Valentín's website update thread - comments and appreciation

[J-F Garnier]

If you are regularly monitoring the publication of Valentin's archives, you may have noticed the mention of "Easter eggs" in the updates.
And if you are keeping track of the file updates, you surely noticed that the "Easter eggs" files are not part of the "Latest Additions" list.

I don't know what Valentin exactly means by "Easter eggs" (maybe is it a challenge to find them :-)
but some basic arithmetic may help here:
The update #36 says "There's now 1,042 files available ..."
but HP Calculators (460 files)
+ HP Computers (18 files)
+ Sharp Pocket Computers (112 files)
+ Other Brands (67 files)
+ Assorted Miscellaneous (215 files)
make 872 files.
Obviously, there is more than we can see (if we trust arithmetic of course :-)

I was able to locate a few extra links, some are not part of my main interests but others are nice reminiscences of the time when I started programming on a PC.

There is something in the latest update that I (as a HP-71B addict) can see as a true Easter egg:
in the section HP Book Covers, the file HP-71B Manual del Usuario has been updated and now includes a HP sheet (in english) about the bug of version 2CCCC.
The bug itself is already known and described in the same terms on my HP-71B bug page (from a HPX publication), but it's the first time I see the official HP sheet.

So Easter eggs or not, it's worth the effort to explore Valentin's huge material !

J-F

[Edit: removed the now pointless PS].

[Ángel Martin]

I'm probably missing the point completely but the ARTICLES Forum could have been a better place; the postings there seem to have the desired attributes: can't be replied to, yet they can be updated by the original author - to include those site updates announcements... no?

ÁM

[EdS2]

(01-21-2022 12:10 PM)Ángel Martin Wrote:  ... the ARTICLES Forum could have been a better place; the postings there seem to have the desired attributes: can't be replied to, yet they can be updated by the original author - to include those site updates announcements... no?

Interesting thought. I think it solves half the problem - the wish to publish without the clutter of various conversations following. But it doesn't solve the other half - the wish to get positive feedback about the post and the work behind it.

It feels to me that if you want a conversation, you need to allow for, and facilitate, and encourage a conversation.

[EdS2]

(01-21-2022 09:10 AM)J-F Garnier Wrote:  If you are regularly monitoring the publication of Valentin's archives, you may have noticed the mention of "Easter eggs" in the updates.

Interesting notes... one way to look at this, perhaps, is that the Easter egg is a puzzle, a challenge to the reader. And like all puzzles, it will need to be easy enough to be solved, but difficult enough to be rewarding. One solution to that balance, which we see in these forums a lot, is to follow the puzzle, after some time, with a hint or two, and then after that, perhaps a more direct pointer to the solution.

In this way, the audience is trained on the style of puzzle being presented, and over time more people might tackle and solve the puzzles.

[Eddie W. Shore]

Always grateful for Valentin's website.

[Valentin Albillo]

.
Hi, all,

J-F Garnier Wrote:I don't know what Valentin exactly means by "Easter eggs" (maybe is it a challenge to find them :-)

That's the idea. Easter eggs usually feature items (always documents or images, never anything executable) which would be somehow out of place relative to the regular content of my site, so only a non-descript link to them is given for each somewhere, no thumbnail, title, description or data of any sort, just the unassuming link.

The idea is to have a little fun locating them if interested, Pokémon-style: " Gotta Catch ‘Em All ! "

J-F Garnier Wrote:I was able to locate a few extra links, some are not part of my main interests but others are nice reminiscences of the time when I started programming on a PC.

Hehe, I sure can guess which are the former and which are the latter.

J-F Garnier Wrote:There is something in the latest update that I (as a HP-71B addict) can see as a true Easter egg: in the section HP Book Covers, the file HP-71B Manual del Usuario has been updated and now includes a HP sheet (in english) about the bug of version 2CCCC. [...] it's the first time I see the official HP sheet.

I'm glad that you found it interesting for you though that's not an Easter egg, as it's clearly mentioned in the description for that item, "HP Book Covers - HP-71 Manual del Usuario".

J-F Garnier Wrote:So Easter eggs or not, it's worth the effort to explore Valentin's huge material !

Thank you very much, J-F, I'll buy you dinner next time we meet. Perhaps it's hard to believe but J-F's the very first post that comments on some item on my site, at long last after many months and 1,046 available files.

J-F Garnier Wrote:Edit: removed the now pointless PS

Thank you very much as well for pointing that error. It sure surprised me, because I thoroughly check every new update to make sure all's Ok but that one slipped by. Corrected now, of course.

Ángel Martín Wrote:I'm probably missing the point completely but the ARTICLES Forum could have been a better place; the postings there seem to have the desired attributes: can't be replied to, yet they can be updated by the original author - to include those site updates announcements... no?

The Articles forum is wholly inadequate for my materials for a number of reasons, but the main one is that it doesn't allow for PDF documents, which are essential for the correct formatting and the inclusion of in-document images (among other elements) that most of my articles feature.

In the very distant past I asked Mr. Hicks to allow PDFs, several times, but to no avail so I discarded that possibility for good, which actually was for the better. Much better.

EdS2 Wrote:But it doesn't solve the other half - the wish to get positive feedback about the post and the work behind it.

Actually, nothing solves that. And for the record, it's not just positive feedback but any kind thereof.

EdS2 Wrote:It feels to me that if you want a conversation, you need to allow for, and facilitate, and encourage a conversation.

My bad, then. Just as the wifey's often says ! ... It doesn't work, EdS2, no matter what I do I wouldn't succeed: "The times, they're a'changing".

And there's this very thread (which I explicitly mention and link to in my site's Main page,) where everyone could post, comment and engage in conversation should they want to but nearly none do. Actually, until J-F's post above, it was just "none".

EdS2 Wrote:one way to look at this, perhaps, is that the Easter egg is a puzzle, a challenge to the reader. And like all puzzles, it will need to be easy enough to be solved, but difficult enough to be rewarding. One solution to that balance, which we see in these forums a lot, is to follow the puzzle, after some time, with a hint or two, and then after that, perhaps a more direct pointer to the solution. In this way, the audience is trained on the style of puzzle being presented, and over time more people might tackle and solve the puzzles.

An Easter egg is not a "puzzle" and so it doesn't have a "solution". It's simply some item not having a thumbnail, title or description, which you have to find, if interested, the "reward" being the item itself. And unlike real chocolate Easter eggs, your finding it doesn't preclude others doing as well.

Eddie W. Shore Wrote:Always grateful for Valentin's website.

Thanks a lot for you continued interest and always kind words, Eddie, much appreciated !

Regards.
V.

[Garry Lancaster]

As a new forum member, I'd like to add my appreciation for the great resource provided by your site, Valentin.

I have found much to enjoy there, even as a relatively recent convert to the wonders of HP RPN calculators - having initially found my way in via the SwissMicros DM16L recreation of the HP-16C - a calculator I never knew existed but always wanted

[Fernando del Rey]

Valentin has recently issued Update #38 to his website, bringing his “Project HAM” to near-90% completion.

This update features a new bunch of Vintage Letters that are a joy to read and bring back the fondest memories from the heyday of programmable calculators. Highly recommended!

There is also a quite interesting article titled “Once Upon a Pocket: Programmable Calculators from the Late 1970s and Early 1980s and the Social Networks Around Them” that many members of this forum will surely enjoy reading.

I must personally thank Valentin for scanning and publishing some of the programs I wrote for the HP-55 and HP-67, considering how minuscule they are compared to his own monumental work.

[Ángel Martin]

here's the link to the article mentioned above:

https://albillo.hpcalc.org/scans/HP%20Ra...Pocket.pdf

[EdS2]

Thanks, both - this is a good thread to use for this purpose!

[EdS2]

Just to note that Valentín has (as he said he would) continued to post updates and to note them in this last post of his announcement thread:
[VA] New updates available in my HP site

(But I for one have not made a habit or set up a mechanism for checking... perhaps we can note those updates here, when we notice them. Right now, Update 39 is the most recent.)

[pier4r]

Interesting the chess section with tests again the chess engines of the time (with the hw of the time too) https://albillo.hpcalc.org/files/misc/chesstests

It reminds me of the modern suits for current engines (that are much more monstrous but do not yet solve everything quickly): see https://www.chessprogramming.org/Test-Positions . Further related to that, the program Mater, mentioned in the chess page was also programmed for the 71B (although in a more compact way): https://albillo.hpcalc.org/articles/HP%2...0Mater.pdf