"With fond memories of educational titles like 'Granny's Garden', and less educational ones like 'Pole Position' and 'Boffin', the BBC B seemed like a worthy machine to bring back to life inside an FPGA." The Hacker News thread has links to more FPGA implementations of older home computers.
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Member since:2011-01-28
transputer_guy,
"I'm amazed that anyone though can still remember all the nitty details in getting this old stuff working."
Well, it's still within one life frame. I can still remember my early projects and probably will till I'm senile. It is still a part of *us*. I wonder what kind of emotions early computing will bring back to the generations who are more disconnected and never experienced the stuff first hand. The most popular computers/software may still have working models and get featured on the history channel. Most of our work will probably be forgotten to rot in attics for a few generations until there's no record.
Hollywood is eventually going to make a dramatic movie about early computing from the perspective of the (future) present. They're bound to fumble the facts so badly that it'd be hilariously inaccurate if any of us were to see it. I hope they don't try to draw too many facts from crap like "Hackers"...
Member since:2005-07-08
My own kids are obsessed with computers as most are, as long as it is shiny bling and plays games on the web, its a computer. They have no concept of a computer being useful that isn't connected to the web. If I showed them whats inside, total disinterest, "whatever"!
It would be interesting to see how well the Colossus and Tommy Flowers is portrayed in a movie. The UK war secrecy didn't help any. In them olden days, a mag drum was hacked together from metal drums and tape heads lying around the work shop.
Member since:2005-07-06
And I wonder... appstores might actually harm preservation, software "lost" in them over time (after few upgrades of the platform), without physical copies...
Generally, I guess future generations will see our computers and software in a similar way we see early sound recordings, films, and their equipment. Which is to say - they will mostly not care.
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.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!
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.
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.
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."
"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.
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.
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.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.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.
Member since:
2005-07-08
Pretty neat.
I had a model B and all the paraphernalia, I'm amazed that anyone though can still remember all the nitty details in getting this old stuff working. I sold off the hardware but I still have all the old books for most of the languages that were sold for it.
Time for some Raspberry Pi tinkering, wonder if anyone has run a Beeb/QL/ZX emulator on it.
I really should also get more serious about me own FPGA project too.