Derision wrote to Chai <=-ãã De> Me too. I actually find myself using it quite a bit. Part of my job isã De> maintaining my company's elderly computers (the general ledger is stillã De> run on the CP/M version of dBase...!) so being able to access floppiesã De> is still super important (though my MacBook Pro no longer supports USBã De> floppies)ããI just popped in a floppy disk into Windows 10 (latest update).ãFormatting, copying, chkdsk, all still works with floppies.ãI imagine Windows will one day omit the ability to work with floppies,ãbut it's kinda cool that it's still there. I'm honestly surprised thatãthey still support it, and I'm not surprised that Apple does not.ããIt's interesting to me that CP/M is still being used in productionãenvironments.ãã De> Blu-Rays and DVDs are also great for backing up. And while I have anã De> AUX port in my car, sometimes I just prefer to have a few CDs I canã De> throw on and not have to worry about plugging my phone into something.ããMy vehicle has CD, MP3 CD, and AUX. It does not have a USB port, evenãthough USB ports were in most aftermarket systems at the time.ãI keep telling myself I need to update my audio system in my car.ããIn time.ã ã--- MultiMail/XT v0.51ã þ Synchronet þ Frugal Computing BBS - frugalbbs.comã

MRO wrote to Chai <=-ãã MR> i'm just more practical in my old age. i dont want shit around if i'mã MR> not using it. and cds and dvds sucked. pain in the ass to load them upã MR> or burn to them when you can use a flash drive or a harddrive.ããAnd flash drives is what I use mostly when working on modern systems.ãBut I very much have a use case for all of this stuff. Not everyone does.ãIt makes sense to me that many people no longer use it.ããMy nephew used to visit my place so he could stream Twitch on my network.ãHe lives in a rural area, and only has 1Mbps DSL. He had some open sourceãprogram, I don't know what, that he downloaded on my PC, so he wouldn'tãhave to download it on his slow connection. He tried to dump it on hisãphone, but for some reason his phone would not co-operate. Rather thanãdebugging the problem, or loaning him a $10 USB drive that I may orãmay not see again, I just dumped it on a a 50 cent DL optical disc andãsent him on his way. Fortunately, he still uses optical drives in hisãsystem as well. ãã > As for LightScribe, I haven't used that in ages. It was a great technology,ãã MR> always used a sharpie.ããIt's certainly faster to use a Sharpie. LightScribe is just nicer lookingãfor those instances where you're burning a disc for someone else (andãonly when appearances matter).ããã ã--- MultiMail/XT v0.51ã þ Synchronet þ Frugal Computing BBS - frugalbbs.comã

Re: Retro Computingã By: Chai to Derision on Wed Nov 14 2018 03:29 pmããCh> My vehicle has CD, MP3 CD, and AUX. It does not have a USB port, evenãCh> though USB ports were in most aftermarket systems at the time.ãCh> I keep telling myself I need to update my audio system in my car.ããOEM car audio/multimedia systems are usually all pretty bad. I've seen someãinteresting Android head units that allow you to use readily updated Androidãapps and hook into steering wheel controls and back up cameras.ãã---ã þ Synchronet þ realitycheckBBS -- http://realitycheckBBS.orgã

Re: Retro Computingã By: poindexter FORTRAN to Chai on Wed Nov 14 2018 03:15 pmãã PF> OEM car audio/multimedia systems are usually all pretty bad. I've seenããI've wondered why that is. I have a car stereo that I bought for its built-inãGPS and ability to play music from a USB flash drive, and it has some quirksãthat bug me a bit, which I think wouldn't have been difficult for them toãimprove.ããNightfoxãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.comã

poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Chai <=-ãã pF> OEM car audio/multimedia systems are usually all pretty bad. I've seenã pF> some interesting Android head units that allow you to use readilyã pF> updated Android apps and hook into steering wheel controls and back upã pF> cameras.ããFortunately, most of my purchased audio files have been through Amazon, so ãI'll be able to listen to all of that via voice control with the new ãAmazon Echo Auto, which will be out before long. It connects to your phoneãvia Bluetooth, and can do things most echos can do.. Open your garage door,ãuse skills, turn house lights on and off. It can also provide audible ãdirections for navigation, make voice controlled phone calls (I can finallyãanswer my phone in my car without breaking the law), play your music, etc.ããAs long as you have an AUX jack or Bluetooth connectivity in your stereo, ãthe $49 device will work with your system. It's a cheap upgrade to myãotherwise crappy stereo. Although, I still would like an android based stereo.ãUnfortunately, I've found trying to use my phone directly with my stereo systemãtoo distracting.ããAmazon Echo Auto:ãhttps://goo.gl/7SNMt4ããI'm still trying to figure out why pre-orders are by invitation only.ãã ã--- MultiMail/Win v0.51ã þ Synchronet þ Frugal Computing BBS - frugalbbs.comã

Re: Retro Computingã By: Nightfox to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Nov 14 2018 05:01 pmããNi> I've wondered why that is. I have a car stereo that I bought for itsãNi> built-in GPS and ability to play music from a USB flash drive, and it hasãNi> some quirks that bug me a bit, which I think wouldn't have been difficultãNi> for them to improve.ããMy 2014 Prius has a interface that looks like it came out of a kids Leapfrogãtoy, and updates have been sparse. They just announced that Pandora would noãlonger work, but they couldn't figure out some way to remove the button (orãdidn't want to pay for it)ããThe map uses a DVD that's now showing its age, and updates are $160. I couldãget a cheap Chinese Android head unit for that price.ãã---ã þ Synchronet þ realitycheckBBS -- http://realitycheckBBS.orgã

Re: Retro Computingã By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Wed Nov 14 2018 06:56 pmãã > didn't want to pay for it)ãã > The map uses a DVD that's now showing its age, and updates are $160. I couldã > get a cheap Chinese Android head unit for that price.ãããyou can probably just download the updateã---ã þ Synchronet þ ::: BBSES.info - free BBS services :::ã

Re: Retro Computingã By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Wed Nov 14 2018 06:56 pmãã PF> My 2014 Prius has a interface that looks like it came out of a kidsã PF> Leapfrog toy, and updates have been sparse. They just announced thatã PF> Pandora would no longer work, but they couldn't figure out some way toã PF> remove the button (or didn't want to pay for it)ããI've never been able to get Pandora to work with my car stereo. Supposedlyãafter connecting my phone with Bluetooth, it looks like the Pandora on my carãstereo is supposed to be able to communicate with Pandora on my phone, but itãhas never been able to.ãã PF> The map uses a DVD that's now showing its age, and updates are $160. Iã PF> could get a cheap Chinese Android head unit for that price.ããI've tried using the Garmin software to get updated maps for my car stereo, butãthe software isn't even listing any new maps available.ããNightfoxãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.comã

Re: Retro Computingã By: MRO to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Nov 14 2018 10:53 pmããMR> you can probably just download the updateããThere are torrents out there, and some people on eBay selling pirated versions,ãyes.ãã---ã þ Synchronet þ realitycheckBBS -- http://realitycheckBBS.orgã

Re: Retro Computingã By: Chai to Derision on Wed Nov 14 2018 15:29:00ãã > I just popped in a floppy disk into Windows 10 (latest update).ã > Formatting, copying, chkdsk, all still works with floppies.ã > I imagine Windows will one day omit the ability to work with floppies,ã > but it's kinda cool that it's still there. I'm honestly surprised thatã > they still support it, and I'm not surprised that Apple does not.ããI found it a bit annoying when macOS stopped bothering with it. I mean, they'veãbloated the rest of the OS to Vista levels of bloat, while still deletingãuseful features.ãã > It's interesting to me that CP/M is still being used in productionã > environments.ããOne of the things I was tasked with was figuring out what to do if the oneãcomputer that runs the ledger goes down, since none of the machines made todayãwill run CP/M out of the box; and also to figure out what to do if the ancientãOkidata dot matrix printer they used to print it out ever goes south. Prinerãwas easy -- Okidata still makes them, though they're like $900. Finding aãmachine that'll run dBase on CP/M was a little more complicated, but amountedãto running it in an emulator and getting a second-hand Commodore 128 off eBay.ãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Amiga City - The BBS for the Amiga - more than 3,500+ filesã

Re: Retro Computingã By: Derision to Chai on Sun Nov 18 2018 12:36 pmãã >> I just popped in a floppy disk into Windows 10 (latest update).ã >> Formatting, copying, chkdsk, all still works with floppies.ã >> I imagine Windows will one day omit the ability to work with floppies,ã >> but it's kinda cool that it's still there. I'm honestly surprisedã >> that they still support it, and I'm not surprised that Apple does not.ãã De> I found it a bit annoying when macOS stopped bothering with it. I mean,ã De> they've bloated the rest of the OS to Vista levels of bloat, while stillã De> deleting useful features.ããYeah, I thought it was somewhat odd (but not surprising) when Apple stoppedãincluding optical drives in their Macs. I also thought it was odd that Appleãnever included blu-ray drives in their Macs though - as far as I know, theyãonly had DVD drives.ããNightfoxãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.comã

Re: Retro Computingã By: Nightfox to Derision on Mon Nov 19 2018 10:13:47ãã > Yeah, I thought it was somewhat odd (but not surprising) when Apple stoppedã > including optical drives in their Macs. I also thought it was odd thatã > Apple never included blu-ray drives in their Macs though - as far as I know,ã > they only had DVD drives.ããFrom what I understand of it, it was mostly the licensing nightmare of having aãbuilt-in method for playing Blu-Ray movies that turned them off. Jobs referredãto it as a "world of hurt" or something, and focused instead on digitalãcontent, downloading or streaming movies rather than physical media.ããmacOS itself has the drivers to access and burn blu-ray. I had an external USBãbluray that worked fine with it, and later replaced the original DVD-RW with aãblu-ray burner which I use sparsely enough that I'm considering replacing itãwith a second hard drive. And there are some third-party apps that let youãwatch media on blu-ray discs, but all of those apps cost way more thanãsomething like VLC, which'll let you watch almost anything for free.ãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Amiga City - The BBS for the Amiga - more than 3,500+ filesã

Re: Retro Computingã By: Derision to Nightfox on Mon Nov 19 2018 03:01 pmãã De> third-party apps that let you watch media on blu-ray discs, but all ofã De> those apps cost way more than something like VLC, which'll let you watchã De> almost anything for free. ããI've tried using VLC (on Windows) to watch blu-ray discs, but I seem to recallãVLC was unable to play blu-ray.ããNightfoxãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.comã

Re: Retro Computingã By: Nightfox to Derision on Mon Nov 19 2018 15:57:39ãã > I've tried using VLC (on Windows) to watch blu-ray discs, but I seem toã > recall VLC was unable to play blu-ray.ããRight... in order to play Blu-ray you need libraries to decode AACS, and I alsoãthink you need to have a key database for region, copyright, whatever. Evenãthen, it'll only play discs for which it has the library and AACS keys. A lotãof those just aren't available without shelling out bucks for licenses.ãã---ã þ Synchronet þ Amiga City - The BBS for the Amiga - more than 3,500+ filesã