Norbert Landsteiner
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masswerk.at
Norbert Landsteiner
@masswerk.at
170 followers 79 following 1.9K posts
Mostly retro and vintage computing content, I guess.
www.masswerk.at
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masswerk.at
Back in 1998 talking toys like the Furby could run on a Sunplus SPC81A microcontroller, a cut-down 6502 without the Y-register.
Modern talking toys, like the "Large Language Furbies" of our times, are threatening to swallow the entire electronic manufacturing capacity and eventually the Planet.
"Furby" toys, 1998. Photo (CC): https://www.flickr.com/photos/91524358@N00/427142187
November 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
masswerk.at
Make sure to turn on your DED ("Dark Emitting Diode") when prompting your "A.I.", to hide your traces.
Screenshot of Google AI Overview taking "dark emitting diodes", a venerable April Fool's Day joke, for real. (Captured June 2025.)
November 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
masswerk.at
Whatever you ask your "A.I.", always keep in mind that the Mighty Space Blanket is watching you.
The Mighty Space Blanket (AKA Black Knight). – There must be a reason for the abbreviation MSB also meaning Most Significant Bit!
November 26, 2025 at 12:38 AM
masswerk.at
For #ChuckPeddleDay, I added an option to load the Oric Atmos ROM (1.1B that is) to the Virtual 6502 online emulator.

masswerk.at/6502/
November 25, 2025 at 6:55 PM
masswerk.at
Tried to watch an informational YT video, which immediately turned out to be "A.I." generated. Decided to give it a try anyway. Now my brain hurts and is all mush.
November 23, 2025 at 1:31 PM
masswerk.at
"Sprachuhr" (Talking Clock) is a fun little Commodore PET program displaying an analog and digital clock (in BASIC) and announcing the time at full minutes (in ML).

Originally program by Heinz-E. Obermann for the 8000 series (1981), port for 40-col PETs by me (2025).

masswerk.at/pet/prgs/#sp...
November 20, 2025 at 6:38 PM
masswerk.at
"PET Invaders" just got a liitle bit better.
(It's really just about when we stop any background sounds when a level ends. But polish is polish.)

Get Rev.2025-11-19 here:
masswerk.at/pet/prgs#pet-invaders
November 20, 2025 at 6:55 AM
masswerk.at
Business idea: The HyperFix
The HyperFix is a hammer with small jet engines attached and driven by an LLM. It will understand you and your needs and will hammer on its own initiative.
It will disrupt most tools and, indeed, the very concept of housing and real estate. – A multi-trillion market! 😀
November 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
masswerk.at
Apparently, the famous Space Invaders for the Commodore PET (the one starting with the "how to produce sound effects" screen), was written by A. Brzenska for the PET 2001 in 1979 and then adapted for the 30xx and 40xx in 1980.

Does anyone know a historic source for this?
And what is "A." for?
The famous "How to produce sound effects screen", showing a schematic for how to connect an audio amplifyer via a "50–500K" resistor to the CB2 and ground pins of the user port of the Commodore PET computer.
November 12, 2025 at 9:40 PM
masswerk.at
Small update to "PET Invaders" for Commodore PET / CBM
(Rev. 2025-11-12)

Get it / play it here:
masswerk.at/pet/prgs/#pe...

(Press RETURN on the "Score Advance Table" screen to see the revision you're currently on.)

#retrogames #PETSCII #mos6502 #commodore
Teaser poster for "PET Invaders" for Commodore PET computers.
November 12, 2025 at 7:40 AM
masswerk.at
"PET Invaders" is now available at itch.io, as well:

masswerk.itch.io/pet-invaders
November 9, 2025 at 8:58 PM
masswerk.at
PET Invaders – Release!

As the Earth Space Monitoring Network sounds alarm, you and your LASER tank are Planet Earth's only hope… Exciting space arcade PETSCII action for Commodore PET (40 cols, 16K RAM)!

Downloads & online emulation at:
www.masswerk.at/pet/prgs/#pet-invaders
Teaser poster for "PET Invaders".
November 9, 2025 at 6:31 AM
masswerk.at
Thinking of a physical media kit (for download & self-recording)…

Also, I've now a PETSCII-to-SVG renderer!
Mockup for a audio cassette inlay (J–card) for "PET Invaders".
November 8, 2025 at 11:25 PM
masswerk.at
The total lack of rotational symmetry of the human body is truly appalling to the more mindful in the universe…

(This is why they never show up here. If you see any UFOs, these are actually some of their early AI governed crafts hallucinating a location in the more decent sectors of the universe.)
November 6, 2025 at 11:37 PM
masswerk.at
I think, I've found a way how we may all profit from the AI revolution: Make AI companies keep track of references and award a penalty for each factual error or misrepresentation payable to the author. E.g., this summary of www.masswerk.at/nowgobang/20... is worth 15 credits for 15 severe errors:
Google AI Overview regarding a short blog post (https://www.masswerk.at/nowgobang/2019/pdp7-by-law), containing 15 factual errors or misrepresentations. In fact, it's almost all errors and misrepresentations.
November 4, 2025 at 5:41 PM
masswerk.at
Finally: "PET Invaders" - Public Beta!
My personal take on Space Invaders for the Commodre PET.

Link to online-emulation:
masswerk.at/pet/prgs/#pe...

Beta testers and feedback welcome!

#commodore #petscii #mos6502
November 4, 2025 at 5:21 AM
masswerk.at
Thinking about an AI startup utilizing a cheaper, but viable and more sustainable alternative to GPUs…
Ancient oracle bones. Traditionally, oracles were expected to yield a success rate of at least 33%.
November 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
masswerk.at
BTW, quite impressed by Google AI Overview: every sentence and every half-sentence of this summary is utterly wrong and completely misses the mark and sense of that short piece, and is factually wrong. – Clearly, this is the future!

Compare: www.masswerk.at/nowgobang/20...
Al Overview The phrase "lift Kurt Gödel's hat by -0" is a reference to a self-referential computing puzzle, specifically a 1964 DEC PDP-7 instruction set without a dedicated negation instruction. In this context, "lifting a his hat" is a metaphor for performing a negation or subtraction operation. Since there is no specific instruction for negation, one must use a combination of other instructions to achieve the same result, which is an example of how to solve a self- referential problem, similar to Gödel's famous work on incompleteness. • The problem: The DEC PDP-7 computer lacked a single instruction for two's complement negation or subtraction. • The solution: To perform a negation, one must construct a sequence of other instructions to achieve the same result. This is analogous to how Gödel's incompleteness theorems showed that there are statements in a formal system that are true but cannot be proven within the system itself. • The "lifting the hat" metaphor: This is a figurative way of saying that you are performing an operation on a value, but in this specific case, you have to perform a complex sequence of operations to achieve a simple result, much like how Gödel's work revealed the limits of formal systems.
October 30, 2025 at 6:08 PM
masswerk.at
Just in time for Halloween, I'm hoping to finish sound for my PET port of the original Space Horror Survival Game today.

Enjoy a pseudo matrix printer hardcopy of the game play:
October 30, 2025 at 3:09 PM
masswerk.at
Ok, so I kind of know now why I find programming sound so tedious: I knew that I've an aphantastic condition, but I had no idea that this can extend to sound, as well.

Compare:

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Some People Can’t See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound
Research has linked the ability to visualize to a bewildering variety of human traits—how we experience trauma, hold grudges, and, above all, remember our lives.
www.newyorker.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:07 AM
masswerk.at
He, he…
(Mind the font!)
October 27, 2025 at 2:44 PM
masswerk.at
Spectacular progress: added another sound… 😀
(But I also experimented with a background sound engine, which should be convenient for playing the saucer sounds.)

Meanwhile, enjoy a fake matrix printer hardcopy:
October 27, 2025 at 12:24 AM
masswerk.at
I've just spent more than an hour on 4 diatonic sounds on the PET (for the Space Invaders move sound). I never enjoyed programming sound – and I have no idea why this is. (If it had been about visual feedback, it would have been a blast.)
October 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
masswerk.at
Is it just me or does the recent update of YouTube player icons feel somewhat childish?

The look and feel for the AI Age, I guess…
October 25, 2025 at 6:55 PM
masswerk.at
Slightly amused by learning that the Royal Navy had a vessel named HMS Grampus (which may be an dolphin/orca or an alternative spelling of Krampus). Indeed, it brought you all the bad presents, if hadn't been nice. I.e., a minelaying submarine.

youtu.be/0eKQhHJm2h8?...
HMS Grampus - Guide 463
YouTube video by Drachinifel
youtu.be
October 25, 2025 at 12:38 PM