The cool thing about this game is that there's a ton of user-made tilesets for it that have been preserved on old BBS-shovelware CDs. And it's all this lovely amateur pixelart so naturally I gotta collect it.
it turns out they're a 6-byte header and then they're a 48x60 image, but they're vertically planar: The first row is the least significant bit, fourth row is the most significant bit, and so on.
This indexes into the palette, which is stored in PAL.CFG
mass-processing, I found a corrupted one! This is supposed to be "People on TV #2", but it crashes VIEWTILE (and my converter). Works in MJVGA31, but it does crash when you exit.
I noticed a bug in our binutils port that had been generating semi-randomly broken branch relaxation trampolines for decades.
Why did it take so long to notice this code generation bug? The branch has to reach farther than +-32MB for the branch relaxation trampoline generation to kick in. And even then not all branches were affected (the type of relocation affected it, it had to be in a link library in a specific kind of segment and not in the beginning of it). Finally, for it to actually come into play, the branch had to actually be taken, too.
What did it do wrong then? It added the offset to the target function in the link library .text segment twice. So instead of jumping to the intended function it jumped somewhere random after that. Funnily, the jump might end up hitting some code that did not crash, but did something unintended. For you all non-developer peeps: That is very, very bad.
Fun features of this bug: Since whether the trampoline was generated or not depended on the order of object code and from where the affected call was being made, the bug would pop in and out of existence even on the smallest changes to the code or link libraries. If you know a thing about debugging, this is not very conducive to locating bugs.
Needless to say this one took a lot of head scratching to finally figure out. The fix was a change on a single line.
This bug was old enough to get into bars and drink alcohol legally.
Attached: 1 image
The feeling when you notice a bug in your binutils port that has been generating semi-randomly broken branch relaxation trampolines for decades.
#programming #coding #oops
With Andor s2 about to drop, it's good to keep in mind that in spite of popular assumptions, the Galactic Empire isn't based on the Nazis. George Lucas was very explicit that it's in fact supposed to represent the United States.
LibreOffice had two major updates in 2024 with many improvements and fixes. Learn more from The Document Foundation's Annual Report: blog.documentfoundation.org/bl… #foss #OpenSource
In 2024, LibreOffice celebrated its fourteenth birthday. Two new major versions of the suite introduced a variety of new features, while minor releases helped to improve stability as well (This is part of The Document Foundation’s Annual Report for 2…
I have a friend that has one because of my influence. I really like it, but I am waiting for the Librem 16. Primarily, because I am hoping for a keyboard with the right shift button that is the right size and in the right spot.
Did you catch the recent ACB Vispero Presentation - Manage Windows 11 notifications with JAWS? In case you missed it, the archive is now available: acb-community.pinecast.co/epis…
A cracked phone screen doesn't mean you need a new phone! Instead, choose #repair or refurbishment—it's better for your wallet, and the planet.
Repairing will refresh your device, but when you do replace it, remember to trade it in to somewhere like Back Market. Instead of ending up in a landfill, it'll find a new home in someone else's pocket (and put some money in yours!). This enables phones to stay in use for 10 years, saving cost and energy.
But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?
If you bought your computer after 2010, there's most likely no reason to throw it out. By just installing an up-to-date GNU/Linux operating system you can keep using it for years to come.
Installing an OS may sound difficult, but you don't have to go it alone! With any luck, there are people in your area ready to help!"
A verified ID is required to access AI models in OpenAI's API to prevent IP theft. 😂 They went from stealing everything from everyone to now claiming it's their original work, despite hundreds of pending copyright cases against them in the courts. Why is this even allowed? That's hypocrisy at best.
The Seeing Assistant Go app supports the spatial orientation of blind and visually impaired people. It provides information about the surroundings using
【𝕭𝖆𝖘𝖘𝖕𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖑 🎬】 AxWax remixes at the Not Bonk What I Call Wave: Remixes Vol 2 launch party
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My two remixes on Not Bonk What I Call Wave: Remixes Vol 2, recorded at the release party Owncast stream. The tracks, Secret Deal - All Around (AxWax Remix) and Traiken - The Snag in Your Makeshift Cape (AxWax Remix) can be streamed / d...
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📺 v.basspistol.org/w/njehmVvLcBj… ⚠️ Your comments to this post are appreciated, but consider following this creator or interacting with the video directly by pasting the link above in your instance's search-box! 💌 🈁 #peerTube #Basspistol
Noticed an AI assistant is now in your WhatsApp? Meta’s AI feature is now being rolled out in the EU and you can’t turn it off – but you can stop the AI invasion by opting for privacy-focused alternatives.
I keep sending articles like this to people that are constantly complaining about the problems of AI... But the answer is always the same... "I would like to use it, But I can't all my friends use WhatsApp!" Uuggh I'm so tired of this
📣 Sei #A11y und unterstütze den Zugang zum !@metalab für Menschen mit Sehbehinderung oder Blindheit! Komm zum Do-It-Blind (DIB) Treffen 🛠️ am Montag, 28. April, Treffpunkt Ring-Passage, U3-Station Volkstheater um 16:00; Ende 20:00 metalab.at/calendar/event/8037… #make #blind #inklusion
In which I claim that a few annoying #Fediverse problems (and ATproto too) could be solved by using URI schemes the way they’re designed to be used: tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/20…
I remember that guy raiding libssh's bug reports for Fedora, he's singlehandedly responsible for performance issues not being fixed because the bug's priority dropped to wontfix due to his behavior. @cryptomilk
Peter Dutton has made a new election ad, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative!☝️ Language warning! (There will be a bleeped version for those who nee...
I meant to try this out for a few days now, and I finally did it. I was able to view a Telemundo News report in Spanish and have Meta glasses translate it to me in real time using the Live Translate feature. There is about a 5-10-second delay, but over all it's quite impressive. I even tried watching trailers for some Spanish-speaking movies... Quite something!
Love some quotes in this article, e.g. that democrats and liberals are more likely to buy Teslas than republicans. Guess Elon forgot whose pockets he should be thankful to... As Tesla profits plunge 71%, Elon Musk says he’ll spend less time on DOGE - NPR apple.news/AXomrUMyFRKGbQrC1aN…
Elon Musk says he’ll cut back his work with the federal government to one to two days per week. He said demand for Teslas is still strong, despite protests and plunging sales.
"The old and new right-wing parties are amalgamating into a neoliberal and hyper-conservative ‘pleiad’ (social notables) that comprises neo-Christian fundamentalists, including Fatimists (a Catholic religious faction). The new desire to celebrate November 25 emerges from here. The latest extreme on the right is embodied in the anti-communism of IL (the Liberal Initiative) and the neo-fascism of Chega. The media normalizes it all as milquetoast ‘liberals’ rather than what they are – figures of the ‘radical / extreme right’. These groupings want to celebrate November 25 for what it was: a coup d’état against democracy at work, against the duality of popular power. In short, they want to celebrate the counter-revolution, the beginning of the end of the Revolution.
November 25 heralded Portugal’s reconstruction from a ‘national capitalism’ dependent on forced labour in its African colonies until 1974 to a subservient capitalism that is a de facto protectorate of the leading European power of Germany, France, and Britain. Portugal now helplessly depends on investments and capital goods from North America, Spain, China, and other countries.
The ostensible ‘democratic counter-revolution’ of 25 November 1975 is a central political event for understanding what happened in Portugal, and it was far less democratic and far more reactionary in its roots. As we rescue the authentic memory of the Carnation Revolution and lament its demise, no wonder Father Martins Júnior said in a piercing manner that what remains is “50 neo-fascists in the hemicycle 50 years after the April Revolution.”
The impossible became possible on that day 50 years ago. The dreams unleashed on April 25, 1974, neither have been vanquished nor fulfilled. The slogan could not be more urgent: April 25 forever, fascism never again!"
In an unmistakable style in the form of a provocative lecture in Lisbon in 2024, at the age of 84 Father Martins Júnior asked: “50 years later, what irony! There are 50 fascists, one for each year, in Parliament.
If you heard about that hacking of the voices of traffic light crosswalks in the US recently, the root cause is the devices all had the password '1234' and an app to reprogram the devices was on the Apple app store. theregister.com/2025/04/19/us_…
Edited with a lot more resources and ways to get involved if you actually wanna get involved.
Hey non-disabled #Linux folk, sure would be fantastic if everyone pitched in on helping the blind and sighted allies making Linux more accessible to disabled users rather than warning us about the end of Windows 10, like we don't already know. Telling us something we already know doesn't help us switch to Linux because while you're lecturing us, Linux still has accessibility issues in the underlying infrastructures.
To start, Here’s a small, impactful thing you can do for now. There are bigger needs but making a fully accessible place one can research and compare distros would be a start. This website is linked to a lot. It’s inaccessible to screen magnifier users because the test is coded in such a way where elements appear behind other elements. All the links in the navigation area are empty and need labels. Making the quiz screen reader friendly by having regular web elements for questions such as radio buttons and other HTML elements without enabling an accessibility mode would be a fantastic start. distrochooser.de/
Here's some background on the recent state of Linux accessibility, and a project you can contribute to.
Make more repositories, wiki's, websites, like Linux Access ORG, of accessible mainstream distros and other flavors/spins. Make accessibility guides. Do what big tech does for accessibility but do it better than them.
and contribute to projects such as Access Kit. accesskit.dev/
Lastly, there are a ton of blind mailing lists out there for linux. Read what they have to say. Here's just one of them, this thread provides more. inbox.the-brannons.com/blinux/…
"By refusing to implement even the bare minimum protections they once promised, Google is making clear that user privacy comes second to their surveillance-based business model,” EFF’s Lena Cohen told The Register. theregister.com/2025/04/22/goo…
A federal district court judge rules USAGM (including its "special adviser" Kari Lake) acted unlawfully in shutting down the Voice of America. democracyforward.org/wp-conten…
“This decision is a powerful affirmation of the role that independent journalism plays in advancing democracy and countering disinformation." - Tom Yazdgerdi, president of the American Foreign Service Association.
“We are gratified by today’s ruling. This is another step in the process to restore VOA to full operation.” said Government Accountability Project Senior Counsel David Seide.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for the rule of law, for press freedom and journalistic integrity, and for democracy worldwide." - AFGE National President Everett Kelley.
“Today’s ruling marks a significant victory for press freedom and for the dedicated women and men who bring it to life—our clients, the journalists, executives, and staff of Voice of America." - Andrew G. Celli, Jr., founding Partner, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP
I open my windows 11 VM on Mac after a long time of not doing so, and #TweeseCake picks up all the telegram messages it needs to. Always makes a grand old noise indeed.
that happened to me once, and after everything spectacularly got flooded with sounds,I exited tweesecake and stopped using it LOL. Because it does lag, but on windows windows it did. Sounds are funny though, unless they continue for more than a minute, everything after a minute is going to be annoying. LOL.
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •This isn't to be confused with Mah Jongg by Nels Anderson.
I'm also hacking that one, but not in THIS thread.
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •And it's all this lovely amateur pixelart so naturally I gotta collect it.
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •so I'm building a tool to convert the tile files to PNGs.
The files are TIS files, which are made of:
1. one metadata string
2. 44 TIL files.
3. PAL.CFG
There's PAKTIL.COM and UNPAKTIL.COM to separate out/rejoin the TIL files. So I gotta figure out how TIL files work.
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •it turns out they're a 6-byte header and then they're a 48x60 image, but they're vertically planar: The first row is the least significant bit, fourth row is the most significant bit, and so on.
This indexes into the palette, which is stored in PAL.CFG
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •PAL.CFG is simple: It's a 16-line text file, each line containing 3 numbers separated by spaces.
As is common for VGA-only software, it's 6-bit VGA, so the RGB is 0-63 instead of 0-255
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •the DRAFTSMN.DOC file explains some of the special palette entries:
0 is used for the screen background
1 is used for tile backgrounds
7 is used for the tile edges
11 is used for numbers
15 is used for menus
so really you get 11 colors.
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •some very ugly python code using strings rather than some smart bitshifting code, but it worked first time.
now I just need to wrap this up into a script that unpacks each file one by one, then converts each TIL, then merges them together into a spritesheet
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •I made the foolish mistake that all tilesets would define a remotely sensible palette
that was a mistake. several of them do black on black text
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •who thought this tileset was a good idea? because they were very wrong.
it's tiled "Carol, Cheryl and Christie" and I have no idea who those women are.
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •that's Carol Alt, Cheryl Tiegs, and Christie Brinkley.
thanks to @ann3nova@corteximplant.comm
Foone🏳️⚧️
in reply to Foone🏳️⚧️ • • •