software

GitHub – Antirez/c64-Hw-Simulator: Commodore 64 Hardware Simulator

, , ,

The c64-hw-simulator is a detailed pin-level hardware simulator of the Commodore 64 motherboard (ASSY 250407), allowing users to manipulate individual chip pins, pull chips from sockets, or open circuit elements to observe the resulting effects on the system’s behavior, including video output and signals. It models the board’s netlist and chip pin behaviors, integrating cycle-accurate cores for key chips and simulating electrical phenomena like drive strengths, floating nets with drift and noise, and power faults, enabling fault analysis and learning without risking real hardware damage. While comprehensive, the simulator runs slower than real time and does not simulate internal chip faults or analog components like the video output and power supply.

https://github.com/antirez/c64-hw-simulator

GitHub – Antirez/c64-Hw-Simulator: Commodore 64 Hardware Simulator Read More »

Lotus Improv on the NeXT

,

Lotus Improv, a pioneering spreadsheet application exclusive to the NeXT platform, introduced innovative concepts like multi-dimensional data modeling and English-like formulas that presaged modern pivot tables. Developed during NeXT’s struggle to find market traction, Improv redefined spreadsheet design by emphasizing named categories over traditional row-column references, enabling more intuitive and flexible data views. Despite its failure to gain widespread adoption, its legacy endures in contemporary spreadsheet tools and in NeXTSTEP’s influence on modern operating systems like macOS.

https://stonetools.ghost.io/lotusimprov-next/

Lotus Improv on the NeXT Read More »

Non Vibe-Coded Retro Decompilations

,

A list compiled by WumpaGem on Backloggd catalogs numerous retro game decompilations not created using AI-assisted “Vibe-Coded” methods, showcasing projects at various stages from planning to playable states. Notably, decompilations of Twilight Princess and Majora’s Mask are playable, while Ocarina of Time remains planned, partly due to the recent Ship of Harkinian AI-coded recompilation; Mario 64 has five separate recompilation projects underway. This resource highlights the ongoing community efforts to reverse-engineer classic games through traditional reverse-engineering techniques rather than AI-generated code.

https://setsideb.com/non-vibe-coded-retro-decompilations/

Non Vibe-Coded Retro Decompilations Read More »

Amiga Screens: a Primer

,

The article explains the unique Amiga concept of “screens,” which are independently controlled display areas that can vary in resolution, color depth, and position, unlike the fixed single display common in modern systems. Leveraging planar graphics and hardware features like the copper co-processor and dual playfields, the Amiga allows multiple overlapping screens with distinct palettes and resolutions to run simultaneously, enabling efficient multitasking and rich graphical effects on limited hardware. This screen management, including features like screen dragging and instant switching, contributed to the Amiga’s advanced user interface and graphical capabilities during its era.

https://www.datagubbe.se/amscr/

Amiga Screens: a Primer Read More »

Lotus Notes and the Dangers of Starting From Scratch

,

Lotus Notes, launched in 1989, was a pioneering collaboration platform that combined encrypted messaging, rich text, attachments, and database-driven shared workspaces long before such features became common in email. While admired for its powerful, cross-platform capabilities and programmability beyond typical email clients, Lotus Notes’ unconventional interface and slow adoption of emerging email standards limited its broader appeal, ultimately leading to its eclipse by more user-friendly, standards-based tools like Microsoft Outlook and web-based email.

https://buttondown.com/blog/lotus-notes-email

Lotus Notes and the Dangers of Starting From Scratch Read More »

A 12TB Steam “Teraleak” Spills More Than a Decade of Lost PC Gaming History

, ,

A 12TB data leak has surfaced containing a vast archive of Steam content from 2003 to 2013, encompassing thousands of depots including public releases and unreleased pre-release and prototype versions of games. This “Steam2 Teraleak” originates from Valve’s now-defunct Steam2 server architecture, which was replaced in 2013 by the SteamPipe system; the leaked data was reportedly accessible via a public API endpoint with no protection. The leak provides rare insights into a decade of PC gaming history, revealing lost or previously unseen content across many Steam titles.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/08/a-12tb-steam-teraleak-spills-more-than-a-decade-of-lost-pc-gaming-history/

A 12TB Steam “Teraleak” Spills More Than a Decade of Lost PC Gaming History Read More »

Stone Tools

, ,

Stone Tools is a blog dedicated to exploring productivity software from the 8- and 16-bit computing era, focusing exclusively on work-oriented applications rather than games. It features detailed retrospectives of classic software like AppleWorks on the Apple II, Visual Basic for Windows 3.1, and Lotus 1-2-3 on DOS, providing insights into the design and impact of these early productivity tools. The site serves as a resource for enthusiasts interested in the history and evolution of retro computing productivity applications.

https://stonetools.ghost.io/

Stone Tools Read More »

Vintage Artificial Intelligence: Before It Got Awkward

, ,

The Internet Archive has launched the Vintage Artificial Intelligence collection, showcasing software from the 1970s to 1990s that explore early computer portrayals of thinking machines and synthetic life. Featuring classics like ELIZA, Racter, and games such as Alter Ego and Little Computer People, the collection highlights how these programs created illusions of intelligence and autonomy on home computers and consoles. This curated archive offers historical insight into AI’s cultural presence and experimentation before modern generative AI technologies emerged.

https://blog.archive.org/2026/08/16/vintage-artificial-intelligence-before-it-got-awkward/?ref=thebrowser.com

Vintage Artificial Intelligence: Before It Got Awkward Read More »

Sierra’s Classic Adventures Are Finally Coming to the Commodore 64

, , ,

AGI-64 is a new interpreter enabling Sierra’s classic 1980s adventure games, like Space Quest 1, to run natively on original Commodore 64 hardware for the first time. The project converts existing AGI game files into EasyFlash-compatible images playable on a stock 1 MHz C64, preserving original game logic and artwork with custom preprocessing to suit the C64’s graphics. While still in development, AGI-64 aims to support most Sierra AGI titles and will be released as a free download.

https://www.hackster.io/news/sierra-s-classic-adventures-are-finally-coming-to-the-commodore-64-0ceff800c054

Sierra’s Classic Adventures Are Finally Coming to the Commodore 64 Read More »

Japan Tried to Build an Operating System for the Entire World, Then the US Government Intervened

, ,

In 1984, the University of Tokyo launched the ambitious TRON project to create a vertically integrated, open operating system family for everything from embedded devices to desktop PCs, with the desktop variant BTRON featuring an advanced hypermedia document model and extensive multi-language character support. Despite government backing and industry adoption plans, the U.S. government cited TRON in a 1989 trade barrier report, which contributed to reputational damage and withdrawal of Japanese manufacturers from BTRON’s development, effectively ending its mainstream adoption; meanwhile, TRON’s embedded variant, ITRON, quietly became a dominant OS in billions of devices worldwide. Controversially, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son is alleged to have lobbied against BTRON’s adoption, leveraging the U.S. report to hinder the project, though the embedded TRON systems continue to form critical infrastructure in modern electronics.

https://www.xda-developers.com/japan-tried-build-operating-system-entire-world-us-government-intervened/

Japan Tried to Build an Operating System for the Entire World, Then the US Government Intervened Read More »

Scroll to Top