LOL, I actually managed to do this with a broken spacebar. Half the bar was missing, so I took a completely different model scrap keyboard that was water damaged, carefully cut the spacebar in half, secured that with the original half with a couple paper clips and epoxy, and somehow even managed to make the stabilizer bar underneath line up and work.

Hey, if it looks stupid but works, it’s not stupid. 👍

That’s what happens when they eat their lasagna.

Where’s Odie?

Oh my the irony, using AI to summarize and criticize another AI…

Let the AI wars begin! Just leave us fleshbags out of it.

TIP 2959: FROG MAY OCCASIONALLY BE CLOGGED WITH DUST. BLOW GENTLY INTO FROG’S CLOACA TO CLEAR CONTACTS.

Well, today I learned 🐸

Wow I sucked at this one! Way overestimated all 3 guesses ☹️

Estimate Me: 2025-07-11 (Rubber band ball) Rank #78 of 81 🟥🟥🟥 🔗 https://estimate-me.aukspot.com/archive/2025-07-11

I wrote that back in my Windows XP days, so keep that in mind when looking at my BootImg.bat script. I had it writing the template and temporary config scripts directly to the Program Files folder like a dummy, I should have used the %TEMP% folder instead.

And of course you’ll still have to translate, adapt and overcome to get the same sort of thing working on a Mac.

Good luck fellow stranger, let me know how it goes!

Edit: Don’t mind the registry file too much, it’s not only proprietary to Windows, it also depends on WinImage being installed and also the default program to open IMA/IMG files. But the command itself was solid.

I found the core script file, BAT format for Windows though, that I used to do exactly what you’re looking for…

REM BootImg.Bat

@echo off
C:
cd "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.72"
if not exist bootimg.conf COPY dosbox.conf bootimg.conf
copy bootimg.conf temporary.conf /y
echo @echo off>>temporary.conf
echo cls>>temporary.conf
echo imgmount 0 %1 -t floppy -fs none>>temporary.conf
echo echo.>>temporary.conf
echo boot -l a>>temporary.conf
start dosbox.exe -noconsole -conf temporary.conf

REM BootImg.reg (Proprietary to Windows, to make a context menu item for IMG files)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WinImage\shell\Boot\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\DOSBox-0.72\\BootImg.bat\" \"%1\""

REM Default dosbox.conf for DOSBox 0.72, might wanna use the default for your current version though

# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.

[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,ddraw.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
#             Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.

fullscreen=false
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
usescancodes=true

[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.

language=
machine=vga
captures=capture
memsize=16

[render]
# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
#           Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
#                         2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
#                         tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
#           If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
#           even if the result might not be desired.

frameskip=0
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x

[cpu]
# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
#         auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
#           Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags.
#           You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
#           The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup   -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown    Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.

core=auto
cycles=auto
cycleup=500
cycledown=20

[mixer]
# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
#         probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
#              but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.

nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=10

[midi]
# mpu401      -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device      -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
#                This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,none.
# config      -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
#                the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.

mpu401=intelligent
device=default
config=

[sblaster]
# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
#            On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
#            All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.

sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=7
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050

[gus]
# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the 
#            Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory.  In this directory
#             there should be a MIDI directory that contains
#             the patch files for GUS playback.  Patch sets used
#             with Timidity should work fine.

gus=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND

[speaker]
# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
#          For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.

pcspeaker=true
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true

[joystick]
# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
#                 2axis (supports two joysticks,
#                 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
#                 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
#                 fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
#                 none disables joystick emulation.
#                 auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.

joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true

[serial]
# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
#              Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
#              Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
#              parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
#              for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
#              for modem: listenport (optional).
#              for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
#                             transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
#              Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000

serial1=dummy
serial2=dummy
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled

[dos]
# xms -- Enable XMS support.
# ems -- Enable EMS support.
# umb -- Enable UMB support.
# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).

xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
keyboardlayout=none

[ipx]
# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.

ipx=false

[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.

For totally generic games that boot straight off the floppy disk, the default config tends to work just fine. Like I said in my other comment though, I used a temporary config file, based on the default config, but I would append the boot image filename/path to the [AUTOEXEC] section at the end of the temporary dosbox.conf file.

It might be easier for you for now to make individual config files for each game, but it should be possible like I said to make a generic script to boot basically any PC floppy disk image directly.

I’ll see later whatever I have around.

I’m not home right now, but I once wrote a batch script to help do exactly that as a context menu option for Windows systems, to boot an IMA/IMG image directly into DOSBox.

Once I get home, I’ll see if I can locate those old scripts and try to share. Granted the difference between Windows and Mac, but the basic command lines for DOSBox should effective work the same.

No promises, but if I find those script files (holy crap I have way too many files!), I’ll see about sharing them later, translation to the Mac environment will be up to you though.

I think my approach was to copy the default dosbox.conf file to a temporary file, then append the temporary file with what image to boot from under [AUTOEXEC], and just consider the temp dosbox.conf as exactly that, temporary, to be rewritten every time I used my custom DOSBox Boot Floppy context menu thing.

I dunno, I’ll see later, when/if I get a good chance soon.

Wake up babe, the SwastiCars are gonna get the MechaHitler upgrade!

I’ll go get the popcorn, this should be interesting… 🍿

CIF - Compressed Image File

No particular reason, except that it’s a proprietary format I wrote myself, comparable compression to PNG, but totally different codebase and format.

You spelled fine fart wrong. 😂👍

Now you know where the camera is, just hold your hand over your face long enough to put a piece of electrical tape over it.

If you’re worried you’ll get in trouble, just remove the tape as you leave. If you actually do get in trouble, protest that it’s your right to privacy, and you’ve done no damage to the equipment.

Or just take a laser or mini torch to the camera, that’s up to you, I won’t tell…

You sound like the sort of person that would tell a poor person to go get a job rather than offer them a job cutting your grass or washing your car or something.

That sort of thing is part of the problem too, many would rather avoid poor people than to offer them an opportunity to earn money.

Yes, voice systems have been around for quite a while. But there was almost always an easy way to bypass all that and talk to a human. It was just as simple as dialing 0, and there wasn’t hardly much wait time, they tended to have more actual people operating the phones back then.

And you don’t go to the Dollar Store to socialize with people, you go to save money when buying toilet paper and cat food or whatever the hell. But hey, you do you, if you got enough money to piss away just to avoid low income people, then by all means piss away and live in your little bubble. The rest of us tend to look for ways to save money when we can.

Oh, thank you kindly stranger! I don’t know what I was thinking…

NASA - National Anal Science Agency

The best I can do are kazoo lessons, or the triangle. Not both though.

When was the last time you called practically any company for any sort of customer service? What’s the first thing you hear? AI.

AI has taken over most phone support systems these days, it’s almost impossible to speak to a human anymore, because they’ve downsized the staff and have AI do practically everything.

When was the last time you walked into a Dollar Store? You’re lucky if they even have two employees working at any given moment, because yay self checkout, who needs cashiers anymore? And the damn self checkout wants a fucking tip no less!

And now we got driverless cabs out there, because who needs a job as a driver? Just let the computer do it instead!

Hollywood hardly even needs actors or video producers anymore, they can just have AI crank out new movies for us.

I’m sure there’s way more examples that can be added to this list, but yeah, AI and modern technology in general are indeed taking over jobs.

• Trump is firing people left and right.
• AI and automation are taking jobs left and right.
• Big companies are laying people off left and right.

Someone riddle me this: Where are all the jobs at again?