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trigglux@trigglux
September 16, 2022

#DOSweek #musings #GW-BASIC

So it turns out I'm NOT actually willing to give up on showing hieroglyphs next to normal letters on DOS. But the problem might be too much to ever solve appropriately. Still, there is an option:

I mentioned before how BIOS is actually a driver pack for microcomputers. Among the things it offers is also a text console. Programs interface to this console is by raising soft interrupts after filling CPU registers with important information. And the interrupts pass through a table that lists the locations of routines that handle them. The table is user-writable (in real mode, and DOS runs in real mode) - I checked, and crashed my computer. xD Which means that, IF you wanted to implement your own console, you could - by providing your own implementation of the BIOS routines and overwriting the handler for interrupts.

So the idea would be to highjack interrupt 0x10, then directly access the video hardware, set it into some high-resolution mode, use your own fonts and then begin servicing requests like you were the true BIOS. For as long as programs don't try to directly access video hardware (and they shouldn't because then even the real BIOS would also be borked), you will be able to maintain the illusion of everything being normal while at the same time enjoying a glitzy 21st century console in full HD with pleasing color gradients and maybe even faint background images. xD

Eeeexcept there is a fly in the ointment. This presumes the programs utilize a dynamically sized user interface. So your assumption is that, first the program will call into BIOS to get some kind of dimensions of the console (I didn't look too deep, but it seems like such a BIOS routine doesn't exist), then it will figure out where it wants things based on this, and then will communicate this computed information back to BIOS as coordinates for characters that make up the TUI. ... I'm not sure all interesting programs do that. What's much more likely to happen is that the programs merely assume the console has one of several dimensions and run with it. Or they might ask the BIOS only which one of these several dimensions are in use and not ask it literral number of characters horizontal x vertical.

So what's probably going to happen is that you end up with a glitzy terminal that only has content in the upper left corner or maybe even has characters all over the place - in case the program relies on implicit BIOS behavior like automatically wrapping long lines and similar.

Still, this could be a way forward. You could pair this with applications that know about this (Lynx, Mutt?) and they will then be able to generate much larger, prettier and more useful TUIs then what is possible with stock BIOS. In fact, you might even be able to create a facitily for embedding images (xterm supports this BTW) and in that way even things like w3m will work. That would be really good.

Anyway, in case you want to explore your Interrupt Vector Table, I wrote a little BASIC script that peeks around and formats the stuff it finds into the format appropriate for IVT.

1 B%=0
120 CYCLE%=4
130 DEF SEG=0
140 ADDR% = (B% * 4) + CYCLE% - 1
150 OCTET% = PEEK(ADDR%)
160 V$ = HEX$(OCTET%)
170 IF LEN(V$) > 1 GOTO 190
180 PRINT "0";
190 PRINT V$;
200 CYCLE%=CYCLE%-1
210 IF CYCLE% <> 2 GOTO 230
220 PRINT ":";
230 IF CYCLE% > 0 GOTO 140
240 PRINT ""

To change which interrupt it peeks, just change the first line and rerun the program.

In case you want to write into IVT, make sure to first change the segment used by the POKE command, like this:
DEF SEG=0

And then you can write stuff:
POKE &h00, &hef : POKE &h01, &hbe

Keep in mind that the write isn't atomic so if you get hit by an interrupt between the two pokes, the system could crash, or worse. Remember - there's no privilege separation in DOS, a bug in your BASIC program could ruin the filesystem and destroy important data. :)

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
9 hours ago
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That Lunduke Journal fan who offered to match all Bitcoin contributions (1 to 1)?

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
6 hours ago
Final reminder! Support The Lunduke Journal with contribution matching until Midnight!

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
April 20, 2025

To all my Christian friends and family: Happy Easter!

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
18 hours ago
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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
April 18, 2025
16 Hours Left: Support Non-Woke Tech Journalism & Save Some Cash

The April Lunduke Journal pledge drive ends tonight at midnight (in whatever time zone you’re in)!

A huge thank you to everyone who has already pitched in — but we’re not quite to our April goal yet. Luckily we have (checks watch) around 16 hours left! If you’ve been thinking about contributing… now’s the time!

Through today — Friday (April 18th) — you can snag the following Lunduke Journal discounts:

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Go check out all the details on the April pledge drive page.

Oh! And everyone who uses Bitcoin — as either a one-time donation or for a Lifetime Subscription — will get their contribution doubled by a generous fan who is matching donations (1 to 1). Pretty awesome.

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Bryan Lunduke@Lunduke
April 17, 2025
Support The Lunduke Journal (with Bitcoin matching through Monday April 21st!)

UPDATE: The April pledge drive has been extended through Monday (April 21st)! There are a lot of people celebrating both Easter and Passover right now, so this will give folks a better chance to take part.

April has been an absolutely wild month so far — filled with leaks from Adobe, Red Hat, IBM, & Microsoft. Huge DEI-related Big Tech news. The works.

Many stories that not one other Tech News outlet has the cajones to cover honestly — Tech news stories which, without The Lunduke Journal, would never get told at all.

(And April is only half way over. Crazy!)

All of this is possible because of support from you. The Lunduke Journal never takes a dime from Big Tech. This allows The Lunduke Journal to cover any topic (and any Big Tech company) honestly… without fear of getting cancelled.

In order to pull off this feat (which is fairly unique in the world of Tech News), every month or so we run a two day pledge drive. Nothing crazy. Just a few discounts on subscriptions, send out a “hey, you should subscribe” email or two, and — boom — we remain independently funded and can afford to keep every single show 100% free from advertisements.

Pretty good deal, eh?

Well, this month we’ve got something extra cool.

Matched Bitcoin Donations

A very well known, and very awesome, nerd is offering to match all Bitcoin donations (and Bitcoin subscriptions) made over the next 48 hours. Up to a total of 1 BTC.

No strings attached. Other than, and I quote, “Just keep pissing them off.” (I’m also not allowed to breathe a word of his identity to anyone… which, if you knew who he was, you’d probably say, “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”)

Seriously.

If The Lunduke Journal brings in 1 BTC between now and 12:01am on this coming Tuesday? He’s going to match that with another 1 BTC. Heck. Even if we only bring in a small fraction of a Bitcoin, it’s still a fantastic opportunity for The Lunduke Journal to get ahead on future funding.

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50% off a Yearly subscription to The Lunduke Journal via both Locals and Substack. (This includes full access to the community Forum.)

That’s $2.25 per month. Pocket change.

The Famous Lifetime Subscription:

The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal. For life. A great way to support Big-Tech-Free Journalism.

(This includes full access to the community Forum.)

New Lifetime Subscriptions are available, for $200, from now through Monday, April 21st.

The Lifetime Subscription can be obtained via Locals, Substack, or using Bitcoin. All three options work great and are super easy.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

You can obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin. Save a few bucks with this option, as Bitcoin processing has fewer fees associated with it. (Plus this gets effectively doubled for the next two days.)

bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq

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Once again:

The Lunduke Journal would not be possible without your support. Every subscriber, of every type, makes a massive difference in bringing Big-Tech-Free Tech Journalism to the world.

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