Switching modes like that was common practice on the Amstrad CPC (which used the same 6845 video chip), but as time went on, people also learned how to change the base address of screen RAM part way through each frame. This gave you super-smooth hardware scrolling for the main game area while still retaining a static score display. Unfortunately it came too late in the machine's history to be used for more than a handful of games, but demo coders used it extensively (and still do).

> I’ve never actually had anyone complain about me sending them ODT or ODS files since even the said MS Office doesn’t have a big issue with those.

On a Mac, I can read .doc(x), .xls(x) and .rtf without installing any additional software. I can’t do that with ODT/S.

90% of open data spreadsheet downloads could just as easily be provided in CSV format (looking at you, gov.uk).

Does Apple's productivity app really not support ODFs? Ouch.

that's apple being hostile to standards

Luxury. I dialled into FidoNet with my 64k Amstrad CPC (contd. p94. Mein gott I’m old)

A whole 64k, huh? IIRC those things presented the most costly spilled drink opportunity of any computer at the time.

Mapillary is of course owned by Meta these days.

Ah, we haven't had an "ORMs bad" post for at least three days.

Everyone too busy writing and posting their "How I use Think for me Saas" / BrEaK It InTo SmAlLeR TaSkS blog posts.

Disk was already the standard spelling in the UK by 1984 (in a computing context), just as program was used in preference to programme. But Amstrad mistyped it as disc on the plastic mouldings for their first CPC, and were too cheap to change them. Consequently CPC 3in disks were always called discs even into the 90s.

Did Acorn also misspell it in BBC Micro manual in 1984?

https://archive.org/details/BBCUG/page/n19/mode/2up?q=disc

That's "Akorn" and "BBC Mikro"

Interesting! I've recently plumped for UIKit (with bits of SwiftUI dropped in) for a new mapping app because, as you say, SwiftUI map support is virtually non-existent. Have you thought about adding Maplibre support as an alternative to MapKit?

I try to use MapKit, when possible, as it is unencumbered by licensing and support issues (and works pretty well), but I have considered MapBox. It’s commercial, but pretty straightforward, with licensing and support. I have heard good things about it.

I don’t really know about Maplibre (but I’ll check it out).

Had a friend create an app, based on Google Maps (if you remember, in Ye Days of Yore, GM was the mapping engine for iOS), but Google did the licensing rug-pull thing, and he had to do an emergency open-heart surgery to his app.

That was a sobering lesson about relying on third-party dependencies.

[EDIT] Looking at your app, I’ll not be surprised, if you’re familiar with my friend’s app: EasyRoute

You literally get shadowbanned for posting the three letters “cis”.

Apparently my previous reply got shadow banned by HN. Oh the irony. To repeat: the ban of cis was a reaction to the previous ban of t_r_a_n_n_y. If you are fine with the latter ban you should be fine with the former.

Perhaps do not use slurs then? Unless you want to claim that term is ever used without pejorative intent?

You can happily say all sorts of vile things - every slur that exists - about every minority on Twitter and not face any issues. But not cis. Why do you think that is? Does that sound like free speech or a biased far right platform manipulating users?

> You can happily say all sorts of vile things - every slur that exists - about every minority on Twitter and not face any issues.

This is false, as I pointed out in the neighbor comment.

Absolutely yes. It’s happening every week of the year with the better Substack-style startups in the UK (London Centric, Manchester Mill etc.).

Also known as Oxford Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_time