Nekonomicon - theinonen

theinonen
Big Fan
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 12:32 p.m.
and authored 184 notes

Wrote on the subject of TopModel at June 27, 2010, 10 a.m...

After a long wait I finally managed to get TopModel to my RISC OS software collection.

TopModel is one of the few 3d-apps for the RISC OS, and maybe the only proper 3d-modelling software that was ever made for the platform. It is only intended for modelling, but can also render the finished result to a 24bpp high-res image. Finished models can be converted and raytraced on another app if needed.

Too bad there never was a 32-bit version, and the software disappeared sometime after TopModel 2. In my screenshot it is barely running with the help of Aemulator and it will crash when you try to do almost anything. That is why the image is not very exciting.

I have only done a quick test with the help of my old Acorn A4000, and found the program is actually pretty good for what it was made to do. It runs suprisingly well with an ARM250 processor (ARM2, 12.5 MHz) and 4MB RAM. Program comes with 4 disks, but the actual app fits in only 1 disk. Other 3 disks are for utilities/resources. TopModel uses Gemini (Similar to software OpenGL) to render a "realtime" shaded preview of the models/scene when working with the program.

theinonen
Big Fan
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 12:32 p.m.
and authored 184 notes

Wrote on the subject of ONScripter-EN 20080823 ported to AIX 6.1 at June 28, 2010, 1:35 p.m...

Those are nice looking machines, but are only useful as a table. They are too fragile for normal use, and it is almost impossible to find any spares when they fail as they are so rare.

I picked one with my brother that was in excellent condition and it worked for 1 whole day. We only managed to install the AIX to that hellmachine, before it started to randomly reboot itself. At first it could sometimes run for hours without a reboot, but currently it is in endless reboot loop.

But if you are really desperate with it, I should still have the original AIX medias that came with the machine somewhere.

theinonen
Big Fan
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 12:32 p.m.
and authored 184 notes

Wrote on the subject of Starting with 3D Modeling (Softimage|3D, Maya, Blender) at June 29, 2010, 1:15 a.m...

Problem with AutoCAD and DWG fileformat it uses, is that there is just too many versions of it. It seems like they are changing it on every release of their software just to force people to upgrade, because otherwise they would not be able to properly open drawings saved with the latest version.

I personally save my AutoCAD files to AutoCAD 2000 format, so they can be opened on most CAD software. DXF is a good fileformat for compatibility as almost all programs can open it. Only downside is that all formatting is lost and on bigger drawings there is a lot of extra work to get all the linetypes and widths right.

theinonen
Big Fan
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 12:32 p.m.
and authored 184 notes

Wrote on the subject of Starting with 3D Modeling (Softimage|3D, Maya, Blender) at June 29, 2010, 8:58 a.m...

hamei wrote:

(it would take forever to do this in Acad, theino. Plus if I decide that 13/16 is too thin, change one number and the entire model regenerates. Nice. Unless you're doing landscaping or architecture, grab a solid modeller ...)

I have never used Autocad for 3D-stuff or really done any 3D-CAD work, so can not comment on that. I would use 2D-CAD (or drafting app, as dc_v01 would say) for drawing something like that.

Here is an (bad)example to demonstrate that even if it is 2D-drawing, it does not have to look boring...

theinonen
Big Fan
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 12:32 p.m.
and authored 184 notes

Wrote on the subject of ONScripter-EN 20080823 ported to AIX 6.1 at July 5, 2010, 2:03 a.m...

Windows NT for PowerPC is not very useful as there is virtually no applications for it.

There is not much to do with it, other than to play a couple games of patience. It is also impossible to use it for web browsing, as the version of Internet (s)Explorer is so ancient it renders all pages wrong. Personally I would not bother installing it.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Irix Open Sourced at July 19, 2010, 9:27 a.m...

Anyone tried to compile NetSurf recently for Irix?

At least the new development builds are very fast on my IYONIX. The speed has really increased compared to early builds, and it is generally very useable on most pages even with a relatively slow ARM processor.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Intel wants to charge you extra to unlock features at Sept. 20, 2010, 7:46 a.m...

Personally I am against these artificial upgrades. It just shows, that Intel could have sold the same features unlocked at the first place with a lower price. Either way it costs the same to manufacture, and actually the cheaper processor may cost more as parts of it have to be disabled.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of A380 at Sept. 22, 2010, 9:03 a.m...

dc_v01 wrote: I'm not sure I could bring myself to set foot on a Russian airliner - I'm not "If it ain't Boeing I ain't going", but those are at another level.

Why is that?

Russian stuff is actually very reliable. Maybe not the best looking, or the most comfortable but they work regardless of weather or other conditions. Take Russian ejection seat as an example, it works and has actually saved many lives.

And more important Russians made the best ZX Spectrums in the world, that has to be worth something.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of iPad at Oct. 19, 2010, 7:37 a.m...

I prefer real books for reading. I do have some books about BASIC programming in electronic form, but they are in HTML not PDF.

How portable the iPad really is? I would think twice before carrying something as expensive in my pocket. It would soon be like my phone: No buttons, just use the membrane. No problem if you are blind, there is nothing to see on the screen anyway. I hate writing text messages, so it still works ok as a phone.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 337 notes

Wrote on the subject of What are the differences between the XT-HD vs. DG5/TVO? at Oct. 23, 2010, 4:17 a.m...

cinenate35 wrote:

Here is the end result just for lol's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjHXS89ri3Y

Heh, made me laugh.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of What HP/DEC/Compaq do we have. at Nov. 9, 2010, 6:08 a.m...

I currently have at least these:

AS2100
AS4100
XP1000
ES40

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of First the mug, now the shirts :) at Dec. 14, 2010, 10:09 a.m...

Maybe the difference is that you mentioned selling them on the forum, and selling usually means profit. On the other hand, if you only took enough money to cover the manufacturing and the shipping costs I guess it would be more acceptable.

Anyway, here in Finland that would be called free advertising, and some would even think it would be good if there are people running around with your company logos in their shirts, at least if the shirts are well made and of good quality.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of My SGI icons at Dec. 22, 2010, 11:48 a.m...

I have unfinished vector image, that I started when I was trying to learn vector graphics but got bored working with it. It is mostly done, colour needs to be changed darker blue and needs some more shading for lighting effects.

If someone wants to finish it and do better job than me, I could share it. Right colours would be easy to borrow from Jan Jaaps hinv thread.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Finally posted the next Silicon Classics episode at Dec. 29, 2010, 11:16 a.m...

Very nicely made, looks very professional. Was almost as funny as it was informational.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Cute music video featuring the Indy at Jan. 18, 2011, 2:10 a.m...

Not my kind of music, had to mute the sounds to watch the video.

I disagree with skywriter and claim that the best music was made in the 80’s. There are many underrated bands that nobody has heard of, just waiting to be discovered.

Like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USLAHPQ0-8g
Has that great Boston sound, and for some strange reason I like the video too.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Maya and SGI with V12 graphics questions at Feb. 1, 2011, 1:05 p.m...

I believe that if the software only supports Gouraud shading, there is nothing the hardware can do to magically change it to Phong shading. Meaning the software has to support the hardware capabilities for it to work.

vishnu wrote: Huh! I had no idea this beast had all those features...

"High speed, user-configurable graphics memory." Well, that's really great but, how do we use it?

Easy, swap your V12 to V10 and you have configured your graphics memory to a lot less than it was before...

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Hwy 101 on Wednesday at April 23, 2011, 12:14 p.m...

skywriter wrote: That guy is a pain in the ass sometimes.

Hope that was just a figure of speech

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Indigo2 newcomer - what, why, and why does it do that? at May 15, 2011, 1:33 p.m...

Indigo2 is nice system, but the 200 MHz R4400 is not very fast by modern standards. I would not spend too much for the upgrades and use the money to buy Fuel instead.

Installing NetBSD to Acorn RiscPC is easy, but getting it to work is not so easy. I tried to get it working couple years ago on 3 different systems, but it always froze on boot. Maybe you have better luck now. I always liked the design of RiscPC but after my Viewfinder died I gave away my RiscPCs and bought Iyonix instead. It would be really hard now to go back using RiscPC.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Indigo2 newcomer - what, why, and why does it do that? at May 17, 2011, 11:17 a.m...

ajw99uk wrote: The Kinetic processor does not use DMA, so a Viewfinder would be less of a bonus and the normal resolutions are OK on a 17in monitor (I got the Kinetic in a swap with someone who wanted to revert to normal StrongARM so as to get better VF performance!).

That was what I thought before getting that Viewfinder podule and using the bigger screen modes for some time. Hard to go back using smaller screen modes after that. Though, I did not have Kinetic but had the overclocked Turbo StrongARM thingy.

Viewfinder was actually working fine before I did stupid thing and flashed newer software to the card. After that it would come up with screen full of garbage and only randomly work like it was supposed to be. John Kortink was really helpful and send me couple older versions of the Viewfinder software when I mailed him, but unfortunately it still refused to work properly.

I currently have HP LA2405wg 24" monitor with resolution of 1920x1200 and 16 million colours hooked on my Iyonix, and it really is joy to use.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of Euro-spec Car Headlights at Dec. 14, 2011, 10:41 p.m...

Daytime driving lights are required at least here in Finland. Driving with only parking lights is not sufficient.

Junk yards are pretty common here but it has gone pretty much to what you described and parts for newer cars are generally not that cheap.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 313 notes

Wrote on the subject of What do you use your SGI for? at Jan. 10, 2012, 10:27 a.m...

Overclocking and playing with modern hardware is pretty expensive hobby for average kids or younger people, and modern hardware is so complicated there is actually not much to learn from it really. To really be able to understand how something works one must start from the basics and some old 8-bit systems are much better for that purpose.

I would also argue that hardware side is not very interesting these days, but on the software side there is still much to do that will benefit the user much more than some extra MHz from the processor.

Some days ago I diggged my old MSX2/MSX2+ system out from the closet and must confess spent couple hours just playing Bubble Bobble and Space Manbow. It really brought good memories from my younger days, and some of these days must go through those cardboxes with unbelievable amount of disks and find out what treasures are hidden there.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of 80ties CG - typical rend/raytr features compared to newer CG at Feb. 28, 2012, 5:56 a.m...

Here is typical example of raytraced image of that era. Took couple hours with Iyonix running Render Bender 2 under Aemulator. (Early Archimedes raytracer.)

Another one. This time with SolidsRENDER and this one only took 2h 59 minutes to finish.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of IRIS Indigo Reborn - project at April 30, 2012, 10:26 p.m...

Looking good.

Now all you need to do is install RISC OS for it. Linux is too boring for a system like that.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of ...How To Clean Up CAD Blue-Prints To Print Out? at May 26, 2012, 9:12 a.m...

Is there even good 2D-CAD software for Linux nowdays? Last time I used Linux there was only Dia and not much else.

I mainly use RISC OS now, and use ProCad+ and Artworks 2 for drawing. Most things are much easier to draw in CAD software and then drop into vector drawing software for colouring and finishing.

I have no real need for 3D myself, as when in paper you only get 2D anyway.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of ...How To Clean Up CAD Blue-Prints To Print Out? at May 27, 2012, 2:37 a.m...

I may have to check that FreeCAD when I get some Linux box running at some point.

I have never done proper 3D-CAD work, but used to do some 3D-modelling when I was younger. (Well, loaded Solidworks 1 times at school when was studying, but compared to some 3D-modellers the actual modelling tools felt poor.) I had sports injury some years ago and after that more precision work with mouse produced stress on the arm very quickly, so gave up on the 3D-modelling. Most 2D programs have very good drawing aids like snaps and configurable grids, so precision is achieved with very little extra work with mouse.

Drawing isometric pictures with 2D is not that different to working with 3D really. If you know the angle then its is just the matter of drawing some helper lines for the depth and then removing the hidden lines manually. If intention is to give object some colour and shading to make it look like solid, then it goes little differently.

Seems that 3D is the word of the day though, and even traditional 2D work, where linetype and width give most the information needed are switching to 3D and you can rotate the 2D view to get a view in 3D.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of ...How To Clean Up CAD Blue-Prints To Print Out? at May 27, 2012, 5:02 a.m...

hamei wrote:

Mouse ? All the programs I have used take dimensions entered from the keyboard. I would hate to be limited to snapping or grids.

Dimensions can be entered from keyboard, but for example if I wanted to copy some line or other object and align it perfectly with something. In ProCAD+ I could just use F4 to set snap point for the object, and then with correct snap settings could just drag it with right mouse button to get it copied and snap points correctly aligned.

hamei wrote:

theinonen wrote:

Seems that 3D is the word of the day though ...

It has been for thirty years that I know of

Autocad 2.52 was 3d ... the big switch was when everyone went to solids. Are there any wireframe cad programs still sold ?

I studied building services and the things I had to draw were things like pipes, drains, ducts, etc. Pretty simple stuff and remember using software like CADS where everything was 2D only with possibility to generate simple isometric view with correct settings. Later there were some programs that looked like you were drawing in 2D, but could rotate the viewpoint to get 3D-view.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of ...How To Clean Up CAD Blue-Prints To Print Out? at May 27, 2012, 7:32 a.m...

hamei wrote:

That sounds pretty clumsy. In Bobcad, for example, if you want to copy a line or set of features, you'd select them then chose "copy" then "parallel" and it would ask you how far. Enter the number then click the mouse on whichever side you want to copy it. All magically lined up perfectly. Then if you want to move you'd use "translate" again with a discrete number. I am not a big fan of snapping ....

That can be done with ProCAD+ also, but I find mouse+keyboard combination more natural than having to visualize everything in my mind. Also with isometric grid and angular constraints to isometric angles it is very easy just to draw some lines directly at right places. I am more of a mouse generation myself than a oldskool hardcore user.

I remember testing older AutoCAD R13, or something and it had that awful rectangle around the cursor where you could define the snap area and it would only snap to things inside that area. No need to say it always snapped to wrong places and was very tedious to constantly change the settings for the thing. At the place I studied there was AutoCAD 2000 and it was so much better in every way possible.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of ...How To Clean Up CAD Blue-Prints To Print Out? at May 28, 2012, 3:01 a.m...

hamei wrote:

That's a sprocket, by the way. And the teeth need a totally different shape if you plan to run roller chain on them

Always good to learn new english words. (Most of my english comes from the movies and computer magazines.)

There actually is an example drawing that came with the program and was drawn by someone who makes those in real life, so I knew mine was not very accurate. But as always I went where the fence was the lowest and skipped the filleting, as it was only meant to give an illusion of something that could work instead of working in reality.

Is this one any better?

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of ...How To Clean Up CAD Blue-Prints To Print Out? at June 3, 2012, 2:24 a.m...

GeneratriX wrote:

hamei wrote:

Yes and no ... a 3d model will (obviously) be 3d. To get any other view all you have to do is rotate the model. In 2d you have to make a new drawing for every view. 3d is a little more work upfront but at the end of the day it's a big timesaver.

Exactly! A world of difference!

Maybe in a more detailed objects, but for simpler objects not really a big deal.

You can always cheat and use combination of several programs to make things easier to visualize. Below an example, where early Archimedes 3D-program was used to export as vector image and then dropped to ProCAD+ for finishing, and from there to Compo for final image. I quite like that retro look, and when I have more time will make complex scene using graphics like that.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of Thoughts on the new macbook? at June 19, 2012, 10:52 a.m...

guardian452 wrote:

So who else has tried one out yet? There is no setting to actually use the full resolution. By default, the screen runs at 1440x900, and can be scaled up to 1920x1200.

I bet the new OSX coming this summer will support it with proper text sizes, etc, but for now you'll have to use a program like switchresx to set the screen to 2880x1800, and then have to deal with tiny text.

Actually the screen is running on the native resolution of 2880x1800. Resolution only appears to be 1440x900 as physical screen resolution does not change, only the size of the pixel that is plotted to screen.

Something similar can be demonstrated with RISC OS.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of Thoughts on the new macbook? at June 19, 2012, 11:34 a.m...

josehill wrote:

theinonen wrote:

Actually the screen is running on the native resolution of 2880x1800. Resolution only appears to be 1440x900 as physical screen resolution does not change, only the size of the pixel that is plotted to screen.

...and pixel doubling is something that depends on the application. For example, see the screenshot of twitterific and twitter running side-by-side in this post - http://9to5mac.com/2012/06/18/on-the-ne ... ay-review/

If I am not mistaken all the raster elements needs to be redone for the retina, or they will be scaled. So essentially if there are higher resolution graphics available for the application, then they can be rendered with higher detail.

If you look the lower picture from my earlier post, you can see that some icons are much sharper than others. That is because there are higher resolution icons provided for some applications and the blurry ones are just scaled to double size. I would assume Apple is doing something similar, but differently.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 313 notes

Wrote on the subject of Thoughts on the new macbook? at June 24, 2012, 1:54 a.m...

R-ten-K wrote:

Since I happen to spend a lot of time traveling and writing text/presentations/spreadsheets. etc, this laptop is perfect for me. I fail to see under what useful metric your fuel would be a better or equal alternative to this product for my intended application, but to each their own I guess.

All those things could easily be done with 15-year old computer, but the thing is that people always want new stuff even if there is no real need for it. You could buy some cheap netbook from the local supermarket that would do all those things equally well with only fraction of the cost.

From the hardware point of view I believe we are allready there and most of the extra power available today is just wasted on the stuff most people use it for. Things are more interesting on the software side and there are still lot to do to really harness all that power in real life use. Even the most powerful engine still needs a gearbox to be really useful.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Help: sgi cube logo gif at July 14, 2012, 12:54 p.m...

Translator on RISC OS does pretty good job with dithering.

Here is an example where frames of ducks sgicube.gif were loaded to Translator and just saved as 1 bit images. Finally everything was put back together with InterGif.

theinonen
From Finland
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.

Wrote on the subject of Help: sgi cube logo gif at July 23, 2012, 6:30 a.m...

geo wrote:

duck wrote: Hmm, possibly, I feel the Riemersma dithering gives more of a 3d-effect, but the jittering of the dithering might be distracting (hard to tell from the video)

sorry for that, ill try get another video and have it near the display. also if high def, the video size is large, any suggestion to see the performance comparison? do you want me to slow the rotation?
just let me know and ill try to capture it

One way to make those dithered images look less grainy, and to get rid of that snow effect around edges would be to run all the animation frames through a median filter.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of Commodore 64 turns 30: What do today's kids make of it? at Aug. 3, 2012, 4:47 a.m...

Sad truth is, that modern computers are just too damn complicated and the step needed to get people into programming has been raised too high. You almost need a ladder or lift to get there.

In good old times every computer came with some sort of BASIC to get people started at programming. Computers were simpler, so functionality was not hidden behind unnecessary layers and it was much easier to get some understanding how things worked.

I never had Commodore 64 myself, but many of my friends had and spent lots of time playing games with the machine.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of ...How To Clean Up CAD Blue-Prints To Print Out? at Sept. 10, 2012, 6:13 a.m...

Some rounded corners...

Not accurate copy as I have no iPhone myself and was mostly made as fun exercise.

Could have been made to look more realistic, but somehow I like this style more than the photorealistic one. Everything is kept more or less the way it came out from the CAD program.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of Apple sucks the big ten inch at Sept. 26, 2012, 6:42 a.m...

dclough wrote:

If you're going to hate Apple for that reason alone I also suggest that you hate Nintendo for the Wii.

There are couple more much bigger reasons also to hate Apple.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 336 notes

Wrote on the subject of Smallest HPUX/OpenVMS System Ever? at Oct. 9, 2012, 10:15 p.m...

Winnili wrote:

Quote:

I'd say a 3000/300 series Alpha would be smaller than the PWS - the PWS is a midtower PC size machine.

Is that large in your book? I think the much faster EV56 in the PWS 500au, plus having more universal PCI options at one's disposal, is much better than running an early and rather dated EV4. In fact, the PWS 500au enjoyed its last SRM release over approximately half a decade after the DEC 3000 systems were discontinued.

But then again you could get XP1000 that is just like PWS 500au, but faster with 667 MHz EV67 processor.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 321 notes

Wrote on the subject of Commodore 64 turns 30: What do today's kids make of it? at Oct. 23, 2012, 9:51 a.m...

Nuke wrote:

C64s are mainly regarded as a retro console AFAIK.

Microcomputer is proper term as you could do lot more than only play games.

True most people only played games, but there was also lots of other kind of software available and foundations of modern computers and software were laid with systems like that.

When the word "micro" disappeared and everything became simply computers, we also lost variety and big part of fun in computing.

theinonen
Who joined Feb. 21, 2007, 11:32 a.m.
and authored 313 notes

Wrote on the subject of RISC OS for Raspberry Pi? at Nov. 6, 2012, 4:05 a.m...

No experience with Raspberry Pi, but I do 95% of things on RISC OS nowdays so can recommend it to everyone.

Lack of javascript in NetSurf is not really a problem to me as the pages I visit rarely need it. There is one advantage when using Gmail with NetSurf, as can quickly open messages in new window with right mouse button.

I can not say much about the programming side of things, as have only done little BASIC programming and mostly with WimpBasic. At least there is lots of good documentation freely available to programmers.

The collected works of theinonen - Page 2