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Everything about Multiface

Computer accessory

The Multiface is a hardware peripheral released by Romantic Robot for several 1980s home computers. The primary function of the device was to dump the computer's memory to external storage. Pressing a red button on the Multiface activated it. As most games of the era did not have a save game feature, the Multiface allowed players to save their position by saving a loadable snapshot of the game. Home computer software of the early 1980s was typically loaded into RAM in one go, with copy protection measures concentrating the loading phase or just after it. The snapshot feature could be used after copy protection routines had been executed, to create a backup that was effectively unprotected against unauthorised distribution. Later models of the Multiface mitigated this by requiring the device to be present when re-loading the dumps into memory, making the dumps useless to people without a Multiface. Software producers also reacted to the threat by using routines that would prevent execution of the product if it detected that a Multiface was present and by loading the software in multiple parts, thus requiring the presence of the original, copy-protected media. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: MultifaceA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Local Privacy Protection for Sensitive Areas in Multiface ImagesInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: The Airbnb StoryThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Gérer l’ouverture dans unbusiness modelmultifaceCited 29 times
  5. Go sideways: ZX Spectrum softwareA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Romantic RobotA closely related topic

đź“– Definitions

Adjective Having multiple faces or visages.

Adjective Having multiple front sides or facets.

Adjective Occurring on or pertaining to multiple faces or sides.

Noun A combination of multiple faces on a single head.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Operation
  2. Additional features
  3. Models of Multiface
  4. Anti-Multiface
  5. Similar products

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

đź“š Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

đź”— Related topics