AGMS

@[email protected]
36 Followers
49 Following
459 Posts
Long time game (C++ at Artech Studios, Ottawa, Canada) and BeOS/Haiku OS (C++ apps, file system experiments, and some kernel fixes) programmer, now studying Ruby on Rails in preparation for job hunting. Got distracted making a less evil reputation system (in Rails, with a Ledger database), prototype under construction, essay inspired by Black Mirror about it on my web site.
Home Pagehttps://web.ncf.ca/au829/index.html
AGMSJan 18
I've added tutorial levels to #NthPongWars. Easy, except that I needed walls to separate the new players, and that meant perfecting the physics simulation so players couldn't get through the walls. Longer story with video tours of the new levels is on my blog at https://web.ncf.ca/au829/WeekendReports/20240207/NthPongWarsBlog.html#2026.01.16
AGMSJan 10
Show threadSpindley Q FrogJan 10

OK, I think my web-based NABU Network emulator is in good enough shape to share!

https://www.information-superhighway.net/nabu/

The NABU was a Z80-based PC, released in 1983, that had all of its software delivered over a cable TV signal - like Sega Channel, but a decade earlier. It was only ever available in a handful of cities, including Ottawa, Canada, where it was developed.

Leo Binkowski, who worked at NABU creating arcade game ports, kept virtually everything, so you can experience it just like it was 1983.

AGMSJan 4

I'm planning on going to the #VCF Vintage Computer Federation's Montreal convention (January 24, 25 2026), to see a couple of #NabuPC talks by Leo Binkowski and D.J. Sures. https://vcfed.org/vcf-montreal has show info.

I hope to be in the audience, since I'm writing #NthPongWars initially for the #Nabu. I might be able to demo it.

I also hope to see CuriousMarc of Apollo guidance computer restoration fame demoing his recreation of the space radio data transmission system.

Looks like a fun weekend!

AGMSDec 13
mr. waddlesplashDec 12
Another month, another @haiku activity report... but this time, I wrote it from within Haiku itself, using the newly available Go port to preview the website live! Read it here: https://www.haiku-os.org/blog/waddlesplash/2025-12-12-haiku_activity_contract_report_november_2025/
Haiku Activity & Contract Report, November 2025 (ft. Go)

This report covers hrev59111 through hrev59187.

Haiku Project
AGMSOct 3

I finally got my #BeOS virtual machine working on my new AMD Zen 5 system.

AMD is missing some Intel secret sauce, so using a hardware VM doesn't work (Guru Meditation errors in VirtualBox, abrupt reboots in KVM). But QEMU's software emulation does!

After more fuss trying to make a network bridge in Fedora Linux, I got it all working, though reduced to classic computer speeds. Blog with pictures at:

https://web.ncf.ca/au829/WeekendReports/20251001/20251001VirtualBeOSOnAMDZen5.html

AGMSSep 29

Finally had a look inside my second hand PowerComputing PowerTower 225 Pro computer. Removed this 30 year old clock battery which fortunately hadn’t started leaking.

The machine is used for compiling #BeOS programs for the #PowerPC CPU; things like BeShare. Probably nobody else uses PPC, but it’s still kind of nifty to get online from this antique.

AGMSSep 5, 2025

Had fun adding the first power-ups to #NthPongWars, a game for the Z80 #NabuPC. Of course, got many more ideas. The challenge is fitting them in 64K of memory, and making overall game-play coherent.

Details, discussion and video script in the longer blog post at http://web.ncf.ca/au829/WeekendReports/20240207/NthPongWarsBlog.html#2025.09.03

AGMSAug 19, 2025

More #NthPongWars progress - now with AI players. One is trying to draw "N" while the others bounce around the sides, until they spot a Human player.

Blog post about it at
https://web.ncf.ca/au829/WeekendReports/20240207/NthPongWarsBlog.html#2025.08.19

Show threadAGMSJul 25, 2025
Third attempt at collisions. This time stop laying down tiles that the other player bounces off and back towards you. Also ignore collisions for a short while, to give the players time to get away.
Show threadAGMSJul 25, 2025
Second attempt at collisions, this time I added velocity to separate the players. Didn't work - they still stick together way too long, and then fly away at high speed.