A Blog About Random Computer Subjects
Frank DeCaire In my last Vintage post I talked about the first commercially available fully assembled PCs and ended with the Space Invaders video game console. In this blog post I’m going to talk about a few other video games. Galaga I spent so many quarters on Galaga that I probably bought the company owner his/her yacht. … Read moreVintage Hardware – Arcade Games
Summary In this blog post I’m going to talk about some computers that came out in the late 70’s and early 80’s. These are some of the earliest home computers and utilized mostly 8-bit CPUs. Schematics are available and I’ve done some deep-diving into the circuitry to see how these machines were created. The first … Read moreVintage Computer Hardware Design
This blog post is a “what-if” scenario, rather than a practical application. Still, if EPROMs ever become super fast, this is a viable option. I’ve discussed Arithmetic Logic Units in previous posts. I have the circuit for the TTL 74381 and 74382 chips. The circuit is easy to find on the internet and it’s included … Read moreBuilding an ALU from an EPROM
Summary I’ve written quite a few blog posts about legacy code. In this blog post I’m going to discuss how you can deal with classic ASP, why you should deal with it sooner than later and some details of what to do. Classic ASP If you’re running a .Net shop, Classic ASP is about the … Read moreLegacy Code – Dealing with Classic ASP
I’ve always wanted a decoder that did more than the TTL 7447 BCD to seven-segment display decoder did. I wanted the full hexadecimal output. One of my first real projects for the GAL was to create such a chip. I have an old PAL databook that was published by National Semiconductor in 1982. I pulled … Read moreGeneric Array Logic Hexadecimal Display
I’m going to continue this series while it’s still fresh in my mind. In case you missed it, part 1 is here. I learned electronics when I was in High School. I had two years of electronics classes and I also built circuits out of digital logic gates as a hobby. This is in the … Read moreDigital Electronics for the Beginner (Part 2)
I’ve been blogging a bit about digital electronics lately. One of the devices that I have never had the opportunity to experiment with is the Programmable Array Logic or PAL. The last time I built a circuit was when I was in College in the early 90s. At that time I owned a Mac Plus … Read moreGeneric Array Logic Devices
Let’s say you’re a programmer and your experience in digital electronics involves that one class you were required to take in college. Or…you’re a young person who is interested in learning this cool stuff, because, well… it seems cool. One option is to buy one of those learning kits and go through the tutorials. If … Read moreDigital Electronics for the Beginner
Summary In this post I’m going to talk about website security. This is just a top-of-the-waves blog post. Consider it a jumping off point for you to dive deeper into specific security subjects. As a software developer, everyone should understand what precautions should be taken to ensure that your company’s website will not appear on … Read moreWebsite Security
Summary In this post I’m going to talk more about creating simulation software and the difficulties of inventing something new. Writing Software is Like Working in a Sausage Factory Writing new software is more of an art than a science. Sure, we call ourselves scientists and we have methods and proven algorithms for getting things … Read moreDigital Logic Simulator Progress