Podcasts about rs232

Introduction Hosts: MrX Dave Morriss We recorded this on Sunday May 26th 2024. We were pleased to discover that our favourite pub where we've had lunch in the past, The Steading, had not closed permanently following the sale of the premises. That's where we met for lunch. Thus the show title: The Steading is now back on course1. After lunch we as usual adjourned to Dave's Citroen car (Studio C) in the car park, and recorded a chat. Topics discussed YouTube channel recommendations (Dave) AT Restoration: Ahti is a furniture restorer from Estonia. The episodes contain no speech, just ambient sounds, but there is English text on-screen at times. Music is included for the final part where the item is shown in its before and after states. Shows some amazing skill in repairing all kinds of old furniture as well as some new builds. I found a surprise inside the 150 year old chair/armchair restoration: In this episode Ahti restores an armchair and shows the woodwork and upholstery required. Phil Vandelay: The channel is about designing and building cargo bikes, machines, furniture and more. The earlier shows contain no speech, just on-screen explanations. In later episodes there is more description and explanation. The level of engineering is high, and the host develops his metalworking workshop and skills as episodes progress. How to Build your own Cargo Bike (Short Version!): recent re-edit and re-release of the original. This seems to be the second cargo bike he has built, and later he builds yet another, this time electric. How to Build a DIY Cargo Bike (Plans available!): full version of the build. Ocean Conservation Namibia: A Namibia-based team rescuing Cape fur seals from entanglements in marine garbage. The seals are mainly on the beach and the team runs to intercept the ones they spot with garbage around them. They net them and remove whatever they have picked up and release the seals. In many cases the fishing line, net, or other junk has cut deeply into the seal's skin and muscle, and would kill them if not removed. Episodes are usually daily and mostly short. 34 Seals Rescued In One Day!: a recent episode, one of the longest. Digressions! Talking about varnishes for wood. Dave forgot the name of the varnish-like finish shellac, which is used in the technique of French Polishing. Woodwork: MrX made a stand for his music keyboard Dave made an unfashionable chair in the 1970s (similar in design and colour to the outer chairs in the image) Image copyright © https://www.design-market.co Grass-cutting, etc: Repairing a strimmer (aka string trimmer) Plastics: Bakelite was one of the earliest plastics Dave owns a valve radio which has a Bakelite case Computers owned over time (MrX) Sinclair ZX Spectrum: Released in 1982 Z80 (8-bit) CPU The original Spectrum had rubber-like keys MrX had a modified system with a keyboard upgrade - the DK'Tronics The Spectrum was used for Amateur Radio purposes: Morse code decoding Slow Scan Television (SSTV) RadioTeletype (RTTY) Dragon 32: Released in 1982 6809 (8-bit) CPU Better keyboard Centronics parallel (printer port) MrX had a pen plotter at one point, possibly an Epson Dave mentioned that he had used flat-bed pen plotters and large drum plotters at work The Dragon 32 was used for Packet Radio This is a data transfer protocol based on X.25 (called AX.25, Amateur X.25) Commodore Amiga: Released in 1985 Motorola 68000 series CPU, 16-bit and 32-bit models AmigaOS operating system; blitter AX.25 software Intel i386 PC Running Windows 3.1 PK232-MBX packet radio modem (manual) The PK232-MBX was similar to a telephone modem except it connected to radio. The MBX was a super deluxe model that had some extra features. It could do all the same things that the basic PK232 could do (see details from manual linked above) plus it could also do WeFax (WeatherFAX) and had a basic Packet-Radio mailbox facility. The two models could deal with morse code, Baudot and ASCII RadioTeletype (RTTY), AMTOR (Amateur Teleprinting Over Radio) and Packet-Radio, using in-built software. The connected radio would switch between transmit and receive to send and acknowledge packets of information. The computer was connected by serial RS232 connection. Basic commands were used to control the modem. Any computer capable of talking over RS232 could be used. Currently a Dell Optiplex ex business machine: 4GB of RAM and a Pentium Dual-Core E5500 CPU clocked at 2.8 GHz Ubuntu 18 LTS & Windows 7, needed in order to reprogram Amateur radios Digressions: Dave remembered seeing an example of the Nascom 1 at Lancaster University around 1978/79. This was a single board computer kit using the Z80 CPU. Comparing a VAX "mainframe" with a Raspberry Pi: Not simple! From 1987 Dave managed two clustered VAX 8700s. These were single CPU systems with a 32-bit word length and up to 512MB of memory. It's possible for a Raspberry Pi to emulate a VAX running the VMS operating system, though Dave has no direct experience. With the RPi 4 and 5 there's a good chance that performance compared to an actual VAX might be similar if not better. This is just guesswork however! Apollo Guidance Computer: MrX discusses the development of these systems at NASA, which had to be small and very reliable. Use of integrated circuits which were very expensive and variable in quality. Use of rejected chips in other projects so they were not wasted. Finding information about things from the 1970s and 1980s: It's surprisingly hard to find much about technology, IT and so forth from that era. Information that existed on paper, in newspapers and magazines from that time has apparently never been recorded and made searchable. Burroughs Corporation: Dave worked on a Burroughs B6930 mainframe in the early 1980s at Heriot-Watt University. The Burroughs terminals model TD830 ran on two coaxial cables to connect to the mainframe and to each other in a sort of "bus" configuration. Dave has a new PC waiting to be set up. It's from TUXEDO Computers in Germany. It's an AMD Ryzen 7000 Raspberry Pi development: MrX is having difficulty finding time to work on his. Dave has set up two RPi 4B systems which boot off USB SSDs, one Pi running Pi-Hole. He has further plans for both, but hasn't done much yet. Dave also has a RPi 5 with a Pimoroni card under it holding a 500GB NVME M.2 card. The plan is to boot it off this disk, but it needs a case and a means of mounting to a DIN rail. Various computer problems: Dave had problems after an upgrade of Debian Testing on his main desktop, since the previous of these shows. The upgrade left the PC in an unusable state with no desktop manager, and it took some time to repair it (installing and configuring from the console). MrX upgraded a Raspberry Pi successfully, then applied another upgrade which failed. He was able to revert to the previous state luckily, but still has an out of date OS. Dave's laptop running KDE Neon failed due to not upgrading it frequently enough, so in this case, since it had nothing of importance on it, he just installed Linux Mint over the top of it! MrX still has a usable Eee PC, though the battery has failed. This is the model 700. Dave also has a Eee PC, the 1000 model, but hasn't used it for a while. Steady as she goes - a Nautical expression. A cry to a helmsman to keep on the current course.↩︎

The 16:9 PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY SCREENFEED – DIGITAL SIGNAGE CONTENT Using data is pretty much integral to just about any ambitious and involved digital signage network being spun up these days, but for a lot of vendors and their customers, it's still a relatively new concept and approach. That's definitely not the case for the Toronto-area CMS software firm Omnivex, which has been around for more than 30 years and has always made data-driven communications central to what it does. More than 20 years ago, the core Omnivex solution included a module called DataPipe. I know, because I was using the thing way back then for a digital ad network I launched ... probably 10 years too early, but that's a story for another time. While a lot of its competitors have developed and marketed platforms that are pretty and loaded with bling, Omnivex has resolutely stuck to its technology guns with software that's quite involved and very powerful. The net result is Omnivex gets involved in a lot of the more complicated jobs in which real-time data, and the context it provides, shapes what shows up on screens. Airports, for example, are a very active vertical. I had a long, detailed chat with Neil Chatwood, a transplanted Brit who runs the global transport file for Omnivex. We could have gone on for hours, as he has a lot of insights about data, security, and programming content for large, very involved environments. Neil, thank you for joining me. For those people who don't know Omnivex, can you just give a quick rundown on the company?  Neil Chatwood: Yeah, for sure. So, Omnivex was established back in the dark ages of digital signage, 1991. It's a privately owned organization, just outside of Toronto, Ontario and Canada. Oh, come on. It's in Toronto. Like, Toronto goes on forever.  Neil Chatwood: Yeah, it's right. Pretty much right on the border. Well, it's on the subway line now. They've expanded the subway, so that finally happened.  Yeah, it's not like you see countryside on the other side of the parking lot though. Neil Chatwood: Not anymore. In the last 10 years, there's been a Vaughan skyline, as depressing as that may be. But yeah, I've been around a long time in a private family owned organization and it's really grown off the back of our focus on leveraging real time data, integrating with basically any system we could possibly think of. And that pedigree has kept us in the business for over 30 years now.  Yeah, I have a history in a network I started more than 20 years ago using Omnivex. So I was familiar with Omnivex products and datapipe and everything. So we were talking before we turned on the recording. I found it amusing that a lot of the software side of the industry has awakened to the idea of data integration and data handling for the last four or five years when it's something you were doing like 25 years ago.  Neil Chatwood: Yeah. Back in around 2009-2010 when a lot of the industry was yelling Content is King. Right. Don't say that.  Neil Chatwood: I know. You see. I do. Yeah, it's a classic. And our ownership at the time, you know, they like to have fun and they took that and changed it into Context as King and we've really kind of run with that since inception. But I joined the organization in 2010 and data and complexity is where we've always really hung our hat. We're a software vendor but the majority of our revenue comes from licensed sales. But we really do find ourselves in the trenches with our partners and our clients getting in there and providing pseudo consultancy on what data do you have in house?  Like, how has it been stored? What methods can we use? And figuring out the solution in parallel with all of the stakeholders, even though at the face of it we're just slinging CMS licenses. So that's our heritage and when I'm when I start talking to someone who's interested in looking at the market or you get a lead or you're talking to someone at a trade show, my advice is always to take a look at a bunch of companies. Take a bunch of companies, look at all these CMSs. In all the old guard, there's a good handful of companies that I might say some names, Navori, for example, StrataCash, Scala, right. They're all pretty old guard, when we talk about the digital signage industry.  I encourage people to take a look at all the products that are on the market and once you start to get those demos and you start to go through the sales process, you can really see the DNA of where that company's come from, right? Like, are they focused on a really pleasant UX/UI experience? Are they focused on performing high end post processing within the platform itself and are good at asset generation as opposed to creating it in a third party piece of kit and bringing it in. Our DNA has always been on the data side our position is that if you're going to make good images and assets that you're going to bring into the CMS, trying to ask a creative to use a tool, that's not something they're already comfortable with, you know you're kind of paddling upstream on that. So we've always taken the position of let people use the software that they're already comfortable with. Let's not introduce a knowledge gap, bring it in. And that leads us to, well, if we're not going to focus on the asset side, let's focus on the data side. So yeah, that's where we've come from. And it's where goals are set for in the future as well.  Well, when you have literally hundreds of software options out there these days and I would suspect most of them in some way say, yes, we do data handling, we have data integration, we have APIs or whatever it may be. How does an end user discern what's real versus just you the bare essentials? Neil Chatwood: That's a good question. When the user is going through that sales process and they're doing their comparisons, they have to show you it works right? Like, we're in an industry that is extremely visual, very creative. And you and I have been to a lot of trade shows and a lot of the DSEs in our time and if you're walking around there on setup day, I've seen plenty of CMS vendors running their showreel on windows media player, right. Before the crowds arrive and it's like, well if your stuff's that good, why are you using that? Like, why are you doing it that way? So if I was a buyer or if I was a third party consultant trying to guide someone through this, I'd be like the first couple of calls you're going to have with them. You're going to get the dog and pony show, right. They're going to show you all the sexy stuff, right? Oh yeah, all works great. Do you want to bring this plug in? Get your IT team involved, right? The people who know where your data lives and what format it's in, how accessible it is. And get them to sit down with the sales engineers of these CMS companies and get them to POC and get your data into their product, right? Most CMSs at this point, they're cloud hosting their software as a service, right? If they're sitting there and they're saying this is really easy. We can just go bing bong bop and it comes in, alright then show me. Just don't accept it at face value if you really want to dig into this stuff. I don't know any software vendor out there that isn't going to entertain the idea of a proof of concept or at least won't say, yeah, sure like any salesperson just wants to get the sale. Right.  So, if you've got this accessible data, right. Let's say it's up on Azure, right. It's some kind of blob storage or if it's accessible through an API. Can you just give me the keys? Like, let me in and I'll show you it in real time and then we'll bring it in. Once they can prove that to you, then it's not about data accessibility anymore. It's then you need to start looking into the assurances that they're going to be ethical and they're going to have the same levels of governance and control over that data that is being ingested into their system. That's where a lot of our focus is now. And you've really kind of touched on that with APIs. Back in the nineties, when we were asked to integrate with all these different data sources. We were lucky if there was documentation, it was probably RS232, serial cables.. David:That's a term I haven't heard in a long time. Neil Chatwood: Yeah. Using Telnet to get in. So like, a lot of the solution building was just kind of banging your head against the wall just to even access the data and make it legible to processing that data into information and then getting that information down onto the screen. That is less of a concern now because we're at the point where any data provider, they've probably got a fully or semi documented API or they've got an SDK, a software development kit where for the most part, if we're looking to POC a data integration. It probably takes us two to four hours, right? But based on how well documented it is, if the data structure is easy to work with and more often than not, the biggest part that takes the most time is liaising with the third party organization to let us in, right?  Because the client will say, Oh yeah.we use such and such for this and we're using this product for our bus timetables, our bus scheduling. Can you guys hit that? So it's like, well, there's a good chance we've already hit it because we've got clients there already but if we haven't, then we need to start up an engagement and start talking to that third party organization. This is the sticking point, right? Because when we start talking to that third party organization that controls that data, that the client is already paying for and leveraging it in house. Depending on the attitude and market position of that third party, they might not want to let us in, right? Like there's a bunch of organizations out there that sell digital signage as a value add, right? So, a good example of that would be, the historic vendors for flight information display systems, right? Screens in airports showing arrivals and departures. They sold data and the screen element was like, Oh, by the way, you probably want to show this on a screen, right? So we'll just sell you that too. It's a value add, it's not a true CMS. It's a point solution. So when we're engaging with that third party vendor, I'm often at the head end of this for transportation, I'm like, Hey, we're working on this project with a mutual client, they want us to get into your data. Is there any way you can provide a sandbox or some test keys so we can just prove this out? Depending on where they're at, they might not want to let us in. So, the sticking point becomes, then I have to go back to the client and say to the client, I don't wanna cause any friction here, but we can't get in without credentials and they're not giving us any. So can you please get involved? And those are the conversations where things start getting political. We're not looking to roll logs under our course friction anywhere. But as far as I'm concerned, your client's already paying for the data, right? Like if you know if you want to bolt on some charges for hey now you're using it for digital signage, so we want to charge you an extra 5k a year. That's on you. But as far as I'm concerned, an existing client is paying for the data, they want to use it this way. You're standing in the way of progress here. So, how do we deal with that? I spend so much time dealing with that now. And a reaction to that about five years ago, I started a scum works team internally. Here in order to proactively build data partnerships so that when a client says a key phrase, Everbridge is a good example, right. For mass emergency notification. So when a client says Everbridge, we don't have to go through an uncertain process of reaching out to someone we don't know, not knowing what their position is. It's like, we've actually already got this working somewhere else. We can get in here. I can show you an example of it already working or if you can give us access, we can actually prove it with your data. So that, yeah, that's the business. I just wanted to ask,  I've seen companies that talk in terms of what I call functionality apps so that they developed a data handshake with, as you said, Everbridge and then they sort of market that as an application, this is something that we can activate for you. Is that how you look at it? Or is that kind of a different angle?  Neil Chatwood: We look at it that way, conceptually because it's modularity, right? So, in our product, we're going to use a mechanism to reach out to that, that could be through some custom scripting or it could be within a product in our stable that has a full UI, in order to access that data. Like a good example would be, back in the day we had a via link for a via phone system. Right. So, that functionality that some organizations call them widgets, right. Where it's like, Hey, I just want to slot in this functionality. It's a couple of clicks. I put in my username, put in my password and away we go. We operate that in the backend of the system. But at this point, don't have a full kind of walkthrough where it's like, Hey, put in your Twitter username and password and away you go. Ours is a little bit more behind the curtain. We do it that way because we have user personalities. We actually used to use the Simpsons characters too, like, are we dealing with a bar? Are we dealing with Maggie? Like, who are we dealing with here? So those user profiles. It's like, you should be doing this, right? And if when we're looking at building out a data integration, that should really be set and forget it. There really is no reason to go in there on a regular basis and be changing that information or that query or the way we're massaging the data. So that is an administrative function, right? That is something that's behind the scenes. By virtue of that, we're probably dealing with someone who's a bit more technical, as a bit of an IT background. So, we have a relatively open system, right? So, whereas when we're dealing with widgets and a simplified user experience. Click this button, put username in, click this button, put your password and click this, or it comes on screen and now you can kind of like trim that down like that. That's what I've seen some CMSs do and I think that's a really light low friction way to get that data in there. We take the approach of like we're a toolkit. We're going to assume that our users and our clients and our channel are matching our products and our toolkit to the right levels of user. So, in the backend, it's like, here's a fully open interface that you can do whatever the heck you want with, we can give you some foundational building blocks or modules to enable and empower that user to take it where they want to take it. And that speaks to kind of one of our other positions in the industry where anyone who's been around kind of knows that Omnivex deals with relatively complex situations because we've got that wide open back end that frankly is quite and is a bit scary, right? To a user that just wants to change a welcome board or change some numbers that are on a restaurant board. So that's really not our target market, right? Our target market is predominantly enterprise level. They've got an in-house IT team or they've got a good system integrator involved where we can really get into the weeds on what data you have. Data has a cost, right? Well organizations are paying to cultivate it, gather it, store it in house. How do we make that data actionable by adding incremental value to it? That's what we're looking for. So when we go into a situation, we want to find those people, those stakeholders within the end client and within our channel to get into those deeper discussions on like, I know you want to point an arrow to the right but if we look at what data you've got in house, like, let's say, modern elevator system or a modern escalator system where we're able to tie into the back end of, Hey, on a Monday, this elevator serves floors 8 through 12.  But, on weekends or on bank holidays, that elevator is completely shut off. Then, I probably don't want that arrow to go right, when that elevator is offline. I want it to point straight ahead like a zero degrees rotation, right? Instead of 90 degrees rotation. So if we don't have an awareness of what data the client has and the client doesn't have the kind of persona or has the team in house that knows, how their systems work and how their architecture and what data they have, then they might not be the best fit for the kind of challenges we're looking to tackle. You're doing a lot more than changing a price or a soup of the day.  Neil Chatwood: Yeah, that's the table stakes, right? I mean honestly, it's a bad word in our industry, but If you really want it to go down, PowerPoint is able to do that now. Like you can integrate PowerPoint with Excel. So I know, ever since I've been in the industry, you're always kind of one step away from someone saying, well, why wouldn't I just use PowerPoint for that? It's like, well, you're missing a whole bunch of functionality on top of it. But fundamentally, any CMS worth its salt has two core elements that it needs to play with. It needs to play with data and it needs to bring in assets and basically import those two elements into a layout, right? So by that definition, can PowerPoint do it? Yeah, If we really boil it down but there's so much value on top of any of these systems. But getting to that data, exploring the data with the clients is where our ROI comes in and that's a scary term for a lot of people in this industry too. I honestly think digital signage was really looking for ROI metrics for what feels like 20 years, we were really struggling. We only really started to get metrics around that in certain fields. Right. So it's really easy to establish ROI when we've got a camera pointed to the audience, we're looking at expressions and demographics and we're triggering it and we're detecting when eyeballs are looking this way. So ROI on that is really easy. You want me to give you ROI on a wayfinding arrow changing from zero degrees to 90 degrees. That's going to be a bit more obfuscated but maybe you're going to see that down the road when you have an independent audit on your facility and your KPIs go shifted five points because your space is a lot more usable now. So, adding incremental value on that data is really what we're looking to do and you mentioned menu boards. Menu boards are a real quick win. It's very transparent, the value of that is very clear but when we start to talk around, passengers flow around an airport or like nudge theory, convincing people to move one way instead of another way because that benefits the operations of the environment. That is a little bit more tricky to prove ROI on but the humans walking around that space are going to have less friction and less stress while they're in there. But it really all comes down to weaponizing the data like how do we get the most out of it? How do we turn data into information?  I could ask a bunch of questions but we probably talked for about three hours. I'm curious about a big job that you were directly involved in and Omnivex was obviously directly involved in at Minneapolis airport which is considered one of the better airports on the planet now. What's all involved there? Because there's a lot of data handling and a lot more going on than just saying that the flight to Seattle is at gate 47.  Neil Chatwood: Yeah, there is a lot going on at MSP and just to give them a quick shout out, MSP just won the best airport in North America for the third year running. I think that came out a couple of days back and I think they've won it like seven times out of the last eight years. So, they've got a dedicated team in house that takes care of this stuff. And I really want to focus on not Omnivex for a second here because the airport deserves to be called out here and so do us. We've got a system integrator in there called radiant technology as well out of Columbus, Ohio. And the success there has really started with the vision of their CIO, Eduardo Valencia. He was directly inspired by sports stadiums, right? And he was personally quite frustrated when he went to a sports stadium. How come the puck goes in the net, the whole stadium changes color and everything goes whiz bang and all of a sudden I'm being advertised, Coca Cola and like why do my screens in my airport suck? But I'm able to see this when I go to a hockey game. So there's got it. So he used certain mechanisms to figure out what's going on in the industry and who's able to power these full experiences within a facility and thankfully led him to us. So it really started with that frustration and they took a strategic view at the airport where you'll hear Eduardo talk about it. The entire airport should just be treated as a single pane of glass and I should be able to control any screen in the airport any way that I want which is a great ambition and a lot of facilities, it's not just airports. A lot of facilities have a similar ambition and it's very easy to start with that dream but it's not going to happen unless you align resources in house. So, MSP have their own decision making panel for digital signage.  They've got a group in house that is responsible for pushing this forward. Nothing good, nothing worthwhile, nothing award winning happens by accident. Like, they've taken a real pragmatic approach to this. So, they took a look at their screen estate. They took a look at the use cases. They took a look at that data and they engaged that system integrator as I mentioned, Radiant to like all right, how do we make good on all this stuff? So, it started from the top which kept teams engaged. It kept them focused and that's why this is a success. So, a part of that with a foundational piece of technology in there. But we're really just a toolkit and it speaks to what I mentioned before about, Hey, our backend might be a little bit scary but you can do whatever the heck you want. That's the power of a toolkit. So, to go back to what you mentioned about that widget and that usability you can have a really like turbo linear workflow but that really hamstrings capabilities, right? So when you're making a product, you've got to decide which way you want to go?  Do I want to go a mile wide? And an inch deep or do I want to go real deep where the scary stuff lives? That's where we typically are. Where were the, you know, where were the angler fish? So, that was MSPs approach and that example I mentioned was about what the elevators are doing, what the escalators are doing. What's happening operationally right now within my airport. So that's where you start. Like what's happening right now. Okay. So what's happening now? Well, Delta airlines have these check-in counters open. So well, I know my building, I know where the check-in counters are. So the screens that are directly parallel at the curbside to those check-in counters, then let the people pulling up in their cars know, Hey, if you want to go Delta, there's a big Delta logo and it says open underneath it. Okay. Particularly airports that are dynamically assigning check in counters for smaller airlines, right?  Neil Chatwood: For sure. Yeah. Multi-use, environment. So, when we're, yeah. So there's always going to be situations where like, Oh yeah, that terminal that's United terminal, right? So like, there's no real variance there, but there's a whole bunch of smaller airlines and they call it common use. So, yeah. So, you know, we've got systems where, you know, let's say, you know, a smaller airline, you know, logs in like, you know, one example could be Flair. I don't, it's not around anymore. Right. But flair could log in. Okay. Well, they've only got two flights a day but they need to take over the ticket counter, they need to take over this gate temporarily. So when they log into the common use platform which is what's on those screens in front of those agents. When they log into that common use platform by virtue of them logging in, I know who they are, right? And I know that they work for Flare. So now it makes sense to change the screens that are physically behind that desk. Put up the default content for Flare right now because until this agent makes some decisions around, this screen is going to be the backdrop. This screen is going to be a priority checking or whatever. Maybe we just want to highlight that this is Flare's house now and then as they go through their login procedure the screens can be set up any way that they like and what we can do is we can provide dashboards and linear use case tools that makes it easy for that user. That's where things should be easy where someone's interacting with digital signage as this is not their job. Like their job is to make sure that they're processing passengers and getting them to where they need to be. There might be really high turnover. They have no interest or time to be trained on how to use a content management product. So it's like, look at that requirement. So what do I need to do? I probably need to present the screens that are behind them, I need to present to them the assets that are available to them and I need them to highlight which flight that they care about right now, that could all be manual. So, their experience is like, okay, I'm Neil, I've logged in, I'm at Flare, bang, screens change. Okay, I've got four screens behind me, what do you want on each one of these screens? I want to do image one, image three and image five. Instantly goes up on the screens behind them. All right, I'm done. So that's where it's really important to reduce that friction and make it easy. Not necessarily when we're setting up the data flow because again, I'm only really going to be setting up that data flow once and then maybe changing it when upstream data sources change. That experience for that airline agent, that is multiple times a day. That's where we need it to be frictionless, not on the data integration side. I think it's interesting with airports and other large footprint facilities like mass transport hubs, stadiums, multi use areas where there's a stadium, restaurants, residential, commercial on and on and on and airports in particular, I kind of see two threads to how experience works. I see these gorgeous, very ambitious, very expensive, digital art installations and giant LED walls in newly built airports and they talk about the experience of that and how people are going to feel good about flying and so on. But I see this whole other side and it is much more what you're talking about. A great experience in an airport is not being panicked, not being lost, not being delayed, not knowing where things are, all that sort of stuff. To me, that's a far more important experience, is that kind of how you see it and how some of your clients see it?  Neil Chatwood: There's a few hats I could wear on this. The first hat I'll wear is someone who wants to sell as many licenses as possible. I would rather they have a thousand flat panel screens, right. But that's not where the industry's going. Right. And the big reason for that is, we as an industry, we've watched the price of DV LEDs really just go through the floor to the point where there's real comparisons where it's like, is this a parity with like a 55 inch flat panel now For me to get a DVD, like a modular DVLED the same price. So that's a huge part of it. It's like the cost has finally come down to a point where it's reasonable at scale but a lot of it is also just straight up hype, right? Like airports, like anyone else have to sell and compete with other airports. And this is something that you don't really think about until you get into it but when you've got two airports that are within an hour's drive of each other. They're not only competing for passengers, they're competing for the airlines.  Yeah.  Neil Chatwood: Right? So it's like, If I'm courting with the idea of trying to bring a major airline two that are right next to each other but a good comparison would be like SFO in Oakland, right? So it's like, okay well, if I'm in Oakland, how do I convince people not to go over the bridge to SFO? I'd probably need the carriers that carry the most passengers.  San Jose? Neil Chatwood: Oh yeah. Good example. Yeah. So a lot of these big sexy installations are coming from, you've got to keep up with the Joneses. But also the price of DVLEDs is reasonable now. So there is that part of the market where it's all about the LinkedIn posts and the marketing and the wow factor. Yeah, you're exactly right. So there'll be like a handful of those within an airport, right? Like a good example would be, Nashville. We worked on a project with Nashville airport and the content that provided for that was, Gentle Home out of Montreal, where they all are. So, they provided that in an awesome job but that is just one. It's essentially two screens in probably in a state of, I think about 800 or so,  Something like that. Neil Chatwood: So, the big glitzy installations are now basically a requirement for any new build or any renovation for any airport. There's a couple of projects that I'm aware of that are really interesting. But in terms of decision making, like when I come back down to the fundamental goal of signage in general, not just digital, is to convey information quickly and clearly guide decision making in an environment. Is this generative AI artwork doing that? No, it's not going to help me get some flight on time but it might bring down my blood pressure a little bit, that's what these art installations are, right?  Like they're looking for an opportunity for facilities to express themselves, reinforce their branding, market the local area but also sell advertising which is a huge driving factor on some of these big installations too. So, there's very much like, let's call them the anchors, right? Like they're the anchor installations now where there's millions and millions of dollars being spent and then it's why I've always kind of enjoyed your outlook and your material Dave is like, the boring stuff and that's what I'm into as well and when I'm walking around the world. That's the stuff that I'm like, Oh, that is cool as hell. One of the best bits of boring signage at MSP is that good design is invisible, right? So, there is an underground walkway. It's not a walkway. It's more like a hallway but it's very much a liminal space and you're going under there. I'm trying to imagine putting my hand up. It's probably about 10 feet tall. So it's like, well, there's not much opportunity for overhead signage cause we can only really add probably about eight inches to this, like overhead. So, that team works with a display vendor and they put in, I think it's roughly around it's about a hundred or so feet wide. I know I'm probably over, I get it. It's probably about 80 feet wide. But 80 feet wide by about seven inches high.  So number one, okay, well, we're still compliant with safety and we've got this screen in this hallway now. What's great about it is it's pure wayfinding. All it does is just show people where they need to go. But upstream of this, like this very boring sign is I would estimate two and a half thousand data points. Yeah. In order to get the arrow point in the right way showing, Oh, you're looking for this airline or you're looking for a route with accessibility or you're looking for the TSA. When you add together the time to get to the queue, plus the queue time, which way should you go? What condition are the elevators in? What condition are the escalators in? Where as an airport, do I want to drive people right now, based on what's going on in my space? All that intelligence is above that sign, logically. But as a passenger, I look at it and I'm like, Oh yeah, I'm going with Air Canada today. Bump, I'm done. But the solution is so complex behind it but ultimately, it just means, Hey, this logo appears on screen and this arrow is at 220 degrees and that boils down to that. And I think that use case is beautiful like simplicity in design, it gets rid of the friction. It gets people where they need to be. That's what we're in this business for.  But the bottom line on that is it looks simple to the end user, to the observer, but there's a lot going on behind the curtains to make that work seamless.  Neil Chatwood: Yeah. Again, good design is invisible, right? Like you would have no idea the complexity that goes on with that screen. Like I said, we could talk for a very long time but we're already running longer than I usually do. So I got to wind this down, Neil, this has been great.  Neil Chatwood: Thanks, Dave. Omnivex has been around for a long time. I've been around a long time. You've been around a long time. I'm surprised we've not get to this earlier but thanks so much. I really respect Sixteen Nine and what you've done for the industry. And I encourage you to keep at it. We need a rational voice in this craziness.  All right. Well, thanks. Thanks again.  Neil Chatwood: All right. Thanks a lot, Dave. Take care.

Summary: In this episode, Daniel Newman and Mark Powell discuss various aspects of AV receivers (AVRs) and provide insights into choosing the right one for your needs. They cover topics such as comparing audio technologies, integration with control systems, and additional considerations when selecting an AVR. They emphasize the importance of working with a designer and asking the right questions to make informed decisions. They also caution against relying solely on built-in features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for music playback, recommending separate devices for better sound quality. The episode concludes with a reminder to subscribe, comment, and share the podcast. Takeaways When comparing audio technologies, it's important to work with a designer and gather opinions from experts to make informed decisions. Integration with control systems involves considering features like 12 volt triggers, RS232 connections, and network IP control. Built-in features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in AV receivers may not offer the best sound quality for music playback, so separate devices may be preferable. Subscribing, commenting, and sharing the podcast helps support its growth and future episodes. If you have questions or want a design for your home or business, reach out at thesoundofdesign.com

This week's EYE ON NPI is a new spin on an old familiar classic, it's Arduino's UNO R4 Minima and R4 WiFi Boards (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/a/arduino/uno-r4-minima-and-r4-wifi-boards) now in stock at DigiKey for folks who want a 5V microcontroller board with classic UNO-compatibility but a ton more speed, flash and RAM! The UNO R4 comes in two flavors, the Minima (https://www.digikey.com/short/r70jbj93) is low cost, only $20, whereas the UNO R4 WiFi (https://www.digikey.com/short/qj072pnm) is $27.50 and adds WiFi and BLE via an ESP32-S3 plus a cute monochrome LED grid for scrolling messages or displaying status icons. This pair of dev boards look just like those classic Arduino boards you probably learned to code and hack on, they've been around for almost 20 years, the first board looked very similar, but had a RS232 serial port instead of USB, and all through-hole components (https://blog.arduino.cc/2021/12/09/one-board-to-rule-them-all-history-of-the-arduino-uno/). Through various iterations and improvements, the original board was redesigned to add USB and update to the ATmega168 with the Diecimila (https://docs.arduino.cc/retired/boards/arduino-diecimila) and then the ATmega328 plus auto-power-switching Duemilanove (https://docs.arduino.cc/retired/boards/arduino-duemilanove) in 2009. In 2010 the most popular Arduino to date was released, the UNO, which updated the USB port to use an ATmega16u2 and through various small revisions added the IOref pin to allow 3V power/logic and separate I2C pins since A4/A5 were no longer always connected to a TWI peripheral. Since about 2012, which was the release date of the UNO R3, not a lot has happened with that particular configuration/shape. Arduino the company has released a ton more boards but in different form factors, all available at DigiKey: Nano, Due, MKR, Portenta etc. (https://www.digikey.com/en/supplier-centers/arduino) and you should definitely check them out! But it's also a big deal when the main workhorse of the family gets a respin. Particularly since the new R4 takes a very different direction than the previous UNOs: instead of just upgrading the atmegaxx8 chipset, Arduino has gone with the totally different ARM Cortex-based RA4M series which we've covered on a previous EYE ON NPI (https://blog.adafruit.com/2023/05/25/eye-on-npi-renesas-ra4m1-microcontroller-series-eyeonnpi-digikey-renesasglobal-digikey-adafruit/) In that video we covered a lot about the chip itself so check it out if you're interested in the specifics of that chip family. The chip itself is a similar family to the ARM Cortex M0-based SAMD21 'Arduino Zero' (https://store-usa.arduino.cc/products/arduino-zero?selectedStore=us) but thanks to the Renesas version of this core, we now get the 5V-run RA4M. From Arduino's description, here are some of the updates: - Hardware compatibility with UNO form factor: The UNO R4 Minima maintains the same form factor, pinout, and 5 V operating voltage as its predecessor, the UNO R3. This ensures a seamless transition for existing shields and projects, leveraging the extensive and unique ecosystem already established for the Arduino UNO. - Expanded memory and faster clock: Prepare for more precise calculations and the ability to handle complex projects with ease. The UNO R4 Minima boasts increased memory and a faster clock speed, empowering you to tackle demanding tasks effortlessly. - Extra on-board peripherals: The UNO R4 Minima introduces a range of on-board peripherals, including a 12-bit DAC, CAN BUS, and OP AMP. These additional components provide you with expanded capabilities and flexibility in your designs. - Extended 24 V tolerance: The UNO R4 Minima now supports a wider input voltage range, allowing power supplies up to 24 V. This enables seamless integration with motors, LED strips, and other actuators, simplifying your projects by utilizing a single power source. - SWD connector: Debugging is a critical aspect of any project. Simply connect an external debugger to the UNO R4 Minima and effortlessly monitor the inner workings of your system. Stay in control and gain valuable insights. - HID support: The UNO R4 Minima comes with built-in HID (Human Interface Device) support, enabling it to simulate a mouse or keyboard when connected to a computer via a USB cable. This convenient feature makes it a breeze to send keystrokes and mouse movements to a computer, enhancing usability and functionality. At $20 a piece, these new Arduino UNO R4s (https://www.digikey.com/short/qj072pnm) are a great price for the high quality you get from Arduino - and there's lots of them in stock at DigiKey for immediate shipment! Grab both the UNO R4 Minima (https://www.digikey.com/short/r70jbj93) and UNO R4 WiFi (https://www.digikey.com/short/qj072pnm), and they'll ship immediately so you can get started moving your 8-bit micro projects to Cortex-M4 by tomorrow afternoon

Are you following the right strategies for your business? You will find yourself moving through different stages where you will face different challenges, and require different strategies, as you build your expert business and escape the 9 to 5. In this week's episode, you will discover… • The 3 stages that you will progress through as you build your expert business • The different challenges you'll face at each of the 3 stages • Specific priority areas and strategies to follow at each stage Tune in to identify which stage of business you are currently in, and where you should be focusing to move up to the next level. If you enjoy listening to the show, please subscribe and leave a review! Resources mentioned during the episode: The Outsiders Business Academy - A self-paced course for you to work through in your own time, to learn – and implement – the foundations of building a profitable business that lets you escape the 9 to 5. www.onestepoutside.com/course Book a free consultation - Get on the phone with Anna to discuss your unique goals and situation to determine the best programme for you, so you can start taking action towards creating the business and lifestyle you desire. www.onestepoutside.com/free-coaching-consultation/ Join the free Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/onestepoutside/ Follow Anna on Instagram: https://instagram.com/annaselundberg  Get started with these free resources: Explore a broader definition of success https://onestepoutside.com/success  Find a way to quit your job and start your own business https://onestepoutside.com/roadmap  Get a free assessment of your business https://onestepoutside.com/scorecard Discover the book, Outside the Corporate 9 to 5: www.leavingthecorporate9to5.com

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjN1LmbU9McEbNYN7w0GWDpi0KGYYNEvxIngresa al curso completo de Capas físicas Seriales en YouTube ☝️

In this episode we hear 5 great talks from BayCon 2022.  The topics include go kit prep, radio coverage modeling, building a remote control keyboard for a radio, replacing the RS232 port with Ethernet and finally an introduction to the Bench Duino development board.  

Inoffensive in every region of the world. Meeting me is a completely different story. Name is Trey. I have been listening to HPR for about a year and after hearing repeated pleas for episodes, I thought I would record some of my own. I cannot guarantee quality of production nor content, but I hope you find them entertaining. This episode is simply an introduction with a little bit of information about me My love of computers began 40 years ago when my parents scrimped and saved to purchase a Texas Instruments TI-99/4a computer. I began programming in BASIC, saving programs to audio cassette tapes. I remember buying magazines to get new programs to enter, save, edit, and turn into something different. Soon I expanded the computer to include 32K of RAM and an RS232 card which allowed me to connect a 300 BAUD modem and connect to bulletin board systems (BBS). BBS became my connection to the world. I later upgraded to a Commodore 64, which gave me a floppy disk. Much faster than saving to tape. I studied electronics & computers in college, then went to work for a large computer vendor, traveling all over fixing computers, networks, and peripherals. After about a decade, I joined a different company where I worked in systems administration and engineering, with a focus on information security. I have worked as security analyst, incident responder, security engineer, and security architect, then built out and managed the SOC for a large organization. Today, I am still focused on information security and I also dabble in clock repair, Ham radio, electronics, and photography. I may record some episodes on some of these topics in the future. Thank you for listening to me prattle on about myself, and have an awesome day.

ANTIC Episode 76 - The Bill Kendrick Show In this episode of ANTIC The Atari 8-Bit Computer Podcast… Bill Kendrick gets more mentions than when he’s on the show, Kay discovers he owns more Atari disk drives than the rest of the Atari community combined, and we discuss all the news rocking the Atari 8-bit world. READY! Recurring Links  Floppy Days Podcast  AtariArchives.org  AtariMagazines.com  Kevin’s Book “Terrible Nerd”  New Atari books scans at archive.org  ANTIC feedback at AtariAge  Atari interview discussion thread on AtariAge  Interview index: here  ANTIC Facebook Page  AHCS  Eaten By a Grue  Next Without For  What We’ve Been Up To Worms? Source code archiving - https://github.com/savetz/worms  Atari Speed Reading Receipts - https://archive.org/details/atari-speed-reading-receipts  News  800XL PCB remake: https://ezcontents.org/atari-800xl-pcb-soldering-and-troubleshooting https://ezcontents.org/atari-800xl-bill-materials-bom https://ezcontents.org/atari-800xl-pcb-remake ATasm, a command-line based 6502 cross-assembler that's compatible with OSS's 1982 "Mac/65" macroassembler: SourceForge page - https://sourceforge.net/projects/atasm/  The documentation - https://sourceforge.net/p/atasm/code/HEAD/tree/trunk/atasm.txt#l54  Atari Projects - Jason Moore does it again! - http://atariprojects.org/  Learn about Vertical Blank Interrupts in BASIC for Atari 8-Bit Computers (30-60 mins) Read “How Atari took on Apple in the 1980s home PC wars” by Benj Edwards (5-10 mins)  Atari Flashback X with Atari Computer Games - https://www.atariteca.net.pe/2021/03/pack-con-mas-de-130-juegos-para-consola.html Paul Nicholls’ Coded Snippets Cookbook - 6502 edition - https://syntaxerrorsoftware.itch.io/code-snippets-cookbook-6502-edition  Atari Giant - http://atarigiant.com/ - Web site store that caters to Atari 8-bit  Pro(c) issue 15 - https://proc-atari.de/en/proc-atari-magazine/proc-atari-issue-15-softcover-book-edition  USB Keyboard Interface available from Lotharek - https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=311  Belts for 1050 - https://console5.com/store/fabric-reinforced-belt-for-atari-1050-tandon-tm100-4p-floppy-drive.html  Atari Compendium Website - Mostly 2600, with a smattering of computer - http://www.ataricompendium.com/game_library/controllers/controllers.html  Gem Drop Deluxe - Bill Kendrick - http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/gemdrop_deluxe/  Shows Upcoming Shows where you might see Atari computers (or Atari people): VCFSE August 20-22 http://southernfriedgameroomexpo.com/  KansasFest July 23-24 https://www.kansasfest.org ; virtual event  PRGE - cancelled  August 7 & 8, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival West 2021 (VCF West)  October 8, 9, 10, 2021: Vintage Computer Festival East 2021 (VCF East)  Event page created by Chicago Classic Computing - http://chiclassiccomp.org/events.html?fbclid=IwAR3Fm5hf7PCQj0yXBxXvj9J8Mp8GDwD2w1bfD_qktpPOnNYNoQUmN_EpgB8  Event page created by Floppy Days - https://www.facebook.com/VintageComputerShows/  Event page on Vintage Is The New Old - https://vintageisthenewold.com/vintage-is-the-new-old-releases-new-events-calendar/  YouTube videos this month The real fight Atari versus Commodore - IT Guy in Action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFhAX9gijXY  Atari 800 - Part 2 - Replacing Electrolytic Capacitors - ShadowTron Blog - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-dgDZ4MJYM  NEW IMPROVED VERSION EN Atari 8-bit emulator (Atari800 emulator) - IT Guy in Action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoONYg8Yehs  Gem Drop Deluxe! (Atari 800) - ArcadeUSA (William Culver) - Programmed by Bill Kendrick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SNvh88SiW4  Also Gem Drop Deluxe! video by Atari 8 Bits For Ever - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HBQOjnBKu8  Gem Drop Deluxe! blog by Bill Kendrick - http://newbreedsoftware.com/gemdrop_deluxe/?fbclid=IwAR3VrwTV4-XAVd-S1exD5EiDdMhy0CQtRZIWBH8oqkfGqTVUJzWva3aE94M  Quarter Express - 256 bytes intro for Atari XL/XE by Ilmenit / Agenda - For Lovebyte party 2021, "Low-End 256 byte intro compo" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UKnPHhKaFg  Atari 800 XL Lite Rally Motorcycle racing game - The Modern Atari 8bit Computer (Nir Dary) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnG43ooEHtE  New at Archive.org Pigeons at Internet Archive Scholar. Several researchers tested pigeons' perception and visual ability using Atari 800 computers. A dozen papers dated 1983-1993 - https://scholar.archive.org/search?q=%22atari+800%22+pigeons&sort_order=time_desc  Atari HQ Archive #1 -  https://archive.org/details/atari-hq-archive-1  Allan Bushman: Your First Atari Program by Rodnay Zaks https://archive.org/details/your-first-atari-program-rodnay-zaks Software Merchandising magazine, January, 1983 https://archive.org/details/software-merchandising-january-1983/ Current Notes magazines 1994-1995 https://archive.org/details/current-notes-volume-15-number-1-january-february-1995 Portland Atari Club newsletters 1994-1995 https://archive.org/details/portland-atari-club-january-1985  Adventure International's Airline manual https://archive.org/details/airline-adventure-international/page/n19/mode/2up  Commercial Touch Me By Atari (Commercial, 1979) - https://archive.org/details/touch-me-by-atari-commercial-1979  New at Github  Atari 800 Soundbox https://github.com/zbyti/atari800-soundbox  ATARI XE Replacement Keyboard https://github.com/gianlucarenzi/A130KB_MX  XEGS-DS https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/XEGS-DS  Also A5200DS https://github.com/wavemotion-dave/A5200DS Atari800-Display-Lists https://github.com/pedromagician/Atari800-Display-Lists  Atari 1090XL expansion box remake https://github.com/kenames99/1090 Atari800-benchmarks https://github.com/pedromagician/Atari800-benchmarks Micview https://github.com/tschak909/micview Turbo Decoder https://github.com/baktragh/turbodecoder MidiJoy https://github.com/fredlcore/MidiJoy  USB_to_RS232 Connector https://github.com/pjones1063/USB_to_RS232#usb_to_rs232-connector-usbmodem  Listener Feedback  Vegas 1988 World of Atari show - https://archive.org/details/WorldOfAtariConventionLasVegas1998/  Closing END OF SHOW MUSIC: Donnie Iris and the Cruisers - Do You Compute? (1983) - music video featuring an Atari 1200XL - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Rjyu_4HzI 

RS232 How will BERT Affect SEO

In this episode of the Rogue Startups Podcast, Craig is joined by Steve Mcleod from the Bootstrapped podcast. Steve is also the founder of Feature Upvote and the acquirer of Saber Feedback. Bootstrapped has been creating helpful episodes for software bootstrappers since 2013. The formatting of the show consists of episodes which are interviews with […]

Quieres unirte al club y ser un EEYMUCQUER te dejo el Whatsapphttps://wa.me/573128329992?text=HolaEn el Episodio de Hoy les cuento el porqué seguimos usando estándares seriales en la capa física, es decir, el RS232, RS 422 y el RS485https://www.eeymuc.co/161-vigencia-de-los-estandares-seriales/

Quieres unirte al club y ser un EEYMUCQUER te dejo el Whatsapp https://wa.me/573128329992?text=Hola En el Episodio de Hoy les cuento el porqué seguimos usando estándares seriales en la capa física, es decir, el RS232, RS 422 y el RS485 https://www.eeymuc.co/161-vigencia-de-los-estandares-seriales/

In this release Tommy builds the neat WB0OEW Ham Clock. Emile discusses hurricane preparedness. George shows the ‘dead bug’ method of construction using a surface mount MAX-232 TTL to RS232 level converter. 1:22:33

In this release Tommy builds the neat WB0OEW Ham Clock. Emile discusses hurricane preparedness. George shows the ‘dead bug’ method of construction using a surface mount MAX-232 TTL to RS232 level converter. 1:22:33

Die serielle Schnittstelle gehörte lange Zeit zur Standardausstattung jedes Computers und ist auch heute noch besonders in industriellen Anlagen oder Kassensystemen verbreitet. Der Standard nach dem diese Schnittstellen betrieben werden trägt den klangvollen Namen RS-232...

Today we're talking about a classic, the Uniden BC780XLT.  This radio came out in 2000 and it shook up the scanner radio market.  Learn why the power that was behind it made it a go-to scanner for many people at the time and what was available for this model on the aftermarket.    What You Learn in this Week’s Podcast: Learn what the BC780XLT could do right out of the box.  The BC780XLT was strictly analog. You can put a Motorola trunk system in the same bank as conventional frequencies.  You can't mix two trunk systems in the same bank but you can mix conventional and trunking together. This model allows you to search out CTCSS and DCS tones.  You can program 500 channels in 10 banks. It works well as a weather receiver You can program scan delays that are built-in per channel, and you can have a limit hold on each frequency. This scanner has channel alerts. A very cool feature is this scanner’s versatile RS232 serial port. You have a tape-out on the back of the radio Program searches are built-in. You can pre-program ten search ranges and have selectable step sizes. The display was revolutionary for the time. There were many aftermarket software options for this model. People took this scanner with them and actually used it as a portable radio. Aftermarket Accessories Include: Protective carrying cases for portable use There was a way to have internal battery packs powering the scanner. AM and shortwave broadcasts modification An automatic mute with an RF sensor mod. Remote head kit. All session notes with links to the items we talked about can be found on our website at www.scannerschool.com/session119 You can help support Scanner School by visiting our support page at www.scannerschool.com/support Don't forget to join us for our weekly net on Zello. For info, visit https://www.scannerschool.com/zello

Episode 49 Show Notes -- http://cococrew.org/cococrew-podcast-49.html

Trip reports from the Essen Hackathon and BSDCam, CfT: ZFS native encryption and UFS trim consolidation, ZFS performance benchmarks on a FreeBSD server, how to port your OS to EC2, Vint Cerf about traceability, Remote Access console to an RPi3 running FreeBSD, and more. ##Headlines Essen Hackathon & BSDCam 2018 trip report Allan and Benedict met at FRA airport and then headed to the Air Rail terminal for our train to Essen where the Hackathon would happen over the weekend of Aug 10 - 12, 2018. Once there, we did not have to wait long until other early-arrivals would show up and soon we had about 10 people gathered for lunch. After buying some take-out pizzas and bringing it back to the Linuxhotel (there was a training still going on there so we could not get into our rooms yet), we sat in the sunny park and talked. More and more people arrived and soon, people started hacking on their laptops. Some people would not arrive until a few hours before midnight, but we already had a record appearance of 20 people in total. On Saturday, we gathered everyone in one of the seminar rooms that had rooms and chairs for us. After some organizational infos, we did an introductory round and Benedict wrote down on the whiteboard what people were interested in. It was not long until groups formed to talk about SSL in base, weird ZFS scrubs that would go over 100% completion (fixed now). Other people started working on ports, fixing bugs, or wrote documentation. The day ended in a BBQ in the Linuxhotel park, which was well received by everyone. On Sunday, after attendees packed up their luggage and stored it in the seminar room, we continued hacking until lunchtime. After a quick group picture, we headed to a local restaurant for the social event (which was not open on Saturday, otherwise we would have had it then). In the afternoon, most people departed, a good half of them were heading for BSDCam. Commits from the hackathon (the ones from 2018) Overall, the hackathon was well received by attendees and a lot of them liked the fact that it was close to another BSD gathering so they could nicely combine the two. Also, people thought about doing their own hackathon in the future, which is an exciting prospect. Thanks to all who attended, helped out here and there when needed. Special Thanks to Netzkommune GmbH for sponsoring the social event and the Linuxhotel for having us. Benedict was having a regular work day on Monday after coming back from the hackathon, but flew out to Heathrow on Tuesday. Allan was in London a day earlier and arrived a couple of hours before Benedict in Cambridge. He headed for the Computer Lab even though the main event would not start until Wednesday. Most people gathered at the Maypole pub on Tuesday evening for welcomes, food and drinks. On Wednesday, a lot of people met in the breakfast room of Churchill College where most people were staying and went to the Computer Lab, which served as the main venue for BSDCam, together. The morning was spend with introductions and collecting what most people were interested in talking. This unconference style has worked well in the past and soon we had 10 main sessions together for the rest of this and the following two days (full schedule). Most sessions took notes, which you can find on the FreeBSD wiki. On Thursday evening, we had a nice formal dinner at Trinity Hall. BSDCam 2018 was a great success with a lot of fruitful discussions and planning sessions. We thank the organizers for BSDCam for making it happen. A special mentions goes out to Robert Watson and his family. Even though he was not there, he had a good reason to miss it: they had their first child born at the beginning of the week. Congratulations and best wishes to all three of them! ###Call for Testing: ZFS Native Encryption for FreeBSD A port of the ZoL (ZFS-on-Linux) feature that provides native crypto support for ZFS is ready for testing on FreeBSD Most of the porting was done by sef@freebsd.org (Sean Eric Fagan) The original ZoL commit is here: https://github.com/zfsonlinux/zfs/pull/5769/commits/5aef9bedc801830264428c64cd2242d1b786fd49 For an overview, see Tom Caputi’s presentation from the OpenZFS Developers Summit in 2016 Video: https://youtu.be/frnLiXclAMo Slides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5hUzsxe4cdmU3ZTRXNxa2JIaDQ/view?usp=sharing WARNING: test in VMs or with spare disks etc, pools created with this code, or upgraded to this version, will no longer be importable on systems that do not support this feature. The on-disk format or other things may change before the final version, so you will likely have to ‘zfs send | zfs recv’ the data on to a new pool Thanks for testing to help this feature land in FreeBSD iXsystems ###Call for Testing: UFS TRIM Consolidation Kirk Mckusick posts to the FreeBSD mailing list looking for testers for the new UFS TRIM Consolidation code When deleting files on filesystems that are stored on flash-memory (solid-state) disk drives, the filesystem notifies the underlying disk of the blocks that it is no longer using. The notification allows the drive to avoid saving these blocks when it needs to flash (zero out) one of its flash pages. These notifications of no-longer-being-used blocks are referred to as TRIM notifications. In FreeBSD these TRIM notifications are sent from the filesystem to the drive using the BIODELETE command. Until now, the filesystem would send a separate message to the drive for each block of the file that was deleted. Each Gigabyte of file size resulted in over 3000 TRIM messages being sent to the drive. This burst of messages can overwhelm the drive’s task queue causing multiple second delays for read and write requests. This implementation collects runs of contiguous blocks in the file and then consolodates them into a single BIODELETE command to the drive. The BIODELETE command describes the run of blocks as a single large block being deleted. Each Gigabyte of file size can result in as few as two BIODELETE commands and is typically less than ten. Though these larger BIODELETE commands take longer to run, they do not clog the drive task queue, so read and write commands can intersperse effectively with them. Though this new feature has been throughly reviewed and tested, it is being added disabled by default so as to minimize the possibility of disrupting the upcoming 12.0 release. It can be enabled by running `sysctl vfs.ffs.dotrimcons=1’’. Users are encouraged to test it. If no problems arise, we will consider requesting that it be enabled by default for 12.0. This support is off by default, but I am hoping that I can get enough testing to ensure that it (a) works, and (b) is helpful that it will be reasonable to have it turned on by default in 12.0. The cutoff for turning it on by default in 12.0 is September 19th. So I am requesting your testing feedback in the near-term. Please let me know if you have managed to use it successfully (or not) and also if it provided any performance difference (good or bad). To enable TRIM consolidation usesysctl vfs.ffs.dotrimcons=1’ There is also a diff that adds additional statistics: https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2018-August/070798.html You can also watch the volume and latency of BIODELETE commands by running gstat with the -d flag ##News Roundup ZFS performance Aravindh Sampathkumar, a Performance Engineer and Sysadmin posts some simple benchmarks he did on a new ZFS server This is NOT an all-in post about ZFS performance. I built a FreeBSD+ZFS file server recently at work to serve as an offsite backup server. I wanted to run a few synthetic workloads on it and look at how it fares from performance perspective. Mostly for curiosity and learning purposes. As stated in the notes about building this server, performance was not one of the priorities, as this server will never face our active workload. What I care about from this server is its ability to work with rsync and keep the data synchronised with our primary storage server. With that context, I ran a few write tests to see how good our solution is and what to expect from it in terms of performance. The article then uses FIO to do some benchmarks. As the author did, make sure you match the FIO block size to the ZFS record size to avoid write amplification. Either tune FIO or adjust the recordsize property in ZFS You also want to consider compression and cache effects Write Performance: Incompressible: 1600-2600 MB/s, Compressible: 2500-6600 MB/s Another over 1200 MB/s is enough to keep your 10 gigabit network saturated The increased latency that is seen with higher number of writers working, may be the result of the ZFS backpressure system (the write throttle). There is some tuning that can be done there. Specifically, since this machine has 768 GB of ram, you might allow more than 4GB of dirty data, which would mean you’d be able to write larger batches and not have to push back while you wait for a transaction group to flush when dealing with gigabytes/sec of writes ###How to port your OS to EC2 Colin Percival reflects on his FreeBSD on EC2 maintainership efforts in his blog: I’ve been the maintainer of the FreeBSD/EC2 platform for about 7.5 years now, and as far as “running things in virtual machines” goes, that remains the only operating system and the only cloud which I work on. That said, from time to time I get questions from people who want to port other operating systems into EC2, and being a member of the open source community, I do my best to help them. I realized a few days ago that rather than replying to emails one by one it would be more efficient to post something publicly; so — for the benefit of the dozen or so people who want to port operating systems to run in EC2, and the curiosity of maybe a thousand more people who use EC2 but will never build AMIs themselves — here’s a rough guide to building EC2 images. Before we can talk about building images, there are some things you need: Your OS needs to run on x86 hardware. 64-bit (“amd64”, “x86-64”) is ideal, but I’ve managed to run 32-bit FreeBSD on “64-bit” EC2 instances so at least in some cases that’s not strictly necessary. You almost certainly want to have drivers for Xen block devices (for all of the pre-Nitro EC2 instances) or for NVMe disks (for the most recent EC2 instances). Theoretically you could make do without these since there’s some ATA emulation available for bootstrapping, but if you want to do any disk I/O after the kernel finishes booting you’ll want to have a disk driver. Similarly, you need support for the Xen network interface (older instances), Intel 10 GbE SR-IOV networking (some newer but pre-Nitro instances), or Amazon’s “ENA” network adapters (on Nitro instances), unless you plan on having instances which don’t communicate over the network. The ENA driver is probably the hardest thing to port, since as far as I know there’s no way to get your hands on the hardware directly, and it’s very difficult to do any debugging in EC2 without having a working network. Finally, the obvious: You need to have an AWS account, and appropriate API access keys. Building a disk image Building an AMI I wrote a simple tool for converting disk images into EC2 instances: bsdec2-image-upload. It uploads a disk image to Amazon S3; makes an API call to import that disk image into an EBS volume; creates a snapshot of that volume; then registers an EC2 AMI using that snapshot. To use bsdec2-image-upload, you’ll first need to create an S3 bucket for it to use as a staging area. You can call it anything you like, but I recommend that you Create it in a “nearby” region (for performance reasons), and Set an S3 “lifecycle policy” which deletes objects automatically after 1 day (since bsdec2-image-upload doesn’t clean up the S3 bucket, and those objects are useless once you’ve finished creating an AMI). Boot configuration Odds are that your instance started booting and got as far as the boot loader launching the kernel, but at some point after that things went sideways. Now we start the iterative process of building disk images, turning them into AMIs, launching said AMIs, and seeing where they break. Some things you’ll probably run into here: EC2 instances have two types of console available to them: A serial console and an VGA console. (Or rather, emulated serial and emulated VGA.) If you can have your kernel output go to both consoles, I recommend doing that. If you have to pick one, the serial console (which shows up as the “System Log” in EC2) is probably more useful than the VGA console (which shows up as “instance screenshot”) since it lets you see more than one screen of logs at once; but there’s a catch: Due to some bizarre breakage in EC2 — which I’ve been complaining about for ten years — the serial console is very “laggy”. If you find that you’re not getting any output, wait five minutes and try again. You may need to tell your kernel where to find the root filesystem. On FreeBSD we build our disk images using GPT labels, so we simply need to specify in /etc/fstab that the root filesystem is on /dev/gpt/rootfs; but if you can’t do this, you’ll probably need to have different AMIs for Nitro instances vs. non-Nitro instances since Xen block devices will typically show up with different device names from NVMe disks. On FreeBSD, I also needed to set the vfs.root.mountfrom kernel environment variable for a while; this also is no longer needed on FreeBSD but something similar may be needed on other systems. You’ll need to enable networking, using DHCP. On FreeBSD, this means placing ifconfigDEFAULT=“SYNCDHCP” into /etc/rc.conf; other systems will have other ways of specifying network parameters, and it may be necessary to specify a setting for the Xen network device, Intel SR-IOV network, and the Amazon ENA interface so that you’ll have the necessary configuration across all EC2 instance types. (On FreeBSD, ifconfigDEFAULT takes care of specifying the network settings which should apply for whatever network interface the kernel finds at boot time.) You’ll almost certainly want to turn on SSH, so that you can connect into newly launched instances and make use of them. Don’t worry about setting a password or creating a user to SSH into yet — we’ll take care of that later. EC2 configuration Now it’s time to make the AMI behave like an EC2 instance. To this end, I prepared a set of rc.d scripts for FreeBSD. Most importantly, they Print the SSH host keys to the console, so that you can veriy that they are correct when you first SSH in. (Remember, Verifying SSH host keys is more important than flossing every day.) Download the SSH public key you want to use for logging in, and create an account (by default, “ec2-user”) with that key set up for you. Fetch EC2 user-data and process it via configinit to allow you to configure the system as part of the process of launching it. If your OS has an rc system derived from NetBSD’s rc.d, you may be able to use these scripts without any changes by simply installing them and enabling them in /etc/rc.conf; otherwise you may need to write your own scripts using mine as a model. Firstboot scripts A feature I added to FreeBSD a few years ago is the concept of “firstboot” scripts: These startup scripts are only run the first time a system boots. The aforementioned configinit and SSH key fetching scripts are flagged this way — so if your OS doesn’t support the “firstboot” keyword on rc.d scripts you’ll need to hack around that — but EC2 instances also ship with other scripts set to run on the first boot: FreeBSD Update will fetch and install security and critical errata updates, and then reboot the system if necessary. The UFS filesystem on the “boot disk” will be automatically expanded to the full size of the disk — this makes it possible to specify a larger size of disk at EC2 instance launch time. Third-party packages will be automatically fetched and installed, according to a list in /etc/rc.conf. This is most useful if configinit is used to edit /etc/rc.conf, since it allows you to specify packages to install via the EC2 user-data. While none of these are strictly necessary, I find them to be extremely useful and highly recommend implementing similar functionality in your systems. Support my work! I hope you find this useful, or at very least interesting. Please consider supporting my work in this area; while I’m happy to contribute my time to supporting open source software, it would be nice if I had money coming in which I could use to cover incidental expenses (e.g., conference travel) so that I didn’t end up paying to contribute to FreeBSD. Digital Ocean https://do.co/bsdnow ###Traceability, by Vint Cerf A recent article from the August issue of the Communications of the ACM, for your contemplation: At a recent workshop on cybersecurity in the U.K., a primary topic of consideration was how to preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet while protecting against the harmful behaviors that have emerged in this global medium. That this is a significant challenge cannot be overstated. The bad behaviors range from social network bullying and misinformation to email spam, distributed denial of service attacks, direct cyberattacks against infrastructure, malware propagation, identity theft, and a host of other ills requiring a wide range of technical and legal considerations. That these harmful behaviors can and do cross international boundaries only makes it more difficult to fashion effective responses. In other columns, I have argued for better software development tools to reduce the common mistakes that lead to vulnerabilities that are exploited. Here, I want to focus on another aspect of response related to law enforcement and tracking down perpetrators. Of course, not all harms are (or perhaps are not yet) illegal, but discovering those who cause them may still be warranted. The recent adoption and implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union creates an interesting tension because it highlights the importance and value of privacy while those who do direct or indirect harm must be tracked down and their identities discovered. In passing, I mention that cryptography has sometimes been blamed for protecting the identity or actions of criminals but it is also a tool for protecting privacy. Arguments have been made for “back doors” to cryptographic systems but I am of the opinion that such proposals carry extremely high risk to privacy and safety. It is not my intent to argue this question in this column. What is of interest to me is a concept to which I was introduced at the Ditchley workshop, specifically, differential traceability. The ability to trace bad actors to bring them to justice seems to me an important goal in a civilized society. The tension with privacy protection leads to the idea that only under appropriate conditions can privacy be violated. By way of example, consider license plates on cars. They are usually arbitrary identifiers and special authority is needed to match them with the car owners (unless, of course, they are vanity plates like mine: “Cerfsup”). This is an example of differential traceability; the police department has the authority to demand ownership information from the Department of Motor Vehicles that issues the license plates. Ordinary citizens do not have this authority. In the Internet environment there are a variety of identifiers associated with users (including corporate users). Domain names, IP addresses, email addresses, and public cryptography keys are examples among many others. Some of these identifiers are dynamic and thus ambiguous. For example, IP addresses are not always permanent and may change (for example, temporary IP addresses assigned at Wi-Fi hotspots) or may be ambiguous in the case of Network Address Translation. Information about the time of assignment and the party to whom an IP address was assigned may be needed to identify an individual user. There has been considerable debate and even a recent court case regarding requirements to register users in domain name WHOIS databases in the context of the adoption of GDPR. If we are to accomplish the simultaneous objectives of protecting privacy while apprehending those engaged in harmful or criminal behavior on the Internet, we must find some balance between conflicting but desirable outcomes. This suggests to me that the notion of traceability under (internationally?) agreed circumstances (that is, differential traceability) might be a fruitful concept to explore. In most societies today, it is accepted that we must be identifiable to appropriate authorities under certain conditions (consider border crossings, traffic violation stops as examples). While there are conditions under which apparent anonymity is desirable and even justifiable (whistle-blowing, for example) absolute anonymity is actually quite difficult to achieve (another point made at the Ditchley workshop) and might not be absolutely desirable given the misbehaviors apparent anonymity invites. I expect this is a controversial conclusion and I look forward to subsequent discussion. ###Remote Access Console using FreeBSD on an RPi3 Our friend, and FOSDEM Booth Neighbour, Jorge, has posted a tutorial on how he created a remote access console for his SmartOS server and other machines in his homelab Parts: Raspberry Pi 3 B+ NavoLabs micro POE Hat FT4232H based USB-to-RS232 (4x) adapter Official Raspberry Pi case (optional) Heat-sink kit (optional) USB-to-TTL adaptor (optional) Sandisk 16Gb microSD For the software I ended up using conserver. Below is a very brief tutorial on how to set everything up. I assume you have basic unix skills. Get an RPi3 image, make some minor modifications for RPi3+, and write it to the USB stick Configure FreeBSD on the RPi3 Load the ‘muge’ Ethernet Driver Load USB serial support Load the FTDI driver Enable SSHd and Conserver Configure Conserver Setup log rotation Start Conserver And you’re good to go A small bonus script I wrote to turn on the 2nd LED on the rPI once the system is booted, it will then blink the LED if someone is connected to any of the consoles. There is also a followup post with some additional tips: https://blackdot.be/2018/08/freebsd-uart-and-raspberry-pi-3-b/ ##Beastie Bits Annual Penguin Races Mscgen - Message Sequence Chart generator This patch makes FreeBSD boot 500 - 800ms faster, please test on your hardware FreeBSD’s arc4random() replaced with OpenBSD ChaCha20 implementation MeetBSD Devsummit open for registrations New Podcast interview with Michael W. Lucas Tarsnap ##Feedback/Questions We need more feedback emails. Please write to feedback@bsdnow.tv Additionally, we are considering a new segment to be added to the end of the show (to make it skippable), where we have a ~15 minute deep dive on a topic. Some initial ideas are on the Virtual Memory subsystem, the Scheduler, Capsicum, and GEOM. What topics would you like to get very detailed explanations of? Many of the explanations may have accompanying graphics, and not be very suitable for audio only listeners, that is why we are planning to put it at the very end of the episode. Send questions, comments, show ideas/topics, or stories you want mentioned on the show to feedback@bsdnow.tv

In the last couple of episodes we have talked about Arduino shields and breakout boards. In this video, we will review a specific Arduino shield that makes developing projects and debugging sketches on the Arduino extremely easy - it's called Dr. Duino.Arduino Shield for Arduino Shields The Dr. Duino is an Arduino Shield. As would expect, it fits snuggly on top of the Arduino headers and has pin headers of it's own, which can easily accept a shield on top. The first thing you notice about Dr. Duino is that it's built like a doughnut - it's got a giant hole in the middle! (FYI - It does not taste like said pastry…) There are a couple reasons for this form factor, but foremost is that even after you stack another shield on top of Dr. Duino, you still have easy physical access to all its resources. Dr. Duino Hardware Resources What resources are we talking about? Dr. Duino has 4 momentary pushbuttons, 5 LEDs, 6 potentiometers, an RS232 connector, and a bunch of access points for 5 volts, 3.3 volts and ground, oh yeah, and a siren (piezo buzzer). So how do you access these resources and why would you even care to? Both great questions! The core feature that allows us to use all the hardware I just talked about are groups of three “jumper” pins that surround the board. Almost every pin on the Arduino is associated with a set of these jumper pins. The middle pin is connected directly to the Arduino pin. The pin on the left is connected to the pin header on top of the Dr. Duino. The pin on the right is connected to the one of the hardware resources on the Dr. Duino board. With each set of these three jumper pins we get a plastic encased "jumper" - it fits snug on top 2 pins, and electrically connects them together. For every Arduino pin that has associated Dr. Duino jumper pins we have 2 decisions: 1) We can route the Arduino pin to the shield above by connecting the center pin to the jumper pin on the left. This passes the Arduino pin directly up to the shield if you have one attached, bypassing the Dr. Duino. 2) Or, we can route the Arduino pin to the resource on the Dr. Duino shield, bypassing the shield above. Each pin has a different "resource" or piece of hardware that you can use. Here is a quick mnemonic for remembering how to place the “jumper” on the “jumper pins” – Left goes Up (to the shield above), Right goes to Down (to the Dr. Duino). Digital pins 5, 6, 10, 11, and 13 have LEDs attached. Digital Pins 7, 8, 9 and 12 have momentary pushbuttons attached. Analog pins A0 - A5 have potentiometers attached and digital pin 3 is attached to the piezo buzzer. All these asset are extremely helpful. For example, let's say I am prototyping with a motor shield. What I want is for every time I press a button, then a servo moves 180 degrees. Instead of having to bust out a breadboard and jumper wires, I simply move a jumper on the Dr. Duino and I now have a preinstalled button. As long as the shield is not using that pin for anything, it's fair game to route that pin to the Dr. Duino. Or, maybe I want to turn a potentiometer to get the servo to move. Once again - scrap the breadboard - just move a jumper on one of the analog pins and you have a built in potentiometer - in fact, every analog pin has its own dedicated potentiometer! Trying to put 6 potentiometers on a breadboard and run jumpers is a major pain - having these built right in and so compact is great. Potentiometers are great for simulating sensor inputs too. Say you are developing a project that lights up LEDs based on inputs from a pressure sensor - but you don't have the sensor yet. No worries - just use the potentiometer built in to the Dr. Duino to simulate the input from the pressure sensor. Another great resource is the piezo buzzer. Most of us get used to using the serial window to debug our sketches. For example - we use the Serial .print() function to send a value to the serial monitor window when some threshold is met. What this ends up doing is dividing our visual attention from the Arduino to the computer monitor. With the piezo buzzer, you can get the same information, but be able to look at your Arduino - it allows you to incorporate more of your senses into the debugging process. All of these features add up to a great little development package - it's like a breadboard full of components all connected on a handy shield. So if I am traveling I don’t have to pack away a bunch of pieces-parts, I can just throw the Dr. Duino in with my Arduino and go for it. A Tool for Learning Arduino Code Another great use of these resources is when you are learning to use Arduino. If you are really trying to jump right into the code, then setting up the circuit can sometimes be a hassle, even if its just a button and an LED. (Yes - I am that lazy!) With Dr. Duino you can work through practically every sketch in the examples section of the Arduino IDE with only some minor code changes (mostly pin designations changes), without having to add a single piece of hardware. That’s a time saver (especially when it’s hard enough to carve out time to learn). Especially if having to place the components just feels like another barrier to practicing your Arduino coding. A Debugging Tool So far, most of my love for the Dr. Duino has come from this development aspect, but the Dr. Duino has actually been designed to help you debug your sketches when using shields. Microcontrollers (like the Arduino uses) are truly at the threshold of hardware and software. The more you know about both the physical and virtual, the better off you will be. Here in also lies a challenge – you can screw up both the hardware and the software. A big part of debugging your work is tracking down where the issue exists – is it the copper or code? (Or both !@#$) The Dr. Duino’s key feature of being able to direct an Arduino pin to or away from a shield you are using enables you to more quickly establish the starting point of debugging. Once you master how the rerouting works, the Dr. Duino will be a go-to shield for developing and debugging. With such a diverse set of applications it’s no wonder Arduino continues to grow wildly popular. Shields like the Dr. Duino make it that much more fun to use Arduino as a rapid prototyping tool. Special Bonus If you are interested in getting your hands on a Dr Duino, you can buy them directly from the Dr. Duino website. The creator of Dr. Duino (Guido Bonelli) has been kind enough to offer Open Source Hardware Group readers a free shipping code. Free Shipping Code: OSHWG_RULES (So true…)

Episode 3 of the Bally Alley Astrocast covers the cartridge game Crazy Climber and the BASIC game (released on tape) Missile Defense. Chris and I discuss what we've been up to lately. Arcadian newsletter issues 1 and 2 (November and December 1978) are covered in detail.  We discuss a bit of feedback. Chris, Paul and I go discuss the very first ad for the Bally Home Library computer (from September 1977). I read from a few letters that JS&A (the mail order company that originally sold the Bally Home Library Computer) sent to customers. The show ends with a one-minute rendition of the Happy Days theme song. Recurring Links  BallyAlley.com - Bally Arcade / Astrocade Website What's New at BallyAlley.com Orphaned Computers & Game Systems Website Bally Alley Yahoo Discussion Group Bally Arcade / Astrocade Atari Age Sub-forum Bally Arcade/Astrocade High Score Club Bally Alley Astrocast Facebook Page Introduction  The Sister Bar - Barcade (Facebook Page) We Know Video Games - Local Albuquerque Videogame store (Facebook Page) The Adventures of Robby Roto - Bally Midway arcade game from 1981 that uses the Astrocade chipset (The International Arcade Museum) The Adventures of Robby Roto - Video Review (YouTube) The Adventures of Robby Roto - Arcade Flyer (Front) The Adventures of Robby Roto - Arcade Flyer (Back) Reverse-Engineering Robby Roto: A 1980s Embedded System Masquerading as an Arcade Game, by Stephen A. Edwards (January 2005) The Adventures of Robby Roto - 7-11 Slurpee Cup Tom Meeks Bally Alley Yahoo Group 'Comments' - Tom Meeks, the product manager for Astrocade, Inc., comments about, among other topics, Robby Roto (November 26, 2001) Astrovision Name Change - A short explanation of why Astrovision changed its name to Astrocade. Astro Bits. Electronic Games, 1.1 (Aug. 1982): 11. Print.) Creating a Hi-Res Astrocade - These five in-depth "packages" (documents) were created by Michael C. Matte in 1986. These documents explain how to upgrade a Bally Arcade/Astrocade from the "Consumer Mode," which uses the low-resolution display (160x102 pixels), to "Commercial Mode," which uses the high-resolution mode (320x204 pixels) used in arcade games such as Gorf and Wizard of Wor. Hi-Res Astrocade Pictures - Pictures of an Astrocade motherboard that was modified by John Perkins in the early 1980s so that it could access Hi-Res mode. Sea Wolf II Parts Catalog - This arcade game uses the Astrocade chipset. Sea Wolf II Schematics - This archive includes five schematics for the Seawolf II arcade game released in 1978. William Culver Feedback - Comments and replies left in the AtariAge forums. Z-GRASS / UV-1 Area on Bally Alley.com - General information about the ZGRASS hardware system and programming language. Animating the Death Star Trench - by Neesa Sweet. Larry Cuba and Tom Defanti had both worked with ZGRASS for the unreleased Bally Add-Under. ZGRASS was based on the earlier GRASS programming language. GRASS was used to create animation for the original 1977 "Star War" movie. The Very Best of Fantastic Films: The Magazine of Imaginative Media. Special Edition #22, February 1981.   Cartridge Review - Crazy Climber Crazy Climber Manual - (2011 Bally Arcade/Astrocade) Game Manual Crazy Climber (1980 Arcade Game) - Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd. (The International Arcade Museum) Crazy Climber Packaging - Pictures of the Crazy Climber cartridge, "box," and manual. Crazy Climber Source Code - This is the complete source code for the homebrew version of Crazy Climber, released by Riff Raff Games in 2011. This game was programmed by Michael Garber. Crazy Climber Video Review - Video review by Nice and Games. War Packaging - Pictures of the cartridge, "box," and manual for War, Michael Garber's first Astrocade homebrew game. Beyond Dark Castle - Michael Garber's first game, Beyond Dark Castle, was published in 1989 by Activision on the Commodore 64. (Lemon64.com) The Addams Family Video Review - Michael Garber wrote the Turbo-Grafx-16 CD-ROM game, The Addams Family, released in 1991. Nice and Games YouTube Channel - Video reviews for many classic systems, including several videos for the Astrocade. Tape Review - Missile Defense  Missile Defense Instructions - New Image Missile Defense Screenshots JS&A's First Ad for the Ballly Home Library Computer JS&A Home Library Comuter Advertisemen (B&W) - The very first ad for the Bally Arcade / Astrocade (at the time, called the Home Library Computer). This B&W ad was printed in the September 1977 issue of Scientific American. JS&A Home Library Comuter Advertisemen (Color) - The very first ad for the Bally Arcade / Astrocade (at the time, called the Home Library Computer). This color ad was printed JS&A's first catalog. Purchase Scientific American, July 1977 - A digital copy of the Scientific American magazine can be purchased directly from Scientific American's website. Scientific American (1845 - 1909) - All issues of Scientific American from 1845-1909 can be download for free. Success Forces Book (JS&A Ad) - Book, published in 1980, by Joe Sugarman, the president of the JS&A group. This ad appeared in Popular Mechanics in October 1980. Success Forces Book - Purchase Joe Sugarman's book from Amazon.com. Bally Fireball Pinball (JS&A Ad) - Professional Home Model version of Bally Pinball (Popular Science, May 1977) Bally Fireball Pinball (Video) - Video of the Professional Home Model version of Bally Pinball. IBM 5100 Information - Wikipedia's article on IBM's 5100 computer that was introduced in 1975 and cost about $9,000. In JS&A's ad for the Bally Home Library computer, they favorably compare it against this earlier system. Bally Check Self Diagnostic Hardware (Pictures) - Bally Check (AKA as BalCheck) plugs into the 50-pin connector at the back of the Bally Arcade / Astrocade and is used to test the units for defects. Released by Richard Belton. Bally Check 2K Z80 ROM Source Code - Source code for the Bally Check diagnostic hardware. Bally Check Self Diagnostic Hardware (Documentation) - BalCheck Support Circuitry, BalCheck information and BalCheck Instruction Manual (with source-code). Dick Ainsworth Interview - Wrote the Bally BASIC user manual, programmed the Bally BASIC Program Sampler tape (which contained eight programs) and the Speed Math / Bingo Math cartridge. Dick Ainsworth 'Comments' - A compilation of posting that Dick Ainsworth made to the Bally Alley Yahoo group in 2002. Ainsworth & Partners, Inc. - Dick Ainsworth, Personal Page. Arcadian Newsletter  Arcadian 1, no. 1 (Nov. 6, 1978): 1-8. - The first issue of the Arcadian newsletter. Arcadian 1, no. 2 (Dec. 4, 1978): 9-16. - The second issue of the Arcadian newsletter. Music-Cade by Ed Horger - In the Arcadian segment, a "Toy Organ Keyboard" is mentioned. I remembered this previously unpublished article form the Bob Fabris Collection. It contains suggestions, ideas and methods on how to hook up a music keyboard to a Bally Arcade/Astrocade. Includes a machine language 3-voice music program. Blue Ram Modem Interface Owner's Manual (with optional Printer Port) - An add-on for the Blue Ram unit that allowed the addition of a modem and printer. The Blue Ram Utility was used to control the modem. Chessette by Craig Anderson - A two-player chess game written in Bally BASIC. Published in Cursor 2, no. 4 (November 1980): 74-75. Connecting a Printer to the Bally Tape Interface - "The Bally BASIC audio cassette interface was originally designed to have a third 1/8" jack into which a printer could be plugged." The Bally BASIC Hacker's Guide by Jay Fenton, published in about 1979, gives the required details on how to modify the interface for use with a printer. The finished modification provides a TTL level RS232 standard ASCII at 300 baud. Keyboard Attachment - Basic instructions and schematic on how to hook up a Jameco 610 keyboard to the Bally tape interface (Arcadian 2, no. 8 (Jun. 23, 1980): 69.) Blue Ram Keyboard Owner's Manual - These are directions on how to assemble the Blue Ram Keyboard. 3x5 Character Set Review - This article is by Al Rathmell. It was submitted to the Arcadian newsletter on September 15, 1982. Arcadian RDOS 1.0 by Stu Haigh - This is a CP/M compatible resident Disk Operating System written in 1980. This code is designed to interface into the Cromemco software system and is provided with an autoload feature that will load track zero, sector zero of Drive A starting at RAM location 0080. Control will then be passed to the just loaded code at location 0080. The code uses a 5501 as a COM. controller and a 1771 Flex Disk controller. It will support four 5 1/4", or two 5 1/4" and one 9", or two 9" disk drives. Three Voice Music with Bally BASIC - Article by George Moses and program (probably by George Moses and Brett Bilbrey) from the "AstroBASIC" manual. Game Over Tutorial by Tom Wood - This tutorial, from January 1979, provides a machine language subroutine usable to BASIC users so that they can print "GAME OVER" in large letters on the screen using a subroutine that is built into the Bally's 8K System ROM. BASIC Zgrass--A Sophisticated Graphics Language for the Bally home Library Computer - Article by Tom DeFanti, Jay Fenton, and Nola Donato. Published in Computer Graphics, 12, no. 3, (August 1978): 33-37. ZGRASS Documentation - Various documentation on ZGRASS, including the user's manuals. Bally On-Board ROM Subroutines - Originally called Executive Software Description and submitted to the Arcadian by Tom Wood on October 7, 1978. This was later republished by the Cursor newsletter without credit being given to Tom Wood. This booklet explains what the On-Board ROM routines do that are built into the Bally Arcade/Astrocade 8K ROM. This manual is used as a reference for BASIC programmers so that they can save a few bytes when programming and also take advantage of the faster routines that machine language offers. Peek 'n Poke Manual by Brett Bilbrey - An introduction to Astrocade machine language programming in Bally BASIC. Although the manual doesn't credit Brett Bilbrey, he gave all this information in 1980 to Fred Cornett of the "Cursor Group." Bally Videocade Cassettes Catalog - This catalog contains these 13 cartridges, including some that were not released. Classic Letters from JS&A National Sales Group  February 28, 1978 letter to JS&A Customer - From William Mitchell; JS&A National Sales Group; Marketing Director. "Enclosed you will find your Bally Home Library Computer." JS&A urges their customers to order the add-on soon to receive free items such as a modem and diagnostic cartridge. October 11, 1978 letter to JS&A Customer - From William Mitchell. "We trust you have your Bally Home Library Computer and have found it quite satisfactory." JS&A asks their customers if they want to wait for the Bally add-on module. October 19, 1978 letter to JS&A Customer (Robert Simpson) - From William Mitchell. "As you are well aware, there has been a delay in the shipment of your Bally unit. The delays have been caused by almost every problem imaginable and have lasted almost one year now." End-Show Music  Happy Days Theme ("AstroBASIC" Program) - This is the theme music for the "Happy Days" television show. Peggy Gladden converted this song to "AstroBASIC" and the program was included on the Michigan Astro Bugs Tape 2. Happy Days Theme (MP3) - This is the theme music for the "Happy Days" television show. This is an mp3 recording of Peggy Gladden's "AstroBASIC" program. Michigan Astro-Bugs Club, Tape #2 (Tape Picture) - This tape contained a compilation of programs for "AstroBASIC." Michigan Astro-bugs Tape #2 Compilation - Eight AstroBASIC programs by various authors. This is the complete tape working as intended; you choose a game from the menu and it will load automatically.  

2016 TWICE VIP Award Nominations The VIPs are TWICE's (This Week In Consumer Electronics, a weekly trade magazine for professionals in the consumer electronics field) annual products awards, and only retailers and distributors can vote to honor the products that have made the biggest difference in their business. The awards are based on product features, product design and value to consumers. After voting is completed, ballots will be compiled and reviewed by TWICE editors. Winners will be announced in the Aug. 22 print issue of TWICE. Product categories are vast, anything you can imagine in consumer electronics, ranging from refrigerators and washers and dryers to dash cams, from computers to networked window coverings. And of course a few categories are in the home theater and audio visual categories. Those are the devices we'll take a look at. Remember that these are the products deemed best by retailers and distributors and they have a slightly different point of view than the rest of us who simply use the products. A/V Receivers $699 or less Onkyo TX-NR757 Stepping up to THX® Theater Reference Sound is easy with Onkyo's Dolby Atmos® and DTS:X™-ready powerhouse, the TX-NR757. Behind the sleek front panel is Onkyo's Dynamic Audio Amplification which include discrete hi-current amplifiers delivering 180 watts/ch. of distortion-free power. AccuEQ room acoustic calibration features AccuReflex to clearly focus the latest object-based soundtracks for an immersive movie experience. Music lovers can stream audio from mobile apps such as Spotify, Pandora or Tidal via Google Cast™, AirPlay, and Wi-Fi®. As well as controlling your home theater entertainment, the Onkyo Remote App lets you send any audio source wirelessly from the receiver to a compatible speaker in another room using FireConnect technology by BlackFire. The TX-NR757 is also ready for easy custom installation with features such as RS232, IR Input and a 12 V Trigger. Sony STR-DN1070 7.2 Channel Home Theater AV Receiver Take your home entertainment up a level with the STRDN1070. 4K and HDR-compatible HDMI inputs/output support the latest video standards, including HDCP 2.2 content protection for 4K content from broadcast, the Internet and UHD Blu-ray Discs. High-Resolution Audio delivers immersive sound, while Wireless Multi-room and Front Surround let you flexibly create your audio environment. This AV receiver is compatible with wireless surround, front surround, and, of course, 7.2ch real surround. Choose your preferred surround audio mode to flexibly suit the room environment. Don't forget to download the free SongPal and Network Audio Remote apps from iTunes® or the Google™ Play Store to use on your iPhone® or Android™ devices. The SongPal app allows you to control receiver functionality including volume and input selection. Price: $599.99 MSRP A/V Receivers $699+ Onkyo TX-RZ810 Engineered for immensely powerful yet refined THX® Theater Reference sound, the TX-RZ810 7.2 Ch. A/V receiver also deftly streams wireless audio with Google Cast™, AirPlay, Wi-Fi®, and Bluetooth. Enjoy different a host of audio sources in different zones with Powered Zone 2 and Zone 3 line outputs or wirelessly with FireConnect powered by BlackFire. Zone 2 HDMI® shares 4k video on a second display, making the TX-RZ810 not only a wall-shaking movie-room powerhouse at 200W/Ch, but also a hub for housewide entertainment. True to the Onkyo RZ Series, the TX-RZ810 seamlessly integrates with control and home automation systems and excels on audio quality featuring Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry, which removes digital pulse noise for a smooth analog signal on all channels for crystal clear audio reproduction. Built with separate analog and digital processing, massive transformer, huge capacitors, and discrete non-phase-shift amps—the TX-RZ810's sheer agility and dynamism exceeds the highest expectations. Sony STR-ZA5000ES – 9.2 Channel 4K AV Receiver The perfect center to your automated home entertainment universe now with just the right amount of: flexible, multi-zone, high-definition connectivity, easy IP integration with leading control systems, powerful browser-based configurability, and well-renowned ES build quality. With 130W per channel, the STR-ZA5000ES delivers cinema-like surround sound and crystal clear music reproduction for an incredible Audio/Video experience that you won't easily forget. Price: $2,799.99 Soundbars Sony HT-NT5 Sound Bar with High-Resolution Audio/Wi-Fi The ultimate Hi-Res sound bar for your 4K home theater experience. The NT5 packs power and performance worthy of any home theater into a sleek, beautiful design. Experience the sonic details of every movie, playlist, and videogame thanks to the clarity of Super Tweeters and support for Hi-Res Audio playback. And connect your compatible device wirelessly to stream music from all your favorite services. It's an easy way to expand your home theater setup. With three HDMI inputs, one HDMI ARC output, a USB input, as well as digital optical and analog connections, there's space for all your equipment. All in a sleek and stylish sound bar. Price: $799.99 MSRP Vizio SmartCast 38” 3.0 Sound Bar System Vizio's SmartCast 38” 3.0 Sound Bar System come with a free iOS and Android Smart Cast app to control the soundbar via Wi-Fi from anywhere in the house. The app lets users search, browse and discover content across multiple apps as well as play, pause, change volume and access all of a bar's settings. The soundbar also has an LCD display remote to control basic functions. Blu-ray Disc Player Philips 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player with HDR BDP7501 The Philips BDP7501 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player with HDR support is the best way to realize the full potential of your 4K television. With incredibly sharp 4K images with vivid colors and contrast made possible thanks to High Dynamic Range support. The beauty of 4K Ultra HD is in savoring every detail. • Premium compact design with real brushed aluminum chassis. • High Dynamic Range (HDR) for impressive detail in shadows and brilliant highlights. • Plays 3D Blu-ray and DVD as well with real 4K upscaler • Enjoy all your non-4K content in 4K UHD with a true 4K upscaling engine. Authentic and clear sound experience • Dolby TrueHD for high fidelity sound • DTS-HD Master audio for precise lossless sound quality Complete digital TV connectivity made simple. • HDMI 2.0a with HDCP 2.2 for years of worry free 4K interoperability. • Discrete HDMI 1.4b Audio output for connecting to legacy audio receivers. • Wireless LAN 802.11ac with MIMO antennas for seamless streaming of online 4K content. • Fantastic USB multimedia playback support with HEVC, H.264, AAC, MP3, JPEG and more. A world of online entertainment • Enjoy your favorite Netflix content in HD and 4K with fast Netflix performance. • A lean-back big screen YouTube experience for the entire family. Panasonic Smart Network 3D Blu-ray Disc/ DVD Player DMP-BDT27 The Panasonic DMP-BDT270 features 4K up-scaling, Internet apps, and External HDD Playback while playing FullHD 3D Blu-ray Discs. Content can be shared across devices via the Miracast technology. Home-Theater Projectors Sony VPL-VW5000ES 4K SXRD Home Cinema Projector The VPL-VW5000ES is the world's most advanced 4K projector designed specifically for home theater use. Enjoy 5,000 lumens of brightness, HDR compatibility, and the ability to simulate the new ITU-R BT2020 color gamut on top of the full DCI color space. The laser-based light source provides up to 20,000 hours of virtually maintenance-free operation for constant picture quality and reduced running costs. In addition, the SXRD® panel technology featured in the professional cinema projectors delivers native 4K resolution images, with no artificial pixel enhancement. Every detail is clear and natural, without jagged edges or visible pixels. For home installations with larger screens, this projector is the truly the ultimate home cinema display. Price: $60,000 MSRP Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K SXRD Home Cinema Projector Bring the immersive excitement of true 4K cinematic images into every living space. The VPL-VW665ES Home Cinema projector makes a stylish addition to any interior. With advanced SXRD® panel technology, this projector delivers incredible 4K images with four times the resolution of Full HD. You'll experience rich colors, impressive 1800 lumens brightness and huge 300,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio - for vibrant, detail-packed pictures with native 4K resolution that always look clear and sharp, even in day lit living rooms. Price: $14,999.99 MSRP BenQ i500 BenQ's i500 is a stylish mini projector designed for today's modern lifestyle. This compact WXGA device projects images up to 80 inches at just 3.3 feet from the wall, enabling big screen entertainment even in tight spaces. The projector's Colorific™ technology delivers pristine full HD picture quality with a 500 lumen LED light source for up to 20,000 hours of use — providing a long lasting experience. The lightweight, personal entertainment hub enables multimedia content streaming via Bluetooth®, so users can enjoy movies, music, games, photo slideshows and more at the push of a button from any smart device or computer. With an Android OS and a built-in media player, i500 can instantly launch today's most popular apps and streaming services like YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, Netflix, Hulu, video games, and more — without any special cords, cables, or streaming boxes. The i500 sports a contemporary gold finish to seamlessly blend with existing décor, and dual 5W fine-mesh-covered chambered speakers specially tuned to produce clear voices and rich sound quality without external speaker connections. The stylish i500 does all of this via wireless LAN with no other connections required, and it can even play video or music content from a USB stick or display Excel, Word, or PowerPoint documents without a PC. For even more convenience and the ultimate versatility, the projector offers a selection of the latest inputs, including HDMI x 1, USB 2.0 x1, USB 3.0 x 1, audio I/O as well as a mic in. TVs: 40 to 57 inches Peerless-AV UltraView Outdoor TV Completely weatherproof and maintenance free, Peerless-AV's UltraView™ TVs make it easy and affordable for homeowners to add digital entertainment to their outdoor living spaces. Available in 49", 55", or 65", the TVs are equipped with an LED backlight to provide a full HD 1080p resolution for bright and crisp visuals. The UltraView™ TVs also come with an IP68 rated waterproof and dustproof universal remote that can be programmed to control up to three additional devices. The UltraView™ TVs are functional for all seasons, built with weatherproof internal speakers and the ability to operate at a range of -24°F to 122°F, offering users confidence in the TV's quality and performance. With a fully sealed design, there is no need to change filters or service the TV, creating a maintenance-free entertainment solution for year round use. Installation of the UltraView™ TVs is best suited for shaded outdoor areas, and out of direct sunlight. It is the perfect addition to a deck, patio, gazebo, hot tub, outdoor kitchen or any high-end outdoor entertainment area. Peerless-AV's line of UltraView™ TVs are available now through Peerless-AV direct sales representatives and authorized distribution networks. Hisense H8 Series In 2016, Hisense will offer High Dynamic Range technology to consumers at market-disrupting prices in its H8 series. The new 4K Smart TV series employs HDR for incomparable color accuracy, and multi-zone local dimming ensures supreme contrast ratio for an amazingly realistic image. Unique to Hisense TVs, the series also debuts HDR decode, which future-proofs the television for any content providers create. Available in 55” and 50” class screen size, the H8 series features UltraSmooth Motion™ to create and insert frames into the picture and enables backlight technologies for effortless transitions between fast action images. For a true sensory experience, this TV enhances sound through dbx-tv Total Technology audio suite, which makes it possible for even small television speakers to produce immersive sound with deeper bass and minimal distortion. Designed for uninhibited entertainment, the H8 series also offers 4K media player and receiver capabilities, and has a built-in app store and web browser for seamless searching. The H8 series embodies Hisense's mission to make groundbreaking, innovative technology available for the masses at an affordable price point. Driven by HDR capabilities, this TV will deliver the most authentic 4K picture quality directly to the living room next year. The Hisense H8 series is shipping to retailers in May 2016. LG SUPER UHD 4K HDR Smart LED TV Model 55UH8500 LG's 55-inch UH8500 is part of LG's premium “LG SUPER UHD TV” lineup, delivering LG's best 4K LED experience with advanced technologies that display a billion rich colors, smoother motion and elevated brightness plus High Dynamic Range (HDR). In fact, LG SUPER UHD TVs deliver the first complete HDR experience as they offer both available HDR formats – HDR 10 and Dolby Vision™ – offering access to more HDR content and making it easy for consumers to choose a premium TV with the confidence that they won't miss any content that becomes exclusively available in either format. TVs from other manufacturers, like Sony and Samsung, don't offer this. LG SUPER UHD TVs can reproduce a wider pallet of a billion rich colors for a more lifelike picture that is consistent at wider viewing angles, thanks to its IPS 4K Quantum Display. LG's Ultra Luminance algorithm and “Color Prime” technology work together to deliver improved peak brightness and a wider color palette. The TV's thin bezels offer an immersive viewing experience, and Harman/Kardon-designed speakers provide cinematic sound. The LG 55UH8500 includes an updated version of LG's award-winning Smart TV platform, webOS 3.0. Consumers can enjoy an intuitive interface with lightning-quick transitions between broadcast TV, streaming services and external devices, and stream 4K HDR content from services like Amazon Video, Netflix and VUDU and additional content from streaming services and IPTV channels. Philips 6000 series Google Cast TV 55PFL6921 Google Cast™ is a technology that lets you cast your favorite entertainment from your phone, tablet or laptop right to your TV. Easily control your TV with apps you already know and love from your iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or tablet, Mac® or Windows® laptop, or Chromebook The beauty of 4K UltraHD TV is in savoring every detail: High Dynamic Range for a bright whites, deep blacks and stunning color contrast Micro Dimming LED array backlight reacts to the picture to produce a dramatic image every time BrightPro backlight with almost twice the brightness of a conventional TV for dynamic images 4K Ultra HD performance for years of worry free 4K enjoyment Pixel Plus UltraHD is a picture processing technology that delivers content that is vivid, natural, and real 120 Perfect Motion Rate gives you increased pixel response times Enjoy all your HD content in 4K UHD with a true 4K upscaling engine Authentic and clear sound experience: 20 Watts RMS of rich surround sound to complement lifelike 4K images Immersive sound with clear voice designed by sonic emotion Dolby Digital Plus for the ultimate movie experience Complete digital TV connectivity made simple: Wi-Fi 802.11ac with MIMO antennas for seamless streaming of online 4K content. HDMI 2.0a with HDCP 2.2 on all HDMI ports means years of worry free 4K interoperability. Fantastic USB multimedia playback support with HEVC, H.264, AAC, MP3, JPEG and more. TVs: 58 inches and larger Hisense H10 Series Hisense will offer consumers the third generation of its proprietary Ultra LED technology in the H10 series with 240-zone full array local dimming, quantum dot and the addition of streaming High Dynamic Range (HDR) content from Amazon. Available in 65” with a curved screen, the H10 series will feature new Ultra SmartPeaking™ technology that provides control of brightness, processing the image in different zones and overdriving the brighter spots up to 1000-nit peak brightness. The Quantum Dot Nanocrystal Backlight with Rec. 2020 Color Space delivers a much wider color spectrum and a more vibrant display than conventional LED TVs. The series will have unique UltraBlack™ Local Dimming for dynamic contrast and tight blacks for near-perfect quality. UHD Upscaler displays all Full HD and 4K UHD content to take advantage of the upgraded pixels. The H10 has High Dynamic Range that meets the UHD Alliance Premium. With 4 HDMI connections, built-in apps, and a curved screen, the H10 series is designed for the most immersive viewing experience for the consumer. Access to Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, UltraFlix 4K streaming, the app store and web browser guarantees constant 4K entertainment at the touch of a button. The Hisense H10 series utilizes the most sophisticated picture technologies to design a captivating viewing experience with leading-edge entertainment options. Revamped ULED technology with renewed focus on brilliant color and powerfully contrasting black and white levels delivers a TV that's a beacon for unprecedented home theater innovation. The H10 series is shipping to retailers in October 2016. Sony XBR-65X930D 4K HDR Ultra HD TV To support an enhanced viewing experience that goes beyond the screen, this X930D model shines with a 65 inch 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) display. Powered by Sony's 4K Processor X1™ advanced image engine, this television delivers a better 4K and HDR viewing experience. The XBR-65X930D features dramatic brightness and black levels bringing scenes to life with dark, inky blacks and stunning bright whites. An ultra-thin design creates an expansive, border-less picture and the optional flush mount system enables the TV to be mounted closer to the wall than ever before. Bring your favorite content to life through the Google™'s Android TV™ operating system, making your home smarter with access to a growing number of apps and support for IoT (Internet of Things) devices; this TV is more than just a smart TV. Price: $4,999.99 MSRP Sony XBR-75X940D 4K HDR Ultra HD TV At just over 2 inches thin, this X940D model shines with a 75 inch High Dynamic Range display. Powered by Sony's 4K Processor X1™ advanced image engine, this television delivers a better 4K and HDR viewing experience. The XBR-75X940D is equipped with Sony's unique color technology. A TRILUMINOS Display and X1 picture engine that can provide a wider color range and more realistic color details, producing subtle shades and depth of color to maximize the HDR experience. An ultra-thin design creates an expansive, borderless picture and the optional flush mount system enables the TV to be mounted closer to the wall than ever before. TV lovers can bring their favorite content to life and watch hit shows and timeless movies from Google Play™, Amazon Video, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, PBS and PBS KIDS. Users can also access a huge selection of games and additional apps from the Google Play store right on the TV; this TV is more than just a smart TV. Price: $7,999.99 MSRP LG SIGNATURE OLED TV (Model OLED65G6P) LG OLED TV is an entirely new category of television using revolutionary technology that delivers exceptional picture quality, with perfect blacks and incredible color even from wide viewing angles. The LG SIGNATURE OLED features an Ultra HD 4K OLED panel with HDR, the latest version of LG's award-winning webOS Smart TV platform, and a never-before-seen “Picture-on-Glass” design, making it the most coveted of any TV on the market. OLED HDR delivers a stunning high dynamic range picture because only OLED pixels can switch off completely to create infinite contrast and perfect blacks like no LCD TV can. The LG SIGNATURE OLED TV delivers the first complete HDR experience with both available HDR formats – HDR 10 (certified as “Ultra HD Premium” from UHDA) and Dolby Vision™ – for access to more HDR content. With both formats, LG makes it easy for consumers to choose a premium TV with the confidence that they won't miss content that becomes available exclusively in either format. The LG SIGNATURE OLED TV reproduces the most lifelike images of any television, while offering a truly unique design. The OLED65G6 boasts an impossibly slim profile, picture-on-glass design, redesigned stand and miniscule bezels. With LG's latest webOS 3.0 Smart TV platform, users can enjoy an intuitive interface with lightning-quick transitions between broadcast TV, streaming services and external devices, and stream 4K HDR content from services like Amazon Video, Netflix and VUDU and additional content from streaming services and IPTV channels.  

Die serielle Schnittstelle gehörte lange Zeit zur Standardausstattung jedes Computers und ist auch heute noch besonders in industriellen Anlagen oder Kassensystemen verbreitet. Der Standard nach dem diese Schnittstellen betrieben werden trägt den klangvollen Namen RS-232...

Foundations of Amateur Radio Today's Amateur Radio is less like the valve or transistor based radio and more like a computer. So much so that most radios today have a mechanism to connect the radio to a computer. This mechanism is called a Computer Aided Tuning interface, or CAT interface. It's a mechanism that's used to allow two way control information to be shared between the radio and a computer. This interaction is a serial connection, generally something called RS232. This is a standard that was developed in 1962 and it specifies things like timing, voltages and other attributes. The electronics from that era don't look much like the ones of today and most of the challenges with getting this stuff to work is related directly to these differences. It should come as no surprise that each manufacturer has their own take on what this whole contraption looks like and most of this technology is not directly compatible across radios. So, let's imagine that you've got a radio and a computer and they're physically connected to each other using a CAT interface of some description. We then need to make sure that things like the speed of both ends is the same, that is, the BAUD rate is the same. Also we need to check that the number of bits, stop bits and parity are also correct. If this sounds a little like 1980's modem talk, you'd be correct. The radio is presenting itself to the computer as a serial device, just like a dial-up modem does. If you've not seen this, just think of it as if the numbers at both ends need to match. Often the radio will have a standard setting, which you should use as a starting point. Now, I'm going to skip over things like IRQs and port addresses, not because it's simple, but because it might work out of the box, or it might cause you to lose hair. If it's the latter, you're going to need to do some IT support and this is about radios and not about computers. I'm also going to gloss over the problem that most modern computers don't have an actual serial port any more, most have something called USB which requires an adapter and software for the adapter, another potential minefield to traverse. Now comes the bit where it all works, right? Nope. Not yet. Next you need to have software that knows how to talk to your radio. It may be programming software, specifically to configure your radio, or it may be generic logging software that reads what mode and frequency you're on and puts that in your log, or it may be something that knows how to correct the frequency of your radio to deal with the Doppler effect of an overflying satellite. In each case, you'll need to tell your software several things. The most basic one of those is the port number. That is, of all of the serial ports on your computer, which one is connected to your radio? Seeing that all Amateur Radio manufacturers agree on everything, all actual control codes and responses are the same across all radios. Oh wait, nope, that's not true. They're not even the same across the same brand, so you'll also need to tell your software which actual radio you're using, which is the perfect opportunity to learn that your shiny new radio doesn't yet exist within the software. So, when you start looking at the CAT interface, you now know that this is a thing that's going to require some homework and planning. To make digital modes work, you need an audio interface to go with the CAT interface, which a whole different set of fun and games, including ground loops, impedance matching, levels, feedback and distortion. Now, if you thought that you and I took a lovely walk through the deep arcane world of serial computer interfaces, wrap your head around this. When we use the current crop of software defined radios, we replicate all of this, both CAT and audio interfaces with virtual versions of cables, BAUD rates and port numbers. Suffice to say, I don't have words. I should add that all of what I've said is just so you get an idea that there is a chain of stuff that needs to work and that any one of these being incorrect will cause none of it to work. So, when you're doing this in your own shack, start at the beginning, get the cable working, set the speed and bits, set the port, pick the radio and cross your fingers. It's not trivial, but it's worth it. I'm Onno VK6FLAB

The TI-99/4A - Tech Specs, Peripherals, Modern Upgrades with Tursi This show is a continuation of the on-going series about the TI-99/4A computer.  In the last couple of episodes, I had TI-99 fans Jim Fetzner and Mark Wills on the show and interviewed them about their experiences with the TI-99 and then we covered the history of the machine.  In this show, I have a new co-host, Mike Brent, better known as Tursi or Harmless Lion, the creator of the Classic 99 emulator and so much more.  After a short interview with Tursi, we discuss the technical aspects of the TI-99, including the tech specs, peripherals, modern upgrades, and connectivity to modern computers.  It’s an information-filled show, so I hope you enjoy it. Before we get into that, I’ll discuss a few new vintage computer-related acquisitions that have come my way, give you the scoop on upcoming shows, and share with you a few pieces of feedback I’ve received about the show from listeners. Links Mentioned in the Show: Intro Bill Degnan’s VintageComputer.net - http://www.vintagecomputer.net Bill Degnan’s “History of Commodore Computers” Poster - http://www.vintagecomputer.net/poster_detail.cfm New Acquisitions “The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga (Platform Studies)” - Jimmy Maher, The MIT Press - http://www.amazon.com/dp/0262017202/?tag=flodaypod-20 Tiny Pascal for the TRS-80 Model I - https://archive.org/details/Tiny_Pascal_1982_Tandy News Amigospodcast - http://www.amigospodcast.com/ TRS-Box - Dropbox client for MISE/M3SE equipped TRS-80 - http://pski.net/trs-box/ Upcoming Shows VCF Southeast 4.0 - April 2 & 3 2016, Roswell, GA VCF East - April 15-17, 2016 - InfoAge Science Center, 2201 Marconi Rd., Wall, NJ, 07719 - http://www.vintagecomputerfederation.org/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/ 25th Annual Last Chicago CoCoFest - http://www.glensideccc.com/cocofest/ - April 23 & 24, 2016, Heron Point Convention Center, Lombard, IL, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-3 VCF Midwest 11 September 10-11, 2016, Elk Grove Village, IL - http://www.vcfmw.org/ Feedback TI-99 Beginner’s Video by Roland - https://youtu.be/I-S-BmJCV_c Roland’s YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/VectrexRoli/ Interview with Co-host Tursi’s Web Site - http://www.harmlesslion.com Classic 99 Emulator by Tursi - http://www.harmlesslion.com/cgi-bin/showprog.cgi?search=Classic99 PS/2 Keyboard Adapter for the TI-99 by Tursi - http://atariage.com/forums/blog/567/entry-11851-a-ps2-keyboard-on-a-ti-994a/ UberGROM Simulator by Tursi - http://www.harmlesslion.com/cgi-bin/showprog.cgi?search=uber Modern Upgrades/Connectivity F18A Video Upgrade by Matthew Hagerty - http://codehackcreate.com/store#!/F18A-V1-7-Video-Board/p/14022176/category=0 Extended BASIC 2.7 Suite Cartridge by Tony Knerr - http://www.arcadeshopper.com/wp/?page_id=11#!/Extended-Basic-2-7-Suite/p/44354005/category=15846004 Turbo Forth for the TI-99/4A by Mark Wills - http://turboforth.net FBForth by Lee Stewart - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/210660-fbforthti-forth-with-file-based-block-io-post-1-updated-12082015/ NanoPEB and CF7+ - http://webpages.charter.net/nanopeb/ HDX update for the RS232 card by Fred Kaal - http://www.ti99-geek.nl/ Reference Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instruments_TI-99/4A

ControlTalk NOW for the week ending September 6th, 2015 features Siemens’ Come Fly With Us RDY2000 Commercial Thermostat Promotion. Already dubbed the ReadyStat 2000, it launches with an exceptionally rewarding marketing promo. Tridium’s Niagara 4 is available, NOW — and so is DGLogik’s DGLux5 IoT Platform for Niagara 4. Automated Buildings’ Ken Sinclair September edition throws a “delay of game penalty flag” on the HVAC Industry’s historical slow rate of meaningful change. And, Fred Gordy’s depiction of supervisory controllers — exposed on Shodan’s website, provides more stark visualization of fixable cyber security exposure. Niagara 4 is Here! Next-generation IoT Framework Now Available! Niagara 4 builds on the legacy of the Niagara Framework® in many new and ground-breaking ways, and is designed to help businesses take full advantage of the Internet of Things. Some of the most exciting advancements include: Modern user interface and design language (HTML5); Powerful and easy-to-use security features’ and Seamless conversion from Niagara AX. ControlTalk NOW welcomes SK Foo. EasyIO’s strong technical support is anchored by SK Foo, who was exceptionally busy the past two weeks with nonstop visits to Twinco in NYC, NY and the new Belimo Air Controls factory in Danbury, CT; then to Pittsburgh, PA and Seattle, WA, to conduct EasyIO refresher training; and then finally, off to Sydney, Australia, where he will conduct EasyIO certification training. Listen in as EasyIO’s SK Foo gives us a preview of the feature-rich FG-32+; the new developments with Belimo MP Bus Gateway, which be featured at the EasyIO Global Partner Conference scheduled foe September 20-22 in Paris, France. Automated Buildings September Theme: Change Evolves from the Possible — 17th Education Sessions at AHR EXPO 2016 in Orlando. Ken Sinclair, owner and editor of Automated Buildings, has chronicled the slow rate of change within in our industry, citing in particular, the compelling need to change the vendor-centric unconnected world of traditional marketing of our products and services. Join Ken and a host of industry experts at the 17th Educational Sessions being held at the AHR EXPO 2016, Orlando, FL. Gateways Aren’t Supervisory Controllers But They Offer A “Greatway” Into Your Site. If you haven’t looked at Shodan maps maybe you should. It shows a stark visualization of just how exposed we are. The above image shows all of the Lantronix devices that exposed. In the US alone there are 7,024 as of this morning (9/3/2015). Generically speaking gateways convert one protocol to another. Typically in the BAS world gateways convert serial communication such as RS232 and RS485 to IP. More specifically BACnet serial to IP and Modbus serial to IP (Lantronix gateways are just one of several gateway manufacturers). DGLux5 for Niagara 4 is Available for Download — NOW! Niagara 4 has officially been released and our innovative technology is alongside Tridium’s latest and greatest. Yes, DGLux5 for Niagara 4 is available for download! IoT Application Platform, DGLux5 is the finest compliment to Niagara 4, providing an enhanced user experience for all your data visualization needs. DGLux5 is an award-winning, fully HTML5 drag and drop development platform that allows users to rapidly create stunning, data-driven applications. The Best Product Promotion of 2015? The Siemens RDY 2000 Thermostat! Siemens introduces the RDY 2000, one of the most powerful and flexible thermostats money can buy, and one of the coolest promotions we have seen. This Siemens promotion won’t last forever so get on board now! “Come Fly With US!” Siemens, CGNA and Control Trends have joined forces to promote the new Siemens RDY2000 Thermostat. It is a gift card promotion along with a contest for the best contractor RDY2000 installation/application video from your phone. The Grand Prize Winner for the best video will receive a $750 travel voucher. The post ControlTalk Now Smart Buildings Video Cast for September 6, 2015 appeared first on ControlTrends.

Markertek News Channel coverage of the new Toch-It Digital 16 multi-channel video color monitor and AMP1/2 Series Audio Monitors from Wohler Technologies at NAB 2009, Las Vegas. The Touch-it Digital is a multi-channel video color monitor offering a simple and convenient way to monitor multi-channel SD-SDI video and provide route switching in a compact size. HD-SDI capability is optional. The unit is three rack spaces (3RU) in height and installs into an industry standard 19" wide rack. The unit features dual high resolution color 7" LCD display monitors. The left monitor may display from four to sixteen "thumbnail" images, and when one of these is touched, that image appears on the right monitor at full size and its HD/SD-SDI source signal is sent to an unbalanced output and to a VGA output for monitoring on an external display. The rear panel features sixteen HD/SD-SDI auto-sensing inputs and two re-clocked outputs of the selected HD/SD-SDI source. Other connections on the rear panel include a VGA output of the selected video source, eight General Purpose Interface (GPI) inputs and outputs, 10/100BaseT and RS232/422 connections for configuration and control, and connector for the external 24V DC power supply. The AMP1-16-3G monitors sixteen channels of audio from 3G/HD/SD-SDI and AES sources with loudness display using ITU-R1770-1 algorithms with audible monitoring through a fully digital high-fidelity amplifier system and speakers. Sixteen audio level meters are configured and displayed on two of three innovative LCD screens. A third screen is dedicated to displaying diverse data or video de-embedded from the selected 3G/HD/SD-SDI input. Signal source routing is totally flexible and features include two selectable 3G/HD/SD-SDI inputs with re-clocked output, eight AES inputs, eight pair AES outputs, eight analog outputs, 3G/HD/SD to HD/SD down-conversion, eight GPI inputs for remote control, and easy setup and programming using a graphical user interface.

AT DT retrobits podcast CONNECT 9600 Welcome to show #007!  Today's podcast focuses on making the connection between retro computers and modern-day PCs. Topics and links discussed in the podcast... E-mails came in from Alan, Ryan and Dave with Libsyn - thanks!  Always great to get e-mails regarding the show. The C64 Take Away Podcast is, in their words, "Your regular fix of Commodore 64 tunes, remixes, news and whatever takes our fancy. Produced and presented by Jan Lund Thomsen of Remix.Kwed.Org fame".  Also check out the parent site, Slay Radio, for streaming retro remixes at various bandwidths. Juiced.GS is a quarterly Apple II publication. The X1541 series of cables connect Commodore computers and disk drives to the parallel port of a standard PC. The Apple Disk Transfer program lets you take Apple disk images, and using a serial cable and real Apple II, turn those images into real disks! Good old RS232 serial ports have been around forever, and can hook up the old and new with relative ease.  Here's a site with lots of technical goodness on RS232. The 64HDD software package, both free and professional versions, allow you to turn a DOS-based PC into a floppy and hard drive emulator for Commodore computers. The Star Commander is a DOS shell program that can handle C64 disk formats, and permits copying of files and disk images to a Commodore drive connected with one of the X cables. The SIO2PC cable connects Atari computers to a PC.  The PC can emulate storage, printers, and more. The Catweasel series of disk controllers are used in modern PCs, and can make your 3.5 and 5.25 drives capable of reading and writing foreign disk formats for retro computer systems.  Information on various Catweasel models is available at the Individual Computers site. Be sure to send us any comments, questions or feedback to retrobits@gmail.com Our Theme Song is "Sweet" from the "Re-Think" album by Galigan Thanks for listening! - Earl