# quite (news sources) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 1 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover quite. Page: Feed: --- ## [The Oric! A small 48k machine with a 6502 inside](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-oric-a-small-48k-machine-with-a-6502-inside/741#post_4) _2026-08-22 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ My replica Microtutor. It’s running a modified tanbug, from a Pico ROM emulator as I can’t program 2716s yet. Id be interested in any extant tan1648s, or microtutors. ## [Rare IBM Schools Computer 1969](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/rare-ibm-schools-computer-1969/5209?page=4#post_70) _2026-08-22 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I’d also like to say that I believe that this was one of the first machines, if not the first computer to use a domestic TV as output and a domestic tape player (reel to reel in photos) for storage. I think Tony’s noughts and crosses program (over 50 years old) is the first game to run on such a computer. ## [The Simplicity of Wirth](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-simplicity-of-wirth/6390#post_7) _2026-08-21 · @Rochus Rochus Keller · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Yes, Lola and Lola-2 had many cool ideas which made logic design for synchronous systems easier than with Verilog. Wirth even wrote a book about logic circuit design and used it for his lectures a ETH. I spent a lot of time with Lola-2 (see GitHub - rochus-keller/LolaCreator: LolaCreator is a QtCreator based IDE for Lola-2 · GitHub and GitHub - rochus-keller/Lola: This is the Lola-2 parser used by… ## [3.5” Floppy Disks available](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/3-5-floppy-disks-available/6393#post_1) _2026-08-21 · @ibisum ibi sum · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I have 3,000 brand new 3.5” floppy disks, unused, available for anyone who needs some. ## [The Simplicity of Wirth](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-simplicity-of-wirth/6390#post_6) _2026-08-21 · @oldben Ben Franchuk · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I rather like his LOGIC programming language. Too bad it never made it to real chips. That I guess is the Europe VS U.S. thinking in computer design. ## [Policy on posts about LLM-assisted retro projects](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/policy-on-posts-about-llm-assisted-retro-projects/6387#post_3) _2026-08-21 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ That sounds fine to me. You’ll continue to have your distinctive voice and to draw on your extensive knowledge! ## [The Simplicity of Wirth](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-simplicity-of-wirth/6390#post_5) _2026-08-21 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I think the 16f84 stopped being made quite a while ago. I bought a few about 10 years ago to use with the sharp pc850VS, which can program them with an adapter. I looked recently and they are much rather now, and cost nearly £10 instead of the £2.50 I originally paid. ## [A Project Oberon System version running on RISC-V instead of RISC-5](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-project-oberon-system-version-running-on-risc-v-instead-of-risc-5/6327#post_16) _2026-08-21 · @scruss Stewart Russell · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Meier was an extremely productive typographer. Samples of most of his work are here: Hans Eduard Meier . Outline versions of the Oberon and Syntax are available from the usual suspects at the usual $$$. ## [The Simplicity of Wirth](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-simplicity-of-wirth/6390#post_4) _2026-08-21 · @scruss Stewart Russell · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ The PICs that Wirth wrote about in 2008 would have qualified as “retrocomputing” at the time. The 16C84 was already 15 years old when he was using them. While the aims are different, Hernando Barragán’s Wiring (which got co-opted/nicked, mostly uncredited, by the Arduino crew) had been using ATmega chips for teaching interaction design since 2004. Wirth’s choice of such comparatively ancient… ## [Ancient "AI" fun?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/ancient-ai-fun/6391#post_4) _2026-08-21 · @scruss Stewart Russell · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ EdS: Ah, yes, they had an AI lab, I think, or something like it? They were the UK AI lab from the mid 1960s to sometime in the 1980s. Mad Libs are still a hit in our house. We have many of the paper books, including a falling-apart compendium from 30 years ago that has been dragged around the world, has entries written by long passed-away family members, caused more hilarity at family gatherings… ## [One platform, from silicon to agent (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/ERe2zYEtRee5) _2026-08-21 · **Sponsored**_ Serverless inference plus Inference Router to optimize cost and latency at scale. ## [Ancient "AI" fun?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/ancient-ai-fun/6391#post_3) _2026-08-21 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ So, a kind of probabilistic substitution into a template? You’ve given me a flashback to my schooldays - as a paper exercise, and probably in Basic, I wrote many pages of spaghetti code with the aim of filling in sentences from a grammar (although I didn’t think of it as a grammar, and didn’t have anything you’d call a data structure - it was all in the code.) I had to stop as it was becoming a… ## [The Simplicity of Wirth](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-simplicity-of-wirth/6390#post_3) _2026-08-21 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ amenjet: A thread of simplicity runs through everything he does Nice find. From one of the papers: The motivation behind this experiment in language design and implementation had been the question: Are high-level languages truly inappropriate for very small computers? The answer is: Not really, if the language is designed in consideration of the stringent limitations. … The compiler was written in… ## [Ancient "AI" fun?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/ancient-ai-fun/6391#post_1) _2026-08-21 · @drogon Gordon Henderson · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ This isn’t an AI/LLM-assisted post, however I’ve used the tag because today, who knows, but back in the mid 70’s the term hadn’t even been thought of and the recent posts on LLMs made me think about it again. Back then, there was a lot of interest in AI - I briefly shared a house with someone at Edinburgh Uni. who was into things like Prolog, Poplog (I think) for AI and things of that ilk.… ## [The Simplicity of Wirth](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-simplicity-of-wirth/6390#post_1) _2026-08-21 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ While searching for some information about Niklaus Wirth, I ended up on his home page. I must have been there before and I have read a lot of the information there, have some of his books and have programmed in Pascal and Oberon. A thread of simplicity runs through everything he does, and I found (or more likely re-discovered) another example, PICL: people.inf.ethz.ch PICL: A Programming Language… ## [Files for the Scheme chip, from the MIT AI lab PDP-10](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/files-for-the-scheme-chip-from-the-mit-ai-lab-pdp-10/6385#post_3) _2026-08-21 · @larsbrinkhoff Lars Brinkhoff · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I think so. These are just the raw files dumped on GitHub without any analysis. I would also like a guide! ## [Commodore 8-Bit 5 1/4 Inch Disk Images](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/commodore-8-bit-5-1-4-inch-disk-images/6389#post_1) _2026-08-20 · @NoLand Norbert Landsteiner · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ So, as a side project to a side project, I made a (web-based) tool that lets you explore the contents of any 5¼" floppy disk images for Commodore 8-bit computers. (That is, the D64, D80, and D82 formats, D71 may follow, if this should be in demand.) This also lets you bring home what you may have found on those disk images, either by copying data views or by extracting and downloading individual… ## [GW Basic re-implementation (LLM-assisted)](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/gw-basic-re-implementation-llm-assisted/6386#post_2) _2026-08-20 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Hi Wayne, welcome, glad you found us. Interesting history there, going back to the Altair. I’ve rethreaded this post, because - nothing personal - it exemplifies something that I find quite troubling, and something which divides the retrocomputing community. There are certainly two perspectives, at least, on the subject of LLM-assisted projects, and views can be quite strongly held, whether for or… ## [A basic Basic benchmark - Pi Spigot](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-basic-basic-benchmark-pi-spigot/6379#post_3) _2026-08-19 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ drogon: an equivalent of 10.4 seconds at the Beebs usual 2Mhz That’s rather good then, compared to the listed 19 seconds. ## [Leap year check in three instructions](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/leap-year-check-in-three-instructions/6380#post_2) _2026-08-19 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I wonder if there are similar magic constants for 16 bit arithmetic - 16 bits gives quite enough year numbers to be going on with. ## [Introduce yourself thread](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/introduce-yourself-thread/64?page=17#post_330) _2026-08-19 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Welcome, Kevin! Welcome also to Tom, Rochus, Christian, Alvin, Jeff, Shep, Jaime, DVRC, Shawn, Rhett and any other as-yet-silent arrivals. ## [Build with the cheapest GPUs (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/cN1FRYalT9v5) _2026-08-19 · **Sponsored**_ Deployed a live API in minutes; one user spent under $10. ## ["Computers installed in the UK during the 1960s" - shape of code blog](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/computers-installed-in-the-uk-during-the-1960s-shape-of-code-blog/6377#post_2) _2026-08-19 · @NoLand Norbert Landsteiner · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ EdS: Don’t you love a graph with a logarithmic axis? I guess, this is ok for the sound/noise volume emitted by the respective total of computer installations? ## [Bug found in Knuth's Algorithm D for division](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bug-found-in-knuths-algorithm-d-for-division/6349#post_3) _2026-08-18 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Interesting! But not troublesome, for most of us: Can it be exploited Not really, unless you are using Setun. Since the error requires an odd base, it cannot occur on modern machines, which use b=2^64, or in any case a very even b. ## [The Early History of Usenet - in 11 parts](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/the-early-history-of-usenet-in-11-parts/851#post_4) _2026-08-18 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Here’s an article by Peter Salus (“Distributing the News UUCP to UUNET”): If you were lucky enough to be on the ARPANET in the 1970s, you could get mail and news (in the form of a topical mailing list). But in January 1976 there were still only 63 hosts, and you had to be one of the elite to gain access. But soon there were methods to reach other sites. Like UNIX, the software began in New Jersey.… ## [An index of the SHARE tapes from Paul Pierce's collection](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/an-index-of-the-share-tapes-from-paul-pierces-collection/6370#post_1) _2026-08-18 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Posted by philcowans on the fediverse I’ve made an index of the SHARE tapes from Paul Pierce’s collection ( IBM SHARE Library ). You can find it here: philcowans.com SHARE Program Library 1690 distributions in 3541 decks, read from 9 tape(s): distribution numbers 0001–3541. SHARE is an IBM user group formed in 1955, which amongst other things maintained a library of software contributed by its… ## [Interview with the creator of AmigaDOS (video)](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/interview-with-the-creator-of-amigados-video/2524#post_6) _2026-08-18 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Oh, that’s a shame. Only 68 too. HN discussion here with links within. ## [MINIVAC601 (Claude Shannon)](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/minivac601-claude-shannon/711#post_5) _2026-08-16 · @oldben Ben Franchuk · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ How can you call it a MiniVac if has no tubes? Nice to see one live and in the flesh, even if it is not 100% working. In 72 the only access I had to computers, was watching Star Trek re-runs with computers that had the fancy blinking light displays. Some where around that time I got the idea of building my own computer. Still working on that idea ## [How to bootstrap pascal for a word machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/how-to-bootstrap-pascal-for-a-word-machine/6329#post_4) _2026-08-16 · @Michael\_Barry Michael Barry · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I learned Pascal on the time-shared CDC Cyber at the university back in '84. Fortran and IBM 360 assembly language were other classes I took on the same system (someone had written a full 360 assembler and simulator as a thesis project I assume). Cyber assembly language was not offered, at least not as an undergraduate course. I learned C on one of the two VAXen that also resided there at the… ## [MINIVAC601 (Claude Shannon)](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/minivac601-claude-shannon/711#post_4) _2026-08-16 · @aiuto · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I used one of these when I was 11, back in 1972. I acquired one a few years ago, but have not restored it yet. The cool bit was that the motor drove a multi-contact multi-pole switch that was used as a clock. It was delightfully hands-on. ## [Digicomp I - the 3-bit computer model from 1963](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/digicomp-i-the-3-bit-computer-model-from-1963/771#post_3) _2026-08-16 · @aiuto · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I had one of these as a child. It was one of the things that nudged me from dinosaurs to computers. I found one on Ebay about 10 years ago, so now I have one again. I also have the cardboard replickit, but I’ve not assembled it yet. ## [Downloadable Computer Books by Mitch Waite](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/downloadable-computer-books-by-mitch-waite/6347#post_3) _2026-08-16 · @NoLand Norbert Landsteiner · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Yes, those images are somewhat off-putting (the related articles may be still interesting), but thankfully all the books listed are quite significantly pre-2023, meaning not an issue where it does count… Also, yes, I thought I had kind of an idea what “prolific writer” means, but I may have to revise this, given the new data-point available. ## [Save with community-voted codes (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/SkdZ2iuVpByx) _2026-08-16 · **Sponsored**_ Search thousands of community-verified coupon codes — 100% free, no account needed. ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_9) _2026-08-15 · @drogon Gordon Henderson · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ oldben: Do you also include The 5 minute warm up for the drive to reach 1500 rpm? Huh? I don’t have drives, I have SD cards. The slowest drives I think I’ve ever had hands-on with would have been on a PDP-11. I think they spun up in under 30 seconds… Want to see my system boot-up on a 150Mhz RISC-V system? It takes about one second from the power light going on to asking you to ‘login’. Demo of… ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_8) _2026-08-15 · @oldben Ben Franchuk · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Do you also include The 5 minute warm up for the drive to reach 1500 rpm? This also brings up the question how large were BCPL programs on the average, in the day and age media was floppy sized and programs came on punched cards? ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_7) _2026-08-14 · @drogon Gordon Henderson · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ oldben: The fly in the ointment here is Windows and a non byte addressable CPU design. There is a compiled windows executable too. Just Get the entire archive from MRs website and it’s there. As for non byte addressable - that may make writing a bytecode interpreter on your own hardware somewhat challenging… However older versions of BCPL did run on work based systems with packstring() and… ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_6) _2026-08-14 · @oldben Ben Franchuk · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ The fly in the ointment here is Windows and a non byte addressable CPU design. I like vintage hardware design, compared to running RISC of the day.The modern machines have too steep a learning curve for IO. Right now I am in the prototype stage so just having clean power was a major problem. Modern CMOS parts are low power except for that 30 ns voltage spike on the clock edge. That aside running… ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_5) _2026-08-14 · @drogon Gordon Henderson · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ oldben: I need 32 bit ASCII Intcode, if I ever get the hardware working here. BCPL is on my ‘round to it’ list that may get to later in the FALL. Hope it works. Do go through the OPC (One Page CPU) project pages: opc OPC - One Page CPU One Page CPU Project - CPU, Assembler & Emulator each in a single page of code where there is discussion of using BCPL on OPCv6. They go from BCPl → SIAL → Native… ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_4) _2026-08-14 · @oldben Ben Franchuk · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I need 32 bit ASCII Intcode, if I ever get the hardware working here. BCPL is on my ‘round to it’ list that may get to later in the FALL. I have been designing with 128 cell CPLD’s, for hardware logic, and using wincupl for design software. That I can understand what gets compiled unlike VHDL or Verlog. Alas the CPLD’s will not permit as much much more logic than a basic cpu, so microcode is not a… ## [Working on a Monroe OC8820](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/working-on-a-monroe-oc8820/2656?page=6#post_107) _2026-08-14 · @Sweproj Per Mårtensson · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Long time since updating here. Been working on a hdd support,by emu, for monroe for a while but just some time ago i was able to but an hdd as well, MA 8615 so the work can maybe continue I have also made a webbased tool to extract floppy/hdd image into plain files abc.sweproj.com OS8 / Monroe Disk Decoder There is also files in my disc image archive abc.sweproj.com Archive Disk and a command line… ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_3) _2026-08-14 · @drogon Gordon Henderson · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Not that I’m aware of. But do note; There is no single “BCPL virtual machine”. There are at least 3 virtual machines that the current compiler can output - the older OCODE, newer CINTCODE and SIAL - the latter being intended to be easy to translate to an underlying native machine code. (As is done in the OPC projects, AUIU) Also note that BCPL compilers in the past have generated native machine… ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_2) _2026-08-14 · @larsbrinkhoff Lars Brinkhoff · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ I’ll throw out my guess: no. Based on reading about virtual machines and microcode around that era. For example, the Alto would have been a prime target, since BCPL was a popular language for that machine. But the compiler and microcode targeted Nova (like) machine code. PS. By some odd quirk, the Alto BCPL compiler was based on the one for the Lincoln Labs TX-2. ## [BCPL virtual machine](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/bcpl-virtual-machine/6342#post_1) _2026-08-14 · @oldben Ben Franchuk · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Did anyone implement the BCPL virtual machine in hardware or microcode? ## ["Where, Oh WHERE have all the Axis Analog Computers gone?"](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/where-oh-where-have-all-the-axis-analog-computers-gone/6332#post_5) _2026-08-12 · @Xylstra · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Well done Pau!! Thanks so much for that and you’re so right: after the end of any war, the victors get to write the history and that often means ‘writing-out’ the achievements of the vanquished which, unfortunately, creates an ‘information vacuum’ which is quickly filled by the conspiracy cranks and various other mythologists! Your information on Vickers is almost certainly correct, many such… ## [A harking for the past?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-harking-for-the-past/6173?page=2#post_34) _2026-08-11 · @scruss Stewart Russell · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ RetroRamJet: The Castell Novo-Biplex monster, considered the ultimate in linear rules, is hand-powered The 24-scale Novo-Biplex is indeed a monster. I inherited a Hemmi/Post Versalog 1460, with a mere 23 scales, and it’s an utter bear to work with even with the full hardbound manual at hand. TBH, I find the simple Ricoh 102 student slide rule (which a seller on ebay had a whole load, new in box,… ## [A harking for the past?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-harking-for-the-past/6173?page=2#post_33) _2026-08-11 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Just arrived and it’s already a favourite. ## [A harking for the past?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-harking-for-the-past/6173?page=2#post_32) _2026-08-11 · @EdS · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ amenjet: Casio FX-190 Remarkable! From curtamania : ## [A harking for the past?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-harking-for-the-past/6173?page=2#post_31) _2026-08-11 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Did you see that there are two? The FX190 and the FX191. One is in mm and one in inches. And the LCD marks along the ruler? The scientific keys are reminiscent of the FX502P, the whole thing is quite exquisite. It can perform calculations and then put the result on the LCD bars that run the length of the ruler. ## [A harking for the past?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-harking-for-the-past/6173?page=2#post_30) _2026-08-11 · @RetroRamJet Paul · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Oh my, No! Now I want one… ## [Intersil 6100 emulator via chatbot (done)](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/intersil-6100-emulator-via-chatbot-done/6073#post_18) _2026-08-11 · @mainframetom · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Another big, but late progress. I didn’t take care about the RAM check anymore, but I noticed that some opcodes not working correctly. Like 7421 MQL, MQA, BSW, RAL etc. Suddenly I had a test pattern in the RAM. Some opcodes were still not working, and some missing. Then they were fixed according the datasheets. But first not handled correctly afterwards. 2 years ago I noticed that there are 3… ## [A harking for the past?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/a-harking-for-the-past/6173?page=2#post_29) _2026-08-11 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Have you seen the Casio FX-190, talking about rules? ## ["Rodents in the Attic" a small C64 demo, fully explained (video)](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/rodents-in-the-attic-a-small-c64-demo-fully-explained-video/6323#post_7) _2026-08-11 · @IsaacKuo Kuo, Isaac · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ But it’s worth remembering, that even this fancy ghost byte effect demo still ALSO features classic PETSCII art and animation. ## [Does anyone have an original Tangeringe Microtan 65 hex keypad?](https://retrocomputingforum.com/t/does-anyone-have-an-original-tangeringe-microtan-65-hex-keypad/6336#post_12) _2026-08-11 · @amenjet Andrew · Retro Computing - Latest posts_ Thanks. I’ve sent parts off now. If they come back and don’t look right then I will come back to you for measurements. I want to make something that, even if it isn’t identical to the original, looks like it. I have the microtan R keypad above, but didn’t find the correct keytops until recently. I also need to make a ribbon cable for it with the correct headers. I also have quite a few of the…