Stephen Borrill @sborrill@justfollow.me.uk

NetBSD 10 proves old tech can still kick apps and take names three decades later

Proper old-school Unix, not like those lazy, decadent Linux types FOSDEM 2024  NetBSD 10 marks a new level of maturity for this venerable open source Unix system, which somehow manages to be both modern and retro at the same time.…
#theregister #IT
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/04/17/30yo_netbsd_releases_v10/

Tiny ray tracer code explained by @coprolite9000 :

https://bbcmic.ro/#%7B%22v%22%3A1%2C%22program%22%3A%22REM%C4%80%C4%98%C4%86%C4%9E%24%C4%8C*%C4%92%C4%89!%C4%83%C4%9B-%C4%95'%C4%8F%5CnREM%20ordered%20dither%20pattern%20stored%20in%20REM%20statement%20above%3B%204x4%20grid%20of%20thresholds%5CnMODE1%3AREM%20set%20320x256%2C%204%20colour%20graphics%20mode%5CnVDU5%3AREM%20hide%20flashing%20text%20cursor%20by%20enabling%20draw-text-at-graphics-cursor%20mode%5CnX%3D0%3AY%3D-.1%3AZ%3D3%3AREM%20camera%20position%5CnFOR%20N%3D8%20TO%20247%3AREM%20iterate%20over%20screen%20pixel%20rows%5CnFOR%20M%3D0%20TO%20319%3AREM%20iterate%20over%20screen%20pixel%20columns%5CnU%3D%28M-159.5%29%2F160%3AREM%20x%20component%20of%20ray%20vector%5CnV%3D%28N-127.5%29%2F160%3AREM%20y%20component%20of%20ray%20vector%5CnW%3D1%2FSQR%28U*U%2BV*V%2B1%29%3AREM%20z%20component%20of%20ray%20vector%5CnU%3DU*W%3AV%3DV*W%3AREM%20normalise%20x%20and%20y%20components%5CnI%3DSGNU%3AREM%20is%20ray%20facing%20left%20or%20right%3F%20I%20becomes%20x%20and%20y%20coordinates%20for%20sphere%5CnC%3DFNray%28X%2CY%2CZ%2CU%2CV%2CW%2CI%29%3AREM%20fire%20ray%20from%20X%2CY%2CZ%20along%20U%2CV%2CW%5CnGCOL0%2C3-%2848*SQRC%2B%3F%28PAGE%2B5%2BM%20MOD4%2BN%20MOD4*4%29%2F3%29DIV16%3AREM%20set%20draw%20colour%20using%20ordered%20dithering%5CnPLOT69%2C4*M%2C4*N%3AREM%20plot%20pixel%20%284x%20multiplier%20due%20to%20resolution-independent%20graphics%20coordinates%20-%201280x1024%29%5CnNEXT%5CnNEXT%5Cn%5CnDEFFNray%28X%2CY%2CZ%2CU%2CV%2CW%2CI%29%5CnE%3DX-I%3AF%3DY-I%3AG%3DZ%3AREM%20vector%20from%20sphere%20centre%20to%20ray%20start%5CnP%3DU*E%2BV*F-W*G%3AREM%20dot%20product%3F%20Z%20seems%20to%20be%20flipped%5CnD%3DP*P-E*E-F*F-G*G%2B1%5CnIF%20D%3C%3D0%20%3DFNc%28X%2CY%2CZ%2CU%2CV%2CW%29%3AREM%20didn't%20hit%20anything%3B%20return%20colour%5CnT%3D-P-SQRD%3AIF%20T%3C%3D0%20%3DFNc%28X%2CY%2CZ%2CU%2CV%2CW%29%3AREM%20still%20didn't%20hit%20anything%3B%20return%20colour%20%20%20%20%5CnX%3DX%2BT*U%3AY%3DY%2BT*V%3AZ%3DZ-T*W%3AREM%20new%20ray%20start%20position%5CnE%3DX-I%3AF%3DY-I%3AG%3DZ%3AREM%20vector%20from%20sphere%20centre%20to%20new%20ray%20start%5CnP%3D2*%28U*E%2BV*F-W*G%29%3AREM%20dot%20product%20shenanigans%3F%5CnU%3DU-P*E%3AV%3DV-P*F%3AW%3DW%2BP*G%3AREM%20new%20ray%20direction%20vector%5CnI%3D-I%3AREM%20we'd%20hit%20one%20sphere%2C%20so%20flip%20x%20and%20y%20coordinates%20to%20give%20other%5Cn%5Cn%3DFNray%28X%2CY%2CZ%2CU%2CV%2CW%2CI%29%3AREM%20return%20colour%20from%20new%20ray%5Cn%5CnDEFFNc%28X%2CY%2CZ%2CU%2CV%2CW%29%3AREM%20generate%20pixel%20colour%5CnIF%20V%3E%3D0%20%3DV%3AREM%20facing%20up%20at%20all%3F%20return%20ray%20Y%20component%20for%20simple%20sky%20gradient%5CnP%3D%28Y%2B2%29%2FV%3AREM%20use%20height%20for%20overall%20checkerboard%20scale%20and%20y%20component%20of%20vector%20for%20perspective%5Cn%3D-V*%28%28INT%28X-U*P%29%2BINT%28Z-W*P%29AND1%29%2F2%2B.3%29%2B.2%3AREM%20multiply%20simple%20gradient%20by%20checkerboard%5Cn%22%7D

"Go to an old cemetery. See all the baby graves from before the 1950s & 60s? After that, hardly any. That's when people started vaccinating their children against deadly childhood diseases. If you're unsure what to do to protect your kids, the answer is literally written in stone." — Michael Okuda

Without vaccines, many transmissible diseases were once an early death sentence. People are so quick to forget how fortunate we are to have access to them.

After the Peugeot 404 Cabriolet and Coupé, today the saloon/sedan. I couldn't locate a photo of my own - a literal case of '404 not found'. Happily Peugeot obliges with this visual gag, which is what you get if you lose your way on the company's website. Surely this is the best 404 error message page out there. #Peugeot #404NotFound #WeirdCarMastodon #davidsdailycar

I love the Acorn Archimedes RISC OS, so when I spotted a clock in the style of the operating system - well, what could I do...

Now it hangs on my office wall looking splendid, although I may sacrifice accurate time for a peaceful non-ticking sound life 🙃

https://retrofied.uk/products/acorn-archimedes-risc-os-large-wall-clock

#retrocomputing #acorn #riscos

Love these old interviews with the UNIX team. So many new-at-the-time concepts that are still the main way to do things today. And they're just another bunch of nerds forced by corporate to give awkward demos to the camera :p

https://youtu.be/tc4ROCJYbm0?si=bLyWGG6-OrOMEN_S

The "guardrails" to stop powerful LLM chatbots from emitting bad advice or offensive text can be easily bypassed – and it's unclear whether there's a viable fix

See below for an example of how gibberish can make a bot break its safety rules

Info: https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/27/llm_automated_attacks/

#bot
Original tweet : https://nitter.fdn.fr/TheRegister/status/1684696109862772739

http status code breakdown
1xx - you need to do it
2xx - we did it
3xx - go do it over there
4xx - you can't do it
5xx - we can't do it

My first #PortfolioDay! I’m Paul and I’m an artist that uses modern code to create unique works using vintage pen plotters, which I also collect and repair as needed. My works are typically in CMY color but I also do monochrome or other specialty inks. I can do up to 36”x48”.

🚀 Boosts appreciated! Cheers!

#PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt