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4am
@a2_4am
, 7 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Mail's here
"Complete in box" apparently includes Origin-branded miniature tools
"Protection check intentionally destroys unauthorized copies"

I'm not sure what's more disturbing, that such a protection exists or that it's so common that I automated its removal.
EA protection was wild. They invented their own virtual machine language and programmed the protection check in it.

Background reading: archive.org/download/Pinba…
Star Warrior ©1980 Automated Solutions (Epyx).

I GOT YOUR AUTOMATED SOLUTION RIGHT HERE
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there aren't three separate anti-tamper checks written in a made up virtual machine language and scattered throughout the disk
Jenny, no!
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More from @a2_4am see all

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4am
@a2_4am
So here's a flux image of a typical protected disk by Sunburst Communications. Several things of note:

1. It is fundamentally a 16-sector disk. You can see the 16 sections of each ring (track), like an unprotected disk.

However...
2. On a regular disk, and even most copy protected disks, each sector is delimited by a stream of $FF nibbles. At a very low level, these are used to synchronize the disk reading routines after moving to a different track. On Sunburst disks, those delimiters are blank...
...not empty, but actually blank — a relatively long series of 0 bits, except the Apple II disk drive can't handle any more than two 0 bits in a row, so when it reads them back it randomly starts inserting 1 bits. Disks that returned random data confused copy programs to no end.
Read 8 tweets
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4am
@a2_4am
Gather 'round, children, as I tell you the tale of Protect-O-Disk.
Protect-O-Disk is ©1981 Bill Basham. Bill later got out of the copy protection business and wrote and sold a number of titles under the "Diversi" brand, including Diversi-DOS, Diversi-Copy (unprotected disks only!), Diversi-Dial, and the 16-bit Diversi-Tune.
The idea behind Protect-O-Disk is simple: floppies can fail, and legitimate software owners deserve the right to make backups. But whither piracy? As a compromise, Protect-O-Disk allows you to make a "dormant" backup that will not boot but can be activated from a damaged master.
Read 17 tweets
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4am
@a2_4am
“A Woz A Day”

Apple II .woz disk images of copy protected software, verified in multiple emulators, full metadata, downloadable or playable in your browser. Also: raw flux files, visualizations, handcrafted screenshots, links to crack write-ups, &c.

archive.org/details/wozada…
Hard Hat Mack.woz

archive.org/details/wozada…

#wozaday
Ugh, I messed up the threading already.
Read 250 tweets

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foone
@Foone
Here's a fun board on local craigslist:
It's the Intel Above Board! This is a LIM/EMS board to add more ram to your 286. This is a slightly complicated board to explain.
So the original IBM PC was designed for the 8086/8088. This chip had a 20bit address bus, which could only address 1 megabyte of memory.
The top 384 was reserved for hardware, which left the famous 640k limit for RAM.
so when we needed more than 640k, there wasn't anywhere in the address space to put it. So it got put above 1mb, which isn't accessible by the CPU, at all.
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Here's Julie Kelly's latest... I know you've all been waiting anxiously.

I know I have.

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The full text, so you don't have to interrupt your twittering:
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@L3patriot
Thread about DOE investigation into PP and the aborted baby trade.

1. Many are calling for the investigation of PP, but it has been complete since Dec 2016. It goes much deeper than just PP, though.

Full 471 page report:
archives-energycommerce.house.gov/sites/republic…

#GreatAwakening #QAnon #MAGA
2. The House members on the panel to investigate PP and are:

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Andy Harris MD
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Alamo_on_the_rise
@AlamoOnTheRise
Trump: Day 479
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James
@uberstuber
1/ Mini Metro is a minimalistic subway layout game.
The clean animations and procedural audio make for an addicting experience.
👉
2/ While on the surface it's just a game, Mini Metro can teach us a lot about Urban Planning, the Theory of Constraints, and leaving slack in a system.

Mini Metro is a great example of how powerful a simple visual representation can be.
3/ Your city starts with three stations marked by polygons. Stations are connected by transit lines. Small shapes are passengers, and where they are going.

New stations are added, the city grows, you lay new lines.

You lose when a station gets overcrowded with passengers.
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