Rubenerd

My full review of VirtualBox 4.x is coming, but for now I can confirm the upper memory bug for PC DOS still exists. Guess I'll be using VMWare Fusion and/or QEMU for proc-control stuff for a while yet :(

Conventional memory

Bill Gates infamously quipped that nobody would ever need more than 640KiB of memory, and that's exactly how DOS sees it. Regardless of how much RAM your computer has, many DOS applications will never see more than the first 640KiB. This area is referred to as Conventional Memory.

Over time power users worked around this limitation by using so-called expanded and extended memory managers which allowed applications and drivers (that supported it!) to load themselves "high" or above this 640KiB memory area. This means extra RAM in systems could be used, and it also kept as much Conventional Memory free for older software, games and drivers that demanded it.

Unfortunately, using UMB (upper memory blocks) was always a bit of a voodoo science, and even today some software has issues with it. QEMU, VMWare software and Connetix Virtual PC (RIP) allow full UMB access, however even the latest versions of VirtualBox still have severe stability issues when used with upper memory managers.

EMM386

The EMM386 expanded memory manager that was bundled with several DOS-based versions of Windows and later versions of DOS. If it is loaded in CONFIG.SYS in its default form like this:

DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE /VERBOSE

… it results in the following error upon boot:

WARNING Unable to set page frame based address–EMS unavailable

While undesirable, on machines where this capability is unavailable the NOEMS flag can be used:

DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS /VERBOSE

This allows the machine to boot, and does allow drivers and applications I defined in AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS to be loaded high.
Unfortunately, if you attempt to mount any CD-ROM or floppy disk images in the VirtualBox virtual machine, EMM386 halts the system with this same error.

EMM386 has detected error #13 in an application at 
memory address 0048:061F. To minimize the chance of 
data loss, EMM386 has halted your computer.
To restart your computer, press ENTER.

Needless to say, having a virtual machine that only partly works and only if no media is mounted is a deal breaker.

UMBPCI.SYS

Those of you who've kept up to date with DOS developments of late know about this brilliant alternative to EMM386 that was first featured in Germany's c't magazine and now lovingly maintained to this day by Uwe Sieber. The primary advantage UMBPCI.SYS it has over EMM386 is it uses a fraction of the memory, which is obviously A Good Thing.

Unfortunately, while UMBPCI.SYS plays brilliantly with QEMU and VMware, VirtualBox fails to load it at all upon boot if its defined in place of EMM386 in CONFIG.SYS

No unused memory block found

Conclusions

DOS is still a more commonly used system than I think many people appreciate, but I also acknowledge the limited resources a free software project like VirtualBox has to maintain support for so many different client OSs. I can appreciate that.

For now, if I want to run this DOS software l'll be continuing to use QEMU on my OS X, FreeBSD and Linux boxes for DOS. Which is a shame, because having a high performance cross-platform VM tool to rule them all would sure make my life easier.

Finally, people like to pick apart my posts as of late, so here are some points that before I wouldn't have bothered with ;). I am aware of DOSBox and FreeDOS. They do a great job. Unfortunately the software I need to run is not compatible with either one. PC DOS 2000 is still the most broadly compatible DOS distribution I've ever used, and have a lot of time invested in it. QEMU and VMware run it just fine, so I'll have to stick with them.

Oh and I'm aware that icon is of MS-DOS-Tan and NOT PC DOS, but one has to make do with the resources at hand!

This post originally appeared on the Annexe.

Built a cardboard box doggie house until we get a proper one. They seem to like it! ^_______^

Two entirely unrelated political stories that both caused me to contract a serious case of face-palmingness. It's a real disease, look it up.

Singapore’s new GRCs

It's election season again for Singaporeans, and once again a slew of electoral boundaries have been changed.

TODAYonline: A major redrawing of the boundaries

Overall, the changes mean that just one in five of the 2.35-million voters will not see any alteration in the shape of their constituencies from 2006 – compared to 42 per cent in that previous GE, when boundary changes were relatively minor, and 9 per cent for the 2001 GE which saw several GRCs enlarged.

So there are changes, but don't worry its better than before! Needless to say the reactions are mixed to say the least. The Reform Party has released a statement which asks some very relevant questions. I hope the PAP take it seriously and address the concerns of its country's citizens.

Speaking of relevancy… ASEAN

Could ASEAN Drift Apart?

CANBERRA: Last year the Association of Southeast Asian Nations celebrated its 43rd anniversary with fanfare, but cracks were visible in the organization.

First, Canberra? Huh. Secondly, saying that ASEAN could drift apart implies that it was together at some point. Ask anyone who lives in the region… clearly it hasn't been, or to such a limited extent that it's had almost no bearing on the lives of people in the bloc.

About the only thing I can think of that it's achieved is the free trade agreement with China, and even that has been a mixed blessing, and ironically could be the final thing that breaks ASEAN apart completely.

The problem is ASEAN economies are so wildly different and at different levels of development, and leaders have never been very accommodating of each other. Malaysia and Singapore's feud hasn't been resolved since they were forcibly ejected from the Malaysian Federation in 1960s. Singapore and Brunei are super rich, Thailand and Malaysia are middle income, and Cambodia is one of the world's poorest nations. Burma's human rights violations are going completely unchecked. Its been 10 years and East Timor is still only an observer. There has been no meaningful progress on unified currencies, border controls are still just as strict as ever (as people in Johor know all too well!) and cross-country business is still ridiculously complex. Patents and trademarks must still be filed separately in each jurisdiction. Cooperation in any meaningful way still seems like a pipe dream.

Can it be fixed? Well I suppose it could be, but then again they've had decades to.

Grocery shopping is fun, but serious work! Yumekui Merry #05: "Astray in a Dream"

When I first read that I thought it said "Ashtray in a Dream". Would you need one if you were smoking in a dream? Couldn't you just imagine it away?

Before I get into this quasi-review screenshot-fest that I tend to do, let me mention something. Well, two things now that I can think of it. Firstly, white chocolate lattes are far less sickly sweet and infinitely more tasty than I could have ever imagined. I'm having one right now as I sit at Starbucks on my laptop. In the city, on a Saturday night. There are several other nerds here too. We're terribly exciting!

But I digress. I have a confession to make when it comes to movies and shows and anime and anime that are in the form of shows and anime that are in the form of movies. I cry when something sad happens. Well not cry as in bawl my eyes out, but a tear appears. And it did this time. There, I admit it! Now you don't have to poke fun at me for it ^^.

Aww they're playing John Pizzarelli at this Starbucks. He's one of my favourites… and clearly one of Merry's ;) Not only that, but as I was typing that someone walked past and mentioned to their friend that they could hear John Pizzarelli and that he's one of their favourites. So cool :). What was the point of this post again?

I can afford to ramble on a bit here because this Yumekui Merry was a little slower like the previous one too. Which I'm sure pizzed off a ton of die-hard anime fans, but for a casual guy like me who's enjoying the story I'm more than accommodating :). Oh dear, did I just write "pizzed" off instead of "pissed" off? Its that John Pizzarelli guy messing with my head! He's one of my favourites you see.

I wonder if he would fail 381 times against Yumeji at console gaming? I tell you what, for a dream daemon who's probably seen things we can only imagine (or DREAM, as it were!) she's a lousy gamer. That's okay, I'm terrible too. Except Commander Keen, and Maxis titles. Oh yeah, and The John Pizzarelli Game, if such a thing existed.

Good grief I'm this far in and I've barely talked about what I'm supposed to be talking about at all. Even by my rambling, nonsensical standards this is pretty poor. Fine, my mind will be focused now, like a laser beam. You need it to go… grocery shopping!

So yes, after ceremoniously whooping Merry's arse at gaming, Yumeji takes her grocery shopping where she volunteers to help look for things and carry stuff. "Things" and "stuff", they're technical shopping terms, look them up. During this time we learn she's been in our universe for not one or two… but ten years!? Geez, that's like… a decade. Wow.

On their way out they meet… or rather collide… with Yui Kounagi for the first time who collects phone charms in a terribly doting fashion, much to the frustrated dismay of her friend. Haha "doting" and "Yui"… is that a legal requirement for people carrying that name?

Have I ever told you how much I love the colour and art in this series?!

As we've come to expect though, this seemingly sweet and shy girl is actually a vessel for a dream daemon, which somehow triggers another daydream consisting of her, the daemon she's hosting, Yumeji and Merry. The setting for today's epic battle-in-a-dream is a brightly lit wheat field set behind an eerie black sky. The villain goes by the name of Engi Threepiece. Formulaic you say? Of course not! ;).

Despite losing her Epic Hat in a sudden start to today's Sailor Moon-esque high octane evil versus good fight scene, Merry still nimbly jumps and narrowly avoids the onslaught and even goes as far as disintegrating Engi's sword. She even takes it one step further and lays down the cocky, pre-fight trash talk thicker than a Code Geass pizza. She got nothin' on me! ;)

Also, suffice to say, the midriff shots are back in full force. The last couple of episodes where their numbers had started to dwindle were more than compensated for with this episode. The fanboys who were drawn to this particular aspect of the series and manga will no doubt have been pleased. :P But I digress, again.

What set this fight apart from the other, dare I say "predictable" ones that preceded it was the information learned. Having been asked who "Pharaos Heracles" (Hercules was a Pharaoh?) and Merry not knowing (or perhaps choosing not to disclose) we're told that she allegedly can never return back to the dream world from which she's been desperately trying to get back to. Her sister is gone. Its a one way trip.

And there went the waterworks. Just a little, but yeah. That's no good.

Her sudden and understandable unwillingness to fight is where we're left as the credits start to roll. Yumeji comes to her aid… but how? Is he strong enough to take on someone like that? The art style and light suddenly changes, then nothing.

Cliff, meet hanger.

This post originally appeared on the Annexe.

craigzoidz:

nevver:

Quit Smoking

This is so clever. I wish I had creative ideas like this.

This post originally appeared on the Annexe, in a post series pointlessly documenting every train I took.

M32 and My Index Finger from Museum to Bardwell Park

This post originally appeared on the Annexe.

fuckyeahhelvetica:

this speaks for itself

Submitted by Ant Simeone.

But of course! :D Futura looks good negatively kerned too, both have curves and ends that lock well together

This post originally appeared on the Annexe.

twinmaikosyu4:

二次画像速報 : 化物語のひたぎ画像スレ その2(終)

Aw what?! XD

I reached 2222 posts in October 2009 (2222 posts, and goodbye to GeoCities), and as I recall I spent much of that post imagining what my 3333rd post would be about. Fast forward to now, and I spent post 3333 reviewing Yumekui Merry #04, with no mention of 3333. Gosh darn it! Did you get me my Cheez Whiz boy? And so forth.

Wonder whether I'll remember 4444.

Just got back from a short trip to the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, about 408 kilometres inland from Sydney. I'll post some of the billions of photos I took tomorrow.

To tide you over until then, this unedited photo was taken just outside Bathurst on the highest hill we could find. There wasn't a trace of civilisation to be seen anywhere save for the road itself and a few telegraph poles. The landscape and colour of the sky was just incredible, and… there wasn't a sound. No kidding, it felt like we were standing at the end of the world.

I like that shade of blue… not that you would have noticed ;).