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I have a soft spot for fictional computers, having implemented compilers, bytecode interpreters, and even program synthesis for various made-up computer architectures.
This post is yet another dive into VM implementation, looking at a particularly fascinating ecosystem from Hundred Rabbits:
The Uxn CPU is a simple, 256-instruction stack machine
Varavara defines a set of peripherals that turn that CPU into an actual computer (display, keyboard, mouse, etc)Unlike many fictional computers, the Uxn + Varvara ecosystem is sophisticated enough for actual use, and there are dozens of different ROMs – everything from text editors to drawing programs to synthesizers.
The Hundred Rabbits devlog motivates this design with far more eloquence than I could offer; I'd encourage you to browse their sprawling wiki of documentation, blog posts, and development notes.
My implementation is called Raven.
Uxn is the virtual machine powering the Hundred Rabbits software.
This one-page computer, programmable in Uxntal, is an portability layer with a focus on hosting graphical tools and games. It lives at the heart of the Varvara ecosystem.
- Uxn Instructions: Reference, Tests
- Varvara Devices: Reference, Tests
This wiki along with most of the audio-visual projects documented on it are running on Uxn.
This is a blog post based on a transcript of a talk Devine gave at on November 26th 2024. Watch the video version(on YouTube). The slideshow presentation was made using Adelie.
A Shining Place Built Upon The Sand
I dreamt I was in a Library, but it didn't look like a library at all. You know how in dreams you feel like you know someone to be a specific person without them necessarily having their appearance? This is how I knew this was a library.
440-pound 1980s behemoth rescued from an Osaka restaurant days before demolition. //
For those who want the absolute largest CRT experience possible, Sony's KX-45ED1 model (aka PVM-4300) has become the stuff of legends. The massive 45-inch CRT was sold in the late '80s for a whopping $40,000 (over $100,000 in today's dollars), according to contemporary reports.
That price means it wasn't exactly a mass-market product, and the limited supply has made it something of a white whale for CRT enthusiasts to this day. While a few pictures have emerged of the PVM-4300 in the wild and in marketing materials, no collector has stepped forward with detailed footage of a working unit. //
Enter Shank Mods, a retro gaming enthusiast and renowned maker of portable versions of non-portable consoles. In a fascinating 35-minute video posted this weekend, he details his years-long effort to find and secure a PVM-4300 from a soon-to-be-demolished restaurant in Japan and preserve it for years to come. //
The full video includes lots of footage and details of the shipping and unboxing process, and confirmation that the TV still works after its incredible journey. Shank Mods also includes a breakdown of the internal design and processing hardware that went into such a uniquely large CRT and an extended discussion of the intricate process of calibrating and tuning the tube to deliver a sharp, color-corrected picture after years of magnetic and electron beam drift.
The adhesive in the tape is treated with capsaicin, which is one of the active components in chilies that gives them their spicy kick