#mailstation — Public Fediverse posts

More portable #retrocomputing philosophizing: Whether a machine has "Instant-On" makes a huge difference in the tasks it's useful for. By this, I mean whether the machine returns to the same program and screen where you left it, when powered back on from inactivity.

Without "Instant-On", the machine demands to be used for long sessions, (else the boot time is too inconvenient) and demands your constant attention (else the power draw of leaving it sitting around powered on is wasted). Using the machine involves clearing your schedule and devoting yourself to it, like reading a book.

Examples of machines without "Instant-On": DOS-era laptops, #Book8088, #GameBoy, #MailStation.

With "Instant-On", the machine is useful for PDA-style quick jottings, grocery lists, etc. It is also useful for fun activities even in circumstances where you are likely to be interrupted.

Examples of machines with "Instant-On": #HP200LX, #HpOmniBook, #PalmPilot, #PocketPC, #TI92 (and other TI calculators), and, of course, smartphones.

While machines in the first category may offer a more immersive experience, they are far less useful to me than machines in the second category. It's like the difference between a luggable and a true mobile computer.

Am I suddenly working on a procedurally generated game? Maybe!
Anyway, here are some names. For people, planets, or whatever.
#MailStation #TinyBasic

#MailStation #TinyBasic program of the day: Hangman!

I wanted something that would exercise my hacked-in "strings" support. Seems to work well enough for a word game!

Source listing (21 lines): https://gitlab.cs.washington.edu/fidelp/mailstation_apps/-/blob/master/basic/hangman.bas

#basic #retrocomputing

Here is the source code for my recent #TinyBasic and #MailStation work

https://gitlab.cs.washington.edu/fidelp/mailstation_apps

• Machine code monitor and TinyBasic for Cidco MailStation (#z80 Internet Appliance)
• The programs are small enough that a determined person can key them into the MailStation's built-in hex editor in 1 hour or less.   They run as loadable MailStation "channels".   They make it pretty fun as a self-contained mobile development platform, though you can't easily save your work. Carry pencil and paper!

https://gitlab.cs.washington.edu/fidelp/tinybasic

• Z80 version of Palo Alto TinyBasic v3 with all known OCR errors corrected. Tested and working on real #z80.

A couple bugs squashed, #TinyBasic seems stable now on the #MailStation! How fun!