I recently had a conversation with ChatGPT and asked if it knew HyperTalk, the high-level scripting language behind Apple’s HyperCard, and not only did it know of it, it replied that it knew it. So, I asked it a couple of “how do I do such-and-such” questions, and it indeed was able to provide annotated code snippets that checked out! I am blown away, as it means the training model had included what is these days a fairly obscure language on the off-chance some nerd asked about it :)

Currently listening: Katarakt - “LoFi House Mix | 2 Years of Stoner House”

Listen on YouTube

I have a Macintosh Colour Classic in my collection, a beautiful yet flawed machine, which has given me a lot of grief over the years. I sent the main logic-board and analogue board over to Charles AKA Uniserver (who used to run maccaps.com - site seems to no longer exist, but here’s an archive.org mirror) and he replaced a bunch of capacitors that were the most likely failure points. It worked for a time after that, until it didn’t. I tried diagnosing it, I noticed there was a part wedged between two transformers making a nasty chirping/squeaking noise. I replaced that, and still the same issue of it not turning on. I left it for a year or so, and when a friend (Hi, Alex!) mentioned he was taking some machines up Canberra to someone who specialised in old-school Mac repair, I got in touch with him. With that person’s help, I managed to narrow down the root cause. Seems somewhat obvious in hindsight, but the issue was with another component that helped with feeding power to the squeaking component… Now, bear in mind it was cunningly hidden underneath an RF shield, so I couldn’t see the poor blacken husk of the failed component! Anyway, once I removed that and soldered in suitable replacement, it sprung to life! First run was outside on my driveway using a long power lead - I didn’t trust it not to explode :P

Currently listening: Asthenic - “Phase Change II”

Listen on YouTube

The main reason for my moving across to Plex/Plexamp for my music playback is the issues and changes in iTunes/Music.

Apple Music versions of songs replacing previously ripped/matched songs. Songs ripped losslessly swapped out to “HLS Media” files which won’t play elsewhere. Songs I’ve had for years suddenly unavailable in the catalogue.

This aren’t even the weird glitches I’ve experienced with the interface. Clicking into the search field, entering an artist name (for example “The Smiths”), pressing enter, and the previous search results being displayed, even though the top left says “Showing results for “The Smiths””. Clicking into “Recently Added” on the left under Library, and it showing the CD I’m currently ripping. There are plenty more examples…

So, I have been continuing the move over, and I am happy so far. The iPhone/iPadOS version of Plexamp doesn’t seem to have a simple option to download all of the tracks, but if I have enough loaded, I’m happy to stream the rest, albeit not losslessly perhaps!

Currently listening: The KLF - “Chill Out”

I’ve used iTunes since the very first version, in fact I used SoundJam MP before that, so I’ve been a user before it was even iTunes. I’ve gone through every version since, across Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, macOS, the change to “Music”… the whole shebang! Today, I’ve started the move over to Plex/Plexamp… Time will tell if it is a temporary thing, and I will certainly not be getting rid of my Apple Music subscription, as my family uses it, but I just couldn’t deal with sheer amount of issues I have been running into with Music of late. Search bugs, tracks having to be deleted and re-added, interface changes I can’t stand. I’ve tried starting from scratch, and the same issues crop up.

Now, I had already switched over my library of Movies and TV Shows to Plex about three years ago, so I already have the infrastructure ready in that regard, so that means I’m dumping across all of the compatible files and trying things out…

I will most likely also take the opportunity to re-rip my CD collection in a lossless format as well whilst I’m at it.

Currently listening: Vibe Chemistry - “Living Like This”

soundcloud.com/vibe-chem…

There was a cube between the NeXTcube and the Power Mac G4 Cube. It was around during the late ’90s/early Noughties, coloured bright blue, and functioned as a headless web, file, and print server. It was called the Cobalt Qube.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coba…

I have a first generation in my collection, which has the model number 2700. I was setting it up recently so as to play around with it, and when I connected power, there was a series of sparks and a nasty burnt smell. Not good.

Upon opening it, I found there has been a modification made with some components on a piece of perfboard, piggy-backed onto the DC-in socket, and an LED. It had been stuck on using double-sided foam tape that had long ago lost hold, and when I connected power had caused a short that vapourised one of the power traces…

Thankfully I was able to remove the modification and repair the blown trace (swapping over the DC-in socket for good measure), and it lives to fight another day!

Currently listening: Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 - “Norwegian Wood”

Whoops - some how deleted this from a couple of weeks ago, reposting now!

It’s the usual story, you start playing with something and fall down a rabbit hole of research / tweaking / etc :)

We have attached to our Smart Electricity Meter a “PowerPal” which helps us track our power usage, and turns out there is a way to get that info into Home Assistant!

Here is an excellent write-up that goes into all the details:

tatham.blog/2022/07/1…

I have ordered an M5Stack Atom Lite, and will set this up once it arrives :)

Currently listening: Ann Peebles - “I Can’t Stand the Rain”

That tiny M5Stack Atom Lite arrived, I followed along with the write-up I posted about a couple of weeks ago, and no luck…

I ran into an issue, but at least one that others have reported as well:

github.com/WeekendWa…

I’ll have to try again in a little while, hopefully the issue will have been resolved by then :)

Currently listening: PNAU - “Chameleon (feat. Kira Divine)”

Just managed to set up printing from a Power Macintosh G3 running Mac OS 9.2.2 to a much more recent HP Color LaserJet M377dw over Ethernet…

Not bad for an operating system declared dead over 20 years ago!

www.youtube.com/watch

So, the built-in printer drivers in Chooser (gosh, using that really took me back!) would not see the HP LaserJet, I’m guessing it was trying to use AppleTalk. Installing this HP software was the key:

macintoshgarden.org/apps/hp-l…

Once installed, I had their software create a Desktop Printer using a Generic PPD, entered the local IP of the printer, and it worked straight away. Now, I only tried text, as I didn’t want to push my luck, but perhaps I will try graphics next :)

Currently listening: Sir Sly - “High”

One project I wanted to undertake over the holidays was to replace an Aqara M2 Hub that I use with an assortment of their sensors around my house.

Thankfully the sensors are all Zigbee, so they’re not tied down to something vendor specific/proprietary.

I decided upon using Home Assistant, for two main reasons: I already had everything I needed, and I wanted to give it another shot.

I had previously tried it and Hubitat out but found them too complex for what I needed at the time. This time around I was just going to use Home Assistant specifically for communication with these sensors and exposing them to HomeKit.

So, I brought out my spare Raspberry Pi 4, a PoE hat, a 32GB microSD card, and ConBee II stick (the Zigbee radio). I imaged the latest version of Home Assistant on to the SD card using balenaEtcher. I then set up Home Assistant, deleted the sensors from within the Aqara app one-by-one, and added them in to Home Assistant using the built-in ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration. I did try installing the deCONZ Add-on, but it seemed to struggle to pair with some of the sensors. I also set up the HomeKit integration in Home Assistant so all of the sensors are back in the Home app. Lastly, I went through recreating the automations within the Home app.

Once that was completed, I pulled my TV off the wall, removed the Aqara M2 Hub and PoE to USB adapter hiding there, and hooked up the Raspberry Pi instead.

In future, I may set up further devices in Home Assistant to allow for more complex automations, etc.

The other tweak I made today was swapping over the magnet my Garage Door Opener uses with its open/close sensor for a much more powerful one. This should hopefully fix a periodic issue I have of the magnet not being close enough when the garage roller door closes slightly askew.

Currently listening: Mekons - “Where Were You”

I install the Ray Traced version of Quake 1 the other day and it is darn impressive! It’s weird revisiting places that were such a part of my adolescence and seeing them looking so familiar yet prettier :)

www.pcgamer.com/heres-ray…

GitHub link:

github.com/sultim-t/…

Currently listening: Miami Horror - “Sign of the Times”

Well, we’re now coming up on the first anniversary of this blog, and I’m happy I have managed to stick to my “average of one post a week” aim, notwithstanding the occasional “nothing to post” week :)

It’s been fun just posting about stuff I have been up to and playing with, there are plenty more projects and things to explore for me over the next little while - including:

• Weather Balloon Radiosonde Tracking/Recovery
• Install USB-C charge port in ThinkPad T520
• Connect to BBSs using WiFi modem
• Install PCI serial card in Cobalt Qube
• Play Quake 1 RTX version
• Update Floppy Emu firmware and check out new features
• Install different macOS versions (10.8-10.15) on Mac mini (Late 2012)
• Install DOS or Windows XP on HP T5730 Thin Client

Hope everyone out there in Internet-land has a great break and see you in 2023!

Currently listening: Odetta - “Hit or Miss”

This Kickstarter campaign is for a screen with the ability to allow for many, many different input options via a system of modular expansion boards.

Not cheap, but should be able to replace a bunch of adapters and displays. I’ve backed it!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Currently listening: Causa Sui - “Homage”

The other day I had a customer bring in an optical drive with a disc stuck inside… Nothing too unusual about that, until I noticed something seemed off about the drive, which at first glance was an Apple SuperDrive. The housing of the USB plug was poorer quality, and the casing of the body of the drive was silver plastic, not metal. It was a fake!

Upon opening it, I found a 50-pin JAE connector to USB bridge with a battered looking drive from 2006. There was a sticker on the casing with a 2014 date code, so even “new”, the drive inside was 8 years old!

Currently listening: Grace Jones - “Walking In The Rain”

Love these wallpapers, my favourites include “Shippou”, and the “Pepsi Perfect” one…

louie.world/wallpaper…

Currently listening: The Beatles - “Revolver (2022 Mix)”

Certainly one of my “Desert Island Discs”, the 2022 version makes everything fresher and clearer - all of the instruments can be heard distinctly. There are details and subtleties that I’ve never noticed before - eg the yawn in “I’m Only Sleeping” - it was there, but somewhat “buried”.

At my store we use an older Intel NUC that we use to run PC diagnostic software and to recover/transfer data. It’s great having a “desktop” PC without taking up a lot of space. We’ve had quite a while now, so I wasn’t too surprised to see that Windows 11 isn’t compatible. After a bit of looking at the current available options, I settled on the Minisforum Neptune HX90G. It is apparently the first of these NUC/mini PCs to have discrete AMD graphics. Not that we need the power, but it’ll be nice to have! It’s currently on order, I’ll write up my take on it once it arrives and I have a chance to put the wee beastie through its paces…

Currently listening: The Naked and Famous - “Young Blood”

To me, one of the most interesting things when Apple comes out with a completely new class of device is seeing how they solve usability challenges peculiar to that type of product. For example, interactions with the Apple Watch touchscreen and side buttons have to take into account the fact the user will be covering most of the display with a digit.

That experience with creating new ways of doing things then appears elsewhere, for example the digital crown on the AirPods Max.

So, when the fabled Apple AR headset is finally revealed, it will be fascinating to see how the question of interacting with information and interface elements that will be presumably dangling in mid-air will be handled.

I think a fair bit of what one can see overlayed will be contextually chosen info and messages, rather than heavy UI, but surely somehow you’ll be able to make selections or dismiss things?

Imagine also, that the headset and its decedents aren’t just about directions, messages, and content consumption, but have a way for people to add hyper-localised information or tag web links to real world objects… Apple Maps is only the beginning. It’ll start with people holding up their iPhone, but the AR headset will be a lot more immersive. Add in what Apple has been doing with iBeacon/UWB (much more precise location data than GPS) and Memoji (overlaying on top of detected faces/objects), and there is definitely something exciting that Apple is working towards.

If the name of the first (high-end) headset is indeed “Reality Pro”, I think Apple eventually wants people to think “Apple Reality” when they think AR, not “Augmented Reality”.

Exciting times!

Currently listening: Pylon - “Cool (Extra)”

It may not really be suitable for those who suffer from motion-sickness, but this screensaver is a trip! It takes the old-school Windows “Starfield” to a whole new level. What’s nice is that over the last couple of versions it has been updated with Apple Silicon and high refresh support.

github.com/nickzman/…

Currently listening: The Rolling Stones - “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”

I should be receiving the two that I ordered today, I will update this post once I have set them up and played around with them tonight!

Update: One indeed arrived at least. New smaller box, no shrink-wrap. Very familiar looking remote, just the change to USB-C for recharging. The Apple TV itself feels a fair bit lighter and the dimensions are slightly smaller, luckily the mount behind my TV still holds it fine for now.

The onboarding process is a little slicker in tvOS 16, straight forward and gets you up and running very quickly if you choose the option of holding an iPhone near it to save entering in the tedious details…

To be honest I don’t see a massive difference in how it runs, but that is about what I was expecting. The chip driving the show has gone from an A12 to an A15 - so that’s like going from an iPhone XS to an iPhone 13 Pro I believe. Also, this model supports HDR10 now. So, things do feel snappier, and the colours look a little better - how much of that is purely psychological I don’t know :P

All in all, most people won’t be upgrading from last years one anyway, so if you have one from a couple of generations back, it’ll be a much bigger jump.

Currently listening: Neu! - “Für Immer”

Nothing to write about this week, see you next week!

In what has got to be the coolest project I’ve seen in a while, this Kickstarter campaign is to create a replacement kit to convert an iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) into a stand alone display with USB-C connectivity, or even allow the internals of a Mac mini (M1, 2020) to be installed inside. The existing main logic-board is removed from the iMac and a custom PCB and some 3D printed airflow guides replace it.

The reason this iMac model was chosen is it has developed notoriety over the years for a massive GPU failure rate, which results in either odd bright pink stripes, the entire display turning off, or an inability to finish the boot process.

It was always disappointing explaining to people experiencing this failure that whilst, yes this iMac can operate as a stand-alone display, that that still requires the internal GPU to be functional.

Now what this (Australian) team are developing will allow for an otherwise useless gorgeous display to live again - Major kudos! :)

I’m a backer, now to source a faulty one of these machines for surgery when the board finally arrives…

www.kickstarter.com/projects/…

Currently listening: The Sonics - “Have Love Will Travel”

Upgradeable! Modular! iFixit 10 out of 10 repairability score! I’ve been wanting a Framework laptop for a while :)

Orders finally opened up in Australia early September, and mine arrived earlier this week.

It’s very nicely put together, in terms of design and construction. The keyboard is great, and the trackpad is the best on a PC laptop I’ve used. The power button doubles as a nice reliable fingerprint reader (pictured). The units metal chassis feels robust and sturdy, a far cry from your typical cheap-feeling plastic laptops…

One thing I wasn’t aware of until after I received it was that the four recessed ports where you slide in the various extension modules are actually USB 4 (Possibly even Thunderbolt 4, just waiting on Intel certification) and means there would in theory be enough bandwidth to run a GPU externally in a chassis. Perhaps this could even be a desktop replacement :)

Next up, I’m looking forward to swapping over to the top-case with a transparent keyboard. Maybe an orange bezel too…

Currently listening: Big Wild - “Aftergold”

After a hiatus due to you-know-what, PAX Aus was back this weekend. Sure they had PAX Online the last two years, but it wasn’t the same! My daughter got some very cool earrings with Ditto from Pokémon, I bought a very light wireless mouse, and we all saw some cool new games. The crowd didn’t feel quite as big as 2019, and it felt like there were a few stands missing - Nintendo for example. Hopefully next year will be bigger again.

Currently listening: Public Image Limited - “Rise”

And by sometimes, I mean practically always. For a while now at my store I’ve been experiencing an odd issue, where the two OG HomePods I have for music in the retail area will randomly become unreachable from the front desk iMac.

Most mornings, we will hit play in the Music app and the wee AirPlay icon in the top right will become badged with an exclamation mark. We have to restart the iMac for that to work again, simply quitting and reopening Music for some reason is insufficient. We run UniFi equipment for our networking infrastructure, and I have tried altering a number of network settings thinking they might be relevant, but to no avail. The problem occurs whether the iMac is using WiFi or ethernet, both of which have a static IP (as do the HomePods), and recently I decided I wanted to try again to resolve this issue. What is odd is that, if you close the Music app in the evening, and open it the following morning, it works fine…

One solution I then considered was creating an AppleScript to automatically close Music in the evening. What I ended up doing was simply setting Energy Saver for the iMac to shut down automatically in the evening, and then start up in the morning. I think overall that is the simplest solution, but I would still love to work out exactly why the problem occurs!

Currently listening: DJ BORING - “Winona”

Last week I took the family on a road-trip to Adelaide, which was an absolute blast. Amongst all the fun activities and sights we had planned, one thing I wanted to do was visit the headquarters of Jolt Cola Australia. Jolt Cola to me is an important nostalgia cornerstone, reminding me of 90s LAN parties and the Melbourne 2600 meetings, where as a pimply-faced youth I’d hang out with a bunch of social misfits and irregulars who were as computer obsessed as myself.

The question was, given that the last Jolt Cola I had found had been in 2018 on eBay (and shipped from the USA at exorbitant expense), were they still around?

Not only were they still in operation, but I met the fellow in charge, who very kindly gave me an entire box of 15 bottles with a sampling of the 5 different variants and a hat! I purchased a few more bottles of the original flavour for good measure from OTR, a convenience store chain that actually has outlets in Victoria as well - so the closest Jolt Cola to me was in Stawell all this time, who knew?

Update: Turns out there is a much closer OTR in Alphington! Called them, they do indeed stock Jolt Cola :)

Currently listening: Jesper Ryom - “Pacer”

Nothing this week, back next week! :)