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I

Imixmuan

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Original poster
Dec 18, 2010
526
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Web proxy rendering on ancient browsers (like almost all of ours on PowerPC) has been discussed here in the past, the previous methods based on python/webkit were most definitely incomplete and very hackish. They also largely don't work now, thanks to the Google and the relentless implementation of the new HTTPS web standards post 2016. Antoni Sawicki (aka Tenox) however has been hard at work this spring and created an entirely new implementation, based on Golang/ChromeDP.

https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2019/07/11/wrp-4-0-preview/

I am not stupid (ok, maybe I am, zen.state certainly used to think so), I know the modern server with the modern OS is doing all of the heavy lifting here, but it is both mesmerizing and AWESOME to watch Google Maps rendering in Mosaic on NT 3.51. He has another video of it also using gmail. In IE 1.5 on NT 3.51 and Web Explorer on OS/2. Let that thought detonate in your brain.


Both my PowerPC macs (Powerbook G4 and ibook G3, down from a high of seven PowerPC macs at one point) are in various states of dis/re-assembly at the moment so if someone could try this and post about, that'd be, umm, grrreeat.
 
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Imixmuan said:
Web proxy rendering on ancient browsers (like almost all of ours on PowerPC) has been discussed here in the past, the previous methods based on python/webkit were most definitely incomplete and very hackish. They also largely don't work now, thanks to the Google and the relentless implementation of the new HTTPS web standards post 2016. Antoni Sawicki (aka Tenox) however has been hard at work this spring and created an entirely new implementation, based on Golang/ChromeDP.

https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2019/07/11/wrp-4-0-preview/

I am not stupid (ok, maybe I am, zen.state certainly used to think so), I know the modern server with the modern OS is doing all of the heavy lifting here, but it is both mesmerizing and AWESOME to watch Google Maps rendering in Mosaic on NT 3.51. He has another video of it also using gmail. In IE 1.5 on NT 3.51 and Web Explorer on OS/2. Let that thought detonate in your brain.


Both my PowerPC macs (Powerbook G4 and ibook G3, down from a high of seven PowerPC macs at one point) are in various states of dis/re-assembly at the moment so if someone could try this and post about, that'd be, umm, grrreeat.
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Whoa, this is actually very cool.
 
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I hope the author doesn't stop there and makes things like copying and pasting possible.

Awesome development.

I find that a lot of retro computing discourse is too much around the topics like "can it browse the web?" Or "can I watch YouTube?". Projects like this make these questions irrelevant. Yes you can use your retro computer in 2019 but only if you replace the thermal paste, swap the dead HDD and dust the internals. This is what constitutes retro computing.
 
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eyoungren said:
He still has a blog out there. http://powerpcliberation.blogspot.com/

The website deals he got into with a member or two was one cause for his departure.
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For the record I liked zen.state and he definitely knew his stuff. Like, he really knew his stuff. His Stormtrooper mod G4 tower was A-ma-zing. The whole "Lifetime ban" thing really did me in though.

Spoke with the developer he sees no reason why this won't work well on PowerPC Macs. He's never used it on a PowerPC, but he said he has used it on a 68K mac!
 
backyardvoodoo said:
I hope the author doesn't stop there and makes things like copying and pasting possible.

Awesome development.

I find that a lot of retro computing discourse is too much around the topics like "can it browse the web?" Or "can I watch YouTube?". Projects like this make these questions irrelevant. Yes you can use your retro computer in 2019 but only if you replace the thermal paste, swap the dead HDD and dust the internals. This is what constitutes retro computing.
Click to expand...

Video games have a similar discourse. Notwithstanding the want/need to hook up old consoles to modern TVs, there are *some* out there that spend too much money upscaling old video game consoles. The purists will always keep a CRT TV around for these consoles, where the modern-minded gamer with an old console thinks it looks like crap. Personally, I think the games lose some their original charm when upscaled. Then again, I *did* put together a modernized theme for Tiger, so what do I know? :)
 
swamprock said:
Video games have a similar discourse. Notwithstanding the want/need to hook up old consoles to modern TVs, there are *some* out there that spend too much money upscaling old video game consoles. The purists will always keep a CRT TV around for these consoles, where the modern-minded gamer with an old console thinks it looks like crap. Personally, I think the games lose some their original charm when upscaled. Then again, I *did* put together a modernized theme for Tiger, so what do I know? :)
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Yanno it’s getting hard to find an era correct tube tv for say an Atari 2600 or caleco etc. You used to see them all over CL for free but nowadays all I see anymore are these huge mid to late 90s metric ton behemoths that no one who values their back will take.

Slim pickins’ anymore.
 
Imixmuan said:
For the record I liked zen.state and he definitely knew his stuff. Like, he really knew his stuff. His Stormtrooper mod G4 tower was A-ma-zing. The whole "Lifetime ban" thing really did me in though.
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I was neutral. A lot of people took offense because they saw his between-the-eyes delivery of factual information as a personal attack. The fact that he knew what he was talking about (usually) made it harder for them to accept.

I've dealt with blunt people before so I could see that it usually wasn't an attack, but I always approached him in a non-confrontational manner so my interactions with him were neutral.
 
Oh boy this reminds me of something a Human Resource office spoke to recently - “ones intention is irrelevant in today’s Environment. How the receiver perceives your action or speech is what matters”.

So if you’re stuck with a nut & said fruitcake perceives your action or speech as offensive or hostile (ie:direct) because they forgot their meds or someone cried in their lucky charms that morning, said stance weaponizes the emotional cripples of the world with litigious self righteous indignation & implies significant added responsibility to the owners & overseers of said environments to create a safe inoffensive space for the weak minded & easily offended.

So in short, space cadet stays, knowledgeable contributor leaves.

Yay.
 
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RhianB said:
Oh boy this reminds me of something a Human Resource office spoke to recently - “ones intention is irrelevant in today’s Environment. How the receiver perceives your action or speech is what matters”.

So if you’re stuck with a nut & said fruitcake perceives your action or speech as offensive or hostile (ie:direct) because they forgot their meds or someone cried in their lucky charms that morning, said stance weaponizes the emotional cripples of the world with litigious self righteous indignation & implies significant added responsibility to the owners & overseers of said environments to create a safe inoffensive space for the weak minded & easily offended.

So in short, space cadet stays, knowledgeable contributor leaves.

Yay.
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zen.state, is that you?
 
eyoungren said:
He still has a blog out there. http://powerpcliberation.blogspot.com/

The website deals he got into with a member or two was one cause for his departure.
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I used to read his blog. Unfortunately it hasn't seen any new content in over a year, same as most other PowerPC blogs. And yes, he's clearly knowledgeable, but also clearly lacking in social skills. I was put off by his personal attacks on Dan Knight at LowEndMac, for no good reason that I could see.

I'd still read his content, though, if he bothered to produce any more. It's the knowledge I value, not the conduit.
 
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Raging Dufus said:
I used to read his blog. Unfortunately it hasn't seen any new content in over a year, same as most other PowerPC blogs. And yes, he's clearly knowledgeable, but also clearly lacking in social skills. I was put off by his personal attacks on Dan Knight at LowEndMac, for no good reason that I could see.

I'd still read his content, though, if he bothered to produce any more. It's the knowledge I value, not the conduit.
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There's a guy on a wireless forum that is exactly the same as zen.state. He's a college professor so knows his stuff (he teaches classes on wireless tech) but his delivery…is lacking.

He'a allowed to continue on that forum because he's the second in charge (next to the owner). He and the owner are the major reasons I never registered on that forum as their management style dictates that no one criticize (fairly or not) the wireless carrier that is the main subject of the forum.

I do find it interesting that as their carrier of choice slowly recedes into the dustbin of history they both have less and less to say.

I did pick up a bit of knowledge there though, which is the main reason I know anything about them.
 
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