New batch of VCF East 6.0 shirts arrived today.  We bought 5 each of M,
L, and XL.  Some are already spoken for (Jeff F., BernieS, etc.), but
there are plenty available.  Whoever wants to buy one or whoever
volunteered at the VCF and didn't get one should email me off-list.

We also have one XL shirt from VCF East 5.0 (the yellow shirts) and one
size small from VCF East 4.0 (with the chickenhead logo.)

‘Welcome to Macintosh’, the independent documentary highlighting Apple Inc.’s history and following, is to make its exclusive North American television premiere on CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, on Monday, January 4 at 9:30PM ET.

 

‘Welcome to Macintosh’, the independent documentary highlighting Apple Inc.’s history and following, is to make its exclusive North American television premiere on CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, on Monday, January 4 at 9:30PM ET.

Who else is watching this?

It's been on for 10 minutes. At least two or three mistakes already.

Nice seeing our friend Vince though.

I picked up a power supply from an Ebay seller for my VAX 4000/300
(the supplies in both cabinets are bad), and the system is operational
again.  I learned something important in the process: just like the old
Sun systems, the the AUI network interface on the VAX has to be connected
to the network while booting.  I wasted a lot of time troubleshooting this
non-problem before I figured it out.

     So, back to learning VMS.  I will hopefully be able to rebuild one good
power suppy out of two bad ones.


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

Wow - an infomercial.
Would have been nice to mention Xerox PARC.

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, Evan Koblentz <evan@...> wrote:
>
>
> > '/Welcome to Macintosh/', the independent documentary highlighting
> > Apple Inc.'s history and following, is to make its exclusive North
> > American television premiere on CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, on
> > Monday, January 4 at 9:30PM ET.
> >
>
> Who else is watching this?
>
> It's been on for 10 minutes. At least two or three mistakes already.
>
> Nice seeing our friend Vince though.
>

> Wow - an infomercial.
> Would have been nice to mention Xerox PARC.

One of the interviewees (I forget which) mentioned PARC re: the mouse.

And ... please introduce yourself.  Says here you joined our list way
back in 2006 but never posted before.

‘Welcome to Macintosh’, the independent documentary highlighting Apple Inc.’s history and following, is to make its exclusive North American television premiere on CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, on Monday, January 4 at 9:30PM ET.

Who else is watching this?

It's been on for 10 minutes. At least two or three mistakes already.

Nice seeing our friend Vince though.

HI Matt:

The tones are sometimes used to signal local cable systems for a
local commercial.  I did not hear them on my system.
A few years back, when I was living in NJ, I used to hear those tones
quite often on some cable channels... right over the program audio,
near the end of a scene.  No reason why they had to do that.  Some
sort of vertical interval pulse could have done the same job.  Or a
sub-sonic tone.  But, DTMF decoders are cheap.

Regarding the video "effects"... likely someone being "cutesy", just
because they can.  Good documentarians rely on good content, not good
effects.  And when they use effects, you almost don't even notice
them.  Like good sound effects or music in a movie.

73 de Ray

P.S.  Still, it was an interesting show.  I especially like the
interview portions with Guy Kawasaki.


On Jan 4, 2010, at 10:04 PM, Matt Patoray wrote:

>
>
> Ok,
>
> I do not watch CNBC very often, is it normal for them to play DTMF
> tones when leaving a program and going to commercial? Or is this
> just something weird the producers did, like the switching form
> full screen color to letterboxed B&W...
>
> Matt
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 4, 2010, at 9:41 PM, Evan Koblentz <evan@...> wrote:
>
>>
>>> ‘Welcome to Macintosh’, the independent documentary highlighting
>>> Apple Inc.’s history and following, is to make its exclusive
>>> North American television premiere on CNBC, First in Business
>>> Worldwide, on Monday, January 4 at 9:30PM ET.
>>>
>>
>> Who else is watching this?
>>
>> It's been on for 10 minutes. At least two or three mistakes already.
>>
>> Nice seeing our friend Vince though.
>>
>
>
>

I have heard from people informally about their plans for the vintage
computer hacking weekend Jan 30-31, but if you're considering attending
please let me know so I can get an idea of the numbers.    There is room
for about 100 people.  Because it's Winter and my kids can't be outside all
weekend, I am going to have this at my office in Wilmington instead of my
home.  The location will be 103 W. 7th St. Wilmington.


NOTES:

The primary function of this event is to work on computers, but if you just
want to pop over and play video games that's fine.  I have a MAME cabinet
that needs a sound card installed, plus a number of old video game systems.
  Bring RF and co-ax adapter cables.

Walking distance to Amtrak, just off rt 95.

I might be working on a PDP 11/40.

There is an IBM Series 1 that someone can experiment with.  Power is
available.

Video games, and modern computer stations available.

There is plenty of space to sleep, but bring a sleeping bag.

There are also places to grab something to eat nearby, but bring food and
drink as you see fit.  I have a microwave and fridge.

Parking should not be a problem, but I will check to see what the situation
is.

Bill

>
> ----- Bill Degnan  wrote:
> > I have heard from people informally about their plans for the vintage
> > computer hacking weekend Jan 30-31, but if you're considering attending

> > please let me know so I can get an idea of the numbers.    There is
room
> > for about 100 people.  Because it's Winter and my kids can't be outside
all
> > weekend, I am going to have this at my office in Wilmington instead of
my
> > home.  The location will be 103 W. 7th St. Wilmington.
> >
>
> I still plan to attend.
> But I haven't been to that location before.
> Is there enough tables for everyone to work on their stuff ?
> We could use a dedicated table for the parts bins and soldering
equipment, like last time
>

There will be more work space and more tables than my house. Also easier
loading/unloading.

Bill

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, Evan Koblentz <evan@...> wrote:
> >
> > Nice seeing our friend Vince though.

And the Commodore monitor behind him.


> > It's been on for 10 minutes. At least two or three mistakes already.
> >

Don't get me started. Overall, the thing wasn't worth the 90 minutes I wasted on
it. There have been much, much better computer "history" documentaries. This was
mostly fanboy-ism.

The only interesting bits were the crazy collector guy with 1000's of Apple
machines (and is here in NY somewhere), and Guy K. saying that "Steve has a
different operating system, which is why no one understands him". Guy's other
comment that was funny "Do one good thing and you can coast for a looooong
time." (which is really the story of his life).

Andy H.'s memories of that period seem to be with rose-colored glasses and/or
very selective memory. He didn't seem to remember that the Lisa *was* Steve's
idea and that the Macintosh group split Apple internally and the two camps hated
each other for a long time. Also, and perhaps I'm mis-remembering, but someone
mentioned that Steve Jobs loved the 3.5" floppy??? Steve *hated* the 3.5"
floppy. Early Lisas didn't come with them, and later, Steve didn't want the Mac
to even have a floppy when they were designing it. And When Steve returned to
Apple, and the iMac came out, he got what he wanted -- the floppy was gone.

Nevermind.

> I have heard from people informally about their plans for the vintage
> computer hacking weekend Jan 30-31, but if you're considering attending
> please let me know so I can get an idea of the numbers.

I plan to go for Saturday only.

> When Steve returned to Apple, and the iMac came out, he got what he wanted --
the floppy was gone..
>

It's not fair to say Jobs "got what he wanted" .... floppies were going
away industry-wide by the late 1990s anyhow.

Sure!  I don't mind talking about myself.  :-)

I think I may have posted some time ago about my ELF II, but I'm not sure.
I actually got into computers as a kid from model railroader magazine - they had
an artical on using computers to run train layouts - I was already into building
things.  I wanted a computer.  There was no way I could afford something like
the Apple ][, so I saved my pennies and piece by piece put together a Netronics
ELF.  An uncle lived near New Milford and checked the place out for my dad (he
wated to know they were legit!)  I now live a short distance from there. 
Building the ELF was great fun and of course got me going on programmng, as well
as being in the Explorers at Bell Labs in Holmdel (sigh - good memories of that
place).  I was always building gadgets and making pc boards with those Radio
Shack kits with the rubylith and spray on etchant.  A happy man I am as I turned
my hobby into my career.  Doing embedded programming and Windows programs for a
living.
I still have the ELF II packed away, and I inherited one from a friend that had
the case and all (the cost of the case seemed an unnecessary expense for mine at
the time, I made my own).  I'm nervous about powering the ELF up as my soldering
skills years and years ago were probably not the gretest - I'd rather not fry
it.
From the ELF to the Atari 400, 800XL, to PC's, I've always had some kind of PC
around.  I never did own an Apple, but used to repair them at one of my first
jobs.  Just got an iPod Touch for xmas and love it (the comment about PARC was
sent from it as I watched the show).
One of these years I'll make it back to a TCF with my kids to show 'em some real
nerds in action!  Or maybe a VCF as well.

cheers
-ed

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, Evan Koblentz <evan@...> wrote:
>
>
> > Wow - an infomercial.
> > Would have been nice to mention Xerox PARC.
>
> One of the interviewees (I forget which) mentioned PARC re: the mouse.
>
> And ... please introduce yourself.  Says here you joined our list way
> back in 2006 but never posted before.
>

On Jan 5, 2010, at 11:30 AM, brian_cirulnick wrote:
<snip>

> And When Steve returned to Apple, and the iMac came out, he got
> what he wanted -- the floppy was gone.

</snip>

BUT.... the electronics for it were part of the early iMac
motherboards.  Some early adopters easily hacked the machine and just
ran some ribbon cable from the mother board out to an external
floppy, and it would work just fine, thank you very much.

I opted to get an outboard Imation "super disk", which would read and
write to their proprietary 120 MB disk or standard high density 1.4
MB floppies.  The Imation drive used a USB connection.  Still have it
somewhere, along with a disk that contains tax programs and data.
But the latest date on the disk is 1998, so I'm unlikely to have the
IRS ask me to explain anything on a tax return that old.  Most people
can discard tax stuff more than 7 years old without worry.

73 de Ray

On Tue, 5 Jan 2010, Bill Degnan wrote:

> I have heard from people informally about their plans for the vintage
> computer hacking weekend Jan 30-31, but if you're considering attending
> please let me know so I can get an idea of the numbers.    There is room
> for about 100 people.  Because it's Winter and my kids can't be outside all
> weekend, I am going to have this at my office in Wilmington instead of my
> home.  The location will be 103 W. 7th St. Wilmington.

     I tentatively plan to attend.  Maybe one of you S100 gurus can help get
my IMSAI talking to its floppy drives.


Mike Loewen 		 mloewen@...
Old Technology http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/

I'm forced to clean up even more so this is a little "off topic"

1) I have a stack of 3.5" floppy drives (and who doesn't?).
What are the "keepers": Teac or Mitsumi?
Are any particular models desirable?

2) I think there are some 720k 5.25" floppy drives amid the
360k and 1.2Meg.  Are there any mfgr/models to watch for?
I'm unsure I have time to google each one.

3) Anyone interested in a Pentium Pro system
or a 80486/133 overdrive system?
They were interesting "lasp gasps" for that technology.

-- Jeff J

Yes, I'm invoking the band that recorded "I'm too sexy" for the subject line of
this email.

Here's a message from Fred to everyone:

----------------

Welcome to a new decade.  The decade of the bad BRAC is over.   The
Base Realignment And Closure staff of Fort Monmouth and then the
Pentagon have failed to crush us.  Their goal was to get us to walk away
so they could sell the 37 acres of Camp Evans to developers to help with
their budget.   Thanks to repeated help from Congressman Smith, former
Wall Township attorney Roger McLaughlin, Bob McAllen and the RAB, and Betsy
Merritt of the National Trust for Historic Preservation the Camp
Evans Historic District is still here.

We enter this year, 2010 with many historic anniversaries that underscore the
importance of our site; the TIROS 50th, April 1st launch & 9th birth of
hurricane tracking; the 65th anniverasy of VE Day on May 6th and VJ day on
August 15th.  We have a number of exciting possibilities.  We could see our site
named the State of New Jersey WWII Living Memorial and our site could be
elevated to National Landmark Status as recommended by the NPS National Landmark
Theme Study - WWII and the Home Front.   Plus, we are just 4 years away from the
100th anniversary of the completion of the site as the largest wireless station
in the Marconi Network of World Encircling High-Powered Wireless Stations.

Besides the repair of the damage created by BRAC and by time, we face
the challenges of growth.   We are in a good place.  We can use the resources of
the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), the preservation
guidance provided by the NJ State Historic Preservation Office and the National
Park Service to help us along.   We have excellent volunteers who care about the
Camp Evans Historic district and are dedicated to the mission of InfoAge.  We
have a growing membership
and a growing support base.   We have credentials - we are Preserve America
Stewards.  Camp Evans is a Save America's Treasures Project and
the Township of Wall and the County of Monmouth WWII Living Memorial.
There are so many good possibilities available for us to grasp.

Welcome to 2010 and our decade.

The most useful 3.5 drives have the jumpers or switches to change density.

I am currently looking for a Chinon F-353 AT II 3.5 disk drive.  It's to
repair an external Atari ST520 disk drive SF354).  It's the classic
story; get a "free system" and then spend $75 to repair it!  Best
Electronics has one for $75, but I am looking for other options first.
http://www.vintagecomputer.net/browse_thread.cfm?id=304
Bill

mejeep_ferret wrote:
> I'm forced to clean up even more so this is a little "off topic"
>
> 1) I have a stack of 3.5" floppy drives (and who doesn't?).
> What are the "keepers": Teac or Mitsumi?
> Are any particular models desirable?
>
> 2) I think there are some 720k 5.25" floppy drives amid the
> 360k and 1.2Meg.  Are there any mfgr/models to watch for?
> I'm unsure I have time to google each one.
>
> 3) Anyone interested in a Pentium Pro system
> or a 80486/133 overdrive system?
> They were interesting "lasp gasps" for that technology.
>
> -- Jeff J
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

I hate to admit I know this, but the band was named Right Said Fred. :-)

Sent from my iPhone

I am interested in coming, not sure what I should bring though.. I have a box of
about 20-25 S100 cards, some floppy controllers, some RAM cards, at least 1 or 2
Winchester controllers.  Not really sure what else.. oh, I have a motherboard
with 6 slots, but no case/power supply, and I don't think I have a CPU card, so
I have never been able to even try to put together even a semi-functional S100
system.

I do have the chemicals needed to make Retr0brite, so I am sure some people will
be interested in cleaning up some old stuff.

I probably should go and make myself up an inventory list of my vintage hardware
(Both computers and video game consoles) Even if for no other reason than to
know what I actually have. :)

Well back to work and time to clean up some spyware/viruses.

Joe O.



--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:
>
> I have heard from people informally about their plans for the vintage
> computer hacking weekend Jan 30-31, but if you're considering attending
> please let me know so I can get an idea of the numbers.    There is room
> for about 100 people.  Because it's Winter and my kids can't be outside all
> weekend, I am going to have this at my office in Wilmington instead of my
> home.  The location will be 103 W. 7th St. Wilmington.
>
>
> NOTES:
>
> The primary function of this event is to work on computers, but if you just
> want to pop over and play video games that's fine.  I have a MAME cabinet
> that needs a sound card installed, plus a number of old video game systems.
>  Bring RF and co-ax adapter cables.
>
> Walking distance to Amtrak, just off rt 95.
>
> I might be working on a PDP 11/40.
>
> There is an IBM Series 1 that someone can experiment with.  Power is
> available.
>
> Video games, and modern computer stations available.
>
> There is plenty of space to sleep, but bring a sleeping bag.
>
> There are also places to grab something to eat nearby, but bring food and
> drink as you see fit.  I have a microwave and fridge.
>
> Parking should not be a problem, but I will check to see what the situation
> is.
>
> Bill
>

Joe,

I ask that people clean their computers before they arrive.  Please do not
bring any systems that need to be vacuumed, dusted, de-nested ,
de-infested, etc. - this kind of stuff should be done before you arrive.
Think "electronics workshop"
I will send more details about the weekend, soon.

Bill

-------- Original Message --------
> From: "joprysko1" <joprysko1@...>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 1:23 PM
> To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [midatlanticretro] Re: Hacking weekend Jan 30-31st.
>
> I am interested in coming, not sure what I should bring though.. I have a
box of about 20-25 S100 cards, some floppy controllers, some RAM cards, at
least 1 or 2 Winchester controllers.  Not really sure what else.. oh, I
have a motherboard with 6 slots, but no case/power supply, and I don't
think I have a CPU card, so I have never been able to even try to put
together even a semi-functional S100 system.
>
> I do have the chemicals needed to make Retr0brite, so I am sure some
people will be interested in cleaning up some old stuff.
>
> I probably should go and make myself up an inventory list of my vintage
hardware (Both computers and video game consoles) Even if for no other
reason than to know what I actually have. :)
>
> Well back to work and time to clean up some spyware/viruses.
>
> Joe O.
>
>
>
> --- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Degnan" <billdeg@...>
wrote:
> >
> > I have heard from people informally about their plans for the vintage
> > computer hacking weekend Jan 30-31, but if you're considering attending

> > please let me know so I can get an idea of the numbers.    There is
room
> > for about 100 people.  Because it's Winter and my kids can't be outside
all
> > weekend, I am going to have this at my office in Wilmington instead of
my
> > home.  The location will be 103 W. 7th St. Wilmington.
> >
> >
> > NOTES:
> >
> > The primary function of this event is to work on computers, but if you
just
> > want to pop over and play video games that's fine.  I have a MAME
cabinet
> > that needs a sound card installed, plus a number of old video game
systems.
> >  Bring RF and co-ax adapter cables.
> >
> > Walking distance to Amtrak, just off rt 95.
> >
> > I might be working on a PDP 11/40.
> >
> > There is an IBM Series 1 that someone can experiment with.  Power is
> > available.
> >
> > Video games, and modern computer stations available.
> >
> > There is plenty of space to sleep, but bring a sleeping bag.
> >
> > There are also places to grab something to eat nearby, but bring food
and
> > drink as you see fit.  I have a microwave and fridge.
> >
> > Parking should not be a problem, but I will check to see what the
situation
> > is.
> >
> > Bill
> >
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Well, the Retr0brite is more for restoring the colors of the outside of the
casing caused by age/UV rays, cigarette smoke, etc.

Definitely looking forward to it, will probably bring one of my Apple IIc's, my
Atari Portfolio, etc.  I may post a list of some of the things I have and/or
thinking about bringing, that way if someone is interested in seeing or using
the unit, they can ask me to bring it.  Also, I will probably list parts I have
that I am willing to trade incase anyone needs them.

--- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Degnan" <billdeg@...> wrote:
>
> Joe,
>
> I ask that people clean their computers before they arrive.  Please do not
> bring any systems that need to be vacuumed, dusted, de-nested ,
> de-infested, etc. - this kind of stuff should be done before you arrive.
> Think "electronics workshop"
> I will send more details about the weekend, soon.
>
> Bill
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> > From: "joprysko1" <joprysko1@...>
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 1:23 PM
> > To: midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [midatlanticretro] Re: Hacking weekend Jan 30-31st.
> >
> > I am interested in coming, not sure what I should bring though.. I have a
> box of about 20-25 S100 cards, some floppy controllers, some RAM cards, at
> least 1 or 2 Winchester controllers.  Not really sure what else.. oh, I
> have a motherboard with 6 slots, but no case/power supply, and I don't
> think I have a CPU card, so I have never been able to even try to put
> together even a semi-functional S100 system.
> >
> > I do have the chemicals needed to make Retr0brite, so I am sure some
> people will be interested in cleaning up some old stuff.
> >
> > I probably should go and make myself up an inventory list of my vintage
> hardware (Both computers and video game consoles) Even if for no other
> reason than to know what I actually have. :)
> >
> > Well back to work and time to clean up some spyware/viruses.
> >
> > Joe O.
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In midatlanticretro@yahoogroups.com, "Bill Degnan" <billdeg@>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > I have heard from people informally about their plans for the vintage
> > > computer hacking weekend Jan 30-31, but if you're considering attending
>
> > > please let me know so I can get an idea of the numbers.    There is
> room
> > > for about 100 people.  Because it's Winter and my kids can't be outside
> all
> > > weekend, I am going to have this at my office in Wilmington instead of
> my
> > > home.  The location will be 103 W. 7th St. Wilmington.
> > >
> > >
> > > NOTES:
> > >
> > > The primary function of this event is to work on computers, but if you
> just
> > > want to pop over and play video games that's fine.  I have a MAME
> cabinet
> > > that needs a sound card installed, plus a number of old video game
> systems.
> > >  Bring RF and co-ax adapter cables.
> > >
> > > Walking distance to Amtrak, just off rt 95.
> > >
> > > I might be working on a PDP 11/40.
> > >
> > > There is an IBM Series 1 that someone can experiment with.  Power is
> > > available.
> > >
> > > Video games, and modern computer stations available.
> > >
> > > There is plenty of space to sleep, but bring a sleeping bag.
> > >
> > > There are also places to grab something to eat nearby, but bring food
> and
> > > drink as you see fit.  I have a microwave and fridge.
> > >
> > > Parking should not be a problem, but I will check to see what the
> situation
> > > is.
> > >
> > > Bill
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
>

>
> Well, the Retr0brite is more for restoring the colors of the outside of
the casing caused by age/UV rays, cigarette smoke, etc.

I understand.  I just wanted to describe the scene.

>
> Definitely looking forward to it, will probably bring one of my Apple
IIc's, my Atari Portfolio, etc.  I may post a list of some of the things I
have and/or thinking about bringing, that way if someone is interested in
seeing or using the unit, they can ask me to bring it.  Also, I will
probably list parts I have that I am willing to trade incase anyone needs
them.

I am sure there will be some swapping, fyi my office space is full of
stuff.

Bill

I am interested in coming, not sure what I should bring though.. I have a box of about 20-25 S100 cards, some floppy controllers, some RAM cards, at least 1 or 2 Winchester controllers. 

http://www.vintagecomputer.net/ragooman/

I tentatively plan to attend. Maybe one of you S100 gurus can help get my IMSAI talking to its floppy drives.

http://www.vintagecomputer.net/ragooman/

>
>
> Bill,
> Can we go online there still, in case we have to look up some
> technical data ?
>
Yes, there will be many access points.

Sept. 25-26 ... start planning now!

Other than the tech sessions, I expect this edition to be similar to last
year's. It is unlikely that we can expand to an H-building until 2011.

Still would like to hear serious ideas for new kinds of special events. Last
year the concert, book sale, and consigment were all big hits.

My idea for the BASIC Challenge failed.