Picostation is an open source ODE (Optical Disc Emulator) for the PSX (PlayStation 1) console. You can find snaker’s excellent review / install in the console hacking forum here: https://modrobert.org/forums/topic/picostation-at-its-best/
I recently got banned from Reddit with this warning message showing up:
“This account has been permanently banned. Check your inbox for a message with more information.”
Looks like it really is permanent this time. The first time roughly two weeks ago the stated reason was account security related, after resetting the password it worked fine. Now I got banned again for the same reason, but this time the password reset email doesn’t show up. My Reddit account was created in 2017 and not used much, reading content for the most part as opposed to writing. I’m assuming the reason for the ban in this case is because I’m using a VPN (Virtual Private Network), but not completely sure.
I’ve had similar problems with other services using VPN as well, like bank apps on the phone, video streaming through the browser, and more. In some cases the app/service give error message straight that using VPN is not allowed, while in other cases the reason is not obvious at all. The overall trend seems to be that using tools protecting privacy are considered bad in general and should be punished somehow. In this case the choice was easy, skip Reddit while continuing to use VPN, but there are services which would be a lot harder to skip if this trend continues.
Here’s my Amiga 1200, it’s a lot of fun. I use it mostly to play games, program in C language (sometimes 68k assembly) and to connect to the HP 1660AS logic analyzer / oscilloscope through the serial RS-232 port. The nerd specs are; CPU 68EC020 @ 14 MHz (stock), 68882 @ 40 MHz, 2MB Chip + 8MB Fast RAM, RTC, 3.1 ROMs, IDE-CF+4GB, WiFi WPA2/AES.
In 2024 I replaced my Amiga 1200 keyboard membrane because some of the keys were failing, bought it from retrofuzion.com which is a good store in my experience, highly recommended.
Then a few days ago my shift key on the A1200 keyboard started failing, after taking it apart turns out it was the key plunger (aka key post) for the shift key which was bad, it looks like this.
The black part is some kind of conductive rubber which is what makes contact with the keyboard membrane when a key is pressed, over time (decades) the rubber loses its conductivity which can be checked by measuring resistance with a multimeter.
The bad key plunger as shown is 1511 ohm which is way too high. I found working key plungers on eBay for the A1200 keyboard. After measuring a few of these by now the good ones are usually around 100 ohm, the bad ones over 500 ohm in my experience. After replacing the key plunger with a new one which is 88 ohm the shift key works again.
I’m working on a hardware project to be able to use a smartphone to send and receive encrypted messages manually based on my old SecureChatAnywhere project for desktop computers (Java):
https://github.com/modrobert/SecureChatAnywhere
SecureChatAnywhere is a lightweight program written in Java with the purpose of making it easy to encrypt and decrypt any kind of text messages using AES-128/CBC symmetric encryption. The graphical user interface (GUI) is designed as a convenient “copy & paste tool” for computers to manage encryption and decryption stand-alone, in other words without relying on any kind of external communication.
Optimistically I trust desktop computers dealing with plaintext, but not smartphones since they are compromised by design (the cryptographic keys are in control by the vendors). The idea is that the smartphone only handles ciphertext since it is not trusted.
I’m using an ESP32S3 dev kit for the implementation of SecureChatAnywhere for use with a browser on smartphones (e.g. Android or IOS).
Here’s the C programming progress so far:
[✓] AES-128/CBC with PKCS#7 padding
[✓] http server for ciphertext input and output viewed via browser on the smartphone
[✓] Bluetooth BLE 5.2 HID keyboard host with power save support (this took a lot of time)
[✓] USB 2.0 HID keyboard host
[✓] esp32 I2C display support
[ ] PCB design
All software parts have been tested working individually, I’m now at the stage of combining the software to work together as one. Eventually I will design a PCB and get a suitable case for the project.
I have registered a domain modrobert.org for the weblog and opened new forums. You are welcome to join. The current forums as listed below:
After reading about Avi Loeb‘s proposal to check for radio emissions from the interstellar object ʻOumuamua I had an idea.
What if the tumbling motion of ʻOumuamua based on the observed light curve emitted actually is a way of communicating? I mean that the object was set in a deliberate oscillating motion to deliver a message in the light spectrum using light from a nearby star.
I’m thinking specifically of this part where the light curve is measured:
Accounting for Vega’s proper motion, it would have taken ʻOumuamua 600,000 years to reach the Solar System from Vega.
Source
Please note that I still doubt there is alien life in the universe besides earth, but hypothetically, if you are going to send a message which takes roughly 600,000 years to reach its destination, how would you do that in practice?
Our modern technology capable of transmitting radio signals only last decades at best, usually even less, so ʻOumuamua producing radio signals seems unlikely. On the other hand, an object launched with deliberate trajectory, certain spin (tumbling in 3 dimensions), which is made from a material where the approximate deterioration in space can be calculated seems more likely even if it’s still a long shot.
If you have news to report, ideas to share, dislike moderation, and prefer to be anonymous, then read on.
ZeroBB is based on ZeroBin which is an open-source online paste tool where the server has zero knowledge of pasted data. The exception is when you make a new post to the public forum by having “Forum index” checked, the web server will know the key for that post since it is public. The data is encrypted/decrypted in the browser using 256 bits AES.
ZeroBB is running as a Tor hidden service v3 which means you have complete end-to-end encryption, no HTTPS required (regardless what your browser states). The Tor network also provides decent anonymity, it’s not perfect, but it has great potential.
http://gd6is466quuhsgzbztyv4sjswdhgfii63wf54qsb32v27xmm5dxbtmid.onion/0bb/
The Tor onion URL is long, but it serves a purpose as it also doubles as a key to access the site which in my opinion makes it more secure than DNS. Try to avoid using proxy services to access Tor as it compromises the security (MITM), also avoid services making the URL shorter if you want to keep the post secret. For more info about the Tor network, or to download the Tor browser, check the project site here: https://www.torproject.org/
¹ In order to delete a post and all comments associated with it the “Delete link” URL (token) is required which is given after submitting a new post.
² Check https://sebsauvage.net/wiki/doku.php?id=php:zerobin for more details.
³ As long as search engines don’t execute JavaScript code when crawling (which they don’t AFAIK).
There is no specific direction what this forum is about, personally I like hacking related stuff, programming, reversing electronics and software, and being able share info without being tracked or censored. The forum/board functionality is bare minimum at the moment, pretty far from ideal, but it is work in progress. Let me know if you find any bugs, lots of code is in flux due to active development so expect some downtime.
During dinner today I got an idea how to combat global warming as a solution after the fact, long after we passed the so called “point of no return”. My idea is to detonate a bunch of nukes in large uninhabited forest areas on earth which hypothetically triggers a nuclear winter.
Sure, an ice age might not be great, but better than global warming. Besides, what do we have to lose after passing the point of no return and plant life (in effect all life) is dying? If the idea fails, at least humanity goes out with a bang! I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ve thought a bit about this and my humble advice is to adopt a shameless attitude towards learning in general, all the information is out there on internet these days if you dig deep enough.
Want to learn a new physics theory? Watch a lecture when the professor who won the recent Nobel price for it explains the theory in detail, made freely available as a video by some University or foundation. If there is something he/she is talking about you don’t understand, then search and learn about that as well. Just keep trying, give it time, eventually you will learn. After doing this you will start to get your own ideas and think about solutions to problems not yet solved.
Want to learn hardware design? Learn electronics. Read primers and books (PDF) about VHDL/Verilog on internet until your eyes bleed. After a couple of years, when you design your first state machine (simple CPU) and code a little program running on it, all the effort will be worthwhile.
Want to learn software engineering? Learn the basics of a computer language, anything will do, and then, for example, look at the fastest known sorting method. Tweak something in the code, experiment, watch what happens, even if it gets slower, why did it get slower? One morning you might wake up with a tweak idea which makes it slightly faster. The thrill of that might inspire you to write your own sorting method one day.
Want to learn philosophy? Good, it will help you to think out of the box, and come up with new ideas because suddenly abstraction takes you beyond previous borders of comprehension.
Why not learn all of the above? You can do it, don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.
Don’t worry about a career, don’t worry about academia and titles. Instead, use internet and learn for the sake of knowledge which is its own reward.
I’m not sure how this turned into a science blog, but it feels good. I’ll try not to spam too much by waiting patiently a few years between each post.
After reading this story over at arstechnica.com (also on slashdot.org) about a quantum experiment showing “effect before cause” it slowly dawned on me how this could happen, and perhaps explain a few other odd occurrences in quantum physics. I’ve made an illustration (below) of my theory how time might be curled up when you look close enough on the quantum level (think fast enough).
If I’m right this could explain why it happens, perhaps also shed some light over the double-slit experiment. Feel free to leave a comment.
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