Hacker News: dansalvato

New comment by dansalvato in "NetHack 5.0.0"

dansalvato — Sat, 02 May 2026 18:30:22 +0000

Wow, what a delightful surprise! I'm a huge NetHack fan and have been waiting a long time for the official 3.7 release before switching over to it. I've been a 3.6 holdout, haha.

AFAIK, the backend has moved a lot of map generation logic (and exposure of other data) to a Lua API, which is quite exciting as something for people to play with in tooling, forks, mods, etc.

Minor spoilers below:

I heard about some great balance adjustments that help to mitigate over-reliance on a single kit, such as making certain extrinsic resistances (e.g. wearing rings) stronger than their intrinsic counterparts, which adds to the decision-making in choosing what to equip. Another change I'm really excited for is the unicorn horn no longer being usable for "restore ability", so ability-draining effects (of which there are many) are a more significant threat (they were effectively zero threat until now).

Also very cool to hear the quest is now possible to do early (despite being a Bad Idea) as that has great implications for speedrunning or "fewest turns" runs.

Can't wait to dive in!

New comment by dansalvato in "I ported Mac OS X to the Nintendo Wii"

dansalvato — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:41:31 +0000

I wrote that L-cancel training code! Funny to see it come up out of nowhere. I too have always adored the Wii and its moddability. It'd be my go-to choice if I someday ever get the itch to write console homebrew software of my own.

New comment by dansalvato in "Rivian Unveils Custom Silicon, R2 Lidar Roadmap, and Universal Hands Free"

dansalvato — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:53:52 +0000

I see CarPlay (and CarPlay Ultra) as being for auto makers who don't want to put in all the effort to design and drive a good proprietary UI (CarPlay is a godsend in cars with crappy UI, i.e. most of them).

Rivian is a luxury vehicle brand with a first-class UI/UX. I imagine going with their own first-class UI and CarPlay Ultra would be a mess; two separate interfaces for the same controls, but laid out differently. Makes a lot more sense they'd be working with Apple to integrate more Apple features into their own UI, rather than having to maintain two separate first-class UIs that are bound to have discrepancies.

And there's the more obvious answer that they want the entire driving experience to feel like a Rivian experience, given how important that's been for luxury EVs on the software side. Supporting a canned OS would make the vehicle "feel" the same as every other car that also supports it.

New comment by dansalvato in "Valve reveals it’s the architect behind a push to bring Windows games to Arm"

dansalvato — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 21:02:43 +0000

From the last interview question in the article (pertaining to Arm):

> We don’t really try to steer the market one direction or another; we just want to make sure that good options are always supported.

Sounds like their priority is to support Steam on the hardware consumers are currently using. Given that, it makes sense they'd go Arm in the Steam Frame, because Fex alone is already a massive undertaking, and Snapdragon is a leading mobile chipset for performance and power efficiency.

New comment by dansalvato in "Google Antigravity"

dansalvato — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 17:03:50 +0000

I can't believe these "smooth scrolling" scripts are still a thing. I was wondering why I was having a hard time scrolling the page on my phone, when I got to my PC and felt the reason.

It's incredible to think how many employees of this world-leading Web technology company must have visited this site before launch, yet felt nothing wrong with its basic behavior.

New comment by dansalvato in "SGI demos from long ago in the browser via WASM"

dansalvato — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 16:06:00 +0000

The first thing I noticed when seeing the SGI demos for the first time is that the menu UI is strikingly similar to the file select screen in Super Mario 64.

Of course, Nintendo 64 was developed in partnership with Silicon Graphics, so there's a clear connection, and I'm far from the first to make this observation. Still, I feel as though there must be some untold history where perhaps it was used as a placeholder menu early in development, but the team grew fond of it and eventually used the same effect for the final release.

Here's a decent comparison: https://www.resetera.com/threads/super-mario-64-took-its-3d-...

New comment by dansalvato in "I've Had It with Microsoft"

dansalvato — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 18:23:19 +0000

This article inspired me to check if Google has something similar for Google Workspace, which also just increased its price due to a bunch of Gemini integration I have absolutely no need for.

As it turns out, they do—but it's hidden from the "Plans and Upgrade" page, which only shows the Standard plan and above. After some digging, I finally found an inconspicuous dropdown on my plan's billing page that had an option to downgrade my plan. Upon clicking it, I was taken back to the earlier "Plans and Upgrade" page, but this time, the Starter plan was made visible on the page.

It's exactly half the price of the Standard plan, just with less storage, no Gemini, and some restrictions on other enterprise features I've never even heard of. Pretty bizarre and upsetting that they completely hide the existence of the Starter plan like that.

I'm hoping I can eventually bring my reliance on Google services down to zero, whenever I can afford the effort it takes to migrate to something better.

New comment by dansalvato in "ThornWalli/web-workbench: Old operating system as homepage"

dansalvato — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 16:36:27 +0000

The CRT effect is immediately what stood out to me as well. It's the first time I've ever looked at a "CRT filter" that really gave my eyes the sensation of looking at a real CRT, specifically Amiga. It's so good that I would compel the author to share it with Amiga emulator developers to see if there's any chance of it being implemented. Maybe except for the line that occasionally travels from bottom to top, that's more reminiscent to me of a camera artifact and not something I experience with my eyes on Amiga monitors.

New comment by dansalvato in "Microsoft Windows 1.0 with Steve Ballmer (1986)"

dansalvato — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:26:51 +0000

Let's be real, Commodore has no one to blame but themselves for squandering their 5-year lead in hardware and OS. They were carried hard by the passion of their engineers, but irredeemably greedy and soulless at the top. At Microsoft and Apple, engineers were the lifeblood from the very beginning. At Commodore, they were a spreadsheet column.

New comment by dansalvato in "Customizable HTML Select"

dansalvato — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:27:47 +0000

I think some of this stuff isn't the responsibility of HTML. If HTML already has a full autocomplete spec, isn't it the fault of browsers/extensions/OS if the implementation is broken? Or are you saying the spec is too ambiguous?

A lot of stuff becomes redundant under the framing that HTML is designed to provide semantics, not a user interface. How is a toggle button different from a checkbox? How are tabs different from

, where you can give multiple

tags the same name to ensure only one can be expanded at a time?

Image manipulation is totally out of scope for HTML. has an attribute to limit the available choices by MIME type. Should there be special attributes for the "image" MIME type to enforce a specific resolution/aspect ratio? Can we expect every user agent to help you resize/crop to the restrictions? Surely, some of them will simply forbid the user from selecting the file. So of course, devs would favor the better user experience of accepting any image, and then providing a crop tool after the fact.

Data grid does seem like a weak spot for HTML, because there are no attributes to tell the user agent if a

should be possible to sort, filter, paginate, etc. It's definitely feasible for a user agent to support those operations without having to modify the DOM. (And yes, I think those attributes are the job of HTML, because not every table makes sense to sort/filter, such as tables where the context of the data is dependent on it being displayed in order.)

Generalized rant below:

Yes, there are pain points based on the user interfaces people want to build. But if we remember that a) HTML is a semantic language, not a UI language; and b) not every user agent is a visual Web browser with point-and-click controls, then the solution to some of these headaches becomes a lot less obvious. HTML is not built for the common denominator of UI; it's built to make the Web possible to navigate with nothing but a screen reader, a next/previous button, and a select/confirm button. If the baseline spec for the Web deviates from that goal, then we no longer have a Web that's as free and open as we like to think it is.

That may be incredibly obvious to the many Web devs (who are much more qualified than me) reading this, but it's not something any end user understands, unless they're forced to understand it through their use of assistive technology. But how about aspiring Web devs? Do they learn these important principles when looking up React tutorials to build some application? Probably not—they're going to hate "dealing with" HTML because it's not streamlined for their specific purpose. I'm not saying the commenter I'm replying to is part of that group (again, they're probably way more experienced than me), but it reminded me that I want to make these points to those who aren't educated on the subject matter.

New comment by dansalvato in "Test if a number is even"

dansalvato — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 06:39:45 +0000

> There's also BTST #0,xx but it wastefully needs an extra 16 bits say which bit to test (even though the bit can only be from 0-31)

That reminds me, it's theoretically fastest to do `and d1,d0` e.g. in a loop if d1 is pre-loaded with the value (4 cycles and 1 read). `btst d1,d0` is 6 cycles and 1 read.

> the blitter is active and you set BLTPRI

I thought BLTPRI enabled meant the blitter takes every even DMA cycle it needs, and when disabled it gives the CPU 1 in every 4 even DMA cycles. But yes, I'm splitting hairs a bit when it comes to DMA performance because I code game/demo stuff targeting stock A500, meaning one of those cases (blitter running or 5+ bitplanes enabled) is very likely to be true.

New comment by dansalvato in "Test if a number is even"

dansalvato — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 06:28:42 +0000

That is true, I deliberately set up an isolated scenario to do these fun theoretical tests. It actually took some effort to stop the compiler from being too smart, because it would want to transform the result into a return value, or even into a pointer offset, to avoid branching.

New comment by dansalvato in "Test if a number is even"

dansalvato — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 01:09:20 +0000

The interesting thing about testing values (like testing whether a number is even) is that at the assembly level, the CPU sets flags when the arithmetic happens, rather than needing a separate "compare" instruction.

gcc likes to use `and edi,1` (logical AND between 32-bit edi register and 1). Meanwhile, clang uses `test dil,1` which is similar, except the result isn't stored back in the register, which isn't relevant in my test case (it could be relevant if you want to return an integer value based on the results of the test).

After the logical AND happens, the CPU's ZF (zero) flag is set if the result is zero, and cleared if the result is not zero. You'd then use `jne` (jump if not equal) or maybe `cmovne` (conditional move - move register if not equal). Note again that there is no explicit comparison instruction. If you don't use O3, the compiler does produce an explicit `cmp` instruction, but it's redundant.

Now, the question is: Which is more efficient, gcc's `and edi,1` or clang's `test dil,1`? The `dil` register was added for x64; it's the same register as `edi` but only the lower 8 bits. I figured `dil` would be more efficient for this reason, because the `1` operand is implied to be 8 bits and not 32 bits. However, `and edi,1` encodes to 3 bytes while `test dil,1` encodes to 4 bytes. I guess the `and` instruction lets you specify the bit size of the operand regardless of the register size.

There is one more option, which neither compiler used: `shr edi,1` will perform a right shift on EDI, which sets the CF (carry) flag if a 1 is shifted out. That instruction only encodes to 2 bytes, so size-wise it's the most efficient.

The right-shift option fascinates me, because I don't think there's really a C representation of "get the bit that was right-shifted out". Both gcc and clang compile `(i >> 1) << 1 == i` the same as `i & 1 == 0` and `i % 2 == 0`.

Which of the above is most efficient on CPU cycles? Who knows, there are too many layers of abstraction nowadays to have a definitive answer without benchmarking for a specific use case.

I code a lot of Motorola 68000 assembly. On m68k, shifting right by 1 and performing a logical AND both take 8 CPU cycles. But the right-shift is 2 bytes smaller, because it doesn't need an extra 16 bits for the operand. That makes a difference on Amiga, because (other than size) the DMA might be shared with other chips, so you're saving yourself a memory read that could stall the CPU while it's waiting its turn. Therefore, at least on m68k, shifting right is the fastest way to test if a value is even.

New comment by dansalvato in "Amiga Games Released in 2024 Index"

dansalvato — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 20:03:35 +0000

I'm thrilled to see someone bring up Magicore! I don't do much publicity because it's been a quiet 2 years working on the game engine, without much flashy content to show for it. But we're ramping up to begin production of the final game assets, so I anticipate having a lot more to share this coming year.

Here is a small demo I threw together for AmiWest 2024, from last October: https://youtu.be/xIYrhKHEPEA

I also have a personal blog which is largely a development blog for Magicore (https://dansalva.to/blog). My next post will be about a recent feature where I use Amiga's hardware acceleration to draw rays of light that can be obstructed by passing objects. Proof of concept video here: https://youtu.be/rFWFTuWx82M

New comment by dansalvato in "The Bluesky Bubble: This is a relapse, not a fix"

dansalvato — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 18:25:22 +0000

> For all its flaws, it's the only service that reflects society's pulse in real-time.

Is there such thing as accurately "reflecting society's pulse" within individual posts? Sure, maybe you can pull big data to understand public sentiment on certain topics or events. But the platform's goal is to present users with content they are most likely to engage with, so that they spend as much time on the platform as possible (and therefore view as many ads as possible). That content does not reflect society—it's often targeted ragebait. When users are goaded en masse by ragebait and engagement farming, some percentage are going to develop a distorted view of public sentiment, and their own engagement will further the issue.

The fact is that content discovery algorithms and moderation largely shape the tone and personality of a platform, both for a viewer and for a contributor (who is psychologically inclined to want to fit in).

Twitter isn't going to collapse and die overnight, but this could be the start of a 5-year trend where the "utility" of Twitter over other platforms gradually shrinks as reputable brands and public figures diversify their presence.

New comment by dansalvato in "Dolphin Progress Release 2407 and 2409"

dansalvato — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 18:44:20 +0000

Others in the thread have already made good points about Yuzu, but to add to the discussion: A lot of people think Nintendo is indiscriminate with their takedowns, but they typically only go after things that:

* They think will significantly hurt their brand (or already has)

* They think will significantly hurt their bottom line (or already has)

An interesting case study on this is in 2006, before the launch of the Wii, Nintendo issued removal of certain NES ROMs from popular ROM-sharing websites. Rather than removing all Nintendo ROMs from those sites, Nintendo specifically provided them a list of the NES games that were slated to launch on Wii Virtual Console. I'm struggling to find a source for this, but I distinctly remember it happening because there were some odd inclusions like Wario's Woods, while Super Mario Bros. 3 remained untouched. If anyone is good at searching old news articles, I would really love to have a tangible source for this memory of mine.

On the other hand, the worst takedown I've ever seen Nintendo make was when they issued a C&D against a brilliant Commodore 64 port of Super Mario Bros.: https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-takes-down-mario-bros-c64...

Pretty sure that one happened because the release effectively went viral, with a lot of mainstream tech/gaming websites covering it. Still, as a retrocomputing enthusiast, it's hard for me to be an apologist over that one.

New comment by dansalvato in "1M Users"

dansalvato — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 18:29:14 +0000

I wasn't really on MySpace either, but I think it's exactly where your complaint lies that drew such a huge demographic. When I think MySpace, I think teenagers who are still discovering their identity—not seasoned creators with a catalog of work to show off.

The masses were given a means to make a page that encapsulated their identity and connect it with others, during a time where it was suddenly made possible for everyone to express themselves, but still difficult to produce meaningful online content. I think Tumblr eventually ended up capturing a lot of that, but I also feel that there is a sense of pressure around having a space where the purpose is to publish content (even if just reblogging). It was really meaningful to a lot of people that they could have a simple space to express themselves through custom mouse cursors, cringey quotes, and autoplaying emo music.

Nowadays, this expression of identity for younger audiences seems to be driven by being a part of online communities with common interests, expressing oneself through content (now that it's so easy to make and share). But I think MySpace was there for people at the right time.

New comment by dansalvato in "Cosy Computing"

dansalvato — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 09:21:18 +0000

I've spent most of my life as a hardcore tech enthusiast, always excited for the latest and greatest. But in this era of homogeneous Electron apps, and now LLMs, I can't find much to be enthusiastic about anymore.

Most of the novelty has evaporated since every device nowadays can do everything imaginable (and if not locally, then via cloud). On old computers, it's just cool to see different kinds of software and games running on it. It makes you want to explore the possibilities. People used to be enthusiastic about the cool stuff their computer could do.

For a while now, I've wanted to set up a retro computer as a "daily driver" of sorts. It feels like a lot of our everyday uses for technology have not changed much over the decades—communication, news, entertainment, writing, organization, etc. If I lean back and ask myself what I actually use a computer for (other than specific stuff for work), I find it kind of hard to answer the question, which likely means I'm wasting a lot of time doing things that aren't deliberate or meaningful.

I love retro computers (especially Amiga), and doing stuff on them will always fill me with enthusiasm.

Decoding Impossible Mission 2 for Amiga

dansalvato — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 22:55:17 +0000

Article URL: https://dansalva.to/decoding-impossible-mission-2-for-amiga/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41295253

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

New comment by dansalvato in "Riven"

dansalvato — Sun, 19 May 2024 23:34:46 +0000

The Steam releases of original Myst and Riven are the ScummVM ports, which work great on modern hardware. You'll find it as "Myst: Masterpiece Edition". Masterpiece Edition is effectively the same as the original release, but with better color fidelity on the visuals. I think the one downside of Masterpiece Edition is that some of the audio tracks were cut short to fit on the CD. Still, I'd say the Steam release is definitely the most hassle-free way of playing the game today.