And I got all of it to fit with only the minimal 8kb memory expansion required for those software sprites — with BASIC reporting only 1-byte free after LOAD.  Funny how that always makes me feel good.

I thought I was really clever at the time writing my random dungeon level generator — it was my first practical use outside of a classroom to implement a recursive function.  Because the dungeon ‘walls’ were probability driven, a function was needed to validate that every ’tile’ in the arbitrarily-sized dungeon floor was accessible by the hero.  Without this kind of validation, the hero would eventually find himself ‘trapped’ on a floor with no means to escape.

The recursive function was simply invoked as chkroom(0,0), whereas the 0,0 passed were parameters to the starting point in the dungeon map matrix.  Upon entering each tile, a flag is cleared for that element in the matrix.  Next, a condition is checked if the tile to its right is accessible.  If it is, call chkroom() with +1 added to X.  If not, do the same condition checks for down, left, and up directions calling chkroom() passing values Y+1, X-1, and Y-1 respectively.

And at the conclusion of all this recursion, do a loop through the dungeon matrix to check if ALL of the flags had been cleared.  If any persist, do the dungeon regeneration and this validation again until it has passed.  The higher the frequency of random walls generated increases the pattern complexity of the floor, which exponentially increases the probability that the floor will not pass with an ‘all clear’.

Today, I am working on a port of an old arcade favorite, Berzerk, for the Commodore VIC 20.  The playfield for the game is a fixed 3-row by 5-column matrix for each floor.  Given that the game needs to be written using 8-bit assembler, I quickly dismissed the idea that using my C algorithm to validate a floor could be feasible.  After all, VIC 20 is a relic machine running at 1mHz and limited memory of only a few thousand bytes available for the program, graphics, and sound all the while using a 256-byte system stack.  Ah, but the challenge by it all . . .

Generating the random walls for each floor is a simple matter, but validating that all its ‘rooms’ are accessible was turning out to be very problematic.  Every time I thought I could solve this puzzle using bit operators (OR, AND, XOR) to assure that its rooms and corridors could not trap the hero, I would only later stumble upon an instance where even my most elaborate of schemes failed.  This was getting a bit frustrating, pun intended.

So I wandered back to my dungeon floor validation and decided it was so simple of an algorithm that it may be possible to translate it to assembler and still keep it within reason of the machine’s constraints.  After some writing and whittling, the resulting code turned out perfect!  It is called by simply zero-ing the starting cell (R0) and invoking CRAWL.  Here is its listing:

CRAWL:
  LDX R0
  LDA MAZE,X
  CMP #$80
  BCC @fini        ; been here?
  AND #$7F         ; clear accessible bit
  STA MAZE,X

@right:
  LSR
  BCS @down        ; right wall?
  PHA              ;++ push walls
  LDA R0
  PHA              ;++ push cell
  INC R0
  JSR CRAWL        ; explore right cell
  PLA              ;-- pop cell
  STA R0
  PLA              ;-- pop walls

@down:
  LSR
  BCS @left        ; bottom wall?
  PHA              ;++ push walls
  LDA R0
  PHA              ;++ push cell
  CLC
  ADC #5
  STA R0
  JSR CRAWL        ; explore cell below
  PLA              ;-- pop cell
  STA R0
  PLA              ;-- pop walls

@left:
  LSR
  BCS @up
  PHA              ;++ push walls
  LDA R0
  PHA              ;++ push cell
  DEC R0
  JSR CRAWL        ; explore left cell
  PLA              ;-- pop cell
  STA R0
  PLA              ;-- pop walls

@up:
  LSR
  BCS @fini        ; top wall?
  PHA              ;++ push walls
  LDA R0
  PHA              ;++ push cell
  SEC
  SBC #5
  STA R0
  JSR CRAWL        ; explore cell above
  PLA              ;-- pop cell
  STA R0
  PLA              ;-- pop walls
@fini:
  RTS

This old dog is always happy to re-implement an old trick!

No more copying multimedia to the modest-sized PS3 internal hard disk — just point PMS to the workstation’s file directories, ISOs, etc. to share with PS3, and it is conveniently integrated and organized on the gaming console.  Will wonders never cease?

The PMS UI reveals a lot of options, but fortunately it comes preset with normalized values and pick-lists with human-readable adjustments.  It comes bundled with its own tsMuxeR package, but it plays best by leveraging other multimedia codecs and transcoding from the mainstream projects in MEncoder and VLC.  And there are free text entry boxes to override and enhance even the nerdiest of implementations.

I made this simple script to add as an Avant Window Navigator launcher item:

#!/bin/sh
cd pms-linux-1.10.5
env JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/default ./PMS.sh
exit

The C16 (16kb memory) was to succeed the VIC 20 (5kb) for low-end computing, breaking the $100 price barrier for a color home computer.  That was the model I chose when shopping for my VIC 20 replacement, snubbing the more popular and powerful “gaming” computer in C64.  It was time to get a bit more serious about my career in computer programming, and I convinced myself that this little machine would serve my purposes better in that pursuit.  I was right at the time in December 1984, but in hindsight, the C128 home computer I would purchase just 7-months later was the real deal.

Pictured here is the Plus/4 model, with a price-point outside of its targeted consumers, outfitted in its sleek casing and cool keyboard layout.  It came with the full complement of 64kb RAM of which nearly 60kb of it was available to its improved BASIC 3.5 and built-in machine language monitor.  Back then, outlets were trying to gouge consumers for $399. Today, you can typically buy these in near-mint condition like this one for around $20.

Plus/4, joystick, floppy, and datasette

I have to confess that owning this floppy drive was a bit pricey - about $90 Euros plus overseas shipping — and the cost of a U.S. to Foreign power converter from the local Radio Shack. Not one of my better purchases, however, I am pleased the transaction of getting this working dinosaur went smoothly and without any disappointing incidents that occur frequently. So, I bundled the order with the Datasette and Jack Attack game cartridge to make the total purchase a complete success for the seller at Tinchens Online Shop.  Here’s a picture showing the peripherals working:

Floppy and Tape works!

C16 game: Jack Attack

The 1551 floppy drive connector into the game cartridge port has a passthru connector to allow a regular game cartridge to be fitted, as seen here with one of my all-time platform favorites in Jack Attack.

Some of you will recall that on July 8, 1947, witnesses claim that an unidentified flying object (UFO) with five aliens aboard crashed onto a sheep and mule ranch just outside Roswell, New Mexico. This is a well-known incident that many say has long been covered up by the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies.

However, what you may NOT know is that in the month of April 1948, nine months after that historic day, the following people were born:

• Albert A. Gore, Jr.
• Hillary Rodham
• John F. Kerry
• William J. Clinton
• Howard Dean
• Nancy Pelosi
• Dianne Feinstein
• Charles E. Schumer
• Barbara Boxer

See what happens when aliens breed with sheep and jackasses?  I certainly hope this bit of information clears up a lot of things for you. It did for me. No wonder they support the bill to help illegal aliens!

Calling an illegal alien an ‘undocumented immigrant’ is like calling a drug dealer an ‘unlicensed pharmacist’.

The switchover of our analog phone line to digital was totally seamless, including testing our home alarm system.  The only thing missing was the static on the phones.

Having download speeds of up to 25 Mbps and uploads of up to 15 Mbps — yes, it is true, it is fast.  It’s not about a single download, it’s the fact that I can download a large file and still have a few more usable Internet sessions working without incurring noticeable latencies.  Executing one of those Internet speed tests gauged my connection at nearly 29mbs download / 21mbs upload with only 16ms ping over a 50 mile distance to a Boston-based server.  And I was also downloading a 157mb file at the same time.  Impressive.

The included wireless router is first class.  3 WAN ports: coax and ethernet, 6 LAN ports: ethernet, coax, and USB, and wireless.  Excellent signal strength, I can roam anywhere inside and outside of my property.  Up the street and into a neighbor’s garage — 4 bars of signal strength and the mbs dropped from 56 to 11.

I have one HDTV along with three standard definition TVs, and all are now hooked up with set top boxes.  The picture quality is what you expect, except I have not experience any picture jitters yet.  What improved most noticeably was the numerous functions, responsiveness, and overall friendliness.  Each set top box provides their Guide and Internet Widgets (Facebook, Traffic, Weather, etc.)  Using the DVR remotely from my Blackberry or from any web browser is pretty cool too.  The number of channels in our package (no premium) is impressive, too, although I really don’t want to disclose to my father that I have the Horse Racing channel — he may never leave.

This experience reminds me of how it felt when I got my first cable modem.  And when our local cable company repeatedly promised a next generation of improved technologies and friendliness was coming (this campaign started over 5-years ago), all I got was a small incremental boost in speed — after I paid to upgrade my modem — and shuffling AND reduction of usable cable channels.  Well, cable truly dominated homes these past 25+ years with the last 12+ years including Internet.

I wonder where those carriers and services will be in the next 5 years?

And fickle is the appropriate word, because you-know-who-you-are have repeatedly (but cautiously) used how the (almost) Team of the Decade are winners, because they play as a team.  You boast loudly how there are no legends here like Brett Favre and Peyton Manning; no stars to lean on like Terrell Owens and Tony Romo; and no media-whoring coaching personalities like Bill Parcells and Brian Billick to distract us from our team-first approach.

But as those championship teams have faded away, you watched on as the glowing and growing accolades endowed on Billy and Tommy from those past successes got more and more over-hyped by the media (ala Jim Nance) — to the sickening point now that we are awed whenever Tommy throws a pass that actually carries more than 15 yards in the air.  Or Tommy does the Daunte Culpepper chuck for a 5th or 6th TD to Moss when the game is clearly over.  Or Tommy is the recipient of a gracious blown call (tuck rules and touching the passer), or any of the slew of real bad plays made from their weak-ass opponents, aka, the AFC East — somehow Billy and Tommy both had something to do with that, too.

Yes, you hear it often repeated from those same clueless “fans” about how this team are still winners, because we have this stud in Tommy and this genius that is Billy Belichick.  Really?  Let’s review the 2nd half of this decade, after The Team had been dismantled to make way for cheaper, but talented misfits …

It started in 2005, Tommy’s first playoff loss at the hands of the Denver Broncos, which carried forward into the start of the 2006 season with the infamous perception of Tommy’s body language.  The consummate playboy was caught sulking, because he no longer had that cast of skilled receivers that carried his screen passes for 10+ yards.  Pioli took care of that in the offseason with a whole new core of gifted receivers.

But the team’s 2007 campaign showed me something about that coach & qb style of play.  Yes, play.  They certainly did not show any class defined by leaders of men, nor sportsmanship typically given by well-paid professionals.  With the Kraft’s purchase of five new receivers, Billy and Tommy bought into their own hype from the surrounding talent they possessed and personally cashed in on it.  But they got caught cheating.  Still, they turned a negative into a positive, and they galvanized The Team by running up scores for all its statistical worth.  Their Pursuit of Perfection (with an asterisk) escaped defeat in the regular season and then again by barely making it through the playoffs, despite suspect game planning and Tommy’s apparent slide in performance — but making it still to yet another Super Bowl appearance.  Only this time there was no Ty Law or Adam Vinatieri or Troy Brown or Drew Bledsoe or bad calls from a ref to make up for that lousy game plan and poor execution.  Perhaps The Team was showing some division by the snubs Moss got from not getting ANY individual recognition for his record-catching 23 TDs?  Tommy got BOTH MVP and Offensive Player of the Year — and The Team got another AFC trophy for Kraft’s palace.

Then 2008, when I thought we all might see The Team re-emerge when Matt Cassel took over.  Wow, a former starting QB — from high school — takes over The Team when Tommy went down clutching his knee in week one.  Cassel’s play was a result of The Team’s effort that year — it proved that a capable QB on that Team can be winners.  Unfortunately, The Team without Brady still had to contend with The Legend in New York named Brett Favre, which resulted in the 2008 Patriots becoming only the 3rd team in NFL history to get to 11 wins, yet not make the playoffs.  Fortunately for Tommy’s return, Matt Cassel, Scott Pioli, and Josh McDaniels took advantage of other opportunities, perhaps knowing that this well has gone dry — I was getting a sense from the faithful that we were all hoping for Tommy to get traded away, if only Pioli was still around.

No doubt, both Tommy and Billy are destined for the Hall of Fame, for which they both should be eligible for in 2015 — if the Kraft’s have any sense and are really committed to getting back to championship football.

What The Team needs is a tough leader, that inspires with his play and emotions.  Tom Brady has never achieved that status quo here with the New England faithful.  Dink-and-dunk plays, choreographed footwork, sulking when things go wrong, and repeated appeals to refs — New England is not about the acts of a momma boy.  And the drab we have to bear after every game, ugh.  We are used to the kind of toughness seen in today’s QB like Ben Roethlisberger coupled with emotion that fires a team up like Brett Favre.  Those men are special.  In years past, we embraced Steve Grogan and Drew Bledsoe, while hating and respecting their rivals in Dan Marino and John Elway, because all of them were tough men, played the game, and lead their teammates.

I was not shocked that Tommy was allowed by Billy to finish today’s game, even after it was clearly out of reach.  I expected Tommy to continue with the nice safe short completions to get his yards and completion% back up to a respectable number.  But I was pleased to see The Team drop a number of those make-me-look-good-on-the-stat-line passes, after all, why take yet another hit for the playboy?  Oh, yeah, The Team is in trouble, because it is in dire need of leadership.

As fans, we shunned Tommy Hodson and Hugh Millen, and we booed Tony Eason out of town.  So why does Tommy get a pass when he was handed the keys to run our New England football team?  I know I haven’t bought in to that hype, but then again, I live in Providence — in a state formed originally to avoid Massachusetts intolerance of religious freedoms — so I guess I will never understand the Boston-based faithful with their fickle fans.

Go VIKINGS!!

OpenCBM provides an API library and some useful command-line tools.  The following is an example of how to format and copy Commodore files to the floppy drive:

$ sudo modprobe cbm

$ dmesg | tail
cbm_init: using passive (XM1541) cable (auto), irq 7
cbm: resetting devices
cbm: waiting for free bus...

$ cbmctrl detect
 8: 1540 or 1541 

$ cbmctrl command 8 "N0:VIC20 3-JAN-2010,10"
$ cbmctrl status 8
00, ok,00,00
$ cbmctrl dir 8
0 ."vic20 3-jan-2010" 10 2a
664 blocks free.
00, ok,00,00

$ cbmwrite 8 quikman+8k.prg
[Info] writing quikman+8k.prg -> QUIKMAN+8K.PRG,P,W
[Info] identified a 1540 or 1541 drive
............-
[Info] 00, OK,00,00
$ cbmwrite 8 omega-fury.prg 
[Info] writing omega-fury.prg -> OMEGA-FURY.PRG,P,W
[Info] identified a 1540 or 1541 drive
....................\
[Info] 00, OK,00,00

$ cbmctrl dir 8
0 ."vic20 3-jan-2010" i1 2a
47   "quikman+8k.prg"   prg
76   "omega-fury.prg"   prg
541 blocks free.
00, ok,00,00

Of course, I can now hook-up this drive to a real VIC 20 computer and play what’s on the diskette(s).  But for giggles, I can even use the Commodore 8-bit emulator, VICE, to test drive my floppies, for example:

$ xvic -memory 8k -device8 2 +truedrive \
-keybuf 'LOAD "QUIKMAN+8K.PRG",8\0D'
...
sucessfully loaded libopencbm.so
/dev/cbm opened.
...

VICE 2.2 on a 24" HP display

Nice!

Over the past couple of years, I have tinkered with qemu from the command-line to test-drive “live” media on ISO files.  It was the easiest thing to do, not particularly fast, but very convenient and it ran entirely in userspace.  No need to worry about matching VM drivers with the kernel, or worse, having to boot-up the machine with a Xen-enabled kernel.  Yes, we live in a Right Now era.

With Fedora 12 installed, I have found that qemu and associated tools have matured a lot.  There is even this newer invocation, qemu-kvm, which leverages KVM (loaded as a dynamic kernel module) for wider and improved access to host hardware.  And since my workstation supports Virtualization Technology, I should expect even better speeds from qemu’s FAST! compiler.

Well, after creating a new Windows XP Professional guest using virt-manager, I was not too impressed by its speed.  It was usable, mind you, but it did not compare with what I was getting from VMware Player.  Curious though, other blog writers were writing about their successes and how excited they were with the results.  Could it be my expectations were too high because of what I was getting from VMware and Xen?

Well, this required a little digging just to make certain.

$ lsmod | grep kvm
kvm                   163952  0

Eh??!  Checking the boot log revealed that my processors VT extensions were NOT enabled in BIOS:

$ dmesg | grep kvm

Shocking!!  Re-booting and finding the darn BIOS setting to enable VT was all I needed to do.  After which, booting up Fedora 12 and launching the WinXP guest, I can now see the kernel module in use:

$ lsmod | grep kvm
kvm_intel              48184  4
kvm                   163952  1 kvm_intel

… and the speed is simply wonderful from what it was earlier.  Woot!

While virt-manager is an easy tool to manage a variety of VM guests, I wanted it even simpler to invoke.  I made this Avant Window Navigator launcher icon that runs this script simply as: winxp.sh start

$ cat bin/winxp.sh

#!/bin/sh

# ...what virt-manager does...
#qemu-kvm -S -M pc-0.11 -cpu qemu32 -m 1024 -smp 2 -name WinXP \
#         -uuid a71bb397-7edf-a068-bc36-96c6ec6df713 \
#         -monitor unix:/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/WinXP.monitor,server,nowait \
#         -localtime -boot c \
#         -drivefile=/media/Tank/virt/winxp.img,if=ide,index=0,boot=on \
#         -drivefile=,if=ide,media=cdrom,index=2 \
#         -net nic,macaddr=52:54:00:4c:bc:aa,vlan=0,name=nic.0 \
#         -net tap,fd=20,vlan=0,name=tap.0 -serial pty-parallelnone \
#         -usb -usbdevice tablet -vnc 127.0.0.1:0 \
#         -k en-us -vga cirrus -soundhw es1370

# ... let's use the management interface instead ...
[ -n "$1" ] && sudo virsh -c qemu:///system $1 WinXP
sudo virt-viewer WinXP &

And if I were to accidentally close down the VNC window to the WinXP guest without first shutting down the guest OS, I can also run this script as: winxp.sh shutdown

After my first re-boot, however, this launcher script did not work.  Running it from a shell showed it failed with a cryptic message that the virbr0 device did not exist.  Being familiar with Xen and its virtual bridge networking requirements, I hunted down where the libvirt daemon configuration is kept in /etc/libvirtd with the expected autostart subdirectories. Inspecting man virsh revealed the ‘right way’ of configuring virtual network adapters to startup after a re-boot:

$ virsh -c qemu:///system net-autostart default

Fini.

Anyways, I assembled one of the four for my personal collection, which was an easy insert-and-twist of the handle into its base.  And the supplied USB cable is ample in length.  Fired up the new VICE 2.2 software using Fedora 12 and its SDL UI immediately recognized the joystick as “USB HID v1.01 Gamepad [USB_Classic]“. No compatibility issues whatsoever — nice!

Even nicer was that old Atari joystick feel. As cheap and lightweight these joysticks go, nothing beats that old wigglin’ away and pounding that little red fire button as if pressing down any harder will make the 8-bit action perform any better — heh. I witnessed many such maneuvers from fallen opponents that took a classic beat-down from yours truly. The handle would creak mercilessly from the strain, followed by that wincing poppin’ sound of plastic giving in to the futile gesture. Usually, the busted joystick would go airborne and I’d have to go ducking.

Ah, thanks, Curt, for bringing back such lovely memories!

Atari-style joystick for your PC