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1500 questions
16
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2 answers
What was special about "Vulcan" - the CP/M database program?
The Vulcan DBMS for CP/M micros was originally developed in 8080 assembly language by a contractor working for Jet Propulsion Lab, based on an earlier JPL mainframe program. This code went on to be the basis for Ashton-Tate's highly successful dBASE…
Brian H
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Why did the Rumble Pak for the Nintendo 64 require batteries when it actually apparently doesn't?
After watching this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyJsOoQKRjQ
I'm wondering what the whole deal was with the batteries. Apparently, you can resolder the circuit board inside the Rumble Pak slightly to make it batteryless. And there…
Trawn
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16
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Looking for an "Inspector" or "Detective" game (BASIC?)
I'm working on an emulator for the Soviet mainframe BESM-6. Among a few games written for it there was a game called "Inspector" (or "Detective"). Its code didn't survive; the only mention of it I can find on the available disk images is that it was…
Leo B.
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VIC20, VIC-20, or VIC 20?
The 'tag' on this website calls it 'VIC-20', but the VIC20 user manual (Personal Computing on the VIC20) http://cini.classiccmp.org/pdf/Commodore/VIC-20%20User's%20Manual.pdf calls the VIC either VIC20, or VIC 20.
The front cover is ambiguous due to…
TopCat
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How do I save Commodore BASIC programs in ASCII?
On the Commodore 128, the built-in BASIC saves programs tokenized. How can I save (and then later load) the programs as ASCII instead?
For example, like the ",A" option in GW-BASIC or the LIST/ENTER commands offered by Atari BASIC.
Brian Knoblauch
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What was the intended use for the character symbols for control codes in codepage 437?
Is there a well documented or well understood explanation for what was the intended purpose for the more haphazard glyph choices in the control code range of the original IBM PC character set? Maybe a design document? It would also be great to…
Euro Micelli
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16
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3 answers
Which was the first magazine presented in electronic form, on a data medium, to be read on a computer?
In this question a magazine is meant to be a periodical publication containing news, information and other content like software for example.
By electronic magazine I mean a magazine presented in electronic form, on a data medium, to be read on a…
Paul Ghobril
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16
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How did the 6502 CPU get its name?
I am interested in the etymology of the name for the 6502 CPU. How were those numbers arrived at by the designers? Do they refer to anything specific? Is there some sort of origin story?
I found some explanations for the similarly named 8008 and…
lookaside
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4 answers
How to write the Apple ][ HIRES pages to disk to make screenshots?
The Apple ][e had 2 HiRES video pages, HiRES animation involved switching between the 2 pages and redrawing the screen. A really early way to take an in game screenshot was to dump the computer with the programmers reset and then make a 2 separate…
Rowan Hawkins
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When was the phrase "sufficiently smart compiler" first used?
In discussions and arguments about programming language design, one often hears comments about "sufficiently smart" compilers, as in "X needn't be inefficient, since a sufficiently smart compiler should be able to optimize it well".
As far as I…
texdr.aft
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16
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2 answers
What process node were 4k and 16k DRAMs first made at?
In the history of computers, much is said of microprocessors, for good reason, but the relatively unsung RAM chips were equally important. Of particular significance were the 4kbit and 16kbit dynamic RAMs, which had capacity sufficient to enable a…
rwallace
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16
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8 answers
GOTO (etc) to a non-existent line?
Writing a BASIC interpreter has revealed a number of interesting bits of information that tend not to be mentioned in the documentation. For instance:
10 PRINT"ONE";:IF 1=2 THEN PRINT"TWO":PRINT"THREE"
Will print ONE on Microsoft-derived BASICs,…
Maury Markowitz
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16
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Could a Z80 address a total of 128 KB of ROM and RAM?
In a nutshell, could the Z80 address 64 KB of ROM and 64 KB of RAM, or just 64 KB for both RAM and ROM?
Unfortunately, I couldn't find an exact and a direct answer to my question while searching. Excuse me if my question has a very very direct…
Shams M.Monem
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1 answer
Processor and operating systems for automatic lifts/elevators
Most automatic elevators have an algorithm that optimises travel between floors and users. Presumably this can be tailored to a particular building.
The first elevators were hand-operated purely by button pushing and had no intelligence of their…
chasly - supports Monica
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Sega Genesis/Mega Drive ROM Disassembler
I am looking for a disassembler that supports Sega Genesis ROMs. Ideally, any 68000 disassembler should be able to do this (IDA Pro supposedly does an amazing job but their demo version does not support the 68000). Are there any dissemblers that…
JAL
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