Michael Martin
@mcmartin.bsky.social
#retrocomputing on main, politics occasionally in the replies, video game stuff basically everywhere.
If you *just* want the retrotech, https://bumbershootsoft.wordpress.com/ is my retrodev blog.
If you *just* want the retrotech, https://bumbershootsoft.wordpress.com/ is my retrodev blog.
I keep forgetting that The King In Yellow is an actual book. How is it?
December 11, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I keep forgetting that The King In Yellow is an actual book. How is it?
It's been a long time since I've read it, but I recall that Turtledove's "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump" gets more mileage out of this than just the title, too.
December 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
It's been a long time since I've read it, but I recall that Turtledove's "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump" gets more mileage out of this than just the title, too.
You can tell I have a math background because "inflection point" carries some real power for me
December 4, 2025 at 2:46 AM
You can tell I have a math background because "inflection point" carries some real power for me
SDL3 quietly inherits earlier versions' callback-based audio system that gets you much closer to direct buffer access. and that might get you further depending on the exact things you want.
Hotswapping audio devices is the part I'm most worried about here.
Hotswapping audio devices is the part I'm most worried about here.
December 3, 2025 at 8:43 PM
SDL3 quietly inherits earlier versions' callback-based audio system that gets you much closer to direct buffer access. and that might get you further depending on the exact things you want.
Hotswapping audio devices is the part I'm most worried about here.
Hotswapping audio devices is the part I'm most worried about here.
I was coming here to recommend SDL for this, but there are some sharp corners on what you want:
* The API assumes you want it to simulate a preferred bitrate/etc but you can tell it not to
* It is moving towards assuming you want to push sample data to an abstract buffer as needed
* The API assumes you want it to simulate a preferred bitrate/etc but you can tell it not to
* It is moving towards assuming you want to push sample data to an abstract buffer as needed
December 3, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I was coming here to recommend SDL for this, but there are some sharp corners on what you want:
* The API assumes you want it to simulate a preferred bitrate/etc but you can tell it not to
* It is moving towards assuming you want to push sample data to an abstract buffer as needed
* The API assumes you want it to simulate a preferred bitrate/etc but you can tell it not to
* It is moving towards assuming you want to push sample data to an abstract buffer as needed
I read this as him saying "doomers are doing everything a hostile foreign agent would do, so I just think of them as such" and the final sentence as him mockingly imitating them, at least.
November 30, 2025 at 10:38 PM
I read this as him saying "doomers are doing everything a hostile foreign agent would do, so I just think of them as such" and the final sentence as him mockingly imitating them, at least.
Sports won't save them. I imagine them turning beet-red with rage every time the other team has the audacity to make shots on the goal. Even if the goalie blocked the shot, the fact that the shot was made in the first place is a failure of immeasurable propotions.
November 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Sports won't save them. I imagine them turning beet-red with rage every time the other team has the audacity to make shots on the goal. Even if the goalie blocked the shot, the fact that the shot was made in the first place is a failure of immeasurable propotions.
Ma'am. That is a _parallel_ of tubes. Completely different.
November 30, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Ma'am. That is a _parallel_ of tubes. Completely different.
But you might *think* it was a truck if you've only briefly encountered the concept of packet data!
November 29, 2025 at 8:48 PM
But you might *think* it was a truck if you've only briefly encountered the concept of packet data!
The New Yorker likes the Diaeresis. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeres...
Everyone else just uses it for "Zoë" and "naïve".
Everyone else just uses it for "Zoë" and "naïve".
Diaeresis (diacritic) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 29, 2025 at 8:44 PM
The New Yorker likes the Diaeresis. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeres...
Everyone else just uses it for "Zoë" and "naïve".
Everyone else just uses it for "Zoë" and "naïve".
Yeah, the way I like phrasing it, which is kind of trolling but kind of serious, is "banking usually ends up being invented before coinage does"
less trollishly you're just generalizing from a general ledger of favors owed and favors due.
less trollishly you're just generalizing from a general ledger of favors owed and favors due.
November 29, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Yeah, the way I like phrasing it, which is kind of trolling but kind of serious, is "banking usually ends up being invented before coinage does"
less trollishly you're just generalizing from a general ledger of favors owed and favors due.
less trollishly you're just generalizing from a general ledger of favors owed and favors due.
Somehow this wouldn't mute my posts about assembly language programming, only data compression
November 26, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Somehow this wouldn't mute my posts about assembly language programming, only data compression
I've always read it as being an aversion not to paying for things but for being charged for things.
November 26, 2025 at 8:49 PM
I've always read it as being an aversion not to paying for things but for being charged for things.
I appreciate both her and you doing this.
November 26, 2025 at 2:05 AM
I appreciate both her and you doing this.
I like the image's implication that your original post was saying "worse than an Abrams Tank" because the Abrams is, like, the gold standard we should be comparing all vehicles against
November 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I like the image's implication that your original post was saying "worse than an Abrams Tank" because the Abrams is, like, the gold standard we should be comparing all vehicles against
I'm sure we can solve hunger THIS time if we just plant the wheat HARDER.
November 19, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I'm sure we can solve hunger THIS time if we just plant the wheat HARDER.
Very few opposed rolls, and Spreadsheet Warrior Time happens during chargen while the moment-to-moment can go blazingly quickly
November 18, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Very few opposed rolls, and Spreadsheet Warrior Time happens during chargen while the moment-to-moment can go blazingly quickly
Palmer was saying the other day that the ideal TTRPG combat system would have only the players rolling dice, and while GURPS doesn't quite hit that, it's very good at almost all standard and even slightly advanced combat having all combatants rolling against things on THEIR OWN charsheets
November 18, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Palmer was saying the other day that the ideal TTRPG combat system would have only the players rolling dice, and while GURPS doesn't quite hit that, it's very good at almost all standard and even slightly advanced combat having all combatants rolling against things on THEIR OWN charsheets
Folks got so mad at the original DOOM games that the Quake manual had an actual FAQ where iD denied being Satanists.
November 18, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Folks got so mad at the original DOOM games that the Quake manual had an actual FAQ where iD denied being Satanists.
Yeah, it's more "I seem to burn my fingers on stuff in multiverse" a lot more, I think.
November 16, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Yeah, it's more "I seem to burn my fingers on stuff in multiverse" a lot more, I think.
I have one of each in my daily-driver systems and my general experience is that a Fedora system will do fewer things out of the box but will do those things far, far more reliably
November 16, 2025 at 8:42 AM
I have one of each in my daily-driver systems and my general experience is that a Fedora system will do fewer things out of the box but will do those things far, far more reliably
This matches very neatly with a certain kind of doomer on this site, too.
"What do you think you're doing going out in public?! They can just shift-right-click you!!!!!"
"What do you think you're doing going out in public?! They can just shift-right-click you!!!!!"
November 15, 2025 at 8:25 PM
This matches very neatly with a certain kind of doomer on this site, too.
"What do you think you're doing going out in public?! They can just shift-right-click you!!!!!"
"What do you think you're doing going out in public?! They can just shift-right-click you!!!!!"