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A bird outside just chirped in a way that sounded exactly like the Quake secret sound.

Wild :bec_smile:

Jack in and join IRC. For the Aesthetic. For the Chooms. For the 'Net we were promised. :bec_grin:

#RetroNetworking #RetroComputing #IRC #OtherNetworks #Windows98 #Windows98se #Windows9x

Okay, okay. In the rush to get exciting retro computer things working, the lab has become a mess.

Let's remedy that before playing with toys again today.

That was an extremely high quality nap. What a rollercoaster of a day, hey?

Tragically for some of you, this does mean I'm back to menace your notifications.

Sorry not sorrryyyyyyyy :bec_grin:

Express genuine enthusiasm so often that others never wonder if you mean it.

Who decided that double texting is bad? Somebody weird, I bet you.

In the service of totally overdoing some #Dreamcast #RetroGaming, I've successfully patched the #DreamPi gateway to be less useful. Buckle up, because this is a kinda long post with little in the way of delivery. :bec_smug:

Normally the DreamPi throws its modem into voice mode, plays a dial tone to fake out the dreamcast, listens to the digits dialed, and then switches to data mode and kicks off a handshake. Stays off-hook the entire time.

This makes sense if you're using an electrically-simple Line Voltage Inducer and a straight connection between the Dreamcast and the modem for minimum part count get-up-and-go. It's actually a really clever workaround.

My tweak adjusts the modem behavior such that it stays on-hook until it detects an incoming ring, then answers and jumps straight into data mode.

This change was made because presently we're using a Valcom DLE-200B phone line simulator which does provide 'local' tone, ringing voltage, and ringdown.

This necessarily means that we lose out on capturing the dialed digits, but it turns out we don't need those at all for pretty much any of the PPP-based games with central servers, and I'm not interested in playing anything outside of that scope.

So now we have a dreampi that can only work in PPP mode and it requires a line simulator to work correctly. Why?

All, ultimately, so that we can hook the DreamPi and two dreamcasts up to a TDM-based #PBX instead of the line simulator, wherein either of the latter can dial the former, thinking they're dialing Dreamcast Online Services. It goes through the whole ring-in process, which terminates at DreamPi, handshakes, and tunnels to Dreamcast Live -- getting us the goods.

And there's lots of Friday left to go :3

#RetroGaming #OtherNetworks #PhoneLab #RetroLab #POTS #Modem

Why do we postfix tone markers (or anything that serves in that capacity; e.g. emojis) to denote the tone of the preceding sentence?

Surely prefixing said markers would be the more logical flow?

I say and write that, and yet, prefixing feels wrong.

Lurkin' and starrin' on this fine Friday afternoon :-)

So sorry, notification-receivers[] :bec_grin:

The composite->HDMI adapter presently being used for the dreamcast is actual hot garbage.

It's smeary, stretches the signal to widescreen, has an ever-present OSD element for some reason, and imparts a godawful hum and hiss on the audio. In its defense, it was dirt-cheap.

What's that? The console natively supports output as VGA? At least with some titles? And the cables are readily available and inexpensive?

Self-solving problem, that. OSSC, my beloved, it's time for you to save the day again. :bec_grin:

Hardest decision of the morning yet: Windows 95 or 98 for this retro-gaming machine?

Been a while since I had to think about that one for real hardware; usually the kit is much older and it's an easier choice :bec_smile:

Gonna ruminate on that one while making some coffee.

#retrogaming #Windows95 #Windows98

Finally, a mess of RGB SCART cables has arrived. Let's get funky with the OSSC and some retro consoles.

#retrogaming #scart #ossc

Good mooorning Fedi!

It's a french press kind of morning, mayhaps? ☕

A little work kvetching here, but willing to be contradicted by people in the know:

It is my experience that there are only two tiers of physical access control integrators: certifiably high-security operations, and everyone else.

...and my ongoing ~2 decades worth of experience with varied providers of the latter category is that they all seem to be awful without exception.

#PhysicalSecurity #AccessControl #Security

Community chat shenanigans reminded me just now of a recent interaction wherein someone said, of the recent Star Wars installations, "K-2SO is overrated".

Excuse the whole hell outta me, but what? Absolutely not.

Peak Friday vibes are single-step debugging through the #Heroes3 binary to deal with the CD check, because I can't be assed to keep the CD in the drive on the 98se box.

@Lunalucardrose20@corteximplant.com any pointers? :bec_grin:

Looking for some tunes today? Go check out @labr@ravenation.club at https://stream.labr.online/

New-to-LABR DJ DatGurlCurly on the decks live now!

The subtle thrumming of rain falling off the roof makes for an eepy ety

And my lazy day was going so well :bec_huh:

You may be entitled to special dispensation.

Having a little debate with my wife @Astarael@hive.institute --

To you, of the following, what of the following most closely matches your understanding of the term 'window shopping?'

If other, or if your answer has nuance, please share in the replies! <3