The Idea Oubliette

I thought some of you might appreciate hearing about the internals of my emulator. In this post I'm going to introduce the instruction set, and cover the emulated memory model and registers. This is just the first post in this series, and will cover miscellaneous instructions. I'm keeping each post small, for easy digestibility. Prerequisites There are a couple of prerequisites to fully understanding this post. It will assume you know what a stack is and that you have some knowledge of assembly language. But the content could still be interesting even without that knowledge. I'll leave it to you to decide. Registers/Memories Most instructions involve the 256-byte data stack. There's also a 256-byte return stack to allow for subroutine returns. These stacks each have a stack pointer register that is not user accessible. Addressable memory consists of 64KB of RAM, divided into the direct-page's 256 bytes at the beginning of memory, and then the remaining 64KB - 256 by...

Intro  For over a year, I've been working on a project to implement an emulator ( https://github.com/skwirl42/robcorobco-processor/ ) of a hypothetical RobCo RX-9000 computer from the Fallout universe. I've wanted to create a fantasy computer for some time, and the thought occurred to me that this would be great complement to a hardware project from element14 I've been working on. At some point I lost steam with the project, and it's sat dormant for 8 months as of this writing. It's a labour of love that I didn't have energy for anymore. That might change in the future, if I can drum up some interest in it. I've spent a lot of time putting this together, and I'm pretty proud of it. I hope you can find ways to enjoy it, too! Features Emulator The emulator implements a 16-bit, 256 byte stack-driven instruction set, with an additional 64KB of RAM. Its peripherals include: a text console, bitmapped graphics mode, a virtual holotape interface, and an FM sy...

 It'd been quite a while since I'd been here. I know this because there was an unfinished post sitting here from 2012, which has since been published, about my trip to Prague, specifically the 12 hour layover in Amsterdam. I published it without finishing it, because the trip wasn't as fresh in my mind, having been over 9 years ago. I may start posting here more often, or on Instagram if it's more pictures than text. I'm taking a course on outdoor art and documentation, so I might put some of that content here. Things have been all over the place since my last post. My wife and I separated; I had a couple of long depressive episodes; I taught a game development course at Acadia University; I changed jobs a few times; I took courses in book binding and adult education. There's a lot than can fit into 9.5 years.

A Day in Amsterdam Taking a flight from Halifax to Prague, I was provided an opportunity to visit Amsterdam, seeing as I had a 12 hour layover there before the final leg of my voyage. It was a beautiful city and I'm glad I got the chance to see it. I arrived pretty early in the morning, on Christmas Day. My first stop was the Museumplein and the Rijksmuseum. It was very early, and so nothing was open at all. I took the time to walk around the Museumplein and some of the surrounding streets while I waited for everything to open. It was a nice walk and a comfortable 8°C, making for a nice change from the heat of the plane, terminal and bus. Ravens were cawing and pigeons tried to beg food off me. I didn't have any, so they were out of luck.

Yep, been a long, long time since I last posted. Over a year! A lot's happened in the past year; kinda crazy. First, I'd like to thank Unstranger for his comment on my SpaceRat post. I'd like to think I'm a decent writer, and if at least one person found it readable from a non-tech perspective, then so much the better! In late October the Mrs and I moved to Halifax, and I got a job writing code for a video game company. Oh yes, the dream has come true. :D I'm loving the work and apparently they're loving my performance! I started off on contract and just recently got hired on permanently. The raise that came along was great too. ;) What else… what else… The Mrs and I came out as polyamorous to our families. It wasn't a smooth ride and it still isn't for some of them. But all in all, how each of us reacts to things is our own cross to bear and we can't expect others to react in particular ways, even if we'd like them to. I turn 33 tomorrow, and s...

There has been a snow storm. It wasn't as bad as the forecast had made it out to be. The wind blew the snow around into big drifts, leaving some parts largely uncovered by new snow. At some point I have to clear the driveway of this snow. It's begun to melt, since the temperatures have risen above freezing. They're going to keep rising over the next couple of days. Wet snow does not clear easily. A snowblower can't manage it very well and it's quite heavy to shovel. However, the fact that it's in drifts may make shoveling easier. I can hope, anyway, because the snowblower won't work well on the snow as it is right now. 300 feet of driveway is a pain to clear. But I think the natural beauty we have is worth the inconvenience of a bit of snow part of the year. At least we have nowhere to go at the moment.

It's been over a week since I've posted here, and I apologize to my loyal readers who have probably all headed to the hills. Twitter has been keeping me distracted, while my bipolar disorder and newly-diagnosed ADHD have left me feeling less than effective. It's hard to push yourself to try to succeed when you feel you've been so far from stellar that bothering with anything is a waste of time. But things are picking up. I'm on new medication, I have great friends, an incredibly supportive wife and a window into new techniques to help keep my problems in check. There's definitely a gleam of hope where a short while ago there was none. I'd love to find employment, but my chosen field of expertise, software development, seems to be yielding little, if any, job prospects in the area. I can always cast out a wider net in my search, since so far I've only looked at Nova Scotia. However New Brunswick and PEI are both a stone's throw away. PEI is apparently...