obsolete computer with a massive 2GB hard drive and
allows me to have over a terabyte of network attached storage via 3 external
hard drives connected to the old girl. It functions flawlessly and allows me to
keep my personal files safely backed up with out clogging disk space on my main
boxes. I was able to do this using FreeNAS. The beauty of freeNAS is that you
can run it with a 32 MB Compact Flash card & a IDE adapter. This software is
highly recommended and has plenty of how-to's available via Google. Get a copy
here: http://www.freenas.org/
Both pieces of software have slick web interfaces that allow you to control the
machines remotely. This allows you to start up the boxes, loose the keyboard,
mouse and monitors and let them hang out in a cubby hole some where humming away
contently.
~~~~~~~~~
6/11/2008
10:53AM
~~~~~~~
I have in my possession an eeePC. 900mHz/4GB flash hard drive/Ubuntu 8.04/
wireless/SD reader/2 lbs/Compiz enabled and wicked. I installed WINE and am
running window programs off of a flash stick.In the next couple of weeks I will
install 2 USB type A recepticles and add BlueTooth and a 16GB flash drive for a
20GB flash ultra portable. This is a very moddable tool and I find it quite
useful on a daily basis. I experimented over the weekend and was able to boot
Backtrack3 from a USB drive. The eeePC has an Atheros WiFi card which has the
ability to go into promiscuous mode facilitating utilization of the plethora
of tools available in Backtrack3. Lots of fun, $350.00 & cheaper than some
cell phones.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
5/15/2008
11:55AM
~~~~~~~
Going back to tag the whole D&D thing check out this:
1,100 things Mr. Welch can no longer do during an RPG.
Also, the RetroShare DarkNet is down. I will revive it at any time there is
interest in the next 6 months. If there is no interest in this private network
by then I will write the entire thing off as another Freedom Alley Studios
experiment that has ended in failure. Write with comments! Cheers!
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
4/10/2008
8:54PM
~~~~~~
Slick Trick #1
On a locked down Windows PC? No browser in sight? Try calculator:
Launch calc.exe, click Help, Help Topics. Right-click the title bar and click
Jump To URL. Enter in your favorite site (http://www.hailsnob.com) and away
you go!
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
3/8/2008
4:15PM
~~~~~~
RetroShare seems to be fully functional at the moment, although I haven't
received any feedback as of yet. I am operating on the assumption that the
program is indeed working as it should.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
3/5/2008
8:15AM
~~~~~~
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As you probably heard, Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, passed away
recently. Since then, nearly every news outlet has taken the opportunity to make
a cheap D&D pun at Mr. Gygax’s expense. Here are some examples I have found:
1) Started a new character sheet.
2) Is looking for a ninth-level cleric.
3) Failed his save vs. death magic.
4) Is food for purple worms.
5) Immediately became an NPC.
6) Finished the Doritos.
7) Has gone pips up.
8) Is pushing up shriekers.
9) Cashed in his gold pieces.
10) Took the first step to lichdom.
11) Went ethereal.
12) Kicked on the end of a spear.
13) Didn't make his system shock roll.
14) Bought the farm in Hommlet.
15) Is taking a dice nap.
16) Has gone to meet Zagyg.
17) Rolled his last natural 20.
18) Went against the giants.
19) Joined the gaming table invisible.
20) Is sleeping with the sahuagin.
21) Drew the Void.
22) Ended the campaign.
23) Kicked the dice bag.
24) Retired Mordenkainen.
25) Got screwed by the DM.
Well, I for one find it denigrating and disgusting, hardly a fitting tribute to
a man who helped provide so much joy to so many.
Therefore, in an effort to ensure no one will make any more terrible puns, I
have compressed as many as possible into the following obituary. Hopefully
running the premise into the ground will convince others to give it a rest.
Gary “The Beholder” Gygax reached epic level this week after rolling a natural 1
during a battle with Time. Apothecaries have stated that despite his Alertness
feat, he was caught flat-footed and failed a subsequent Fortitude save to negate
the effects of a Level 8 Finger of Death spell (touch attack), due largely to a
-3 Constitution modifier brought about by a Curse of Natural Ageing. Though
clerics at the Temple of Pelor have attempted a resurrection, it appears Mr.
Gygax has been the victim of a Soul Bind enchantment, and has already passed
through the material, astral, and shadow planes into worlds beyond.
Mr. Gygax is best known for his Critical Hit Sneak Attack against an Ancient Red
Dragon during a treasure-hunting excursion in Ched Nasad, and for turning a Bag
of Holding inside out in order to destroy an evil pocket dimension. Later in
life, he retired from adventuring to work with animals, training Mordenkainen’s
Faithful Watchdogs for the blind and chairing a committee for the conservation
of Gelatinous Cubes.
He is survived by his wife, two half-elf children, and a +5 Mace of Shock.
There, now I hope we can all let Mr. Gygax rest in peace. And if you’d like to
contact me about giving a eulogy, I speak Common, Kobold, Abyssal and Underdark.
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_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
2/16/2008
12:14PM
~~~~~~~~~
OK, I admit that we are NOT sitting as pretty as I thought back on the 12th.
Granted, that ancient box I put the network is underpowered, I failed to
estimate how underpowered it was and I under estimated it's network infra-
structure problems. Well, to be honest I just wanted to make it small, so I
didn't think I needed to do anything but rudimentary planning. That being said,
I have made some small corrections to the network, but it will be a while before
I can make the most important correction, that being a completely new box to run
it on. Also, I have not seen the directory on my second hard drive show up on
this computer and am wondering if they ever will. I am in the process of
sorting out the deficiencies and correcting what I can to make this a better
experience.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
iWWMMMMBt+++VBMBRBVBXXXBBBMMMMMMBMMMM
iWMRRXRRI+IVBXXBBBBBBRBXXRBMBMRXXXBBBMMMM
VWMRYiYVXtIRBBBBMMMMMMMMMMMMWWMMMBXYtIYXMBB
=RWWWBI =BRXXRRRBBMMMMMMMWMMMMMMMMBBBRVVXRXRV
tWWMWWWY ;WBXVXXRRBBMMMMMMWWWMMWWWWMMMBRRXXXVVI
+WWWMMWWX;VBVIVVXRRRMMMWWWWWWWMMWWWWMMMBRRBRRRVi
MWWWWBRMBYXVVXI+;;+iIXBWWWWWWWWWWWWWWMMBBBRBBBBMI
XWWWWMVRXVt;t+=IXBRRYi=iVMWWWWWWMXVYIYVYVBBBBBBRBMBI
,MWMWBYXXRBR=.=tYVBMMWMV=+RMWWWWBXVIVRRRRViIBBRBXYMWWV
MWRRItRBMMMM::+,+ttIVVMM;iBMWWMRRMMWWMBRRRYiVVtVVRBMY
MWXtX=tMMMMMIt,.:=tYBMRBBIBWWMMMVIItXBMXVVI+tIiI:YRXMB
WMBIiR+YtBBMXRBMMMMMMMBRYRMWMMMMWWXti,.;tItIIYYiRRBBMMV
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RX:, ,,;+tIIVXRBBRXVVIIi=,.= iYYt+;,;iYRMMXt
~~~~~~~~~
2/12/2008
~~~~~~~~~
6:03AM
Oh yeah! We're looking pretty good today! One drive has the information ready
but there was a delayed write error on the other drive and for some reason I had
to remount it. It should be going through the same tracking process today and
tomorrow that the first drive just finished. So, basically the net is ready on
my end. If your trying it out and having some issues, get in touch with me and
the brothers gonna work it out.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
2/11/2008
~~~~~~~~~
5:39AM
The new network is still hashing up trackers. The processor is about 6 times
as slow as the last processor and I added about twice as much load. I'm
guessing that it will be done between 36 & 72 hours. I started about 4:00PM
Sunday so that will put the trackers at being ready at the earliest 4:00AM on
Tuesday morning and at the latest 4:00pm on Wednesday evening. That's a real
coarse estimate, and I'm hoping that I am underestimating the power of old gear,
but I doubt it. I'm going as fast as 533 MHz will take me. Yeah, It's taking
a long time to get going, but as for a more reliable platform, in the words of
our infallible leader, "Mission Accomplished!"
5:45PM
The network is still hashing up trackers. I'm just going to let it ride tonight
and see where we are in the morning. I can see the drives working it. I can
see that the Retroshare process is active and sucking up memory. We'll see. . .
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
Zero-Tolerance Exclusive Funk Zone
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#####################" `#m.m#'....::%0###################################
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'^######################################################################^'
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
I am thinking of the summertime and how badly I need some of it. Bright, warm
sunlight, blue skies, an occaisional cool breeze and a high ball full of some-
thing delightful. In that spirit allow me to introduce to you:
The Afternoon Faux-Jito Delight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 Parts Baccardi "O" orange flavored rum
1 Part Stirrings Mojito Mix
A splash of club soda
1 lime wedge
Carefully deliver the rum and mojito mix to a cocktail shaker, as not to bruise
these precious ingredients. Add some ice. Shake the living hell out of it
-- don't stop until you start to sweat. Strain it into a nice high ball glass
(plastic if going poolside). Add one splash of club soda garnish the thing with
that wedge of lime and enjoy!
UPDATE: Suckered in by advertisement and a longing for warmer climes, I can no
longer recommend this concoction as I found it to be a poor substitute for the
real thing.
Please people, mix your your drinks from scratch and avoid the pre-mix woe!
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
2/10/2008
~~~~~~~~~
9:28AM
The Freedom Alley DARK NET will be down today.
I found the laptop had re-booted sometime in the night. I think the graphics
card gets hot and doesn't like to operate. That being the case, it never has
an uptime of over a week. Because of this fact and the fact that it takes
forever to re-hash the file trackers after a re-boot, I am going to spend today
re-organizing my directory and then the network. I have an old desktop that's
had the BBS up for 52 days straight and will implement the hardware over there
if possible. I will e-mail established parties the new certificate when
complete.
Also, I made the domain http://WWW.HAILSNOB.COM to point to this web log.
4:08PM
The network changes are in place and now it's a waiting game to see how long it
will take for the file hashes to update. I sent the e-mail, keep an eye out for
it. The initial beta test last night showed this file share to be everything I
was hoping it would be, but it takes some patience to set up. Give it some time
and we should be good for tomorrow.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
2/9/2008
~~~~~~~~
4:46PM
Booyah! Made a Retroshare connection with Radarmonster with light phone support
We were able to chat and to send messages with each other. We have as yet to
share a file, but I am hoping rectify this before the evening is out.
5:19PM
OSX Update ~ Hey, Apple Buddies, I found a message about compiling the software
for OSX in the Retroshare forum. If you are having a tecticularly driven
moment you might check it out here:
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1831496&forum_id=618174
8:10PM
The first file exchange has taken place between Radarmonster and Freedom76.
The lesson learned today is that the conversion of the torrent hash takes an
incredibly long time with a massive amount of directory. So when you select a
folder to share, remember that it will be a while before you can download and
upload. Patience is the key here, but after that directory have been hashed up
for transfer the program seems to work as expected. Be careful in the folders
you decide to share because the user group can see the entire directory. Again,
please be PATIENT when you select directories to upload, it takes a while to
get them to be usable. It takes a LONG time for the file trackers to update,
so if you put a file/folder that you don't want visible up by mistake it will
take a long time for the change to take place.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
2/8/2008
~~~~~~~~
10:59AM
My man in PGH is having some trouble with OSX and Retroshare. Al-Dog had to
back door his network by using Retroshare on a PC and networking to the Mac.
I'm really hoping that this set up is not too buggy to be usable.
11:09AM
There will be a round table discussion this evening at the Sylvan Street
Grill in Danvers 4:00PM - 6:00PM concerning underground research and
development in the growing career field of pint drainage.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
2/7/2008
~~~~~~~~
1:05PM
I spoke with Al-Dog. We are going to try a connection tonight. I will post
with any irregularities, and knowing me, with any regularities as well.
I also invoked Radarmonster to make an appearance.
5:58PM
I am up & running. I'm hanging out until about nine or so. I'm listening to
an audio book, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Yeah, you know what
I'm talkin' about Slarty Bartfast. Seriously, I might be in trouble here. . .
between the green screen and the vintage literature, I've set the controls of
the time machine to the heart of 1984. Well, the truth is, it's not a time
machine, it's a plastic bag. I have it over my head, but I am speeding forward
through time, it's just at the speed of regular time, though.
6:58PM
The First Discovery. . .
(6:55:02 PM) Al-Dog: doesn't work on non Intel macs
(6:55:13 PM) Freedom76: DAMN!
(6:55:25 PM) Al-Dog: wtf?
(6:55:42 PM) Al-Dog: well, i guess i can use the wife's PC
7:52PM
The Second. . .
(7:41:15 PM) Freedom76: have you ever had to forward a port?
(7:41:55 PM) Freedom76: who makes your router?
(7:42:11 PM) Al-Dog: Apple
(7:42:17 PM) Freedom76: hold on
(7:42:24 PM) Al-Dog: airport extreme
(7:44:46 PM) Freedom76: See if you can follow this:
(7:44:49 PM) Freedom76: http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/
Apple/AirPortExtreme/Azureus.htm
(7:45:21 PM) Freedom76: except instead of Azareus well be using Retroshare
(7:46:21 PM) Al-Dog: Jesus
(7:47:05 PM) Al-Dog: I'll end up fucking up my wife's connection, i just know it
(7:47:44 PM) Freedom76: I know, the first time I did it, it took me forever
just to get the concept down.
(7:47:48 PM) Freedom76: Don't try it
(7:48:05 PM) Al-Dog: I've been on the phone with apple a few times with their
router
(7:48:12 PM) Freedom76: We should try this when you have some free time at
the house
So, with that in mind, I present this site to help with port forwarding:
http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm
8:43PM
Al-Dog and I have resorted to swapping files via yahoo messenger. Hopefully we
can sort out the issue with connectivity by the end of the week. I can see his
information and he can see mine, but we cannot see each other on line.
8:55PM
I invoked N8 to make an appearance.
9:22PM
I think I made progress. I had forwarded a port but my manual configuration
of Retroshare was off. My local address was spot on, but my external IP was
off. I can see Al-dog's ip address now and if he's on line I think I can
connect. I will explore more possibilities tomorrow.
9:45PM
The first connection has been established. Not entirely on purpose I think.
Non-the-less, we have connectivity people. Now let's see what this thing
will do.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
~~~~~~~~~
2/6/2008
~~~~~~~~
4:00PM
There are a total of three whom are interested.
I still have not made a positive connection.
I will try to work it out with Al-Dog tonight.
I will post more when there is a breakthrough.
access questions - email: FreedomAlley.SYSOP@gmail.com
client software - http://retroshare.sourceforge.net/downloads.html
6:41PM
Here's a helpful install guide. Don't forget to send me your certificate.
http://retroshare.wiki.sourceforge.net/InstallGuide
9:35PM
No connection made tonight, but its OK. This will happen. It will happen
because it's always better to share with your friends. It will happen
because it is destiny. It will happen because there is no one to stop it.
It will happen because it's a cool damn idea. It's the next logical step.
I'll leave my Retroshare client up.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
FREEDOM ALLEY NET: SYSTEM DIAGRAM
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
Function Key
/
__n___
I I _________
Main _ I I Floppy disk I ___ I
Storage I I ' I=(___)=I - Application Software
I I I I_/ /__I
I I I INPUT ~~\ \~~~
(____) I | /__/
II I___________
I(___/___________) - User Interface Debugging Tool
(__ I \ __
I / II
\ / - Central II
) / Processing II
OUTPUT -- I ( Unit .-._ II
I_________`, o_oo'_) II
~~~~~***&%~ `._ `._ II
###@^&&& `, \ /__\
._____._ &&&%%## - Overflow //_(_)_/ ~~~~
I o) (I/O error) ~~
(_____,-' Mouse
Backup System
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
LIST OF 100 SINGLES I EXPECT TO FIND ON YOUR iPOD
_______________________________________________________________________________
/==============================================================================/
1 - (You're) Having My Baby Paul Anka/Odia Coates 1974
2 - You Light Up My Life Debby Boone 1977
3 - Tie A Yellow Ribbon Dawn featuring Tony Orlando 1973
4 - To All The Girls I've Loved Before
Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson 1984
5 - I Write The Songs Barry Manilow 1975
6 - Honey Bobby Goldsboro 1968
7 - Muskrat Love The Captain & Tenille 1976
8 - Feelings Morris Albert 1975
9 - Yummy Yummy Yummy Ohio Express 1968
10- The Men In My Little Girl's Life
Mike Douglas 1966
11- Afternoon Delight Starland Vocal Band 1976
12- Billy, Don't Be A Hero Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods 1974
13- Ballad of the Green Berets Sgt. Barry Sadler 1966
14- Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast Wayne Newton 1972
15- Candy Man Sammy Davis Jr 1972
16- In The Year 2525 Zager & Evans 1969
17- I've Never Been To Me Charlene 1982
18- Seasons in the Sun Terry Jacks 1973
19- Alone Again (Naturally) Gilbert O'Sullivan 1972
20- Paper Roses Marie Osmond 1973
21- Me and You and a Dog Named Boo Lobo 1971
22- Torn Between Two Lovers Mary MacGregor 1976
23- Sunshine On My Shoulders John Denver 1974
24- I'm Henry VIII, I Am Herman's Hermits 1965
25- A Fifth of Beethoven Walter Murphy/Big Apple Band 1976
26- Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go Wham! 1984
27- After The Lovin' Englebert Humperdinck 1976
28- Sometimes When We Touch Dan Hill 1978
29- Ebony and Ivory Paul McCartney/Stevie Wonder 1982
30- Escape (The Pina Colada Song) Rupert Holmes 1979
31- Put Your Hand In The Hand Ocean 1971
32- Have You Never Been Mellow Olivia Newton-John 1975
33- Kung Fu Fighting Carl Douglas 1975
34- Da Doo Ron Ron Shaun Cassidy 1977
35- The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia
Vicki Lawrence 1973
36- I Am Woman Helen Reddy 1971
37- We Love You, Call Collect Art Linkletter 1969
38- Party All The Time Eddie Murphy 1985
39- Fernando ABBA 1976
40- Those Were The Days Mary Hopkin 1968
41- Love Will Keep Us Together The Captain & Tenille 1975
42- Jean Oliver 1969
43- The Night Chicago Died Paper Lace 1974
44- Venus Bananarama 1987
45- Watching Scotty Grow Bobby Goldsboro 1971
46- A Horse With No Name America 1972
47- Copacabana (At The Copa) Barry Manilow 1978
48- Indian Reservation Raiders 1971
49- Under The Boardwalk Bruce Willis 1987
50- Precious and Few Climax 1972
51- Half-Breed Cher 1973
52- Do That To Me One More Time the Captain & Tenille 1979
53- The Dream Weaver Gary Wright 1975
54- Cherish the Association 1966
55- Is That All There Is Peggy Lee 1969
56- I Think We're Alone Now Tiffany 1987
57- Think of Laura Christopher Cross 1984
58- MacArthur Park Donna Summer 1978
59- In The Navy Village People 1979
60- Incense and Peppermints Strawberry Alarm Clock 1967
61- At Seventeen Janis Ian 1975
62- Touch Me In The Morning Diana Ross 1973
63- Rock Me Amadeus Falco 1985
64- Girl Watcher O'Kaysions 1968
65- Dust In The Wind Kansas 1978
66- Disco Duck Rick Dees/Cast of Idiots 1976
67- Wildfire Michael Murphey 1975
68- Sussudio Phil Collins 1985
69- The Logical Song Supertramp 1979
70- One Tin Soldier (The Legend of Billy Jack)
Coven 1971
71- Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me Mac Davis 1972
72- Brand New Key Melanie 1971
73- Silly Love Songs Wings 1976
74- I Honestly Love You Olivia Newton-John 1974
75- Simon Says 1910 Fruitgum Company 1968
76- Sing Carpenters 1973
77- Annie's Song John Denver 1974
78- Babe Styx 1979
79- State of Shock Mick Jagger/MIchael Jackson 1984
80- I Just Called To Say I Love You
Stevie Wonder 1984
81- My Sharona the Knack 1979
82- My Melody of Love Bobby Vinton 1974
83- Longer Dan Fogelberg 1979
84- The Morning After Maureen MacGovern 1973
85- I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)
The Hillside Singers 1971
86- Times of Your Life Paul Anka 1975
87- Stuck With You Huey Lewis & the News 1986
88- It's Still Rock & Roll To Me Billy Joel 1980
89- America Neil Diamond 1980
90- Colour My World Chicago 1971
91- We'll Sing In The Sunshine Gail Garnett 1964
92- I'm Easy Keith Carradine 1976
93- Saturday NIght Bay City Rollers 1975
94- Do the Clam Elvis Presley 1965
95- Lady Kenny Rogers 1980
96- Good Morning Starshine Oliver 1969
97- Pac-Man Fever Buckner & Garcia 1982
98- Don't Give Up On Us David Soul 1976
99- Tip-Toe Through The Tulips Tiny Tim 1968
100-Everybody Have Fun Tonight Wang Chung 1986
____________________________________________________________________________
/===========================================================================/