Matt Croydon::Postneo

Day: August 12, 2005

  • Bochs on the PSP

    Bochs on PSP

    Matan Gillon (Zi` to us in #mobitopia) has just released Bochs for the PSP. He has successfully run Windows 95 and command line Linux under Bochs on his PSP. It may not be zippy, but the sheer fact that it runs at all is amazing:

    Windows 95 actually runs quite well but don’t expect it to be a speed demon. It takes about 10 minutes to boot but afterwards it’s pretty usable. I was able to do things like: open “My computer” and browse the virtual hard drive, complete a whole game of Minesweeper and run various other applications. Now you too can get your Minesweeper fix on the go 🙂

  • The Enchanted Forest Lives On

    Enchanted Forest

    When I was a kid it was a real treat to make the (seemingly) long journey from Kensington to The Enchanted Forest in Ellicott City. The Enchanted Forest was a storybook theme park with rides, storybook displays, and a lot of stuff that was just magical when I was a child. These pictures take me back. Years later I was bummed to hear that it had closed down. Today there is a shopping center and parking lot covering part of the old grounds, though some of the original signage and the entrace castle remain.

    My heart was warmed when I read an article in The Baltimore Sun (registration probably required) about bits and pieces of the old amusement park being resurrected down the street at Clark’s Elioak Farm. They’re having a big party this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the park.

    I can’t tell you how much all this brings me back to my childhood. I might try to head out to the farm over the weekend to relive it a bit more and take some pictures.

  • Microcapital

    Very smart things are happening at Y Combinator. Marc at O’Reilly Radar writes:

    But what I will say is, what a great idea and a great program. At least half of the startups in the program are seriously cool and all of them made a ton of progress on very little money and in very little time.

    A little bit of funding and guidance at such an early stage has got to be a huge boost to people looking for the next big thing. While Reedit doesn’t do a lot for me, I know that whatever Aaron is working on is going to kick some major butt.

    I have a feeling that we’ll see more early microfunding ala Y Combinator in the near future, there’s such an obvious need for it. You can’t get everything right, but it will be interesting to look back at the class of Summer 2005 in a few years to see what works out and what tanks.

  • You Know Your Programming Language is Complicated When

    Java in a NutshellThis is an exercise best done at a brick and mortar bookstore. First, find yourself the Java section. Then locate the 5th edition of Java in a Nutshell, newly revised for Java 1.5. Take a close look at it. Thick, isn’t it? Now pick it up. Note that it weighs 3.2 pounds. Now thumb through it, all 1264 pages. That’s a bunch of pages.

    With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, your programming language just might be complicated when you have trouble telling the difference between its Nutshell book and a telephone book.