AI can't invent. AI isn't creative.

[Aziz]

The Commodore C64 is a wayback machine.

In the 80's I have worked very hard during my 6 week school holidays to afford one. I have earned 2500 DM (Deutsche Mark).
And I have spent this money for a C64, MPS 801 (Printer), Floppy disc 1541 and a joystick.

I have learned to code in assembler (6502 / 6510). Or to code the SID (sound chip) and VIC (graphics chip).
I was very fascinated about the C64 graphics demos, which were often delivered with the cracked software games.

I remember the good old days.
Aziz

[ivconic]

I also receive more "subtle" emails, such as:
"Dear, highly overrated Mr. master Ivica, you inherited 4 million dollars, but in order to make the payment, please pay 850 dollars to the following account.
Signed: Lawyer Nganou Mumbata, Zaire"...
Joking aside, the other day the ATM swallowed one of my payment cards, do you know how?
I mixed up the PIN codes and entered the PIN code from that other card 3 times!
I memorized them in vain; because I mix them up often!

[ivconic]

I'll have to ask the bank to issue me a new card with an easy to remember PIN, like "1234" or "1111" or "0000"... though "4321" is smarter to fool the scammers!
I have a genius idea, to tattoo the VISA card PIN on my left hand and the DINA card PIN on my right hand... but there is always a chance that I forget
which tattoo is for which card!
Uh, I'm stupid; I can also tattoo "Visa 1234" and "Dina 0000" as well...
The problem is that the PIN code changes with periodic replacement of the card.
Will the banks agree to leave the same PIN codes on my new cards?
I have to ask them that!

[moodz]

The Commodore C64 is a wayback machine.

In the 80's I have worked very hard during my 6 week school holidays to afford one. I have earned 2500 DM (Deutsche Mark).
And I have spent this money for a C64, MPS 801 (Printer), Floppy disc 1541 and a joystick.

I have learned to code in assembler (6502 / 6510). Or to code the SID (sound chip) and VIC (graphics chip).
I was very fascinated about the C64 graphics demos, which were often delivered with the cracked software games.

I remember the good old days.
Aziz

Investing 2,500 Deutsche Mark (DM) in 1984 equates to an initial value of €1,278.23. If that amount grew with broader inflation, it would be equivalent in purchasing power to around $4,098 USD today. Alternatively, if invested in the U.S. stock market with dividends reinvested, it would be worth over $50,000 USD today.

[ivconic]

The Commodore C64 is a wayback machine.

In the 80's I have worked very hard during my 6 week school holidays to afford one. I have earned 2500 DM (Deutsche Mark).
And I have spent this money for a C64, MPS 801 (Printer), Floppy disc 1541 and a joystick.

I have learned to code in assembler (6502 / 6510). Or to code the SID (sound chip) and VIC (graphics chip).
I was very fascinated about the C64 graphics demos, which were often delivered with the cracked software games.

I remember the good old days.
Aziz

In June 1982 (exactly 44 years ago) I got my first C64, it was bought in Germany.
Then I picked up a ZX Spectrum 48, then I also picked up a cheap Atari 600XL at a flea market.
Then I went to Germany in Munich and bought an Amstrad-Schneider CPC6128 with a color monitor.
Then I bought an Amiga 500.
Then I bought an Atari ST520.
Oh then in 1988/9 I bought my first PC, an XT-Turbo, it could run on 4Mhz and 10Mhz.
It had a 32Mb hard drive!
HUGE space for that time!
A year later I replaced it with a 286 based pc.
In the mid 90's I bought 486DX (100MHz!!!) .
In 2000 I bought a Pentium 1.
Today I have an i3 10th generation and an i5 7th generation.
And my son has some "beasts" whose name and specs I can't even guess...a couple of them.
However, as with the detectors, today I am very nostalgic for those old retro computers.
And whenever the opportunity arises, I get one.
I now have 4-5 C64s like the one in the video... All of them are in working order, hermetically sealed and stored in the attic.
The quality of those machines is such that even after 40 years they do not break down and work very well.
Ok, there are always a few "badcaps" to replace... that's normal.

[ivconic]

Investing 2,500 Deutsche Mark (DM) in 1984 equates to an initial value of €1,278.23. If that amount grew with broader inflation, it would be equivalent in purchasing power to around $4,098 USD today. Alternatively, if invested in the U.S. stock market with dividends reinvested, it would be worth over $50,000 USD today.

I remember this clearly!
In 1987 I went to Munich with the intention of buying an Amiga 500 and I took 2500 Deutsche Mark with me.
However, in the center of Munich, a couple of the most famous shops did not have an RF modulator for the Amiga at that moment.
They were supposed to order it from their warehouse and I would have to wait a whole day. And I didn't have time to wait.
And then I changed my mind and bought a CPC6128 complete with a color monitor for about 1600 marks.
I spent the rest of the money buying some stupid things in the surrounding shops.

[ivconic]

Although I started the first steps in programming even earlier, in the summer of 1982, it was not really serious and cannot be called programming.
The "unfortunate" case of buying a CPC6128 instead of an Amiga500 was actually God's hand!
CPC6128 had CP/M, but also for that time very advanced "Locomotive Basic". And only then I become a real programmer!
I wrote "miracles" on that computer. Hundreds of programs.
Unfortunately, not a single floppy has survived until now and all is lost.
They were non-standard 3" floppy. Strange choice!?
But later, with the purchase of a PC XT computer, which had a 32Mb hard disk (MFM or RLL), only then did my professional career as a programmer begin.
Due to local market requirements I chose Cobol and wrote a bunch of bookkeeping software for stores and small businesses.
Those were golden times and I was making a lot of money!
And then the local civil wars started... and everything went to hell!
I went to Crete, an island in the south of Greece, with the intention of staying for a long time.
It is the most beautiful period of my life.
But then I left computers and programming and earned money doing various other jobs.

[ivconic]

Ah, I remember a very interesting trivia!
In 1987, after buying a computer, I had a few hours until I had to go back home.
I walked aimlessly through the center of Munich and looked at the shop windows, bought some unnecessary little things.
And suddenly in the center of Munich on a tall building I see a huge poster, 15 meters high!
Announcement for the premiere of the movie "Predator" in Munich cinemas!
I was delighted but at the same time very disappointed because I didn't have time to go to the cinema!
Until then, I knew Schwarzenegger more from the world of sports.
In 1982, he came to Serbia (Yugoslavia) to promote a competition.
I had the opportunity to meet him, but I still didn't meet him, because my father punished me, because of a bunch of stupid things I did at school.
The principal of the school called my father and punished me with a severe reprimand.
My father furiously tore up my invitations and tickets for that event in another city.
And so I didn't meet Schwarci personally...
And I watched the much-desired movie "Predator" a year later on a bootleg VHS tape.

[moodz]

... well it sounds like you chose the "fun" path .. investing for long periods is like watching paint dry then you die and someone else gets the money or the paint flakes off the wall.
I spent my money on a programmable calculator ... prob the wrong choice. LOL.

[ivconic]

Look... I get what you're saying.
But in life you have two choices; either you will chase money all your life... or you will choose life and enjoy it.
I usually choose the second path.
Money is a necessary evil for me. Garbage.
As money comes, so it goes. And there is never enough money.
After all, we are talking about very small amounts here.
There is an instructive joke on this topic, I hope I can translate it correctly into English.
After 40 years, two old friends from childhood met.
One is a smoker and the other is a fierce opponent of smoking.
"How are you, what are you doing, how is your life? Hey, are you still smoking???"
"Yes my friend, of course I don't put out cigars, I'm a chain smoker..."
"Well, sorry to tell you; but you are a big fool and a loser!"
"Why!??"
"If I calculate the average from pack to pack and a half of cigarettes per day, for these 40 years you could have put that money aside and today you would be driving the latest Mercedes, fool!"
"...hmmm... Ok, and where is your Mercedes?"

[Aziz]

Back in the 80's I have calculated two irrational numbers with the C64.
Pi (3.1415) and e (2.718 ) . 5000 - 10000 digits accurate or so.
With BCD arithmetic. One byte consisted of two digits.


AI is growing exponentially today. The only limit is power source.

[ivconic]

Ha, ha, ha!
The AI is really progressing and getting better! (click to enlarge)

[ivconic]

Or version #2... computer story:

[ivconic]

And finally the third version, the chronology:
(sometimes the AI mixes up the years, not all dates are correct)

[ivconic]

I have a dozen laptops and a few desktops in the attic... more or less half are still working.
In the living room I have 4-5 laptops and a couple of very good desktops.. I also have several MacBooks of various generations.
It can be said that I did not skimp on computers.
But they always paid off.
You should not look at things through mathematics and statistics, because that is diametrically opposed to real life.
And the money... as I said; money is garbage and in itself as a goal is meaningless.
Whoever has money as the final goal has missed life completely.
That is why today the planet is in one of the biggest crises of its existence.
Because we are brainwashed and trained to think only about money.
I leave that to others to worry about.
Life is too short to be wasted on such nebulae.
Give me money - I'll spend it in seconds!
To what makes me happy.
And these are mostly electronic toys, good food, drinks and cigars!
(I can't comment on women, maybe one day my better half will see this post)