[X] My Assistant

Just installed Japanese Windows 2000 in dual boot with US English Windows 98; managed to get all the way through the installation (even prepping and then loading a Highpoint HPT366 ATA controller driver off a floppy disk in order to get that far) with my hobbled, barely working knowledge of japanese (aided by the abundance of katakana) - without using any guides or external references.

Baby steps, but I still feel proud of myself for that.

I'm happy I'd made a software library disc when i was setting up windows 98 (to simplify Windows 98 reinstalls), since some of the software on there was useful in Win2K as well (ffdshow, media player classic, 7-zip) and a few drivers on that CD had win2k versions included too (Sound Blaster Live). Was able to use the version of Argyll CMS off that CD as well to calibrate the gamma lookup table on my graphics card.

Might still prep another CD for Win2K, or make a new version of the Win98 disc with a few Win2K/NT additions to it (service pack 4, IE6, Voodoo3 drivers for NT/2K). Not quite as vital as it was with Win98 where there's no USB mass storage driver built in. Pretty sure Win2K did support that out of the box (although it's been some time now).

Had to try to burn a CD with a Windows 95 era eroge game three times to get it completely right. Had to do a stupid workaround for a problem with parsing the table of contents in cdrdao (should have just used cdrtools proper), and also remember to swap the audio back into big endian for burning. It plays background music off the CD in the same manner Quake does, and the track starting times were wrong. But I got that going too and I guess now I have some new coasters.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 16 2023, 20:41

Is that to run Japanese games natively now that support seems to be non-functional on newer OS's.

I still can't work out why they killed the support.



Edit: People are reporting high speed DDR5 XMP is all over the place because of the CPU memory controllers having too much voltage variability.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Jan 17 2023, 03:40

A lens adapter I ordered on ebay appears to have entered my area code two days ago and then left my area code yesterday. It's still showing up as very close by, but it's pretty annoying that it's been in my city for at least three days now and I still don't have it.

I just want to use my 28mm lens, FFS.

Found a nice old web page/site that questions the necessity and evolution of autofocus lenses for SLR cameras as a tool for enforcing planned obsolescence.
It reads a lot like something I might write; it's very in-depth and well thought-out.
[web.archive.org] http://web.archive.org/web/20060718160028/...m/third/af.html

I miss split prism/microprism ring focus screens. Would love it if my DSLR had one for its viewfinder like my AE-1 does.

Is that to run Japanese games natively now that support seems to be non-functional on newer OS's.

I still can't work out why they killed the support.

Mostly, yes. But it's also just for fun. And because low resolution VN's can be played in full screen on a CRT pretty nicely.
And some CD-based games don't have music playback in modern CD drives it seems (the ones that mix the analogue output from the drive to the sound card), so that's another reason. Got SB Live and an old CD-ROM drive in this computer. Wish I'd kept one or two of my DVD-RAM/DVD-RW PATA drives.

It took some work to get my commodore monitor to properly output 800x600 (it really only wanted to do 640x480). For most older stuff that's fine, but I've done some newer stuff on it, too. Had to manually set and adjust some video timings (front porch, etc.)

Do you mean win32 games included? or just windows 3.x era (win16)? Because XP still handles most everything, and I think 7 worked too, mostly. Do you mean games that use ancient versions of Direct3D?

[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/yRQszaug.jpg)
Done with a 50mm F/1.8 prime lens since I'm still waiting on the adapter for my 28mm. I liked how the focus turned out.

Was surprised Monster Girl Quest worked in Win2K, because it uses NSCripter 2.96, and 2.96 reportedly requires XP or higher. Seems to run fine in Win2K SP4 so far, though. I wonder what got changed.

Bought a new 100-pack of taiyo yuden-style (CMC Magnetics bought the rights) CD-R's. So far they seem to be working as well as my made-in-Japan ones do - I only have a handful of those left blank.

I think cdrdao might have a problem with some cue sheets - to make a CD-R of an old eroge VN (not this one) that used rebook audio work properly (with the correct starting times for audio tracks), my eventual solution was to use cdemu to mount the image (which worked correctly) and then generate a new TOC file for it before burning. Using the original directly was resulting in tracks starting too late.

It's annoying how windows disc rippers like to store audio samples in little endian even though it's stored in big endian on the actual CD's.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 17 2023, 22:14

And some CD-based games don't have music playback in modern CD drives it seems (the ones that mix the analogue output from the drive to the sound card), so that's another reason. Got SB Live and an old CD-ROM drive in this computer. Wish I'd kept one or two of my DVD-RAM/DVD-RW PATA drives.

Thats interesting, I didn't even know that was a problem. Does it still occur if you mount the CD virtually?

Thats interesting, I didn't even know that was a problem. Does it still occur if you mount the CD virtually?

Yes, because almost no cd drive emulators (that support mounting mixed mode CD's) handle redbook audio playback.
[github.com] https://github.com/sysprogs/WinCDEmu/issues/29

In linux cdemu works. Nothing free/open source works in windows.
Quickly googled to confirm it's not only me.
[www.vogons.org] https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=33095

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 17 2023, 23:54

[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/yRQszaug.jpg)

Goo Gone, ey? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

28mm lens arrived today.

Goo Gone, ey? (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

Yep. Great for taking off residue from price stickers or whatever.
Not going to make a cum joke since it dries solid rather than gooey, as learned on 4chan years ago.

Thought: It's really unfortunate how many people in CS just do it as a career and actually care about shit like improving their resumés or making themselves more attractive to employers, even watching youtube videos to try to do so.

It's also unfortunate that resumé's matter at all, of course, but I couldn't care less about mine since I have a relatively secure job and pretty good co-workers. I just can't imagine how depressed it'd make me if I was spending my free time thinking about advancing my career instead of doing things that interest me (like improving my skills for my own sake, improving myself in non-computing related ways, doing hobbies, or socializing).

I have to wonder how fucked up the world is if we are making kids grow up to think like this. A job should be to get you the means to have a place to live and food to eat; not something that you use as a measure of your own self-worth. Unless maybe if you're actually doing something you love and it happens to be making you money.

it's fine to take pride in what you do, but that's different from "I work for [Microsoft/Apple/IBM/Google/Salesforce/Adobe Systems/Sony/Yahoo/AOL (lol)/Reddit" or "I am a database admin/front end developer/web dev/project manager" being the first thing you say when you introduce or describe yourself to strangers.

If I were talking about my interests, I'd say something like "I like repairing and using old electronics, reading, teaching people new things, sometimes learning new things, drawing, and music."

--------

Speaking of music and old electronics, managed to convert the music in an old pc98 eroge visual novel (Seiyoku Gakuen Seraphita) to midi files. Not been able to figure out how to unpack and view the graphics directly, even though they're likely LHA compressed (based on a copyright notice). Wonder if they've been XORed or something. GYP file extension; software engine seems to have been written by "Youderng" and the company "Opera House."
In all likelihood no one cares, but here's the midi files.
First one's a 'meh' track but a lot of them are quite nice.
[files.catbox.moe] https://files.catbox.moe/uprev7.zip - 45KB.
Sounds good on an SC-55 or similar (general MIDI). Windows' built in midi synth is basically a lower quality version of the SC-55 soundfont. When they re-released for windows it seems that they recorded the output of a Roland SC-55 to CD audio.

Track 3 would sound at home if it were part of the generation 4 Pokémon (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum) soundtrack.
Track 4 might fit in Runescape. Or other RPG's/RPG-ish visual novels.
Track 6 would work as boss or final dungeon music for an RPG. Or wilderness music in Runescape.
Track 8 is very jazzy/swing-y. Excellent percussion. So is track 9.
Track 10 is an ending theme, what else can I say.

I'm using Timidity to play it back. The air 380 soundfont also sounds nice for most tracks. Overall, very high quality midi composition IMO.

Also, it's pretty damn slow, but I can in fact run the latest version of neko project 21 on my Win2K system. Which is neat.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 18 2023, 18:51

I hope whoever thought the wikipedia redesign was a good idea drowns.

Hamburger menus are retarded. Putting 'log in' behind one, but not 'register,' is even more retarded.

Also, it's a poor use of screen real estate.

It literally makes the site unusable in NetSurf.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 19 2023, 21:33

Thought: It's really unfortunate how many people in CS just do it as a career and actually care about shit like improving their resumés or making themselves more attractive to employers, even watching youtube videos to try to do so.

It's also unfortunate that resumé's matter at all, of course, but I couldn't care less about mine since I have a relatively secure job and pretty good co-workers. I just can't imagine how depressed it'd make me if I was spending my free time thinking about advancing my career instead of doing things that interest me (like improving my skills for my own sake, improving myself in non-computing related ways, doing hobbies, or socializing).

Men are expected to have a career so you will have more stable income to give to a woman.

Cleaned my desk a lot today. Even found a use for my phone stand that came with my bubblegum crisis CD's.

[i.imgur.com] (IMG:[i.imgur.com] https://i.imgur.com/3t5dKKHg.jpg)

$25 lens from the 70s is looking to be working mighty fine to me. Some chromatic aberration, but it doesn't bother me.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 20 2023, 10:50

Nice Picture, it almost looks like a retrowave render. The floppy disk just floating there randomly.

Cleaned my desk a lot today. Even found a use for my phone stand that came with my bubblegum crisis CD's.

so there are people that use those very easy to knock over pen stands instead of just laying the pen next to the tablet or somewhere.

so there are people that use those very easy to knock over pen stands instead of just laying the pen next to the tablet or somewhere.

I usually do the latter, but since I was cleaning I decided to do the former for a change.

The problem is I have two drawing tablets plus my laptop which also uses an EMR stylus, and I misplace the pens quite easily in a cluttered area.

This is my smaller, for the most part shittier tablet.

I say for the most part because i think there's a weird firmware bug in my huion where sometimes the pen will warp to the top of the screen when I hit the buttons on its side. But that usually doesn't happen and the Huion is larger and cost less than the tiny wacom. Was annoying to have to compile kernel modules for it for full functionality, but whatever.

The pen stand is from the huion, which has a much, much larger (and more comfortable IMO) pen than the wacom does. I think the model number on the wacom is CTL-490 (Intuos Draw, 2015) or something, and the Huion is H1060P. Intuos was $100, Huion was $60 and larger.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 21 2023, 14:15

I was like oh cool a laser vinyl record player..... then the price 18k... nope LOL.

maybe if it was 200-300.

I was like oh cool a laser vinyl record player..... then the price 18k... nope LOL.

maybe if it was 200-300.

My grandparents have a cheaper one that uses a stylus but automagically changes tracks using a laser to read for gaps.

No idea how old it is, but it's old.

Laser record players that use a laser for actual playback are going to be very dust-sensitive.


I'm building an ancient version of tensorflow and other libraries from source to revive an old version of DeepCreamPy that I had installed on my desktop for Python 3.5. It's an old version of DCP that is under a license that I am more agreeable to.

I remembered building tensorflow being hell the first time, and it's no easier this time around either. It's fucking awful.

most of the 'broken' fancy old record players are just missing some rubber belts. usually a good deal even if they're listed as broken. besides the paper components of the time disintegrating theres not much that really breaks

A while back I found a program called Kakasi which is pretty nice. It purports to invert between kanji, kana, and romaji.

I made a script to wrap around it which sets it up for outputting romaji (latin alphabet) for any given input, in hepburn romanization.

CODE

#! /bin/sh
# note: dictionaries are in /usr/share/kakasi/
# see kakasi(1)
KAKASI_CMD='kakasi -rhepburn -iutf8 -outf8 -Ha -Ka -Ja -Ea -ka -s'
SPACE=''
if [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; then
  echo "$@" |$KAKASI_CMD
else
  $KAKASI_CMD
fi

If run with no arguments, this script (which I call romajify) will "interactively" translate as you type or paste lines into the terminal, one line at a time. ^D (ctrl+d, end-of-file character) or ^C (ctrl+c) to exit.
If run with arguments, it just translates whatever is in the arguments and then exits.

Examples:

CODE

$ romajify 忘れないで
wasure naide

CODE

$ romajify
忘れないで
wasure naide

Remove the '-s' to make it not add spaces.

The program can also do the reverse (turn romaji into kana/kanji), but I don't need that as often.

You can also pipe into the script, either with '|' or with '<'.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Jan 23 2023, 09:24

Cate-chan: How do you obtain belts that are exactly the right size? I have heard professionals complain that they can be really hard to come by. (I assume we want the device to play at the right speed, or at least so close that the average listener won’t instinctively ask what is wrong.)

Dragontamer: When the input includes kanji, how does the program handle various on’yomi, kun’yomi, gikun and other readings?

DeepCreamPy totally sounds like a script that was created specifically for E‑hentai users more than a decade ago.

This post has been edited by Katajanmarja: Jan 23 2023, 21:28

Dragontamer: When the input includes kanji, how does the program handle various on’yomi, kun’yomi, gikun and other readings?

Magic!

I have no idea, to be honest. Sorry.

My grandparents have a cheaper one that uses a stylus but automagically changes tracks using a laser to read for gaps.

No idea how old it is, but it's old.

Laser record players that use a laser for actual playback are going to be very dust-sensitive.

yeah you have to clean the record every time. Their noise correction is old, pita and pos.

most of the 'broken' fancy old record players are just missing some rubber belts. usually a good deal even if they're listed as broken. besides the paper components of the time disintegrating theres not much that really breaks

Yeah We had a relative that had one of the fancier record players that used laser to change tracks but it broke. The quote we got at the time was quite high to fix it, so we didn't. Also everyone was like CDs are the future!!! I don't think people predicted a record come back due to Applie Itunes encoding music like shit for 10 years.