Computers and technology tips

[TomKat]

If you listen to videos or music on your laptop you might try these Lielongren usb plug-n-play speakers. I've tested them on Windows, MacOS and Linux and they are instantly enabled and become the default output. Much better!

https://www.amazon.com/Newest-Computer-Speaker-Desktop-Portable/dp/B08QRYTPGH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=lielongren%2Busb%2Bcomputer%2Bspeaker&qid=1652061878&sprefix=lielongren%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNlFVNzE2QTVWUDdHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDgzNzMwM0JEWTAxMDJMTTc1UCZlbmN yeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjI4ODIyNzJPMEg0M1pZVFVYJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm9 0TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

[DeDukshyn]

If you listen to videos or music on your laptop you might try these Lielongren usb plug-n-play speakers. I've tested them on Windows, MacOS and Linux and they are instantly enabled and become the default output. Much better!

https://www.amazon.com/Newest-Computer-Speaker-Desktop-Portable/dp/B08QRYTPGH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=lielongren%2Busb%2Bcomputer%2Bspeaker&qid=1652061878&sprefix=lielongren%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNlFVNzE2QTVWUDdHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDgzNzMwM0JEWTAxMDJMTTc1UCZlbmN yeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjI4ODIyNzJPMEg0M1pZVFVYJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm9 0TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

Dang that's affordable!

I recently bought some new desktop speakers after my 15 year old tiny powered fostex studio monitors finally bit the dust - those were some great little speakers - I got them on sale for about $120CAD, looong ago. I see they've over doubled in price: https://www.amazon.com/Fostex-USA-PM03H-B-Speaker-AMS-PM03H-B/dp/B07BKP1ZTZ/ref=sr_1_35?crid=2H4S4CGSRB1Q5&keywords=fostex+pm&qid=1652062436&sprefix=fostex+p%2Caps%2C429&sr=8-35

So I replaced them with a pair of these: https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R1700BTs-Active-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B0886B1TWC/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3GE5ACJBS6CAC&keywords=edifier&qid=1652062340&sprefix=edifie%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-5 which are pretty darn good. Took a while to get them properly broke in but they sound great now .. .also with bluetooth, and two line inputs, and a subwoofer output. They look nice too! Overall I'd say they are good bang for the buck. I occasionally dabble in some music production so I needed something with a fairly flat response curve and these are balanced nicely between "studio monitor" and "general use speaker".

[TomKat]

If you listen to videos or music on your laptop you might try these Lielongren usb plug-n-play speakers. I've tested them on Windows, MacOS and Linux and they are instantly enabled and become the default output. Much better!

https://www.amazon.com/Newest-Computer-Speaker-Desktop-Portable/dp/B08QRYTPGH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=lielongren%2Busb%2Bcomputer%2Bspeaker&qid=1652061878&sprefix=lielongren%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNlFVNzE2QTVWUDdHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDgzNzMwM0JEWTAxMDJMTTc1UCZlbmN yeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjI4ODIyNzJPMEg0M1pZVFVYJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm9 0TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

Dang that's affordable!

I recently bought some new desktop speakers after my 15 year old tiny powered fostex studio monitors finally bit the dust - those were some great little speakers - I got them on sale for about $120CAD, looong ago. I see they've over doubled in price: https://www.amazon.com/Fostex-USA-PM03H-B-Speaker-AMS-PM03H-B/dp/B07BKP1ZTZ/ref=sr_1_35?crid=2H4S4CGSRB1Q5&keywords=fostex+pm&qid=1652062436&sprefix=fostex+p%2Caps%2C429&sr=8-35

So I replaced them with a pair of these: https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R1700BTs-Active-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B0886B1TWC/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3GE5ACJBS6CAC&keywords=edifier&qid=1652062340&sprefix=edifie%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-5 which are pretty darn good. Took a while to get them properly broke in but they sound great now .. .also with bluetooth, and two line inputs, and a subwoofer output. They look nice too! Overall I'd say they are good bang for the buck. I occasionally dabble in some music production so I needed something with a fairly flat response curve and these are balanced nicely between "studio monitor" and "general use speaker".

Good info. Using multipleOSes, I shy away from bluetooth, too complicated. But I don[t like laptop speakers.

[DeDukshyn]

If you listen to videos or music on your laptop you might try these Lielongren usb plug-n-play speakers. I've tested them on Windows, MacOS and Linux and they are instantly enabled and become the default output. Much better!

https://www.amazon.com/Newest-Computer-Speaker-Desktop-Portable/dp/B08QRYTPGH/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=lielongren%2Busb%2Bcomputer%2Bspeaker&qid=1652061878&sprefix=lielongren%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExNlFVNzE2QTVWUDdHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDgzNzMwM0JEWTAxMDJMTTc1UCZlbmN yeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjI4ODIyNzJPMEg0M1pZVFVYJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm9 0TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

Dang that's affordable!

I recently bought some new desktop speakers after my 15 year old tiny powered fostex studio monitors finally bit the dust - those were some great little speakers - I got them on sale for about $120CAD, looong ago. I see they've over doubled in price: https://www.amazon.com/Fostex-USA-PM03H-B-Speaker-AMS-PM03H-B/dp/B07BKP1ZTZ/ref=sr_1_35?crid=2H4S4CGSRB1Q5&keywords=fostex+pm&qid=1652062436&sprefix=fostex+p%2Caps%2C429&sr=8-35

So I replaced them with a pair of these: https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R1700BTs-Active-Bookshelf-Speakers/dp/B0886B1TWC/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3GE5ACJBS6CAC&keywords=edifier&qid=1652062340&sprefix=edifie%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-5 which are pretty darn good. Took a while to get them properly broke in but they sound great now .. .also with bluetooth, and two line inputs, and a subwoofer output. They look nice too! Overall I'd say they are good bang for the buck. I occasionally dabble in some music production so I needed something with a fairly flat response curve and these are balanced nicely between "studio monitor" and "general use speaker".

Good info. Using multipleOSes, I shy away from bluetooth, too complicated. But I don[t like laptop speakers.

That's the beauty of these, they have two regular wired line inputs as well, so I'm wired to my PC but I can also hok a turntable up without switching wires around. Then when someone comes over and wants to play you a song from their phone, you can just tell them to connect to these with their fancy bluetooth abilities.

Not the same league as a simple USB ultra portable speaker though which are perfect for a laptop situation ... these are better for a permanent desktop situation, and they take up a bit of room on the desk.


On another note, I also use at my desk a powered mug warmer to keep my coffee / tea hot while I'm browsing Avalon in the mornings ;)

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Coffee-Warmer-Office-MWBLKPDQ-RB/dp/B000CO89T8/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=USB+Coffee+Mug+Warmer&qid=1652116089&sr=8-7

[TomKat]

Scheduled Recording of internet radio:
For Windows, there's Total Recorder, which works well
For Mac there's a program called Audio Hijack, which I haven't tried
For Linux there's a command line program called "arecord," used with "crontab" to schedule the recordings -- very complicated but I can post my crontab text file if you want

Hint: connect the mic and headphone ports with a short 3.5mm male-male stereo cable, and make sure the volume's not too high.

[9ideon]

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[ExomatrixTV]

I started using Commodore 64 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64) + Tape + 1541 Drive (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_1541) "Dolphin SpeedDos" (loading & copying 10 times faster!) since 1983 :) and PC since 1989 and Apple Macintosh Classic II since 1992 ... Have also worked with MS-Dos, Windows 3.11 ... Win95 ... Win98SE etc. etc. etc.


My nephews: Henkie Kuhles: Sinclair ZX-Spectrum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum) & Ron Kuhles: Phillips MSX (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSX) in the mid 1980s compared it with my C64 ... it took not long they too switched to Commodore 64 & Amiga 500.

cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳
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[9ideon]

I started using Commodore 64 since 1983 :) and PC since 1989 and Apple Macintosh Classic II since 1992 ... Have also worked with Win 3.11 Win95 Win98SE etc. etc.


My nephews had among others ZX-Spectrum & Phillips MSX in the mid 1980s and we compared whet they could do with my C64 ... not long they too switched to Commodore 64 & Amiga 500


Had a Philips VideoPac, like the Dutch counter for Atari, I was pretty pissed off because some of my friends had Atari, but not Philips, games were very expensive too, on the other hand, had an OG console, lol.


https://i.postimg.cc/Dz6QKwZK/philips-videopac-g7000-front-1621809759-33a.jpg

After I got the C64, tape first, favo game was football manager and it took 20 minutes to load, remember syntax error, great when getting that just at the 20mins mark, lol. C64 was really a legend though.

Got into PC gaming when I got a 286 and these days I run a Xbox Series X for Fallout 76 and the likes, a Gaming PC for Grand Strategy like HOI 4 etc, happy days.

[ExomatrixTV]

At the age of ±16 years old (early 1980s) I was the Founder & Coordinator of HCS-5005 (https://csdb.dk/group/?id=2503) & The Last Science (https://csdb.dk/group/?id=1488) (TLS) went to several big international Computer Events in late 1980s


My real name is John Kuhles and my C64 call sign was "Herkules" dirived from "Herr (German word for "mister") Kuhles" so "HerrKuhles" became ultimately: "Herkules" (https://csdb.dk/scener/?id=9352).

All available internet C64 videos & databases showing our C64 efforts on "The Internet" is big but still a fraction what we really did ... so I have to ask some old contacts to share the rest of it too :)

I also had an acoustic modem connecting to BBS systems (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system) (pre-internet) and an audio digitizer (donated by Dutch USA team (https://csdb.dk/group/?id=1392)) that recorded my voice when I was very young of age ... you can still hear my voice in 1 of our demos called: "Demo op de Plee (https://archive.org/details/Straining_Demo_Op_De_Plee_1987_Dutch_USA-Team)" ("Demo in the Toilet") >>> that was played & copied over and over at the big C64 Computer Meetings in Venlo with 100s of C64 users, very close to the border of Germany we had many international well known C64 cracking/demo groups coming to that place.


csdb.dk/release/?id=10601 (https://csdb.dk/release/?id=10601)

You may ask why making an obvious stupid ridiculous demo with my voice ... The real story behind it is this: "The Dutch USA Team" (C64) asked me to test the C64-digitizer using their microphone if everything works fine ... I did not intended to use it for any purpose ... it was just me being hilarious at the moment not knowing it would be used later on in a C64 demo.

Then months later I hear my voice being played & copied over and over in a big c64 meeting in Venlo ... They just did it without asking me first, because most liked it I decided to let it be :loco:


youtube.com/channel/UCl_r4u5k-IlxW6QB8_XRvTg/search?query=TLS (https://youtube.com/channel/UCl_r4u5k-IlxW6QB8_XRvTg/search?query=TLS) (just a tiny small selection).
archive.org/details/Congratulations_II_1987_Higher_Computer_Science (https://archive.org/details/Congratulations_II_1987_Higher_Computer_Science) hit space-bar when loading is ready ... here too you can hear my recorded voice on Commodore 64 mixed by Manolito "The Dream Maker (https://csdb.dk/scener/?id=9353)" ... which at the time was not common back then, actually it was very rare).

cheers,
John Kuhles (https://x.com/JohnKuhles1966) 🦜🦋🌳

[ExomatrixTV]

https://sp.rmbl.ws/s8/2/p/U/T/9/pUT9e.gaa.mp4


source (https://rumble.com/v1dl4lr-john-kuhles-founder-of-hcs-5005-and-the-last-science-tls-on-c64.html)

C64 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64) Demo made 35 years ago :faint2:

What you just heard in above video was done on a 1980s "64Kb Ram" Computer! (less than 10% of 1 Mb) ... the power is derived from its amazing C64 sound SID chip (https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/SID) that was the main reason why it became at the time most used & sold home computer ... (plus it had a bit more colors (https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Color) & sprite options (https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Sprite) than its competitors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum_graphic_modes)).


Now you understand how bizarre it was in the early 1980s to hear a human voice on a computer that way. It took a long time before PC finally could beat that performance.

Normally I could not afford to pay for: C64 + Modem+ Tape + 1541 Drive + "Dolphin-speed-dos" loading & copying 10x faster + (audio-digitizer hardware was donated) + 8 build in EEPROMS ... neither my father >>> but because a car hit me in an traffic accident when I was driving a moped ±45 kmph in the rain and he payed the amount of money I needed to pay for the Commodore 64 + all extra accessories when I was 17 years old! ... At the time in the early 1980s it was around 2000 Dutch Guilders (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_guilder) that amounts to ±4000 Euros/Dollars worth now (rough estimation).

cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳

[9ideon]

Speaks for itself (https://www.youtube.com/c/dosnostalgic/videos).

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Bonus:
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[9ideon]

I finally know now.

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https://i.postimg.cc/FsfG4Z6z/spring-smiley.gif