Luck
“I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.”
I have found this quote to be very true. We don’t exactly make our luck, but we certainly can help or hinder it.
Running Windows 1.01 and old versions of DOS
I learned to program back on an old TRS-80 Model III computer as a kid. Long before Windows and even DOS, most home computers required you type in programs or load them from cassette tapes. If you were really rich, you might afford a floppy drive, but that was an expensive luxury I never had. My next computer was an IBM XT, and it ran the advanced and stalwart DOS 3.30 – which was dramatically better.
Running those old operating systems today requires you either buy one of those old systems and keep it running, or you have to emulate them. You can easily emulate DOS 3.3 and Windows 3.0 and higher on VMWare or Virtualbox, but going earlier than doesn’t seem to be supported anymore.
Enter 86Box – an emulator that lets you emulate REALLY old machines. In fact, I was able to get Dos 3.2 running Windows 1.0.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Part 1 – 86Box Setup
- Download 86Box and install it (source is on github).
- Download the latest romset and put it in the directory for 86Box called roms\
- Download DOS 3.2 image disks here.
- Download Windows 1.01 image disks here.
- [For later fun: download any of the other amazing images on the parent page]
- Start 86Box and set up 86Box by selecting Tools->Settings from the top menu, and set the system up with the following settings.
Part 2: DOS 3.2 and Windows 1.01 install
- Start up the 86Box.
- Set Media->Floppy 1 to disk01.img, then issue a ‘CTRL-ALT-DEL’ to reset it. The system should start up and boot to the dos 3.20 floppy drive
- Run ‘fdisk’ and it should detect your hard drive. You’ll need to create a partition to set up the hard drive.
- Reboot and boot from the DOS 3.20 disk again.
- Format the hard drive by using ‘format c: /s’
- Set Media->Floppy 1 to ‘DISK1-SETUP.IMG’ from the Windows 1.01 (5.25)
- [optional] type ‘set prompt=$p$g’ if you want to see your full path in the command prompt
- Run ‘setup’ from a: and follow the instructions to install Windows 1.01 on C:. Change the disks when prompted by selecting Media->Floppy 1 and setting it to each of the floppy disks for the Windows setup until it’s completed.
- type ‘C:’ to switch to the hard drive
- ‘cd \windows’
- ‘win’ to start windows
- Voila!
Flythrough of the Berlin Tesla gigafactory
It’s amazing how automated the process is – and how few people seem to be required to build cars.
Forever spinning
A new take on the Egg of Columbus
How to buy video cards, PS5’s, Xbox, DDR5, and not pay scalper prices
For well over 2 years, it’s been nearly impossible to buy graphics cards, PS5’s, Xbox’s, and more recently, DDR5. Some of this is attributable to the rise of crypto-currency mining, new technologies coming to market, chip shortages, labor shortages, and a host of other possibilities. But no matter how you slice it, scalpers are buying these up using automated scan and purchase bots. They can often sell these items at double the retail price. And as long as that continues, we can expect to get gouged and have shortages.
Queues and purchase opportunity drawings – check your favorite product websites. Many of them are trying to make things more fair
- EVGA has created its Queue system in which users can sign up for a small number of graphics cards they want – and then get 24 hours to buy when they come up in the queue. I did this in 2021, and after about 8 months my number came up to buy a nVidia 3090. The rules for the queue have changed several times, so be sure to read them before registering for the cards you want.
- Newegg now has a daily Newegg Shuffle in which they sell very hard to find items. I bought some DDR5 this way after a lot of trying every day. It took about 2 month of daily attempts to win a chance to buy some DDR5. Unfortunately, they are now bundling many of their offerings with really overpriced additional components (graphics cards with $100 power supplies) – so be sure to check the resell value of the bundled items before buying. Many are grossly overpriced to the point of negating the whole deal. And no, you can’t return just the item you don’t want later for a refund.
- Sony has a registration system to
Stock Trackers – There are Youtube, Twitch, and Discord channels that constantly check and notify you of items in stock. Here’s some examples of the countless ones out there:
Stock Tracking Services – Just as scalpers are using bots to immediately detect desirable items being in stock and snatch them up, there are companies now providing this as a service.
- https://www.hotstock.io/us
- https://www.nowinstock.net/
- https://www.stockinformer.com/checker-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3070-3080-3090
Retail locations:
- BestBuy has been one of the best retailers for getting graphics cards in stock. They have also done customers a huge favor by the website notifying you that a graphic card is in stock, but you must go in person to order and pick it up. While this seems inconvenient, this keeps the bots and auto-buyers from just snatching everything in your area up automatically.
- Walmart Plus gives the first opportunity to buy Playstations/Xboxes to their Plus subscribers. I purchased my PS5 this way. But you have to be there right when the ordering opens. Within 5 minutes the stock sold out.
Consecration of Russia/Ukraine to Immaculate Heart
On Friday March 25th, Pope Francis consecrated Russia and the Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
While various forms of the consecration have been done, this time was different because the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Christians asked for the Pope to do the consecration and to specifically name Russia and the Ukraine.
So why is this important?
Obviously, the situation in the Ukraine is impacting and threatening the safety of the entire globe. The consecration of Russia was specifically asked for by Mary in her 1917 apparitions at Fatima. Many have been waiting for this very specific act since the end of WW 1, WW 2, and the Cold War. Various forms of the consecration have been done in the past, but Russia was never mentioned by name due to the fact it was a point of contention with the Russian Orthodox church.
Why a consecration?
Pope Francis asked for Catholics everywhere to pray a novena leading up to Friday’s consecration. The Ukrainian bishops even published the text for a novena that references many of the requests of Mary at Fatima – and the often forgotten oppression and horrors suffered by Ukrainians under Communism.
While many people discount such novenas as cynical ‘hopes and prayers’, even cynics will agree that the first step to change is to admit there is a problem. Catholics have always understood that change requires prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and forgiveness/love. Prayer must come with admission of our guilt, gratitude for what we have been given, and thanks for prayers answered. It must also be paired with acts of self denial that help us turn away from bad behavior (much like going to a gym to get in shape!), almsgiving designed to help change the situation, and acts of reconciliation/forgiveness. Most important to all of those is that we admit we do not have all the answers ourselves and ask for help – inviting God into the broken situation. As people with free will, recognizing we need help and asking for it is the very invitation God wants in order to help us. It is no different than when we ask others for help.
So with that, I encourage you to read the text of the consecration and hear all those elements of the Catholic understanding of how change is to happen.
The full text of the consecration is here on the vatican website, but here is a short piece:
Therefore, O Mother, hear our prayer.
Star of the Sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the tempest of war.
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our world.
Oberammergau Passion Play
The history of the Oberammergau Passion play begins in 1633. In the midst of the Thirty Years’ War, after months of suffering and dying from the plague, the people of Oberammergau – a small town south of Munich, Germany – pledged to act out the passion: the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ once every 10 years.
Normally it should have happened in 2020, but was delayed due to Covid. Instead, it was moved to this year: 2022. The 5 hour play will now have performances from May 14, 2022 until October 2, 2022. If you are in the area, you should catch it since it won’t return until 2030.
Mailbox Peak Trail
You may have heard Mailbox Peak Trail mentioned in hushed tones, the kind reserved for stories about some legendary storm or a bad accident. What inspires such reverence?
The original trail proceeds more or less straight up a ridgeline to the summit, gaining a jaw dropping 3,800 feet in two and a half miles. After a short flatter section, there is nary a switchback in sight as it climbs and crosses an open talus field. Until the Department of Natural Resources built a new, much gentler trail to the summit, accidents and rescues of wayward hikers were a fairly regular occurrence. Most of the old trail remains, marked for much of its length by a string of white reflectors nailed to trees – an earlier step DNR undertook to keep the uninitiated from losing their way in the most confusing parts of the trail.
While it might not be the most scenic of trails, it is definitely one of legends. It reminds me a lot of the Heartbreak Ridge trail on Table Mountain. It is so steep as to be a near scramble up, or requires using the trees to descend without tumbling. Heartbreak climbs 1650ft in 1.2 miles – which is almost the same pitch, but only half as long.
The future of the Space Industry in 15 images
Fast Company did a fantastic job collecting images that represent all the amazing work going on in the space industry. From 3d printed rocket components, to new battery development methods, to innovative star tracking navigation units, etc. Give the article a look to learn more.
Fast, tiny, lossless image compression
There are countless image compression formats, and the world likely doesn’t need more. However, Dominic Szablewski was tinkering around with compressing RGB images and came up with his own lossless, super-fast, super-tiny compression algorithm called the Quite Ok Image compression algorithm.
While this is somewhat interesting in itself, the comments have a great discussion of how image compression has gone through a whole history of developments.