Jope's New Writeups

Action Replay Mk VI (thing)

2005-02-24T11:47:15Z

The ARVI is a very powerful debugging tool if you want to do some software development on a C-64.

With the built in machine code monitor, you can stop code execution at any point and look into memory, start tracing your code, set break points for when something happens and of course modify your code on the fly.

Most "professional" AR users didn't really use the poke finders and spritekillers the cartridge provides, but mostly the BASIC extensions it provides and the aforementioned Monitor tool.

Nowadays there is a new version of the AR (based on the AR VI) called the Retro Replay.

That cartridge has an user upgradeable flash rom, more memory than the original AR and it also sports an Amiga 1200 clockport connector that can accomodate an rs-232 adapter (Silver Surfer) or an ethernet adapter.

Yes, you can connect your C-64 to the Internet using a Retro Replay, Silver Surfer and the Contiki OS!

LOAD "*",8,1 (idea)

2005-02-24T11:43:39Z

Loading the "asterisk" file from a CBM floppy drive means that you want to "load the previous file again."

First load any file you want, then clear the BASIC mem by typing NEW and then load asterisk from the drive. You'll get your previous piece of software.

Some people mistakenly assume it always gives the first file of the disk. This only happens if the drive was just reset or switched on.

The method for getting the first file is:

LOAD ":*",8

Add a colon in front of the asterisk and the drive will know to load the first file.

TP (thing)

2002-06-05T18:09:14Z

TP is a common Finnish slang acronym for "teinipillu", which means "teen pussy". (would you believe it, an acronym that works for both English and Finnish. ;-)

It is most commonly used for teenage girls who dress up in too tight clothes and wander around the city center and try to hit on men (older and same age).

I guess I don't have to mention that this is a rather degrading term.

I fried myself in The Finnish E2 Get-Together, and all I got was a hippie song stuck in my head (thing)

2001-07-05T08:03:43Z

Truly, that was a memorable day.. :-) And I actually remember everything because I drank only three beers..

It was awesome. The sun was nice and warm, the wind was just right, my salami went sour because of the heat, The Flower Pot Men was a notable success, our overseas friends were very nice, Simppa's underground jamming facility's drums were in VERY bad shape..

.. I burned my nose in the sun ..

Thanks for everyone who showed up! We'll have to meet on a Friday or Saturday next time so that no-one has to limit their boozing. I myself had 200km to drive after the meeting so my intoxication was quite modest.. Maybe that was a good thing afterall.. :-)

Oh, by the way.. We left because we really had to go to work on Monday.

.. another case of "you had to be there", but that's inevitable when you talk about things like this.

The Flower Pot Men (thing)

2001-07-02T07:22:10Z

The Flower Pot Men was a British group back in the flower power years of the late sixties.

When Scott McKenzie released his number one hit "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)", two British musicians, John Carter and Ken Lewis of Ivy League fame decided to write and record "Let's Go To San Francisco".

The song went to the top 10 quite quickly and the UK label Deram became interested. A band was needed to perform the single, so in 1967 Tony Burrows, Robin Shaw, Peter Nelson and Neil Landon became The Flower Pot Men and started to record the songs Carter and Lewis made.

"Let's Go To San Francisco" peaked at no. 4 in the UK singles chart and was also popular in other European countries. It was followed by "A Walk In The Sky", which also had moderate success, but after that, the Flowerpot men were forgotten.

They released several other singles and also changed the band's name to "Friends" but the public wasn't interested…

The National Flag of Finland (thing)

2001-06-29T12:21:00Z

CapriKorn mentioned the dimensions of the flag, but not the proportions:

For the long side: 5+3+10
And the short side: 4+3+4

If you've ever been to the boy scouts in Finland, you might know a song about those dimensions that's sung to the note of "old man noah":

viis-kolme-kymmenen / (fiv'-three-ten)
viis-kolme-kymmenen /
on pituus lipussa (is the length of the flag)
(repeat)

neljä-kolme-neljä / (four-three-four)
neljä-kolme-neljä /

viis-kolme-kymmenen /
viis-kolme-kymmenen /
on pituus lipussa

I think that's how it went.. My memory is a little shady as it's been a long time. :-)

I still am with the boy scouts mind you.