Recent Articles
The Future I AM IN YOU
As a child growing up in the 1970s, I had no idea of what the future held. I didn't know if Mr Benn would be able to get back from his adventures, or if Scooby Doo could catch the Evil Swamp Monster, or even if we were going through the round or square window in PlaySchool. But there were some things about the future that was pretty certain. We would all have robot butlers, go on holiday to the moon and drive electric cars!
So, as I drove to work this morning in my electric car, wondering when my moon tickets would drop through the letterbox, I realised that maybe, just maybe, I am already in the future
Man Cave 2.0
Recently I've read a few posts about other peoples working environments, office setups, man caves or work benches. I've also had a couple of people ask about mine, since I tweeted about the redecoration and overhaul of my old "spare room" as it transformed in to "Man Cave 2.0". I had intended to write it up when it was finished anyway, although, even now, 9 months later, it is still not finished, I am begining to realise that it will never actually be finished but will evolve and morph over time.
So, this is a look at the overall design and some of the finer detail in to my Man Cave 2.0 as it stands in August 2014
Linux support, upgrades and headaches
Some of you may remember that last year , after a regretful decision to 'upgrade' from Windows 7 to Windows 8 I decided to jump ship and switch over to Linux. Ubuntu 13.04 to be precise. I blogged about the install process here, and my first thoughts after a week here, with the intention of regular posts whenever something goes really good or really bad.
So, it's 14 months later, and basically things have gone pretty good. Sure, there's some things that aren't just how I like them with Windows, but other bits that just seem to work really well. In defence of my lax blogging, I'd just say that I got on and used the computer as I expected I would. I got tripped up a couple of times, but Google and AskUbuntu.com always seem to put me back on the right track.
I have expanded my Linux network too. I was donated an old netbook last year that now runs Ubuntu 13.04 for an hourly Twitter job. The plan had been to test it on the netbook then set up a Raspberry Pi to run it, but the netbook is surplus, capable, cheap to run and it works - so why change. I have also bought myself a little HP server which I put Ubuntu Server 13.10 on, along with OwnCloud. This works like DropBox, and synchronises files between my main PC, phone, tablet, work computer and is available to me (albeit slowly) anywhere on the internet.
All in all, things have been ticking over quite nicely. Life has been happy in Linux land... until recently!
Assembly Language Vs Lego
I guess this is kind of a follow up to my Retro Challenge posts, as it was thoughts that stemmed from teaching myself Assembly Language for my Z80 project. Essentially it is a comparison between programming in the 70's and today against building with Lego in the 70s and today.
But before I get stuck in, can you identify this famous TV family from a few crude Lego bricks?
Retro Challenge - Closing Thoughts
Wow! What an awesome month July has been. The whole Retro Challenge thing has been great, and despite moments of stress or despair, I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part and seeing what everyone else has been up to. Before I sum up my project, I should make a few honourable mentions.
Retro Challenge - A huge thanks to Mark and Wgoodf do a great job in hosting this twice a year. Keeping everyone updated via Twitter has worked really well. Cheers guys!
Grant Searle is responsible for the general Z80 design I used and also converted MS BASIC from the Nascom to run on this. Really, this project is a test of my understanding of Grants work and seeing how far I can take things.
Nottingham Hackspace has an amazing "parts bin" that included the LEDs, Veroboard, case, some of the logic chips and the RAM I used.
OSHPark did a great job (for a very good price!) on the PCBs - even if the postal system did keep me on the edge of my seat for a bit!
Chris Gammell introductions to KiCad PCB design videos were critical in guiding me through the various stages of board design.
Rodney Zaks book Programming the Z80 has been like a bible for me. Combined with a few dozen other resources of Z80 info on line I've been able to at least get the basics assembly language programming.
CLRHome is a great online Z80 IDE that can compile assembly language in a variety of output formats including for the ZX Spectrum. I doubt I could have managed this in notepad!
All of the other Retro Challenge entrants deserve a mention too, but there's a few that really caught my eye and taught me stuff about their particular approach to RC2014, such as Wgoodf - Turtles all the way down, Ians restoration of Northstar Horizon, Tezzas restoration and programming of Challenger 4P, John finishing work on Fahrfall
Retro Challenge - Challenge Complete
With over 24 hours to go before the end of July deadline the final piece of the puzzle fell in to place!
But, first, a quick catchup from the last blog post;
