FarmerPotato

It's real. People are buying baby chicks like nobody's business. They're flying out the door! https://nypost.com/2020/04/08/people-are-reportedly-panic-buying-baby-chickens/ I was going to take the kids to Tractor Supply to see the baby chicks this year. That didn't happen. Now they're all gone. My neighborhood has a significant number of urban chicken coops. I planted vegetables instead.

Thanks for the query - I am always putting off the status update, hoping to get one more thing working... I am still putting a lot of effort into Geneve2020. The design is still partly realized in hardware, partly in KiCAD, and definitely just a prototype. There are a lot of decisions to make for the final shape. The V9958 card is under test. I continue to design the CPU and other modules around a backplane. Which is "done" in Kicad, except, I keep tinkering with the design and not sending it to get PCBs. Getting stuff is not a problem so far - OSHPark delivers PCBs, Shenzhen sellers and Mouser are doing business. I have most of what I need already. Here is a photo of the V9958 card under test: So that's my work environment. The wire harness goes to the VirtualBench (I love that tool). You can see the V9958 card with breadboard fixes. It is attached to the BlackIce-II FPGA board, which is now running SwapFORTH so I can write video test programs in FORTH. Here is a photo of how I got organized, finally: And here is a photo of my 4A setup: VDP Status I made fixes to the V9958 on a breadboard. I added transistors to Vsync, Hsync, Csync, inverted Hsync, and those look great now. I don't understand why the other designs for V9958 use those honking 220 uF capacitors coupling the RGB-sync outputs. So the Samsung 910MP monitor syncs on VGA, I think, but I haven't written any data to the V9958 yet, so the picture is black. The Samsung doesn't show the menu either, so I can't verify the sync frequency (for instance, using F18A it tells me 31.5kHz). I have not tried RGB (SCART). My Acer G276H is not recognizing the sync - boo, it's supposed to do 15kHz. I have a lot more RGB monitors (Apple) that I can try out, but getting a 4:3 aspect VGA output is imperative. FPGA Status The north 3 ports of BlackIce are where it will interface to the 16-bit backplane, essentially the raw 99105 signals. The east 3 ports (with all the test leads) are the peripheral 8-bit bus for video and sound. (The backplane contains the CPU, CRU, serial ports, and BIOS memory on plug-in boards.) I haven't written any of the Verilog where the 99105 backplane is bridged to the 8-bit bus. I have swapFORTH running on the FPGA. This is ideal for writing 9958 test code. I haven't figured out yet if there will be a unified backplane for 8 and 16 bit buses, with an FPGA card bridging them. The FPGA needs to bridge the 16-bit bus to the 8-bit bus. It does all the memory mapping, such as paging and connecting the VDP ports to the right 16-bit addresses in GPL or MDOS mode. If/when there is a P-Box bridge (a real must-have), it too will come through the FPGA bridge. So that's where I am. I have been at home since Mar 13, rarely going out. And then not getting out of my car. Strangely, I am spending even more hours working from home, with less fun time.

This is the version of LIFE that I wrote in 1986. I included it on a disk of freeware along with SUPERSAVE. So it probably didn't get seen widely. I modified it today (4/15/20), adding John Conway's name. I also added REDO, BACK, AID keys. I inserted Tursi's LOADCHAR routine for the cartridge version. Finally, I put in an Easter Egg. The ZIP has the objects in TIFILES and sources in plain text. The DSK file has the sources and runnables. It is V9T9 format. https://gitlab.com/FarmerPotato/gameoflife has the whole thing plus a README. This distribution was built with Ralph Benziger's XDT99. GAMEOFLIFE.ZIP GAMEOFLIFE.DSK

This a really well done game. It takes a lot of practice... I really like the bitmap color in this game. Also it reminds me of SpotShot (Dragonflyer) My best score. Starting on Level 1 at Speed 3.

The timer generates interrupt 3. SBZ 3 disables INT3.

Forwarded from the Silicon Valley Forth Interest Group (SVFIG) mailing list:

Searching for that part number elsewhere shows that it is the common 80mm or 3.125"

I'm intensely curious about thermal paper now! Ideas: 1. Cut down some 4" or 8" rolls 2. Cut down 8.5" x 11" thermal sheet paper into 3.5" strips.. tape them onto your roll. big hassle but you could use a common paper cutter, or picture frame cutter. 3. Print on 3.5" x 1" sticky thermal labels. Transfer some onto your used roll. I see some 4" rolls. Here's one from pospaper.com. I also see the core size comes in tiny 3/4" (diameter of the inside tube)... and gigantic 3" core with 8" outer diameter of paper! I wonder if 4" is really 4", or a little less? I see 3.5" by 8" long thermal sticky labels on a gigantic roll. I have seen someone make a transformer winder at the hackerspace. Maybe something like that with a blade could transform 4" paper rolls to 3.5. Heck, even a turn crank winder with a spring holding down a blade, could replenish your 3.5" roll..? I could laser cut a box with axle holes and walls for 4" and 3.5" . An exacto knife positioned over the 3.5" mark. At worst you'd have to push the knife down while turning a crank... Or, messilly, try to saw off a 4" or 8" roll? Zebra.com has an industrial labeler that uses a giant roll of 5000 sticky thermal labels that are 3.5 x 1". I found it on their inventory list as Product no 10010243. Sounds good for diskette labels, if you have 1000s of floppies. Here's a seller of these giant label rolls.

I had a colleague who worked in a Wisconsin paper factory. This stuff comes out of a 100 foot wide machine that fills a room. It is then sold to packagers for slicing. I emailed customer service at my favorite Wisconsin distributor, Uline, to ask if they can source 3.5". Nakagawa is a packager of thermal paper rolls. They make a 4.125" inch size, which is distributed widely. I have not actually seen a TI thermal printer since the 1980s.. does it have any wiggle room for wider paper?

Oops I made a script to have Kryoflux read both sides of a DSSD floppy, then put them into one DSK image. So, the back 90K is just E5E5 that it read off the other side.

Here is my original copy of UNIVDISASM version 2.3 by René Leblanc. I don't remember how I got it, but the floppy disk is from the mid 80s. I read it with Kryoflux into a 180K DSK image. I used UNIVDISASM two years ago to decompile the FORTI words. univdisasm.dsk

You have to look in Aisle 3 next to the blank cassette tapes. Or ask a clerk to check behind the counter, where the pagers are on display.

Thanks for sharing the list - I realized I can try the IBM XT 5160 pull, the YD-580. Now I can also pick which ones from my box o'drives are worth another look. Possible: SA455-2 Panasonic JU-455 5CGN TEAC FD-55BV 06-U (matched pair... so promising, but they didn't work the last time I tried.) Unknown: Epson SD-600 My best-condition TEAC FD-55BR does not not work in my P-box. (It was an external drive. It draws a lot on 12V rail.)

Added 1 card. I also found one that I received from a retiring 99er, and I want to replace the clock battery (the card has a Richard Bell sticker on it from 2006)

I only spent a little time with free/student Eagle. Only used it to make some home-made PCBs. I didn't like the interface then, but the Manhattan auto-router was ok. Kicad doesn't even have an auto-router. Looking back, I'm not sure Eagle was any worse in the interface department. Then there was their licensing change. I had access to UltiBoard ($$$) after that, and it had a few issues importing Eagle files from the net, but excelled at visualizing Gerbers. I wanted to get open-source and somewhat future-proof by switching to Kicad. Now Kicad is what I have put all my learning effort into. It's accepted natively at OSHPark, but then I had no trouble sending them Gerbers (read one tutorial, go.) But eevblog is always talking about free Altium Designer, which I think is now their free CircuitMaker offering. (love how he says ăl-tee-um.) I too got bit by the parts libraries upgrade from Kicad 4 to 5. In Kicad, I keep all my favorite custom or downloaded parts in one global library. Including copies of the SOIC footprints I use from the library, because I am afraid of getting bitten by part renames again! (The SO and SOIC footprints are very confusing and I stick to the names TI calls them. I translate some NXP names.) It's a pain to sync custom libraries between machines, because part schematics aren't separate files, but I'm managing. Kicad sucks at importing. Even from Kicad 4, it it tough to resolve missing parts from other people's schematics. I have not tried Eagle (the only sch and brd import format supported.) Importing Gerbers, it doesn't know XLN (Excellon drill files?). And I have not been able to import to a PCB from Gerbers--it crashes PCBNew. (Example: your 32k Gerbers) I'm not sure what it would even do with an imported Gerber because there would be no schematic or netlist.

I know it came out on Apr 1, but, the IRS has no sense of humor, amiright? Verified Source: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm967

The FAQ is saying: folks on SS or low income, who typically do not file any return, can use a free-filing website to file a 2019 return. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact-payments-what-you-need-to-know https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus

I haven't looked at this yet. But it is great to see someone (you) working on new programming tools in assembly! Have you considered trying an approach that works directly on object files?

Hey! You bought TI-Net BBS software from me (Erik Olson) (and Matt Storm.) TI-Net never achieved the goal of connecting to FidoNet. Later, I ran an Opus node at my high school that carried TI-Echo. I don't remember if I ever posted on it.

I had a hunch this was out there. The fortuitously, or unfortunately, branded Covidien ventilator. Covidien was spun off from HP. I like how they echoed the old logo.

I don't know. It has been much higher among the elderly, and those with other risk factors for pneumonia.

On the contrary, the mortality rate will rise, because as long as the number of patients is increasing exponentially, you do not know whether your patients will be dead or alive in 20 days. Yes, a broadening of the people tested can bring the rate down as you find asymptomatic cases. But, we have at least one solid report from South Korea, where they have done the tests on asymptomatic people. The mortality rate is very high. I do not think the math will be comforting: I compared US and South Korea data so far. Because 30% of all US tests are positive, it's apparent that the US is testing people who are already suspected of carrying the virus (the very sick, or those who came in contact.) South Korea has had 3% test positive. It is apparent South Korea has tested large numbers of people with mild symptoms or none at all. The US is at the early end of the exponential curve: an unknown but large number of people certainly became infected in the past week or two. In the US, 1.6% of cases have already died. From their testing strategy, which includes follow-up and isolation, South Korea has "bent the curve" and their daily new cases are far below their peak. You can see this on this report: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 South Korea US Of the cases already found, South Korea has reported 1.5% have died. 50% are known to have recovered. That leaves half the sick people in S. Korea to either recover or die in the coming days and weeks. In the worst case, then, the final mortality rate will be 3% for COVID-19. Experts are putting at it back at 1.5% based on the denominator eventually being found to be higher. We'll see. The mortality rate can become much higher when hospitals are overwhelmed. In Italy, roughly 10% of known cases have died already. People have been left to die, who could have been saved. It's becoming a grim reality in New York. Data. 0-4 days old as of Mar 28 South Korea US Population 51,500,000 327,000,000 Tests 338,000 359,000 Cases 9478 112468 Recovered 4811 918 Deaths 144 1841 Tests (per MM) 6,563 1,098 Tested Negative 97.2% 68.7% Tested Positive 2.8% 31.3% Confirmed (per MM) 184 344 Recovered (per case) 50.8% 0.8% Mortality (per case) 1.5% 1.6% Unknown (per case) 47.7% 97.5% Test mean 2.804% 31.328% Test stderr 0.005% 0.052% Mortality rate 1.519% 1.637% Mortality stderr 0.016% 0.005% A bunch of data comes from disparate sources and different calendar dates between Mar 24 and Mar 28. Most of it is from this Johns Hopkins web page Number of tests from this article Another discussion about South Korea reporting 1.6% mortality: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/27/821958435/why-death-rates-from-coronavirus-can-be-deceiving Disclaimer: I'm just an engineer who posts on the Internet Really, working out the math explained by Adam Kucharski, who thinks a 1% mortality rate is likely. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/health/coronavirus-deaths-rates.html

I've lasered a DB9 screw-mounting plate out of acrylic/wood. It has worked well for my arcade controller. Though my F18A mk1 was kind of messy (melted holes with soldering iron, filed, cut down the VGA back plate, screwed it in) Next time I will make a nice acrylic plate that can go inside or outside of a rectangle opening. I will use acrylic cement, though super glue should work. We have plenty of the self-drilling screws used in the console itself , I wonder if those are too big to use. When the time comes I'll give my plate away for free (though Greg is welcome to sell them)

Try this map. https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6 And today's interactive pandemic model for the US shows you the number of cases vs how long we isolate ourselves: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/25/opinion/coronavirus-trump-reopen-america.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage And here's some funny: Ask a 6-year old: Q. Why is school closed? A. Because they're out of toilet paper!

Righto. The Bourns equivalent for $0.60 is in SOM14 . But its leads extend out to 7.62 mm while the SOIC14 leads extend out to 6 mm. https://www.mouser.com/datasheet/2/54/4800P-777115.pdf It might not fit on the pad. I guess you have the best price on the original chip.