Monthly Archives: May 2018

Troubled Time

This is not an article about current affairs Over the last few weeks, I had several interesting run-ins with time, specifically how time is represented and processed by computers. Deep down it’s really all about a clash of human culture … Continue reading

Posted in Bugs, PC history, Random Thoughts | 18 Comments

A Word on the CALL 5 Spell

After years of searching for some reasonably widespread DOS application which used the CP/M-style CALL 5 interface and coming up with absolutely nothing, Jeff Parsons of pcjs.org found one: None other than Microsoft Word, specifically the spell checker in the … Continue reading

Posted in DOS, Microsoft, PC history | 10 Comments

ICEBP Finally Documented

After more than 30 years, Intel finally documented the INT1 instruction, also known as ICEBP (opcode F1h), in the latest (May 2018, -067) edition of the SDM. This was probably forced by security concerns, because from a security standpoint, having … Continue reading

Posted in 386, Documentation, Intel, Undocumented | 14 Comments

SpaceMaker Update

Jeff Parsons has been able to locate an executable compressed with Realia SpaceMaker which significantly pre-dates all hitherto known SpaceMaker or EXEPACK survivors. It’s an editor called DVED.COM version 6.02, found on disk 191 of the PC-SIG Library 8th Edition … Continue reading

Posted in PC history | 10 Comments