• C++ Debugging in Eclipse CDT on Linux

    This post is a reminder to myself, and maybe help others, how I managed to get Eclipse CDT to work meaningfully with gdb for debugging. Eclipse – in its default state with CDT – often there is not visibility into vectors and more complicated containers when you’re debugging. You get to see the vectors, with…

  • An Afternoon Diversion in MacOS 9

    To satisfy a curiosity, and itch an itch that never got scratched (Mac G3’s were awfully pretty in their day) I tried installing MacOS9 in a virtual machine. Lo and behold: I can’t decide what I find more interesting: MacOS 9 had a version of Internet Explorer It was this easy to get running under…

  • Dear Computer Display Manufacturers – Anything Other Than LED, Please

    For years now, consumer displays have featured LED backlighting. LED backed displays came with advantages – less power consumption, possibility of thinner displays, and longer life. They were also primarily blue, and therefore definitely appeared brighter on the shelf next to older technologies, and had “more contrast”. Note: I am not a smart man. I…

  • Speed of BASIC Arithmetic on a Commodore 64

    I grew up with a C64. A relative gave it to me; at the time, it had started going out of fashion for AOL, Prodigy, and all things online. I learned to love programming because of it, and it started a lifetime of working with computing systems. I’ve recently rediscovered VICE. Not only are the…