Category Archives: Retro

Dual Boot Windows XP 32-Bit and Windows 10 64-Bit on an SSD Drive

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Introduction

In many ways, modern computers are alien compared to the hardware available during Windows XP's debut in 2001. Back then, hard drives connected through IDE instead of SATA and dedicated graphics cards were powered by the now-defunct AGP standard instead of PCI Express, which was years away from inception. 128 MB of RAM would make programs speed along and a 30 GB hard drive was substantial. External flash drives were still in their infancy and cost over $100 for 16 MB capacity. 64-bit processors were still a mythical prospect to consumers.

By comparison, a typical Windows 10 workstation computer in 2018 will have at least 8 GB of RAM and 1 TB of hard drive space. Gaming machines and those built to accommodate the latest hardware (e.g., Oculus Rift) will have 32 GB of RAM, a blazing fast solid-state drive for their OS and core applications, and a dedicated video card that itself can contain gigabytes of video memory. Broadband Internet and wireless connectivity are now commonplace and the days of dial-up modems are but a relic from the past. 64-bit processors are now the standard, rather than the exception. Read Full Article

Apple Muncher Project Postmortem: Developing for Panasonic VIERA Connect SmartTV (Part 3)

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This is the third of a four-part story documenting my somewhat excruciating and wholly uncharted experience developing an indie game for Panasonic’s obscure VIERA Connect television app market several years ago.

In the first part of this postmortem, I detailed the pains of becoming a VIERA Connect third party developer and struggles of setting up the rigid development environment required by Panasonic. Read Full Article

Apple Muncher Project Postmortem: Developing for Panasonic VIERA Connect SmartTV (Part 2)

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This is the second of a four-part story documenting my somewhat excruciating and wholly uncharted experience developing an indie game for Panasonic’s obscure VIERA Connect television app market.

In the first part of this postmortem, I detailed the pains of becoming a VIERA Connect third party developer and struggles of setting up the rigid development environment required by Panasonic. Now I turn my attention to the actual development process using the company’s available API. Read Full Article

Apple Muncher Project Postmortem: Developing for Panasonic VIERA Connect SmartTV (Part 1)

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This is the first of a four-part story documenting my somewhat excruciating and wholly uncharted experience developing an indie game for Panasonic's obscure VIERA Connect television app market.

...and So It Began

In 2011, I purchased my first SmartTV—a Panasonic TC-P42ST30 Plasma 1080p HDTV. This was the period of time when smart televisions were just starting to take off, with most manufacturers offering integrated WiFi support and a handful of apps from top media companies including Netflix and Amazon. Each brand was doing all that it could to stand out in the crowd of high-definition televisions. Some HDTVs, for instance, came bundled with remote controllers that included slide-out keyboards for easy online interaction. Panasonic observed the app phenomena that was taking the mobile world by storm and evidently wanted a piece of that pie. Read Full Article

Goodbye Radioshack, My Old Friend

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Today I stepped foot into my regional RadioShack as it approached the final few hours of existence, being one of 1,784 stores to close as a result of the bankruptcy. Growing up, RadioShack was the only tech outlet in my hometown. Many fond memories were made as I'd bike to the store repeatedly to play on their showcase computers or explore any number of other technical toys and gadgets in the 1990s. I recall spending hours playing one of the preloaded games their machines to claim the high score, the name of which escapes me now [it was similar to Snake but you simply kept growing and didn't need to collect any items].

One of my earliest computers was a (Radioshack) Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 2, which contributed significantly to my initial programming developments.  I had the Logo Programming Language cartridge and with it was able to create many goofy designs by programming the on-screen turtle to move in specific patterns. The included BASIC manuals proved to be an endless source of inspiration and knowledge in my youngest days of application development.  My first MIDI-capable electronic keyboard also came from RadioShack and remains in active use today.  In fact, I accumulated quite a number of RadioShack merchandise over the course of two decades including scanners and radios, RC cars, joysticks and peripherals, handheld games and many miscellaneous items. Read Full Article