vga256
LightNews LightNews
banner
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
vga256
@vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
34 followers 0 following 360 posts
indigenous canadian, recovering academic → writer, gamedev & interactive toolsmith with a penchant for modems, the 4o3 bbs scene, 1-bit art, classic macs, and 80s/90s […]

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://dialup.cafe/@vga256, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Posts Replies Media Videos
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
[grisly pixel art]

DreamWeb got a generally lukewarm reception from many gaming mags at release, but almost all of them mentioned how extreme some of the depicted violence was.

one of the early scenes in the game has some incredibly detailed animation worthy of […]

[Original post on dialup.cafe]
October 3, 2025 at 2:52 AM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
laundry basket/prison

#catsofmastodon
A small black buggy-eyed cat goes nuts inside of a laundry basket that is held vertically.
October 2, 2025 at 9:08 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
i have no idea if graffiti gear was a thing outside of canada, but i hope it was 🙏

it enjoyed a brief fad in my elementary school, until someone realized writing swear words in permanent marker was much more appealing than their autograph.

#canada #1980s
A "Design Your Own Jacket" pack titled Graffiti Gear. It shows two kids wearing tyvek jackets, decorated with cartooned objects. The copy from the rear of the box: It's Graffiti Gear! A special lightweight Tyvek jacket with permanent color markers so you can design a one-of-a-kind jacket that tells the world who you are! Show 'em your favorite stars, bands, teams, hobbies, events. Get your friends to autograph your jacket or just go crazy and make your own unique designs. This Graffiti Gear kit contains one jacket, six color markers, plus a full color idea poster with designs to inspire you and instructions to make your own terrific Graffiti Gear jacket.
October 1, 2025 at 9:55 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
Due to technical limitations with mastodon's architecture - which does not support domain name changes or data migration - dialup.cafe will be closing permanently in one month.

Dialup.cafe instance users: please see the server announcement and get thine affairs in order. 💀
October 1, 2025 at 8:19 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
holy crap: mastodon server does not support domain name changes. 😆

i now have to give some serious thought to migrating dialup.cafe -> dialup.party

it would mean setting up a new server from scratch, migrating users to the new server, and losing all of their post history in the process. i am […]
Original post on dialup.cafe
dialup.cafe
October 1, 2025 at 4:50 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
#silentsunday
A prairie biome. A small foot trail disappears into the distance. There is a small copse of poplar trees, leaves yellow, many fallen. A large boulder rests to the left of the trail, partly as a marker … or warning.
September 30, 2025 at 11:07 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
walnut brains and big dreams

#beaver #animals #alberta #yeg #canada
A beaver has gnawed at the base of a poplar tree hundreds of meters from his home, with no hope of dragging it home even if it fells it.
September 30, 2025 at 7:15 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
500+ canada geese on the trans canada trail

#canada #animals #yeg
September 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
two years ago our resident hare dug herself a soft spot on the front lawn, and sat in it for weeks.

twice a year - in the spring and autumn - she returns to that exact spot and has a good sit for a few days.

she arrived this morning

#rabbits #urbananimals #animals #yeg
A white tailed jackrabbit (prairie hare) sits comfortably on a lawn covered with elm leaves.
September 30, 2025 at 4:37 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
huh. https://apnews.com/article/ea-electronic-arts-video-game-silver-lake-pif-d17dc7dd3412a990d2c0a6758aaa6900

#ultima
Video game maker Electronic Arts to be acquired and taken private for $55 billion
Electronic Arts, the video game maker of “Madden NFL,” “The Sims,” and other popular titles, is being acquired and taken private for $55 billion.
apnews.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by vga256
tijn.dosgame.club.ap.brid.gy
Last weekend of the month, and I finally have the time to check out our @dosgameclub September game: Ascendancy.

It's a space-themed 4X game from 1995, very much in the same vein as Master of Orion, and it rules.

What's especially great imho is how wild and […]

[Original post on dosgame.club]
Screenshot of Ascendancy. The top left contains a star map, with the Panacea system selected, along with a bunch of buttons with icons on them to navigate the map. Besides the buttons is a round image showing the face of a sort of rat-like alien. In the top right is another alien, resembling a tree somewhat. Below the alien on-screen text says: "Ah yes, the Govorum. We knew we'd run into you sooner or later." and my only reply option: "We look forward to many interesting encounters".
September 27, 2025 at 9:17 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
happy 28th birthday ultima online!

#uo #ultima #retrogaming #win95
September 24, 2025 at 9:54 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
welcome to the dialup café @kegwin!
September 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by vga256
splorp.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
The first Global Newton Users Meetup (GNUM) in over a year is in the works!

Global Newton Users Meetup #16
Saturday, September 27th 2025, 17:00 UTC

Join us on Zoom for a casual get-together for fans, aficionados, developers, and collectors of the #applenewton platform.

Details on the […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
September 22, 2025 at 10:21 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
this interview with jeff vogel has a fascinating 15-minute tour of jeff's homebuilt IDE and engine for building spiderweb software RPGs

in an age where the vast majority of developers are building games using general purpose platforms like unity/godot, it's fascinating to see how jeff has […]
Original post on dialup.cafe
dialup.cafe
September 22, 2025 at 4:24 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
#silentsunday #mushtodon
1 centimeter tall mushrooms grow in a bed of spaghnum-like moss on the edge of a hillside covered in dead leaves.
September 22, 2025 at 1:53 AM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
on the prairies of western canada it is harvest time for hops and apples

with the hot and dry autumn, we got a surprisingly bountiful harvest of both

#gardening #bloomscrolling #autumn #fruit
cheerful deep red delicious apples on a tree, in the morning light. A hops pod has grown fat from a hops plant, and shines green in the morning light. A huge bag of apples of various shades of red and green.
September 20, 2025 at 4:38 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
The Invisible City Beneath Paris
by Robert Macfarlane, The New Yorker

Under the southern portion of the city exists its negative image: a network of more than two hundred miles of galleries, rooms and chambers.

https://archive.ph/0Z2g9

photo credit: Gaspard […]

[Original post on dialup.cafe]
A chamber in the paris mine, titled "Hydraulic system". It shows a small channel of water connected to a much deeper well. The water is a clear blue. A tunnel disappears into the distance, its walls of quarried stone.
September 16, 2025 at 6:12 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
today's software preservation task

one of the great crimes of the 21st century was that Mark Jones' (Core Design) Darkmere - an isometric adventure-RPG for the amiga - was poorly visually documented by the usual places like lemonamiga/mobygames/etc.

perhaps for […]

[Original post on dialup.cafe]
The wizard gildor, sitting in a stone throne, gazing into a crystal ball as electricity comes out of it. A forest scene with a massive skull cavern, in greens and greys. A comfy interior of a home, with a large wall fireplace and hearth; a fire burns cheerfully within it. In front of the fire sleeps a tan dog, alongside a human skull. Around the room, torches burn. A waterfall flows quickly along a river, spilling its water onto the rocks below. The forest around it is full of gnarly, friendly trees.
September 16, 2025 at 1:32 AM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
Back when I bought my iMac G5 as a grad student, I could never have afforded Macromedia Director - even with its heavily discounted “academic” license.

finally acquired it today, complete, so I can begin turning my upcoming book Mages & Modems, into an […]

[Original post on dialup.cafe]
A very large and heavy box containing Macromedia Director 7 for PowerPC macs. A 20-inch iMac G5 is in the background.
September 15, 2025 at 5:54 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
a 20km hike through prairie deciduous in the autumn.

this is the strathcona regional trail, which recently connected edmonton to fort saskatchewan.

difficulty: easy
distance: medium
surface: 10-20mm gravel

pic 2: there is a well hidden footpath connecting the […]

[Original post on dialup.cafe]
A view of the north saskatchewan river, facing southwest into the sunset. A footpath has been carved between the main path and the trans canada trail through a prairie meadow. A dozen mallard ducks happily eat in a pond full of algae. A gravel path covered with leaves.
September 15, 2025 at 1:19 AM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
finally know what it means to be rich

i didn’t choose to rescue canadian culture from the landfill - it chose me

#canada #tv #highlander
Four seasons of Highlander the tv series, showing Adrian Paul in various cool-guy poses.
September 14, 2025 at 5:33 PM
vga256.dialup.cafe.ap.brid.gy
discovered this ad for a Panasonic PV-SD4090 in a march 2000 issue of Wired mag

99% of the time i see sony mavica posts for retro digicams, but this one is a real treasure. those LS-120 drives did not really catch on at the time, and it’s a shame because iomega […]

[Original post on dialup.cafe]
An ad for a megapixel digital camera with 3x optical zoom. The copy reads: Panasonic introduces the first digital still camera that can capture up to 1500 images on one disk.
September 11, 2025 at 5:13 PM