@uridiumauthor.bsky.social
A rip-roaring Sao Paulo grand prix yesterday. Never a dull moment. I note that the track should be creatable in #Scalextric and have done a track plan for next year. Might have to go round the other way, not sure. On that subject, I would like false-starters to be able to reverse back to the grid.
November 10, 2025 at 11:21 PM
A rip-roaring Sao Paulo grand prix yesterday. Never a dull moment. I note that the track should be creatable in #Scalextric and have done a track plan for next year. Might have to go round the other way, not sure. On that subject, I would like false-starters to be able to reverse back to the grid.
Since my application went 64-bit, all the structures doubled in size. Each AMP object now has about 160 8-byte variables, so almost 1,300 bytes. I have a pointer to the structure and read all the values from that. There`s 12,000 AMP records currently so about 15.5 Megabytes in the array. Peanuts!
November 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Since my application went 64-bit, all the structures doubled in size. Each AMP object now has about 160 8-byte variables, so almost 1,300 bytes. I have a pointer to the structure and read all the values from that. There`s 12,000 AMP records currently so about 15.5 Megabytes in the array. Peanuts!
Seemingly there have been more extra-curricular activities over the last few weeks, including buying a telescope and accessories, outings & winter preparations. These divert me from programming. One needs momentum, otherwise I forget routine and variable names, making the job slower. Concentrate!
November 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Seemingly there have been more extra-curricular activities over the last few weeks, including buying a telescope and accessories, outings & winter preparations. These divert me from programming. One needs momentum, otherwise I forget routine and variable names, making the job slower. Concentrate!
I believe I found the bug with the feet controller. I knew it had to be initialisation as the routine works with the player, not with the meanies. It wasn`t a case of missing initialisation, but too much, i.e. some variables that might be needed but weren`t. Been puzzling over that for weeks. Tch!
November 10, 2025 at 3:46 PM
I believe I found the bug with the feet controller. I knew it had to be initialisation as the routine works with the player, not with the meanies. It wasn`t a case of missing initialisation, but too much, i.e. some variables that might be needed but weren`t. Been puzzling over that for weeks. Tch!
What you need, when moving your telescope outside is... one of these. All it needs is a 3.5l engine.
November 8, 2025 at 9:00 PM
What you need, when moving your telescope outside is... one of these. All it needs is a 3.5l engine.
Today's #Scalextric tournament saw a slightly more compact nearly all 4-lane track. Just 6 drivers so straight to finals. We raced Minis, Rasio C-20s and Porsche Boxsters.
November 6, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Today's #Scalextric tournament saw a slightly more compact nearly all 4-lane track. Just 6 drivers so straight to finals. We raced Minis, Rasio C-20s and Porsche Boxsters.
My feet routine looks great when taking giant strides 10 times too long, just for testing and ease of spotting errors. However, the meanie feet don`t get initialised properly despite my best efforts. They start will a giant step 20 times too long. Same routine and initialiser for player and meanies.
November 6, 2025 at 12:54 AM
My feet routine looks great when taking giant strides 10 times too long, just for testing and ease of spotting errors. However, the meanie feet don`t get initialised properly despite my best efforts. They start will a giant step 20 times too long. Same routine and initialiser for player and meanies.
In other news. in an attempt to get my walking feet routine working cleaner; I have simplified it to the point where my meanies are goose-stepping around the screen. Not what I intended. Why is this so hard? I was doing this successfully in #Amiga #Uridium 2 in the sub-game that was too big to fit.
November 5, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Realising how immoveable the new telescope is, even dragging it to the door to peer out is a major effort, I have ordered a padded bag and a camping trolley, in SU-METAL red. Might need another 2 bags for the tripod and mount. See if that gets me to the viewing area. Else I will need a helicopter.
November 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Realising how immoveable the new telescope is, even dragging it to the door to peer out is a major effort, I have ordered a padded bag and a camping trolley, in SU-METAL red. Might need another 2 bags for the tripod and mount. See if that gets me to the viewing area. Else I will need a helicopter.
First terrestrial test of the new 'scope. To sight up the trees over the back it likes to run this way up. Needed the diagonal and all 3 extension tubes to focus on something that close.
November 1, 2025 at 1:34 PM
First terrestrial test of the new 'scope. To sight up the trees over the back it likes to run this way up. Needed the diagonal and all 3 extension tubes to focus on something that close.
Here`s a thought, started by reading about mobile price rises: do I actually need mobile access? The device is handy, I need that for all sorts of things, but do I actually need it to be connected? Sadly, 2-factor authentication says "Yes". Otherwise, wi-fi at home or in shops does it. But 2 phones?
October 29, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Here`s a thought, started by reading about mobile price rises: do I actually need mobile access? The device is handy, I need that for all sorts of things, but do I actually need it to be connected? Sadly, 2-factor authentication says "Yes". Otherwise, wi-fi at home or in shops does it. But 2 phones?
Still looking at the equatorial mount and wondering how it gets the two axes to point at the horizon. The `scope is going to have to rotate so it`s on its side.
I got it mostly balanced with the 2 weights. Then it is balanced forwards and back. That`s fun when it`s not horizontal to start with.
I got it mostly balanced with the 2 weights. Then it is balanced forwards and back. That`s fun when it`s not horizontal to start with.
October 29, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Still looking at the equatorial mount and wondering how it gets the two axes to point at the horizon. The `scope is going to have to rotate so it`s on its side.
I got it mostly balanced with the 2 weights. Then it is balanced forwards and back. That`s fun when it`s not horizontal to start with.
I got it mostly balanced with the 2 weights. Then it is balanced forwards and back. That`s fun when it`s not horizontal to start with.
And thar she blows! No-one said anything about leaving the azimuth adjusting bolts in place, but that seems like a first class idea since I nearly had an expensive accident before balancing.
October 28, 2025 at 4:37 PM
And thar she blows! No-one said anything about leaving the azimuth adjusting bolts in place, but that seems like a first class idea since I nearly had an expensive accident before balancing.
It lives! I manually connected my phone to the mount's wi-fi and then the app connected and can control the mount. It's a bit keen to get itself aligned. There's no 'scope up top. Have you not got eyes? Can you not see? Ah, well, better get the 'scope out and get balanced.
October 28, 2025 at 4:14 PM
It lives! I manually connected my phone to the mount's wi-fi and then the app connected and can control the mount. It's a bit keen to get itself aligned. There's no 'scope up top. Have you not got eyes? Can you not see? Ah, well, better get the 'scope out and get balanced.
About to power up the new mount and see if my phone can connect to it. I used my phone to connect to the Dwarflabs 2`scope without any trouble, but it was already configured. Always trying to anticipate problems, me.
October 28, 2025 at 3:55 PM
About to power up the new mount and see if my phone can connect to it. I used my phone to connect to the Dwarflabs 2`scope without any trouble, but it was already configured. Always trying to anticipate problems, me.
At our insurance business, there was a policy of not leaving commented out code in the source. Not a bad policy. Almost, one needs to know how long it has been there, what it did, and then we need to know if it is still valid since other changes might obsolete it. Dangerous.
October 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
At our insurance business, there was a policy of not leaving commented out code in the source. Not a bad policy. Almost, one needs to know how long it has been there, what it did, and then we need to know if it is still valid since other changes might obsolete it. Dangerous.
Always a pleasant surprise to find the routine I want to change, and then find a line of code commented out; that might do exactly what I need if I put it back in. Leaves me wondering why it was removed, but the foot control routine is seemingly doing what I need without that nasty major rewrite.
October 28, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Always a pleasant surprise to find the routine I want to change, and then find a line of code commented out; that might do exactly what I need if I put it back in. Leaves me wondering why it was removed, but the foot control routine is seemingly doing what I need without that nasty major rewrite.
I`ve just ordered some prints of my current game projects to give away at the forthcoming Crash Live weekend. Made a mistake last week of doing 4K pics on my desktop which were too zoomed out. Switched to small window size and captured some more. Much better. See you there!
October 28, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I`ve just ordered some prints of my current game projects to give away at the forthcoming Crash Live weekend. Made a mistake last week of doing 4K pics on my desktop which were too zoomed out. Switched to small window size and captured some more. Much better. See you there!
I can`t remember how we migrated the source code to the PC. I didn`t type it all in again. PCs didn`t read C64 disks, C64s didn`t write PC disks. Alleykat was my first project on the PC. Games still took longer to write every time, even though saving and assembling took seconds instead of minutes.
October 28, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I can`t remember how we migrated the source code to the PC. I didn`t type it all in again. PCs didn`t read C64 disks, C64s didn`t write PC disks. Alleykat was my first project on the PC. Games still took longer to write every time, even though saving and assembling took seconds instead of minutes.
Back in the days of the Spectrum, programs were saved to tape. A whole game developed over months, saved to tape every day, multiple times. My Dragon 32 games were written on 5.25" floppy drives, as were my C64 games. That was quite a tech difference between them. Microdrives were NOT the answer!
October 28, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Back in the days of the Spectrum, programs were saved to tape. A whole game developed over months, saved to tape every day, multiple times. My Dragon 32 games were written on 5.25" floppy drives, as were my C64 games. That was quite a tech difference between them. Microdrives were NOT the answer!
So now I have to write the new code I wanted last night, or... I have to get the new telescope mount wi-fi operational. I`m trying to figure out which is easier. It`s a close call. I`m going to make a cup of coffee and mull it over.
October 28, 2025 at 11:32 AM
So now I have to write the new code I wanted last night, or... I have to get the new telescope mount wi-fi operational. I`m trying to figure out which is easier. It`s a close call. I`m going to make a cup of coffee and mull it over.
I was watching A Mighty Wind last night. The Spinal Tap guys playing a folk band. Quite gentle, with plenty of jokes musicians would understand. More in the style of another of their movies: Best in Show. Quite off-the-wall.
October 28, 2025 at 10:35 AM
I was watching A Mighty Wind last night. The Spinal Tap guys playing a folk band. Quite gentle, with plenty of jokes musicians would understand. More in the style of another of their movies: Best in Show. Quite off-the-wall.
When Steve and I were working in his dining room, and later the office/shed, we worked mostly in silence and each got on with our own work. There were some stern words when the Spectrum crashed or the Microdrive didn't load the program, mind.
October 28, 2025 at 12:56 AM
When Steve and I were working in his dining room, and later the office/shed, we worked mostly in silence and each got on with our own work. There were some stern words when the Spectrum crashed or the Microdrive didn't load the program, mind.
We had a stereo on in the office when there were more of us, maybe partly to shut down talking, I don't know. Anyway, even if playing one of my favourite albums, mostly I was concentrating so hard that the album would finish and I hardly remembered hearing any of it. Still the same these days.
October 28, 2025 at 12:51 AM
We had a stereo on in the office when there were more of us, maybe partly to shut down talking, I don't know. Anyway, even if playing one of my favourite albums, mostly I was concentrating so hard that the album would finish and I hardly remembered hearing any of it. Still the same these days.
Really trying to fix a bug and also wanting to watch a movie. Trying to do both, which is rather dangerous. I found where some new code needs to go, but I have to wait until the movie ends. Anything I write before that will likely not be too good.
October 27, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Really trying to fix a bug and also wanting to watch a movie. Trying to do both, which is rather dangerous. I found where some new code needs to go, but I have to wait until the movie ends. Anything I write before that will likely not be too good.