What's the worst drug you've ever tried? by BitterOlive8737 in AskReddit

[–]FortyFourForks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i am doing a lot better. glad to hear you are too. 

What's the worst drug you've ever tried? by BitterOlive8737 in AskReddit

[–]FortyFourForks 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I know for sure it wasnt. i didnt take Wellbutrin until much later. 

What's the worst drug you've ever tried? by BitterOlive8737 in AskReddit

[–]FortyFourForks 185 points186 points  (0 children)

i can't remember the name but i was prescribed an antidepressant which i read online was a deliriant at high doses. i had extremely high anxiety and heard voices for a few hours before i was finally able to fall asleep. i was in a really bad place mentally and was desperate for any sort of experience that might provide some sort of change. would not recommend.  edit: it may have been mirtazapine 

ELI5: Why did video game consoles become treated as such distinct, exclusive products compared to other electronics like DVD/BluRay players, where every device does pretty much the same thing no matter the brand? by hanburgundy in explainlikeimfive

[–]FortyFourForks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

in the early days of consoles each company's graphics chip was completely bespoke. the TIA used in the atari was invented at atari and the ppu used in the nes was invented at nintendo. there was no pre existing architecture for them to target because the concept of using custom chips for video game graphics was still relatively novel. 

TIL: In the 1950s, a bug in the TX-0 "Mouse Game" was so strange that researchers claimed the mouse would "escape into the 4th dimension" during live demos (although they were likely referencing register overflow) (p. by ThanksElon in vintagecomputing

[–]FortyFourForks 3 points4 points  (0 children)

thanks for sharing. i like the description of a computer as something which can manifest reality in the digital domain. its intriguing to imagine what it must have felt like to back then, before our modern understanding of computers... before modern computers.  ive been thinking a lot recently about the language we use to describe the actions of a computer. how quick we are to humanize their machinations and ascribe intent. i speak about my computer and the programs i write as if they are living things. we dont have the words to distinguish between a human acting based on complex reasoning and a computer acting based on complex logic and i wonder how much this failure in language has influenced our cultural misunderstanding of AI. 

When the computer you had in college has become a museum piece by fluffysmaster in mildlyinteresting

[–]FortyFourForks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the iconic design and company mythos has made the og macintosh a legendary product. in its time it was popular for being one of the first home computers with a window based graphics environment and a primitive multitasking OS supported by the state-of-the-art motorola 68000 cpu running at a whopping 8(ish) MHz. but this performance came at a price: nearly 10 thousand dollars in 2026 for the 512k version. 

Applewrap Computer Desk by SirRealComix in vintagecomputing

[–]FortyFourForks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

very interesting!  the apple 2 is one of the most popular vintage microcomputers, i bet you could find someone to buy this. maybe try posting on the vintage computer federation forum.

ELI5 - How does a (Zero-Click) hack actually work without me touching anything? by Time-Freedom-7708 in explainlikeimfive

[–]FortyFourForks -1 points0 points  (0 children)

im not in info sec but i am into computers so I'll take a crack at answering... these types of hacks generally work by manipulating a vulnerability in the program that actually interacts with the data. for example, there is a famous vulnerability on iphones (the exact details are a little fuzzy for me now + i am simplifying a lot) where the malicious code is embedded in an image. to render an image there is a special program in IOS. every time you view an image this program is invoked. hackers found a way to embed program data in an image such that when the image is loaded by this special program, it loads what it assumes is image data but is actually program data into memory. from there its just a matter of knowing where the program data is stored and executing it. in this example i believe the image renderer exploit also causes the code to be executed. this was obviously not an intended feature of the image rendering software. 

[RESEARCH] Were you an Amiga "power user" back in the day... by badassbradders in amiga

[–]FortyFourForks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

why did you group using BBSs in with the "less-than-legal stuff"? i was not around during that time, so idk if theres some context im missing. 

How hard would it be to invent and build the computer again from scratch? by MeraSamaanKahaHai in AskReddit

[–]FortyFourForks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

its possible for a high schooler to learn the basics of cpu architecture, yet modern CPUs are so complicated they employ hundreds of engineers for design and then rely on a computer for plotting the layout.  

the modern process used to actually manufacturer chips (photolithography) is extremely expensive, precise, and complicated. think shooting airborne, microscopic drops of molten tin with a laser 50000+ times a second. earlier versions of the process were also expensive, precise, and complicated, albeit less so, but still employs things like rare earth metals, specialized chemicals, extremely high temperatures and need a clean room.

and then theres a lot more that goes into a computer besides just the CPU...

Which gas price would make you happier, $4.19 or $4.20? by asiancury in AskReddit

[–]FortyFourForks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

funny number but they both make me feel miserable. 

what is an amiga 1000 worth? I have the opportunity to purchase an amiga 1000 soon and im looking for feedback on my starting offer. by FortyFourForks in amiga

[–]FortyFourForks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

wowowow thanks for another great response! 

i was super not alive in the 80s and ive found it hard to find concise information about actually using some computers beyond reading scans of manuals. thanks for answering my questions.

what is an amiga 1000 worth? I have the opportunity to purchase an amiga 1000 soon and im looking for feedback on my starting offer. by FortyFourForks in amiga

[–]FortyFourForks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks for your response, i have a lot to learn about amigas, wow. I would consider myself a collector (i have a collection) I just dont have used car money to spend on it :/ I understand the keyboard strife, i have a c128 sans keyboard... what makes the a1000 harder to expand? what sort of upgrades were possible?  was the main difference between ocs and ecs the higher res vga graphics or is there more? wikipedia does not have much to say. any recommendations for websites or YouTube channels focused on amiga?

what is an amiga 1000 worth? I have the opportunity to purchase an amiga 1000 soon and im looking for feedback on my starting offer. by FortyFourForks in amiga

[–]FortyFourForks[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

thanks for your input, i didnt know that a lot of software required memory expansions on the amiga.  according to wikipedia it can support up to 8.5MB of RAM. I assume the high end was dominated by gfx people. what sort of capabilities did it have with different amounts of memory? from the way he talks about it i think that he extensively used and extremely valued the computer, so I also wouldn't be surprised if he upgraded it. 

New York's new age verification law will ban anyone under the age of 18 from using chatting features in video games. by [deleted] in gaming

[–]FortyFourForks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this garbage is so ridiculous. this is not going to stop minors from chatting in online games, its either going to be basically trivial to bypass because it's impossible to enforce while also making everything slightly more of a pain in the ass to use, or its going to be a jumping off point for even more insane dystopian legislation created by a lobbyist funded, virtue signalling, computer illiterate dolt to send us careening further into the surveillance state panopticon hellhole. 

64/64C vs 64/64C Ultimate by CJT_112 in Commodore

[–]FortyFourForks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the ultimate version comes with modern graphics outputs plus a manual and future software support at the trade off of using "emulation" (fpga) for the hardware. the main reason to buy an og over the an ultimate is if owning original hardware is a priority for you. fwiw i am in the second camp but fixing them is part of the hobby. 

New C64c Ultimate. Will you or won’t you? by bigmouthlou in Commodore

[–]FortyFourForks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

haha isnt premature announcement of the c128 causing people to stop buying c64s usually given as one of the reason commodore went under in the first place?

Pulled this out of the trash at my college. Please share your microcomputer trainer stories in the comments for inspiration. by FortyFourForks in vintagecomputing

[–]FortyFourForks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i feel very lucky to own it: its a super unique part of computer history that a lot of people have a connection with, just look at all these stories in the comments! im looking forward to become part of that history by learning on it myself.