HP van Braam
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hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy
HP van Braam
@hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy
@godotengine developer, http://prehensile-tales.com. They/Them.

Lover of old technology. Sometimes also new.

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.tmm.cx/@hp, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Pinned
Oh dear, am I an ... influencer now?!

Thanks for all of the follows people! I'm super happy you all like my retrocomputing nonsense. ♥️
I got to handle a @mntmn reform at #fosdem2026 it's a really nice machine to handle!

Better than the website makes it out to be; check out their store! https://mnt.re/

#repairabletech #europeanalternatives
MNT Research GmbH
MNT Research makes open source hardware laptops, mobile devices and keyboards that are modular and repairable. Designed and assembled in Berlin, EU.
mnt.re
February 1, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Well, my #fosdem2026 talk on the MCI mail server didn't go so well. The beamer didn't work well with my computer so I had to wax poetically about a piece of software that nobody could see.

If you want to get an MCI/MEP2 compatible mail account when it goes live sign up at https://mcimail.net […]
Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx
mastodon.tmm.cx
February 1, 2026 at 2:17 PM
February 1, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Alarm in my hotel!

False alarm, thankfully, but this is not what my jetlagged head needed... 😭
February 1, 2026 at 2:09 AM
Just finished my #fosdem2026 talk! I think people liked it. Plus I got to see a life sized rover.

#retrocomputing
January 31, 2026 at 4:51 PM
I recently discovered a fun daily game called #murdle on the fediverse. I don't know who I got it from but I want to pay it forward!

Go play murdle! It is great!

https://murdle.com/

#game #webgame #logicpuzzles
MURDLE by G. T. Karber
Solve a new murder mystery every day!
murdle.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by HP van Braam
honestly the idea of a crt showing a black screen is really funny to me... deflection coils deflecting, flyback making its sawtooth, working in perfect harmony to point a grand total of zero electrons at you
January 25, 2026 at 5:15 AM
What if I want to order from the same burrito place for the third day in a row...
January 21, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Looks like when I was working on this a couple of months back I was a real adult.

#retrocomputing #adulting
January 21, 2026 at 5:53 AM
I'm seriously considering writing an #imap server in #rustlang. Someone please stop me.

Implementing imap sucks. 😅
January 21, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Writing tests in #rustlang be like

```
let mut meta_query = stmt.query([]).unwrap();
let meta = meta_query.next().unwrap().unwrap();
```
January 20, 2026 at 12:23 AM
I'm in #austin for work! Any fun #retrocomputing or other geeky stuff I should know about here?
January 19, 2026 at 12:26 AM
Dear #retrocomputing nerds, I'm pretty close to done with my reimplementation of the MEP2 mail protocol. This allows such fine email clients as "The Wire", "Mailroom for MCI", "Lotus express", and last but not least "Emma" from functioning again (with a suitable modem emulator)

I've written […]
Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx
mastodon.tmm.cx
January 17, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Dear #rustlang #lazyweb

I'll be flying for work tomorrow and I want to continue working on my project. Is there an approved way of getting the rustlang docs locally on my computer?

I guess for crates I might want to use I'll have to just download the repository?

I'm still not "fluent" in std […]
Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx
mastodon.tmm.cx
January 17, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Day 11 of writing a complex program in #rustlang

test result: ok. 221 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored; 0 measured; 0 filtered out; finished in 0.02s

I'm having a ReallyGoodTime™ now. There are things in the code that I would do differently now, nothing bad enough for rewrite 4 😄

I've implemented […]
Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx
mastodon.tmm.cx
January 16, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by HP van Braam
In 2009, Microsoft made it a focus of the Windows 7 user experience guidelines to reduce pointless notifications. They point out notifications like the classic “There are unused icons on your desktop” as being in the Windows XP Hall of Shame™. Seriously, it’s in […]

[Original post on hachyderm.io]
January 15, 2026 at 1:34 AM
I #repaired a #fitbit Charge 5 today by replacing the battery.

I feel like some kind of electronics god.

SO SMOL!

#righttorepair
January 14, 2026 at 8:01 PM
RE: https://infosec.exchange/@catsalad/115884862952831507

Sadly I live in The Netherlands. Lack of humidity is RARELY the problem.
infosec.exchange
January 13, 2026 at 1:56 PM
daaaaaaytooooooonaaaaaaaaaa
January 13, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Dear #retrocomputing #lazyweb

I'm in need of a stand-alone Hayes software modem emulator that I can hook up to a virtual com port with qemu. A pipe, perhaps?

The emulator should let me forward a static number to a particular host:port, or just all numbers to a host:port. Kind of like what […]
Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx
mastodon.tmm.cx
January 12, 2026 at 6:52 PM
MUDs, IRC, and Go: peak entertainment of 1994!

#retrocomputing #retrointernet #internet
January 12, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by HP van Braam
How CP/M-86's delay handed Microsoft the keys to the kingdom

https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/12/why_cpm86_was_late/

A late operating system, a stopgap deal, and the accident that made DOS dominant

<- by me on @theregister
How CP/M-86's delay handed Microsoft the keys to the kingdom
: A late operating system, a stopgap deal, and the accident that made DOS dominant
www.theregister.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Day 8 of writing a complex program in #rustlang

(I didn't code every day, and I forgot to write on day 7)

Currently on 1800 lines of code, 125 test passes.

I feel like a rust programmer now, I still have to frequently look at the (excellent) documentation. I'm sure I'm not doing things […]
Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx
mastodon.tmm.cx
January 11, 2026 at 8:27 PM
I'm thinking of maybe purchasing a #3dprinter in the next month or two.

My absolute requirements are that *using* the printer should require 0 proprietary software. That is, the minimum level of openness is like a postscript laser printer.

I want something that can print stuff like around a […]
Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx
mastodon.tmm.cx
January 11, 2026 at 5:50 PM
I bought a #compaq Armada m700 at the thrift store yesterday! It's a really nice pentium III laptop (1999 thin and light)

HOWEVER there's one terrible OCD triggering design compromise on this thing.

Why did it have to be this way Compaq... WHY?!

#retrocomputing #unsatisfying
January 11, 2026 at 2:19 PM