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My dad came home with a 2nd hand spectravideo sv-328 and it got me started as well. It had a book of basic programs that got me started.

I used to use ninjam many years ago, I don't remember the delay being a deal breaker for me, it was just a fun way to practice with other players. If you found a good drummer you could just jam along and have fun with it.

I've recently finished a project that implemented a mc68000 microcomputer board for a 80s industrial control system. It's a great way to do a deep dive into micro computer design, and the older technology makes it possible for 1 person to have a pretty decent understanding of how the system works. Implementing the programmable timer modules was definitely a challenge to get them cycle accurate.

I really want to adapt what I've done into an amiga500 accelerator board.

I feel like AI is going to be doing all the fun stuff and I will just left organizing the data and docs it needs to generate code.

Charles Babbage designed his difference engine that was mechanical and used punch cards for loading programs. The machine was mechanical and used a steam engine to power it.

system to test and calibrate an analog traction control system. the system uses a frequency to voltage converter and a bunch of opamps to compare wheel speeds then determines wheel slip or slide and either reduces engine power or braking.

Test system uses ADCs, DACs and a DDS to produce a sine wave that simulates wheel speed.

I would rather be fishing.

My favorite super market bought cheese is mainland tasty cheddar, the best tasting blocks always have crystals.

ATmega micros are still incredibly useful and the Arduino ecosystem (especially the open source libraries, thanks Rob Tillaart!) makes it so easy to whip up a firmware. I really hope no matter what happens Arduino doesn't go off the rails.

Testing jig for a traction control system for a locomotive. Microcontroller connected to a DDS waveform generator simulates the sensor that picks wheel speed, various ADCs and DACs read in analog voltages that are compared to determine loss of traction. 1980s analog computing at its finest. If I had a choice I would be doing anything else ;)

Back in the day I would keep an old PC running Linux in the closet just for my IRC and shell needs. Having a vanity domain name was a must if you were lucky enough to have a static IP. I remember undernet adding support to hide your IP once you created an account.