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I keep thinking of silly ideas to do some tinkering with electronics, just for the sake of having fun. Today's idea: an adapter to use #Amiga mice on #MSX computers. That way one could use one of those newfangled USB “tank” mice in one more retro architecture, while looking period correct. I imagine somebody could have done such an adaptor back in the late 80s of early 90s, possibly using some i8051 microcontroller... Betcha @foone would have liked that, given how their “it's always an i8051” is their equivalent of Dr. House's “it's never lupus” :blobeyes:

People talk about how search engine results have gotten worse lately. Here's a clear example: trying to search how an #Amiga mouse works (protocol, pinouts, etc.) these days results in a few pages of links to sites trying to sell you adaptors, and links to actual documentation are a few pages deep (if at all). It used not to be like this, the #enshittification is real.

I know the information is in the Amiga Hardware Reference Manual, which can be read at a few places, e.g. archive.org/details/amiga-hard — but what if I didn't know?

Internet ArchiveAmiga Hardware Reference Manual 3rd Edition : Commodore-Amiga Inc. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet ArchiveAMIGA TECHNICAL REFERENCE SERIESIntroductionCoprocessor hardwarePlayfield hardwareSprite hardwareAudio hardwareBlitter hardwareSystem Control hardwareInterface...

@aperezdc I'm also getting worried that more and more the answer to "information X can be found at..." is so often archive.org. I love archive.org, and the work they do is great, but that's a sign they're becoming a single point of failure for a lot of stuff, which also inevitably makes them more of a target too.

@hisham_hm while there are other sites for specific things (like Bitsavers) you make a good point about archive.org — I do trust their ability to keep infrastructure running, though. I would be more worrier about it being headquartered in a country with values and legislation often opposed to the Archive's goals. Also, mixing this with Google's recent Web Environment Integrity proposal makes me think we may see a day where two parallel Internets exist: the corporate one, and the “archived” one. And, oh boy!, do I want to be proven wrong about this thought!

@aperezdc oh boy I haven't heard about this latest Google thing but from the name alone it gives me strong Microsoft Secure Boot vibes

@hisham_hm
> I haven't heard about this latest Google thing [Web Environment Integrity proposal] but from the name alone it gives me strong Microsoft Secure Boot vibes

You mean this?
github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-

The stated goals seem reasonable, but I guess as with Restrited Boot, the devil is in the details. I don't have the knowledge to fully evaluate it, but I look forward to seeing someone like RMS or @pluralistic comment on it.

@aperezdc

GitHubWeb-Environment-Integrity/explainer.md at main · RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-IntegrityContribute to RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity development by creating an account on GitHub.

@strypey @hisham_hm @pluralistic @aperezdc

First, it's very doubtful that the stated goals (for the "user") are the true goals. Second, one should report not only what the user "desires", but what the full consequences for the user are.

The proposal is very deceitful in saying "the user desires...", "the user wants...", and so on. It says explicitly what the "user" desires, but it doesn't say explicitly that the user itself will in fact be abused.

Suppose I want some guard, who reports to me, to constantly follow you and check what you do. "Wouldn't you like to be safe on the streets?", I ask you. "Of course", you reply. And here's my solution: I'll assign a guard that controls your every movement, when you go out. Funny that this was done "for" you, but concretely it's done "against" you.

@pglpm
> Linux based OS will probably never implement it and will be locked out of all cloudflare hijacked websites in the near future

Holy christ-on-a-stick. If this is really a likely consequence of Web Environment Integrity being adopted, people with a large following like @pluralistic, @Rushkoff, and @aral need to investigate it and expose it, and we need tech regulators to smack it down and burn Goggle's fingers for even trying it.

@hisham_hm @pluralistic @aperezdc

@aral
> Was yelling about it last week

Oh good. I was trying to be even-handed about this at first, and give the engineers proposing it the benefit of the doubt. But the more I read about it, the less I think they deserve that.

@pglpm @pluralistic @Rushkoff @hisham_hm @aperezdc

@aral
Can you point me to specific posts you've made about WEI (here or elsewhere on the web) so I can signal boost them?

@pglpm @pluralistic @Rushkoff @hisham_hm @aperezdc