Subject:
Re: [svfig] <NSF>/its-time-to-purge-your-usb-stick-collection
From:
Bob Armstrong <bob@cosy.com>
Date:
2024-12-07, 23:45
To:
Silicon Valley Forth Interest Group <svfig@zork.net>
CC:
Kevin Appert <forther@comcast.net>

I'm just finishing up & getting out To a CoSy 2025 and a more detailed note to potential user/investor/programmers ( all the same individuals ) .

It , and Brad's success in getting CoSy's fundamental dynamic array structures running on another Forth on another chip ( Forth Day talks linked at TekydomeCoSy ) have made me think again of offering CoSy
 ready to run on USB sticks , as I did 8 years ago , or on a USB PC dongle , eg , or a mini-desktop , like my current PC .
There definitely were reliability problems with the batch of custom labeled USBs I had made , but I currently have a very small ~ $27 2TB ( apparently no longer available ) USB that I've had no problems with .

A point of CoSy , and by far the largest potential market , is as a turn on & use tool , an everyday notebook / daytimer , eg: Evernote , but commanded thru very natural uniquely open extensible APL level language rather than hierarchies of menus .

The original APL+PC CoSy sold half a dozen units to a variety of ordinary people only one of whom was truly teky bundled with Kaypro 2000 laptop computers before family responsibilities and issues intervened .

An issue is getting pricing ` right .

Now the Web offers an alternative turn on & use interface which is why that is the shortest distance to the most universal CoSy ` webspaces . While the unmatched openness to the processor(s) as an open vocabulary in Forth is well understood here , or the ability to succinctly express differential voxel models , or the correlation based algorithms of AI , are smaller but potentially equal markets .  The crux is the replacement of the development UPU GUI interface with standard browser interface . There are a few other issues which need to be addressed to ` polish the interface for normal human use , and insulate them from the unbound openness of the underlying Forth , but they are well understood , and also on the order of ( talented ) man-weeks of work at most ( particularly in light of what Brad has accomplished in short time ) .

| --

A couple of comments on Brad's great work getting the essential dynamic array structures of CoSy running in ESP32Forth : Sam Falvo gave an excellent talk on the refCounting mechanisms ( evolved very directly from conversations with Arthur Whitney ) :
  • Brad permuted the header items `( Type Count refCount )` to be based on the address of the beginning of data . That address is obtained in current CoSy by

     ` vbody :??

     ./CoSy/CoSy.f
    : vbody ( vadr - vBodyAdr ) Head# cells +  ;     | beginning of data

    ` vbody
    is only referenced 2 times in all of CoSy . I felt Brad's restructure was not a good idea because Type is the very first thing required which referencing an object ( list , address space ) determining the entire relevant vocabulary . By the same crude search , ` Type occurs 10 times .

    But I see ` vbody is referenced in
     
    : ix    ( adr n -- adr of nth item in list ) | modulo indexing
      over i# ?dup 0if z" can't ix empty " throw ;then  | 20210122 | tested if can just return empties . Nope
       _mod over Ibytes * vbody + ;

    which is the most basic indexing verb used in almost all loops .

    So it is consequential .
    However , it means saved files will not be compatible and need a distinct suffix .

    BTW , I consider modulo indexing perhaps my best ` fresh idea in CoSy .

  • However this ` bottom level vocabulary can become ` standard , even at the ix level .
    If there is anything CoSy does not need at this point , if it , with its foundation in Forth , not C , is to become an alternative to currently common user level languages , it is fragmentation .
    The point in having a common language at this foundational level is that one essentially instantly inherits the entire very rich APL/K and above ( ie: more common task oriented ) vocabulary .
Further discussion will be over on TekydomeCoSy .

Bob A

| --

On 2024-12-07 17:50, Kevin Appert via svfig wrote:

This article on HowToGeek caught my eye...

https://www.howtogeek.com/its-time-to-purge-your-usb-stick-collection

Key Takeaways

  • Cheap USB sticks are unreliable due to low quality materials and limited lifespan.
  • USB sticks can be used as malware vectors if obtained from unknown sources.
  • Use high-quality storage for important data, back up regularly, and only use USB sticks for temporary transferring.

They don't mention scam devices that just don't have the capacity stated.  Anything you write on these things can wind up in the bit bucket. 

 I think they used Write Only Memory chips for the space they lie about. 

https://repeater-builder.com/molotora/gontor/25120-bw.pdf


Peace thru Freedom
Honesty enforced thru Transparency ,

-- Bob@CoSy.com -- Bob Armstrong Vita -- 719.337.2733
CoSy   The Simplest Deepest Personal Computing Environment
I reserve the right to post all communications I receive or generate to CoSy website for further reflection
-- 28124 State Highway 67 Woodland Park CO 80863-9711

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