Tag Archives: computer

Experience and skill in software development

Posted on November 19, 2017 by Scali

I just spotted a number of hits from Ars Technica to my blog. It is a regular event that one of my blog posts gets posted in some online discussion, causing a noticeable spike in my statistics. When it does, … Continue reading →

Posted in Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Funny search terms

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Scali

I find it fun to look at the stats on my blog, and see the search terms that brought people here. Some of them are quite funny. So I’ve decided to collect them, and give you a selection: make windows … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Linux, the Dunning-Kruger OS

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Scali

Over the years, I’ve seen a pattern emerge. I have documented this on various occasions. Such as the time when Jed Smith thought he knew about Windows security features such as ACLs. Or that time when Linus thought he had … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct3D, OpenGL, Software development, Software news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

The problem with free/open source software

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Scali

I have recently obtained two Apple Mac Mini G4 machines. They date from 2005, but I did not immediately associate them with retro-programming (I would think they’d have to be quite a bit older for that). They both were unable … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Haswell Hasarrived

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Scali

Intel has launched its new generation of Core i5/i7 processors, codenamed Haswell. If you are familiar with Intel’s tick-tock strategy, this is a ‘tock’: a microarchitecture update on existing process technology. In this case the 22 nm process which is … Continue reading →

Posted in Hardware news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Just keeping it Metro

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Scali

Yes, Metro, not Retro. Or actually I should say Windows Store App now. As in, the new interface for Windows 8, mainly aimed at tablets and smartphones. Namely, I got myself a Windows 8 Pro update early on, at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct3D, Software development, Software news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Latency and stuttering with 3D acceleration

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Scali

The other day, I read this interesting article on Anandtech about the GPU stuttering issues that were recently discovered with AMD cards. I wanted to do a quick write-up about that, since it relates to what I am doing. As … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct3D, Hardware news, OpenGL, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Just keeping it real, part 10.1

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Scali

Last time, I covered the basics of doing multiply and divide with 8-bit numbers. So far, these routines only worked for unsigned numbers. This time I will show how to add support for signed numbers, some ways to extend these … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Just keeping it real, part 10

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Scali

Let’s explore the Commodore 64 some more. The topic today is: mathematics. And again, we are going to keep it real, VERY real. I have to admit, originally the ‘keeping it real’ was mainly a play of words on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Oldskool/retro programming, Software development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What is a platform anyway?

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Scali

After the previous blog, I figured I wanted to add something on people’s interpretations of OSes, platforms and API’s. Starting with OpenGL, I have already blogged about the PS3 in the past, where people think it uses OpenGL. At best … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct3D, Hardware news, OpenGL, Software development, Software news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment