I love my #EeePC #netbook laptops. As long as you don't expect to browse the internet they are excellent #WindowsXP machines. Unfortunately, at the 10-in form factor they can't exceed a 1024x600 screen resolution and I needed something with a bit better resolution that still officially supported XP.

I opted for a #Lenovo #Thinkpad #X130e. It's a 12-in laptop that was originally designed for schools and educational use so this thing is quite rugged. It officially supports Windows XP and has a screen resolution of 1366x768.

Windows XP does not support Trim so I need to swap out the SSD with a mechanical drive. Unfortunately, the mechanical 2.5-in HD that I have on hand is too thick.

Apparently, this Thinkpad can only accept drives up to 7mm thick. From what I've read, I guess I need a "slim" 2.5-in mechanical HD. Until now, I never even knew they made them in slim variants.

I guess it's time to hit up eBay...

#Subnotebook #Windows #RetroComputing #Laptop

I think I experienced Exploding Head Syndrome last night.

I have heard about the sleep disorder several times in my life, and while I've had auditory hallucinations while drifting off to sleep, they are usually just someone whispering in my ear.

I have never experienced a loud bang until last night and that s*** scared the hell out of me! My heart was pounding so hard that I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack.

As I laid there listening and looking past my door frame into the hallway I was fairly certain everything was okay but filled with a horrible sense of dread that made the rest of my night sleep pretty terrible.

I hope this does not become a regular thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome

Recently I picked up a #Psion NetBook Pro.

This thing is a bit of an oddity. Unlike the rest of Psions products, this does not run EPOC OS. Instead, it runs #WindowsCE 4.2, which means it's treading close to #PocketPC territory!

This thing has a much more premium feel than the Windows CE based budget Sylvania #SmartBook that I previously posted about.

It's difficult to find a good curated archive of Win CE 3.0+ programs. Most archives are 1.0 and 2.0 and are not compatible with this device.

I finally found a single archive and its a treasure trove of programs and most of them are compatible with this device.

https://archive.org/details/windows-ce-programs

If anyone else has one of these or any other Windows CE style laptop, please post about it below. I would love to hear about it and see pictures of it.

Let's grow this community!

#WinCE #RetroTech #RetroComputing #PDA #PPC #Laptop

I just wanted to follow up on yesterday.

Wanting to download .lrc lyric files for all of my .mp3s I downloaded the lrcget program from https://github.com/tranxuanthang/lrcget

It works great and is a fairly straight forward process. You simply point it to any folder that has .mp3s and click "Download Lyrics".

Once downloaded you have a choice to export synced .lrc files, non synced .txt files or both.

It exports them to the appropriate folders and names the files to match the .mp3s

So, make sure your filenames and track tags are in order beforehand.

For the songs it was unable to find anything for I then proceeded to download them manually to fill in the gaps from https://www.lyricsify.com/

This is a seriously great program!

#Music #Mp3 #Lyrics #LRCGET #Lrc

I have started downloading .lrc lyric files for my massive .mp3 collection.

I started off downloading the files individually and it quickly dawned on me that this would take a lifetime to accomplish across my entire catalog. Lol.

After a bit of searching it appears the best way to download.lrc files in bulk is using the program lrcget.

I can't wait to give this a shot.

Any other recommendations or is this the go to program for downloading lyric files?

I went to the Asian market to load up on snacks when I came across some Sakuma Fruit Drops.

These were Demon Slayer licensed. My kids and I immediately commented about how crazy it would be If they had some that were Grave of the Fireflies branded.

A quick look online reveals that the Ghibli museum actually sold some official ones at one point. 💀

OMG!

Just... No...

I'm pretty sure every one of them would be salty tear flavored.

#Anime

Late night fediverse hits differently than early morning fediverse.

In my feed i'm used to seeing many of the same familiar faces in the mornings but when I hop on here in the late evenings and at night (which I don't do near as often) I'm always like "Who are all these people? Where did they all come from?"

Well, that was uncomfortably sudden... But on the bright side... I'm getting married, everybody! 🎉🎊

#PhantasyStar 3 #VideoGames #RetroGaming

I really dislike hub worlds. Does anyone enjoy them?

Anyone have an example of a hub world done right?

I especially dislike them when enemies are present and you can die, essentially amounting to dying on the "Stage Select" screen...

#Gaming #VideoGames #RetroGaming

🍿Enemy Territory (1987)
🎥Peter Manoogian

An insurance salesman gets trapped after dark in an apartment building that is terrorized by a gang called "The Vampires."

Calling to mind films like The Raid & Dredd the characters are at the top of an apartment building & have to survive the night by making their way to the bottom & escaping.

Starring Tony Todd, Ray Parker Jr among others I thought this movie was a blast from start to finish.

Highly recommended!

#Movies #Cinema #Cinemastodon

I just came across a really cool website.

It allows you to listen to lots of 8 and 16 bit game soundtracks in real time.

You can enable and disable the systems unique sound channels one by one and really analyze the songs.

I have wanted something like this for a long time.

https://cirrusretro.com/

#GameMusic #Gaming #RetroGaming #VideoGames

I just watched #TheNakedGun reboot. The whole family went & everyone really enjoyed it.

Yes, it was stupid at times but it also provided some genuinely great setups & laughs. One of the best slapstick parodies i have seen in a long time.

The acting was great & some of the dialog had me in tears. Parts of this movie will stick with me for years to come.

If you are a fan of the old Zucker Abrahams Zucker style of humor, I think you will not be disappointed.

#Movies #Cinema #Cinemastodon

And the brutal warfare begins!

#Sega

I just got back from the #Tulsa #NoKings #Protest and I'm not going to lie... It was fuckin' incredible!

I participated in two of them and the energy was amazing and overall just incredible vibes.

I'm also impressed that there were only a couple of trolls at each protest. It stayed non-violent. There was also a lot of #MutualAid being offered by the people for the people.

There were easily hundreds upon hundreds of people. It was amazing to be a part of it.

GET OUT THERE!
#Resist #Oklahoma

The #Sega IR 7000 Communicator #PDA.

A few days ago my lovely kiddo (who inherited my game collecting habits 😂) happened to find two of these at a yard sale and snapped them up!

These are much cooler devices than I had initially thought they would be but they are not terribly intuitive.

Does anyone know where I can find a manual for these online? I cannot seem to find one.

Tagging @SuperSelena64 and @Robavince in hopes that one of them might know.

#RetroTech #RetroComputing #RetroGaming

I can't help but feel like I struck gold here.

The Arteck keyboard works with everything!

Classic Bluetooth devices, Bluetooth LE devices. It's magic in a keyboard and something I know the PDA crowd has been looking for so I'm really happy to share these findings.

Enjoy! ❤️

🧵10/10
I won’t argue with results. It works & I love it, but why does it work?

Even though it supports HID it is still transmitting it over #Bluetooth LE and should not be compatible with a Classic Bluetooth #PDA. Whats going on here?

Looking up only the second line from the chip give us a different Cypress data sheet that lists Bluetooth 3.0!

Does this #Keyboard have a 2 in 1 chip? Both Classic and BLE for ultimate compatibility?

https://mm.digikey.com/Volume0/opasdata/d220001/medias/docus/752/CYW20730_RevJ_4-25-17.pdf
#WindowsMobile #PocketPC #Palm

🧵9/10
These keyboards have been manufactured for years under different names. It’s also used a variety of different #Bluetooth chips over the years.

Whatever chip we have here, we struck gold!

It appears we have a Cypress CYW20730 chip. The data sheet confirms it’s a 5.1 BLE chip that supports HID profile 1.1.

https://www.infineon.com/dgdl/Infineon-CYW20730_Single_Chip_Bluetooth_Transceiver_for_Wireless_Input_Devices_Datasheet-AdditionalTechnicalInformation-v12_00-EN.pdf?fileId=8ac78c8c7d0d8da4017d0ee1f8da6825

🧵8/10
I can’t believe it! Goal achieved.

The Arteck is a new easily obtainable & affordable #Keyboard. It connects to every persistent #WindowsMobile #PocketPC device that I tested! It’s driverless and the layout is almost perfect for it’s size. It’s also backlit!

I’m confused though. It’s #Bluetooth LE 5.1 and should not work with these Bluetooth Classic 1.2 and 2.0 devices. Whats going on here?

Lets crack it open and take a look.

#WindowsCE #RetroComputing #RetroTech #Palm #PalmOS

🧵7/10
Now the best for last! The Arteck HB030B #Bluetooth #Keyboard.

This is a cheap keyboard that you can still find new. It has a chiclet design, is backlit & doesn’t compromise much on the layout other than messing a bit with the Alt, Ctrl and Windows key button arrangement.

Amazingly this Bluetooth 5.1 keyboard connects to all of my iPaqs (111, 210, HX2495, HX2795b) & my #Dell Axim X51V using Passkey 1234!

#PocketPC #WindowsMobile #WindowsCE #RetroComputing #RetroTech #Palm #PalmOS