Author: james

  • Programming Windows Screensavers – Agon Light Graphics Programming

    I’m learning how to program the Agon Light, and as a project thought it’d be fun to try and program two of the classic Windows 3.11 screensavers – Mystify and Starfield Simulation. My aim is not to simply program the Agon Light by cloning the Windows 3.11 screensavers, but to learn how to program the…

  • Figuring out a better video production workflow

    This is where I figure out a simpler way to make my videos, and it seems really obvious when I explain it. Which generally means it’s a good way to work. So when making videos I’ve gone through a bit of an evolution from loosely edited ramblings to scripted content where I carefully choose my…

  • Programming Language Easter Eggs

    Easter eggs are usually hidden inside our games and software, but did you know there are some hidden inside the tools and languages used to make that software? Come with me on a fun Easter diversion while we eat our bodyweight in chocolate, and look at six programming Easter Eggs. Some of these are from…

  • Custom HomeAssistant display using openHASP

    It’s my opinion that if you’re going to fill your home with smart devices, they need to be easy to control and monitor. Having to pull a phone out a pocket just to switch some lights on is annoying. Equally, having to open a browser just to see the state of everything is equally annoying.…

  • Agon Light Graphics Tests

    It’s the Easter holidays and I’ve got two weeks off work. Amongst highly exciting things like weeding the garden and waiting for a new washing machine to be delivered, I’m doing some programming. After spending a bit too long remembering how my own code works, I managed to create a simple starfield that looks quite…

  • Learning how to draw things on the Agon Light

    I’ve been having a bit of a play around with my Agon Light, trying to come up with some ideas for a future video. I’ve discovered it has quite a nice 320×240 64 colour video mode that has just enough pixels to be interesting. Here’s a little thing I managed to create. It started off…

  • Running a PeerTube Instance

    For no reason other than I can, I’ve set up a PeerTube instance to also upload my videos to. It’s good to not put all your eggs in one basket and all that. I’m not sure how well it’ll work if people actually start watching video from it, it is behind my own Internet connection…

  • Agon Light Joystick Test 1

    I’m working on getting a joystick port working on my Agon Light. They don’t come with joystick ports, but there is a set of GPIO pins that can be read through assembly. Here’s my setup, the Agon Light is in the white box, my trusty PowerPlay Cruiser joystick from the 90s is plugged into a…

  • Cellular Tomato

    In preparation for my next video I’ve been tidying up some cellular automata code I wrote. There’s some good old Conway’s Life, some 1D CAs that make pretty patterns, and one I recently discovered called Wire World. Now, since I can’t just make a thing without fiddling about, an afternoon of “can I write Conway’s…

  • Agon Light C Development

    How to write code for the Agon Light (and Console8) using C instead of BASIC, under Linux. It might work with WSL2 in Windows, and it might work on a Mac. By the end of this you’ll end up with a fairly standard Linux C programming environment with a Makefile and all the usual trimmings.…