Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 8th Jul 2012 22:54 UTC
"In this tiny ebook I'm going to show you how to get started writing 6502 assembly language. [...] I think it's valuable to have an understanding of assembly language. Assembly language is the lowest level of abstraction in computers - the point at which the code is still readable. Assembly language translates directly to the bytes that are executed by your computer's processor. If you understand how it works, you've basically become a computer magician." More of this, please.
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Member since:2005-07-06
I guess the ARM add-on for BBC Micro also played a role in the confusion?
Schools in the UK had bought in to Acorn big style, and the BBC micro is very much the British Apple 2 (being that most kids from the 80's started their computing in School on a BBC.) Many would argue that the Acorn range of computers ended up crippling the UK school system, as they'd bought in to a dud and the dominance of PC in the rest of the world was already in place.
BBC Micro came out before IBM PC, right? And while one can easily argue that PC victory was already clear in mid-80s ( http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/12/total-share/4/ and the next page, 5; still, it's not made clear, but those stats are probably mostly for North America - the article doesn't even mention Spectrum or Micral), but it didn't yet happen.
In the meantime, UK had one of the more vigorous ~computer (also education) landscapes - rest of the world didn't really have a dominance of PC yet, it didn't have much of anything.
One can accuse Amigas of pretty much the same, misplaced hope against the onslaught of the PC (just look at the graphs), but in the meantime they served well. And you still have that one of the most vigorous ~computer landscapes.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.More Features »
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Member since:
2006-05-30
*sigh* this is only half true. The design of the 6502 was very sweet, much more efficient etc and can be seen to have generally influenced the design goals behind the ARM family. However, the ARM is a RISC processor, the 6502 is pretty much CISC (though some argue this point.) Nothing in the actual ARM architecture shows any real influence from the 6502. In fact, there's zero compatibility and knowing 6502 assembler gives you no great advantage to knowing ARM.
Maybe the confusion comes from this: the ARM based Archimedes range of computers (which is where ARM originates from) were designed to be the direct drop in replacement for the 6502 BBC range used in schools in the UK. The main selling point initially was that they came with a very similar BASIC (same capabilities, but with a lot bolted on top) and that they could run *some* BBC software using the included software emulator. Schools in the UK had bought in to Acorn big style, and the BBC micro is very much the British Apple 2 (being that most kids from the 80's started their computing in School on a BBC.) Many would argue that the Acorn range of computers ended up crippling the UK school system, as they'd bought in to a dud and the dominance of PC in the rest of the world was already in place. But that's another day's battle.