Preparing For The Old Computer Challenge
Solène's Old Computer Challenge is now in it's third year. I thought I'd take part again this year. It's a week-long challenge from the 10th of July. I'd highly recommend it if you have the ability to take part, even if you don't have any exotic hardware. Prahou has details here.
The requirements are fairly straightforward:
- Max 512mb of RAM
- Single core only
- Lowest CPU speed possible
I like the fact that the challenge is explicitly for personal use, so I can continue using more powerful machines for co-integration and causal inference research.
I took a DC210 Kodak digital camera on a recent trip to take photos for the #CrappyCameraChallenge. I'd like to edit and cleanup the photos on something appropriately low-powered. I'd also quite like to see if I can write a Spartan or Gemini server for low-powered systems. In the case of Gemini, TLS would be handed off to a second machine, making it possible to serve the files from much older systems over serial for example.
I'm waiting on Kickstart ROMs and a desk for my CDTV so I can try the challenge with a 68030/50 and 64mb of RAM, a considerable step down from the A4000. If they don't arrive in time I'll use my MiSTer in a 1.3 configuration. I'll need to figure out how to get serial ports working via a USB-serial tool but I think I can make it work.
If I'm using the MiSTer I'll most likely edit the photos with a mixture of AdPro and HAMPlus, and look to implement the Spartan/Gemini server using a serial port to a small Linux computer that can run ngrok for TLS termination and port forwarding. If I get it done, I'll do a writeup for WhatIFF magazine, which is now available in PDF form (hurrah!).