Welcome to Nemesis.lonestar.org
Site last updated 7-Feb-2017
This web site is a slowly-growing collection of stuff that I think
someone is interested in or someone has specifically asked for.
Google and other search engines do a pretty good job of indexing this site,
but new material doesn't show up for six weeks or longer and changes have
taken three months or more to appear at these search engines. You might
want to bookmark this site so you can find it directly if checking for new
material.
The content presented here takes a long time to research, write, test, format
and make available. Enjoy, but please don't steal. This content isn't
here just so that you can use it to pad your own web site, and most of the
web pages here have copyright notices and use declarations. Please honor
these rules and new material will continue to appear, plus the lawyers
won't appear.
(Requests for use of material as supporting information for non-commercial
purposes are usually granted, and commercial uses are inexpensive.
Just follow the instructions on the page you wish to use and you should
receive a reply within a few days.)
February 2017:
Yes, I am still having an online garage sale of all sorts of bits of
technology (and not-at-all-technology) I have collected over the years,
plus one big load from the estate of a relative. I apologize for some
e-mails that have not received a response, as I have had no spare time
to even locate the items in question and put them in a box, but my
time situation is improving now. I still have to find new homes for
these items or they must go to the scrap yard.
The lists of items can be found at
http://why.net/garage_sale/
New for February 2015
New for September 2007
An initial release of the cross-development Z80 assembler and linker
written in C that was used extensively by Tandy between 1981 and 1985.
Originally written by Ron Light for use on a VAX 11/780, ports are
provided so that these programs can be used on FreeBSD and other BSD-derived
operating systems, as well as the TRS-80/Tandy computers with 68000
processors running XENIX.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, PC/UNIX-COMPATIBLE AND TANDY, FREEBSD GCC, XENIX SYSTEM III "C"
Documents added most recently in July 2007
There are now about 100 documents available covering about 60 topics, and
so a top-level index and some sub-indexes are now present.
It is unlikely that this reference library will ever stop changing or stop
growing. If I answer a question in USENET news groups these days,
more and more frequently I write a web page and refer the person with the
question to the page. If the people who are flooding USENET with binaries
used a similar approach, USENET would be a lot more usable.
REFERENCE, NON-FICTION
Items for November 2003, Updates June 2007:
This is a series of discussions on how to use color effectively in web
pages or other computer-generated displays, and how to avoid the mistakes
commonly made by those unfamilar with the limitations of the video medium.
Some of the documents are based on conference papers that I presented in
1992 to software developers who were trying to write applications for the
Tandy/Radio Shack VIS system (the original X-BOX, which ran DOS and
Modular Windows) with a NTSC television display.
Modular Windows was the predecessor and code base for Windows CE.
Modular Windows was so unsuccessful that the product is now expunged from
the official Microsoft history.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION, UNDER DEVELOPMENT
Items for July 2003:
This is a driver I wrote for FreeBSD for a set of CD-ROM drives that use the
proprietary Matsuhita host interface. The CR-562 and CR-563 drives are
supported. These drives were also known by several other OEM names.
Documentation is also provided.
The driver was intended for inclusion in the FreeBSD 5.1 tree, but was not
reviewed in time for inclusion. It works without change in FreeBSD 5.2
as well.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, PC-COMPATIBLE ISA, FREEBSD 5.1 and FREEBSD 5.2, C LANGUAGE
Items for August, September and October 2002:
You may not like getting spam, but your computer may actually be used by
a spammer to send spam to you and others. Your behavior can also dictate
how much spam you get. Here are things that users of the Internet can do
to avoid being exploited by spammers and hackers.
Internet Providers also routinely fail to take simple measures that prevent
their networks from being the source of spam or being a place that spammers
can exploit to relay their messages and attempt to hide their true location.
Here are things that Internet Providers should be doing to prevent their
networks from being exploited, and if spam does arrive, to prevent that
spam from reaching customer mailboxes.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Items for August 2002:
A lighter look at spam, if such a thing is actually possible.
Remember, Friends don't let friends spam. Or anyone else.
HUMOR, NON-FICTION
Originally published March 2002, latest updates June 2011:
Almost everything you ever wanted to know about fluorescent lamps and fixtures
of all sorts and sizes. Includes photographs and a troubleshooting chart
that no building maintenance office should be without.
REFERENCE, NON-FICTION
New items for June 2001 & August 2001:
This has become a monster project, and four sections were completed about
the time that the analog modem craze was over. Still, those sections
provide a composite look at the AT Command set used in modems,
with the unique and shared commands used by the major modem
suppliers, all consolidated into one place. If you are working with
modems, this material should be highly useful.
Otherwise, it is probably really boring.
This is another work-in-progress, and the rest of the planned sections
should appear sometime this decade.
REFERENCE, NON-FICTION
Items for September 2000:
PERIOD (aka PERIOD.BAS) also holds the distinction of being the very first
application written specifically for the TRS-80 Model 100, the original laptop
(or notebook) computer. The program was originally written in 1982 on one
of the Model 100 prototypes, about nine months before the Model 100
was announced and made available to the general public.
A port of PERIOD to PC-DOS BASIC is also included.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, TANDY, MODEL 100, BASIC ASCII
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, TANDY, MODEL 100, BASIC TAPE BACKUP AUDIO
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, GENERIC PC*, PC-DOS, PC-BASIC ASCII
* PC-DOS port requires CGA graphics or better.
Items for August 2000:
COMPUTER HARDWARE, TANDY, MODEL 4/4D/4P/II/12/16A/16B/6000
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, TANDY, MODEL 16A/16B/6000, XENIX BINARY
Items for April and June 2000:
A complete operating system and utility suite (with source code) for Z80
processors that was commercially sold in binary-only form for the Tandy/Radio
Shack Model 4 series of computers in the 1980s. Now released to the
public domain, this is the original source code, along with a
reconstruction of the final version distributed by the developers.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, TANDY, MODEL 4, TRSDOS 6/LS-DOS 6 Z80 ASSEMBLER
Items for February 2000:
A simple screen editor written in Z80 Assembly language with full source
code. Works as shown in LS-DOS 6/TRSDOS 6 operating systems.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, TANDY, MODEL 4, TRSDOS 6/LS-DOS 6 Z80 ASSEMBLER
Items for January 2000:
Computer not getting fixed? Find out why.
HUMOR, NON-FICTION
This is a simple but functional 8080 Assembler, written in BASIC.
Also included are 8080 assembler validation test files, and tables
of 8080 and Z80 opcodes mnemonics.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, TANDY, MODEL 4, TRSDOS 6/LS-DOS 6 BASIC
Items for November 1999:
Travel by Air can be fun, assuming you make it that far.
HUMOR, NON-FICTION
PRODUCT PROPOSAL, SCIENCE FICTION
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