DJ_O, you've been awesome. the calculator community is alive and running because of you. The calc community would have been a mere shantytown, even with the best of efforts. Now? The calc community is revived, with things that we've never dreamed of having before - modifying the boot code, a TI-Basic like language that can be truly converted to Z80 assembly, music (and now video with sound) that requires no extra RAM pages, and even some serious calc OSes!

Without you, this all would not exist. We would still be in the age of MirageOS (*shudders*), no Ndless 2.x, and definitely no Lua. We would still be in the age of TI-BASIC, where few decent ASMs would have existed.

Your actions - this site - changed everything.

Combined with your own programs, your impact definitely isn't a small feat.

You're not worthless. You have most of the community's respect on your side.
The only people who are worthless are blatant trolls who contribute nothing to the world, both virtually and physically. (Basement dwellers come to mind) It would be in your best interest to ignore them, just like the rest of the world does. Remember, they have absolutely no recognition or respect like you do - let them wither off to nothing.

If you were planning on leaving before this mess occurred, it's fine. People need breaks, or sometimes permanent ones if interest wanes. This is perfectly natural. However, if this was catalyzed by the trolls, you should seriously reconsider. Remember, the trolls have no say whatsoever in the community and elsewhere.

Either way, I will miss you. The community at large will too.

If you do decide to permanently leave, I wish you good luck in future life, and hope that you can visit the forums from time to time in the future.

Sincerely,
Albert

P.S. - Happy birthday from China! (祝你生日快乐!) I wrote this on my iPod, on a crappy Internet connection... I'll explain in 2 weeks.

Hehe, I would love to join, but like jimbauwens and others, I am unable to commit to time.
(Unless you can create a CoT Summer Edition )
Also, I'm more of a calc utilities programmer (haven't gotten any game idea sparks, nor any skills to create good games), and recently towards PC programming.

If there was a "sub-CoT" staff position, I would join instantly.

Lol, I am going to China next Tuesday also.

Nice! Where exactly are you heading to?

hey.  I just got back from a 3 week trip!  and these sites aren't blocked there.  btw, if you manage to get internet access in China, it's friggin' fast! 

Hehe, nice! Where did you come back from?
And yeah, it seems that the U.S. is the only place with slow internet... >.<
The only time it's slow is when you're accessing some "touchy" sites, in which the "Great Firewall" combs it quite a bit.

I hope you have fun there and hope you can get online a few times too. I'll miss you

Thanks! And I'll miss you too - better yet, I'll miss everybody! But no worries, I'll be back! And if what yunhua98 says is true, I'll see if I can get on at times. (My parents are unlikely to allow it, but...)

isn't a 3.5mm I/O cable an audio jack?

and for the screen: what type? B&W, grayscale or color? I would like color with backlight, if possible.

For screen, please specify resolution as well. Thanks!

calc84, jimbauwens, et. al.: I think it should, given that the hardware can (and should) support it. Getting a sound chip would be a little too overkill IMO.

It would be nice if the 3.5mm jack could output levels between high and low

Hmm, it should. I'm not sure technically how this is done (software wise or HW wise), but it's definitely possible.

==========
Please reread the first post for update!

Hey everyone!

This topic is divided into 2 sections...

1) I need suggestions on screen size and battery type so that we can revote.
Consider the use, type, power usage, CPU's power, etc. when you specify one!

EDIT:
For screen, please specify resolution and type (color, grayscale, B/W).
For battery, please specify what type, and whether it's rechargeable or not.

2) Any other features you would like to suggest? This is your LAST chance for suggestions!
You are not allowed to specify a feature that is already voted off.

Current feature list:
CPU: eZ80 50 MHZ, underclockable to 20 MHZ
Screen size: 192x128 (7 other people voted for 240x160, revote possible based on supply and opinion change)
Battery indication: On screen (part of OS)
Navigation: regular arrow keys
ASCII input: Alpha-lock
Backlit screen: Yes... 14 vs. 9 people on this topic, may need a revote to confirm.
I/O: 3.5 mm link cable and mini USB OTG
Power: Will definitely need a revote - this was the closest one ever, with no real winner. The top two were: AA battery (rechargeable if possible), and "#1 and 2" = internal rechargeable battery + AA battery (rechargeable if possible)

Omitted features:
Wifi (too much power munching, internet connection should be external)
SD card support (no use)

Here's the compile command:
g++ -Wl,--export-dynamic -Wall -O1 -shared -fPIC -std=c++0x -I/usr/include/xchat OmnomIRC_XChat_Plugin.c -o OmnomIRC_XChat_Plugin.so

One minor fix needed - you need to add #include <stdio.h>
#include <tr1/type_traits>...so things compile!

Here's the updated source:
#include "xchat-plugin.h"
#include <string.h>
#include <string>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <regex>
#include <iostream>
#include <tr1/type_traits>
#define PNAME "OmnomIRC Integration"
#define PDESC "Integrates OmnomIRC into X-Chat"
#define PVERSION "0.1"

static xchat_plugin *ph;   /* plugin handle */
static int enable = 1;
static char omnomIRC_Name[] = "OmnomIRC";
using namespace std::tr1;
using namespace std;
//#define debug
static void dbgPrint(const char *message)
{
#ifdef debug
xchat_print(ph,message);
#endif
}
static void dbgPrint(string message)
{
#ifdef debug
xchat_print(ph,message.c_str());
#endif
}
static string getMessageType(string message)
{
if (regex_search(message.begin(),message.end(),regex("^.{0,3}\\((.)\\).{0,1}<(.+?)> (.*)")))
return "message";
if (regex_search(message.begin(),message.end(),regex("^.{0,4}\\((.)\\)([^:space:]{0,4})\\* ?(.*)")))
return "action";
return "";
}
static char* getNameColor(const char *name)
{
char *rcolors[] = {"19", "20", "22", "24", "25", "26", "27", "28", "29"};
int sum = 0, i = 0;
while (name[i] != '\x00')
sum += name[i++];
sum %= 9;
return rcolors[sum];
}
static int on_text_cb(char *word[], void *userdata)
{
if (strcmp(word[0],omnomIRC_Name))
{
string messageType = getMessageType(word[2]).c_str();
string type = word[0];
cmatch parts;
if (strcmp(messageType.c_str(),"message") == 0)
{
regex rx("^.{0,3}\\((.)\\).{0,1}<(.+?)> (.*)");
regex_search(word[2],parts,rx);
bool omnomirc = parts[1].str().c_str()[0] == 'O';

string name;
if (omnomirc)
{
name.append("\x03""(\x03""12O\x03"")\x03");
name.append(getNameColor(parts[2].str().c_str()));
}
else
{
name.append("\x03""(\x03""4#\x03"")\x03");
name.append(getNameColor(parts[2].str().c_str()));
}
name.append(parts[2]);
string msg;;
msg.append(parts[3]);
parts[2].str();
if (xchat_nickcmp(ph,xchat_get_info(ph,"nick"),parts[2].str().c_str()) == 0)
xchat_emit_print(ph, "Channel Message",name.c_str(), msg.c_str(), "@", NULL); //Don't highlight on local messages
else
xchat_emit_print(ph, type.c_str(), name.c_str(), msg.c_str(), "@", NULL);
return XCHAT_EAT_ALL;
}
else if (strcmp(messageType.c_str(),"action") == 0)
{
regex rx("^.{0,3}\\((.)\\)([^:space:]{0,4})\\* ?(.*)");
regex_search(word[2],parts,rx);
bool omnomirc = parts[1].str().c_str()[0] == 'O';
string name = "\x03""\x03";
if (omnomirc)
name.append("12O\x03""18 *");
else
name.append("04#\x03""18 *");
string message(parts[2]);
message.append(parts[3]);
xchat_emit_print(ph, type.c_str(), name.c_str(), message.c_str(), "@", NULL);
return XCHAT_EAT_ALL;
}

}

   return XCHAT_EAT_NONE;
}

void xchat_plugin_get_info(char **name, char **desc, char **version, void **reserved)
{
   *name = PNAME;
   *desc = PDESC;
   *version = PVERSION;
}

int xchat_plugin_init(xchat_plugin *plugin_handle,
                      char **plugin_name,
                      char **plugin_desc,
                      char **plugin_version,
                      char *arg)
{
   /* we need to save this for use with any xchat_* functions */
   ph = plugin_handle;

   /* tell xchat our info */
   *plugin_name = PNAME;
   *plugin_desc = PDESC;
   *plugin_version = PVERSION;

   xchat_hook_print(ph, "Channel Message", XCHAT_PRI_NORM, on_text_cb, NULL);
   xchat_hook_print(ph, "Channel Msg Hilight", XCHAT_PRI_NORM, on_text_cb, NULL);

   xchat_print(ph, "OmnomIRC Integration loaded successfully!\n");

   return 1;
}

EDIT: Forgot to add "#include <tr1/type_traits>" to things to add. Sorry!

That's correct. If you ran, say, KOS or RougeOS, and you took the batteries out, the screen would fade away gradually.
However... if you took the batteries out when running TI-OS, it detect the occurrence and shuts the calc off into a "RAM safe mode", waiting for you to put batteries back in.

Above info not known nor discovered by me, but by the magnificent BrandonW! Great job!

There is a free boot code out there called BootFree, developed by Benjamin Moody (FloppusMaximus). It's quite hard to find... but you might be able to extract it from the Wabbitemu source code.

EDIT: Found a topic that mentions and gives a link... which is broken. http://www.revsoft.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=608&start=45