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December 08, 2022

#PDAweek
TI - Graphing Calculators

If you went to school in the US during the 1990s, and in to the early 2000s, you probably owned, or at least used, a Texas Instruments 80s Series calculator.

The TI-81 was released in 1990 and immediately gained ground in schools across America. This z80 based hand-held computer was able to do anything a scientific calculator could do. It even included TI Basic, a Basic language which allowed users to write in programs to solve very complex problems. None of this was really new. Programmable calculators had been out for years. But the new trick up this calculator's sleeve, was the ability to draw graphics; specifically graphs.
This was obviously something that was typically reserved for more capable computers at the time.
For less than $150, you could own a hand held computer.
School districts across the country began purchasing class sets. TI made it easy by bundling sets with a teacher's edition of the calculator. The teacher's edition was specially modified so it could connect to an external lcd screen and be projected on the wall. (More on those another day.)

But the TI-81 had one fatal flaw. Something that really kept it from becoming the defacto standard.
Every single person had to manually enter in thier own programs. This meant that if you came up with something amazing, you couldn't share it. Worse, changing the batteries wiped the full memory.

This limitation didn't last long as Texas Imstruments released the TI-85 in 1992.
This new model used the same z80 processor, bit was somehow now many times faster.
This new calculator corrected many issues with the TI-81 including adding a backup/coin-cell battery (they added this to the TI-81 around the same time. But it wasn't there originally.) And the greatest improvement of all...
TI-Link
This new, little cable, meant that programs could be shared between students and teachers. The cable, which was simply a 3-wire cord with a 2.5mm jack on each end, changed the world for students.
Very soon after the release of the calculator, Texas Instruments released the TI-Graph Link cable, a serial cable allowing users to connect the TI-85 to a windows 3.11 or Mac OS computer, copy files and even write programs on the computer.

This new calculator came at a much higher price, preventing it from gaining mass adoption.

To be continued....

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The Lunduke Linux Distro - No Age Verification, No AI, No Weird Politics

The Lunduke Computer Operating System has No Systemd, No Forced Rust Clones, & a "Code of Ethics" quoting the Bible.

The Lunduke Computer Operating System:
https://github.com/BryanLunduke/LCOS

NeXTStep, Emacs, Desqview/X, & TRS-80 Model 100 Walls:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/8056105/trs-80-model-100-joins-the-lunduke-journal-lifetime-wall-party

Get on The Wall with a Massively Discounted Lifetime Sub:
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/50-off-yearly-and-massively-discounted

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:25:45
NeXTStep, Desqview/X, & TRS-80 Model 100 Walls!

The Lunduke Journal now has close to 20 retro computer themed walls, filled with the names of subscribers. And that number is growing fast.

NeXTStep, Emacs, Desqview/X, & TRS-80 Model 100 Walls:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/8056105/trs-80-model-100-joins-the-lunduke-journal-lifetime-wall-party

Get on The Wall with a Massively Discounted Lifetime Sub:
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/50-off-yearly-and-massively-discounted

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:14:16
Rust is the Paper Straw of Computers

It solves a problem nobody had and makes everything worse. And those in power demand that you use it.

NeXTStep, Emacs, Desqview/X, & TRS-80 Model 100 Walls:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/8056105/trs-80-model-100-joins-the-lunduke-journal-lifetime-wall-party

Get on The Wall with a Massively Discounted Lifetime Sub:
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/50-off-yearly-and-massively-discounted

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:13:44
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.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
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! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
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.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044
The Lunduke Computer Operating System 0.1

This has been a long time coming.

This is very early (0.1), and the To-Do list is most definitely quite long (including trimming the ISO down).

But the system is very usable in its current state (which isn't surprising, considering it's based on Devuan). I’m running this on my main laptop now.

All the details:
https://github.com/BryanLunduke/LCOS

The 0.1 release:
https://github.com/BryanLunduke/LCOS/releases/tag/0.1

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19 hours ago

OMG OMG OMG OMF-INGOD!

Y’all know I’ve been working on my AI Employee platform, autonomous bots I can give mission and they work creatively to solve the mission while I do other things.

Well….welll…OMG….Holy Schnieckes….I now have a ERD modeling tool that works with Snowflake. Do you know how many YEARS I’ve wanted such a tool? Oh, they exist already, as enterprise software multiple thousands of dollars a year PER user. The $350 modeling tool I bought years ago never added Snowflake support.

So I gave an autonomous AI employee the mission to make such tool using existing OpenSource projects. Why reinvent the wheel. I just wanted a tool for my use. I put the open source tools in the mission (ChatGPT had helped me pick them out) - use these and create for me a data modeling tool that works with Snowflake and does at least logical and physical design, reverse and forward engineering.

For a couple days I had the Employee wake up once an hour during the night, ideate, and take 1 ...

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Hey Bryan, just wanted to let you know your substrack emails being automatically flagged as spam in Thunderbird.

A pretty good example, of how email spam lists, certificate authorities, cloudflare and others can be used to "take out" anyone for any or no reason.

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TRS-80 Model 100 joins The Lunduke Journal Lifetime Wall party!

Buckle up, Buttercup. Because The Lunduke Journal is about to blow your mind.

  1. The “BeOS” Wall Lifetime Subscriber Wall is now full (see all of them on Lunduke.com)!

  2. We’ve added a new “TRS-80 Model 100” Wall (because we can)! That’s the 19th Lifetime Subscriber Wall! 19!

  3. The discounted Lifetime Lunduke Journal Subscriptions are still available through to the end of this month (July).

Which means there are, as of this exact moment, 4 Walls with space available (see Lunduke.com for the full list of Walls). But these fill up wicked fast.

  1. Emacs (only a few spots left)

  2. Desqview/X (a little less than 2/3rd’s full)

  3. NeXTStep (still plenty of space)

  4. TRS-80 Model 100 (just launched)

 

Nice, right?

Worth noting: The “TRS-80 Model 100” has very limited screen resolution (240 x 64), which means only a small number of names can fit on that wall. If you want on it, I’d let me know right away.

Grab a discounted Lifetime Subscription (if you don’t already have one), then let me know (email “bryan at lunduke.com”) which Wall you’d like to see your name on.

Huge high five to everyone who has already added their name to a Wall. At the current rate, we’ll have over 20 retro computer themed walls, filled with all of your names, by the end of the month.

And, doggone it, that’s amazing.

-Lunduke

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Vim beats Emacs!

Well, we’ve done it.

We’ve answered the eternal question: “Which Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber Wall would fill with names quicker? Emacs or Vim?”

The answer, it turns out, is “Vim”. And it takes just 8 days.

 

A hearty “Thank You” to everyone who supports The Lunduke Journal by getting Lifetime Subscriptions (massively discounted throughout July) and getting on these walls! You make all of this possible!

Now. How long will it take for Emacs to fill up (matching the same number of names as the Vim Wall)?

Well, right now the Emacs Wall is a hair over 2/3rds of the way full. So we’ll find out!

Welcome NeXTStep Wall!

With the closing of the “Vim” Wall (and the BeOS Wall only having the space for 1 name left), now seemed like a good time to add a new retro computer wall: The NeXTStep 1.0 Wall.

Right now, there are 4 Walls available to add your name to (*cough* massive discount *cough*).

  • NeXTStep (just opened)

  • Emacs (about 2/3rds full)

  • BeOS R5 (1 spot left)

  • Desqview/X (1/2 full)

 

Once again, huge thanks to everyone who supports The Lunduke Journal!

-Lunduke

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Lunduke's Week in Tech : June 28 - July 4, 2026

Lunduke’s Thoughts of The Week

Yesterday was the 4th of July.

As such, time that I normally would have spent writing up some thoughts on the Tech News of the Week (tm) was, instead, spent eating hamburgers, watching fireworks, and generally goofing off with my kids.

So allow me to briefly summarize my thoughts using as little effort as possible:

Rust is weird, Sony sucks, and America is awesome.

… Yup. That just about covers it.

I hope all of my fellow Americans had a truly splendid Independence Day.

Biggest Tech Stories - June 28 - July 4, 2026

Here are the major stories from the last week, with direct links to X and Substack.

See Lunduke.com for all other platforms (Rumble, RSS Audio Podcast, etc.).

  • Git Takes Another Step Towards Making Rust Mandatory (X, Substack)

  • 74 Million User Accounts Exposed in Breaches During June (X, Substack)

  • BCacheFS Adding Rust Dependency Even Though “Rust doesn’t have a stable ABI” (X, Substack)

  • Git Without Rust From Dev of XLibre (X, Substack)

  • Sony Says No More Physical PlayStation Games (X, Substack)

  • Ubuntu Sponsors Rust Clone Foundation (X, Substack)

  • Like Computers? Thank America. (X, Substack)

Huge thank you to all of The Lunduke Journal’s subscribers. You make all of this possible.

-Lunduke

 
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