Version 2 ready to go

 All of the changes (ie. correction of mistakes) identified in the GE-115 System Manual have been made. 

The biggest challenge was to switch the conditional jumps, which use a mask of complementary conditions, to a mapping from two status bits, zero and overflow. There is a nice way to do this by mapping the four status combinations from two bits into 4 different mask values.

I retested my test programs, and had to make a few changes, sometimes to the test program (due to an improved understanding of what was supposed to happen) and sometimes to correct errors in the simulator which came to light. All in all, the transition was pretty smooth.

So the new simulator, assembler and Fortran compiler are ready to go out to be tested in a larger context. I have started work on a website which will allow people to request instructions for downloading the simulator. I am thinking an FTP transfer might be the most efficient way to distribute for now. 

With the website, I am thinking of a discussion forum so that people can share their memories of the past and their experiences with the simulator. Perhaps nobody will sign up!

This will have to wait until September. My day job requires some focus for a few weeks, so I will return when this is news to share.

Jim



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