Tautology

For those who missed it yesterday, our CFP is now open.

Oh. I'm horrified. For ScrollUp it does an LDIR, for ScrollDown it does an LDDR. But the way it implements it is ... manky. Self modifying code!

(Labels and highlighting mine)

Even the manual contradicts itself about the colour data block / 2nd character set flag (p133 vs p155-1). That the extended character set is on pages 155-1 and 155-2 says a lot really.

(Not knocking the manual, having circuit diagrams and source code for ROM is great)

I disassembled S-BASIC and am very disappointed in Sharp. It literally does an LDIR to move the row around. It does use OUT E3 / E1, so that it pages VRAM in and out around the process.

But, yeah you were right, it does it in software.

Physically VRAM consists of two 2016 2 kB SRAM chips (p137 of the manual) that contain the character and colour data for what is displayed on screen. Scrolling is managed by the custom M60719 (p138). How exactly these work I have yet to work out.

Technically, the MZ-700 has 68 kB RAM

Ported my Spectrum Rick Roll code across to the Sharp MZ-700. What took the longest was writing the code to match graphics to the highly restricted SharpSCII character set
tautology.org.uk/blog/2026/03...

Now with colour (the Sharp uses colour blocks)

Personally I like it when the missus takes the sprogs to church on Sunday as it leaves me a peaceful couple of hours on Sunday to do what I want.

The sprogs'll realise the inherent problem with organised religions when they get older.

“Governments should halt plans to roll out age checks on online services until privacy and security concerns are addressed, hundreds of academics said today” Article: Archived at Via:

“Governments should halt plans to roll out age checks on online services until privacy and security concerns are addressed, hundreds of academics said today”
https://alecmuffett.com/article/147820
#AgeVerification #censorship #surveillance

Some before work messing with my PNG -> sharpscii convertor. At the moment it's only black and white, but it's good enough. Image shows original -> B&W -> sharpscii

Social Media Bans are like the “Peanut Allergy” Bans of the 1990s/2000s: they will unnecessarily create a generation who cannot cope with the digital environment If you forcibly isolate an entire generation from influences that they are bound to encounter later in life, you are doing them harm by preventing them learning early how to cope. “If we are …

Social Media Bans are like the “Peanut Allergy” Bans of the 1990s/2000s: they will unnecessarily create a generation who cannot cope with the digital environment
https://alecmuffett.com/article/147662
#SocialMedia #SocialMediaBan #censorship #ofcom

I do not see what is mirthworthy with the title of the news article.

Thrilled that they've arrested Mandelson after the broadcast of yesterday's episode of Mock the Week on tlc. Thanks for waiting, fellas. Why not watch the show, if you like seeing TV shows that I am in?

We were taught about the worm in primary school. And the barghest.

Advantages of being brought up in the rurals in northern England.

As I get older my metal tastes have moved towards extreme (death / black) or silly (power / medieval).

Most people stop listening to new music at 30 because they realise pop music is shite.

I tried to think of an answer, but my mind is clogged.

Hang it up when it's damp and let it air dry: doesn't need ironing.

I bet you feel a bit of a heel after that pun.

It's when your family complain that you should use air freshner ... and you already have.

I think the large chain fast food places should have a separate room for delivereats people to wait in, instead of taking up all the bloody space that they do now.

Have you looked at my avatar? Let me take it to full 2008 resolution.

Quick write up of creating a rick-roll video on the ZX-Spectrum (back in 2019, it takes me a while to write stuff up):
tautology.org.uk/blog/2026/02...

Cats have a worse sense of taste than people in the 70s (about a third of dogs and a 20th of humans). So as long as it smells okay (to them) and doesn't taste bitter, then they'll yum it right up.

I've been on varifocals for a while. Like any large change in glasses, it takes a couple of weeks for your brain to adjust.

I've recently moved to a two pair of glasses concept (both varifocals): one for long distance, one for work. Still getting used to it though. I still take them off to read.

It's well within the recommended range, which is normally between 40% - 60%. 50% is ideal, too much lower than that and you're going to start getting dry eyes, chapped skin and nasal irritation from the air being too dry.

5 °C has a max moisture capacity of 6.82 g m^-3. At 90% RH: 6.82 * 0.9 = 6.138 g m^-3.

15 °C has a max moisture capacity of 12.8 g m^-3. If you took the outside air into a room at 15 °C it would have an RH of 6.138 / 12.8 * 100 = 47.95 % which is well below that for development of black mould.

One problem with that: warmer air can hold more humidity than colder air . At 0 °C the max moisture is 4.89 g m^-3; at 20 °C it's 17.3 g m ^-3.

So it doesn't matter if it's raining outside, you're still likely to reduce airbourne moisture by leaving the window open.

<segue>I recently found out that my very prim and proper Nan's (i.e. paternal grandmother) real name was Fanny. None of us never knew, even my mother always called her Fay.

So I guess from that the slang meaning was around pre-WWII.

It's been slang for vulva since the mid 1700s; but also a name. I suspect the dual usage is like Dick.

www.etymonline.com/word/fanny

Strong disagree, all tomatoes taste horrible to me, whether from the supermarket, from the vine or from a different country. There are no nice tasting tomatoes.