VCF Midwest is less than two weeks away. I’ll be there—will you?
Host of Userlandia. https://www.userlandia.com Check it out on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@userlandia Also follow on Mastodon for more old tech stuff: https://bitbang.social/@kefkafloyd Avatar by @batshaped.bsky.social
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VCF Midwest is less than two weeks away. I’ll be there—will you?
The beautiful shiny button! The jolly, candy-like button! Will he hold out, folks? CAN he hold out?
Also seen at the thrift store yesterday: several early aughts MacAddict and Macworld magazines. This really was the peak time to be a Mac or OS X enthusiast. Not necessarily from a performance or hardware quality standpoint but for what the community was actually doing. I miss those days.
Also forgive me if I don’t recognize your handle, I’m bad at remembering interactions or keeping track of people at times
Prodigy is “Star Wars kids learn why Star Trek is good” and I thought it was a good conceit for a starting point
Yep, for over two years now.
Exactly 50 years ago: The first issue of BYTE, the dawn of a revolution: "Computers -- the World's Greatest Toy!" And more....
I was the “I know a guy” Guy for my office when I worked an in-house job and it was a point of pride for me. I try to be that Guy for others. Keep the Guy economy up, promote your friends, meet people of different skill sets, do favors where you can, it DOES come back to you.
A reminder to always check the office supply section of your thrift stores for computer stuff! This EasyPhot Drive internal drive bay scanner was right there. I’ve always been curious about this thing.
If it also cut keys would it be a fun key chicken machine?
Got a CL alert on Wednesday when somebody local posted an ad for this Atari Mega ST2 for $100. Only a five minute drive away, and it came with the box and everything except a mouse. Worked perfectly and the seller was a retro/vintage fan who talked plenty of shop.
I wish I had a third of this set master’s trolling ability. Well done.
Good luck 🫡
I should record a video narration tonight.
As it turns out I remember this more clearly than Video Professor's, because it's actually kinda catchy. The "freebie" lessons they showed on Excel and Word are still stuck in my brain.
I'm not a reaction video type of person, but I'd like to do a sympathetic one to the infomercial for QuickStudy computer learning videos. That infomercial was on all the time and I bet it's in your memory bank if you're a vintage computer fan of a certain age www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQtV...
May I offer you some Nina Atsuko in these trying times? www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsp1...
Pluto is canonically the tallest guardian! Also, this is reincarnated Saturn, so she's actually smaller after her rapid aging. Double also don't forget "A world without Haruka isn't a world worth saving."
The Commodore 64. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NBp...
Today’s pickup: a bunch of Apple II and IIGS software and stuff from a kind gentleman clearing out his basement. Flight Sim II, The Hobbit, HyperStudio, Flashboot, Timeout Telecomm, Publish-it, Pointless, and a bunch of other loose disks. Plus some GS documentation I didn’t have… most still wrapped.
Would anyone be interested in hearing previously unrelased level music from the Project Dream SNES prototype by David Wise? youtu.be/5B10j5ttZbk
Congrats!!!
I mean, we can't let key lime go without its proper respect... it'd probably be two shots; the firewire closeup and a still or something of the three firewire colors (graphite/indigo/lime)
I probably need some of a firewire model (mine's a tangerine), like a close-up of the port or plugging in a cable.
It'll need a round of editing, but I can actually say that this ThinkPad vs iBook script is finally done.
Be sure to subscribe to Ron’s channel, he’s a wonderful geeky friend and does all he can to keep the stories, history, and spirit of these old systems alive for future generations. 👏
This lady calling us out is too real
The jacket and tie is a good look for him
Thei couple gets a perfect 100 on the Yachtski scale at the Red Sox yacht rock night
I did this just now. Brilliant. Great hack.
I don't get why people rag on the fruit-flavored Tootsie Rolls when they're basically cylindrical Starburst.
Cracked open the a500 last night after desoldering the clock battery. Rev 5 board. Looks pretty clean to me.
No, but I did give a guy a pretty good deal on some airplane models I sold the other day, so maybe it's just positive karma
Today’s get: a complete in box A500. Was a reasonable price and it’s got a memory upgrade.
This Lion King mouse and mousepad have been in the case at Goodwill for at least a month. All the TLK computer collectors I know already own one. I usually leave these as “not for me, hope somebody grabs it” but if it’s still there before VCFMW I’ll nab it for the garage sale.
Five Five dollar Five dollar floppy drive
I'm the madman who still wants a sequel to BC 2009 But I'd take a Rearmed 3
me, the one guy in the crowd who shouts "BIONIC COOOMMAAAANDOOOOO"
I'm not upset about missing out on the money, I just want them to go to someone who will put them on display and not flip them. I like feeling like I got a deal, and I've gotten my share lately.
I listed a lot of airplane models on FB Marketplace for $100 and people jumped on them immediately. I probably could've listed $250 or $300 for them, but they've been sitting in a box for five years and they just gotta go.
Are lefty scissors anti-scissors? I am asking this for science reasons
After posting this I discovered one pair hiding between my Color Classic and IIGS. This of course was after I ordered some new pairs.
I'm going insane because I can't find any pairs of scissors in the house. I had two pairs. Where the hell did they go? And it's my fault, because I'm the only person who lives here.
Happy to have played a small part in GutBomb's latest awesome video. Who doesn't love ridiculously expensive old stuff?
I have many things to say but getting them out coherently is the challenge
In collaboration with id Software, we're excited to announce the definitive re-release of Heretic + Hexen — available NOW on all platforms! 💥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqH3...
Was pretty tough for us in the first few rows to see the subtitles at times.
BARCODES. youtu.be/ng-qtQbMC9w No one gives em a second thought anymore. Yet they were once cutting edge tech! Heck, computer magazines even had whole sections dedicated to UPC scanning & software. So I finally got a 1994 PC barcode reader kit and used it with some POS applications! ...and Duke 3D
Duh.
@sovanjedi.bsky.social how much do I have to pay you for a concept screenshot of an Apothecary Diaries Lucasarts point-n-click game
Needed to repost it because of a typo, really wish Bsky didn't repeat Twitter's flaw of "not allowing edits"
A new video is live! I've been searching for optical drive bezels for my IBM PS/2 Model 80, but finding a genuine IBM bezel is nearly impossible. Can 3D printing fill the hole in this PC's heart? Plus, check out all the vintage bezel designs I found during my research www.youtube.com/watch?v=phpU...
New Video is now live for Patrons: I've long been on the hunt for an optical drive bezel for my PS/2 Model 80. But they're nearly impossible to find. The solution: 3D Printing! Plus, check out all the wacky bezel combinations I found during my research. www.patreon.com/posts/quest-...
Until you open it up and see all the sad capacitors
Make sure to go to BEEP! While you’re at Akiba
The new Dan da Dan OP has grown on me. Its only flaw is that it's an A+ OP that had to follow an S-tier one.
A caddy in a 1x CD-ROM drive that I "borrowed" from my external Apple CD150... but don't tell my Macs that. ;)
You may remember this model 80 from such videos as "The 386 Tower of Power" and "Installing OS/2"
There be a video in the works
We had the same thing with Remy a few years ago. Just sucks. But you'll always have the good times
@rsanders.bsky.social real sorry about Ryno, man
Thanks for the data point! Someone else contacted me and said their late 94 build had the Rev B board. My hunch is that the Rev B was introduced in Q3 1994 (June/July) but I don't have enough data to be fully confident in that position.
Thanks, Steve! Hopefully it'll be helpful to some folks. Need to put in a quick reference table for all the IIe display mode quirks
ICYMI: Are Apple's official spec sheets and service manuals wrong about how much VRAM is in a Color Classic II? Join me as I unravel the mystery. Plus bonus sections on quirks of the Apple IIe video mode and why some Macs missed out on 24-bit color. www.userlandia.com/home/color-c...
This is a super important quest for NuBus history. Read it!
It’s the coolest PC gizmo ever! It’s the Snappy video snapshot! VERSION THREE POINT OOOOHHHHH Works with ANYTHING (except Commodores, Ataris, and Apples)
Plus two bonus sections about RAMDACs and the special Apple IIe video mode!
Apple's official spec sheet say the Color Classic II has 256K of onboard VRAM. They also say the LC 550, which is supposed to use the same logic board, has 512K. How can that be? Has the knowledge base spec sheet been wrong all these years? Let's find out together.
This sidebar content that's going into today's blog post is almost as long as the main post itself. I should probably split it into two posts... but eh. I was up till 2 AM last night writing it and it's scheduled to go live this afternoon!
RIP Chuck Mangione, damn fine musician and guest voice on King of the Hill so frequently he was to it what Phil Hartman was to the first decade of The Simpsons. youtu.be/FExBwfQHXlE
Prime example: Steve Martin's cover of Maxwell's Silver Hammer
I go through phases where I want to hear weird covers of songs I know very well
You know that VRAM thing I was talking about? It's now a blog post! It's up on Patreon for early access subscribers since, well, I haven't been good about posting stuff lately. So if you're a paid subscriber you can read this a few days before the public!
I have a patreon tier where I offer sketch requests, and usually no one asks for anything but sometimes @pikachu15eevee.bsky.social asks for art crimes.
Ozzy's dead? But I thought you can't kill rock abd roll! :(
I stayed up late last night writing something that was going to be a thread but instead got way too long and now I'm just gonna make it a blog post because I can't make it into a video but it is a wrong that must be righted. Spoilers: It's about a 30 year old Apple VRAM spec mistake
Spent my lunch hour recapping the Color Classic II board. There was no sign of cap leakage-just some flux. Cleaned up, recapped, and it boots just fine. Huzzah for not making things worse! Hard to believe how clean this board was under all that dirt and grime.
Team Wedge 100%.
I bow before your skills
Thanks, Ron! Sometimes you just get lucky.
I transferred over my VRAM SIMM and FPU from my other board. Now to put it on my recap list. But first… need to finish my upcoming video.
I cleaned up the very dirty ten dollar Color Classic II board I bought today. Nothing looked obviously bad, so I decided to give it a test run before a recap. Does it boot? Watch to find out!
I get around :V don’t be afraid to say hi, I have stickers and cards
This is certainly unique: the MicroSpeed Deluxe Keyboard Mac. It has _four_ ADB ports—twice that of a normal Apple keyboard. Now you don’t have to choose between your Quark or Preps dongles when plugging in your mouse and Wacom tablet!
Goodness gracious great box of trackballs
If I had an a500 I would’ve bought it.
Also picked up this very dirty but otherwise okay looking color classic II logic board. At least according to the part number I’m pretty sure it’s a CCII. Should clean up OK!
I also picked up a boxed copy of AmigaOS 3.1 and this AMax Mac compatibility board for ten dollars each.
Some cool Amiga rarities seen at the MIT flea today
Freshly archived so you all can enjoy some sweet Mac Clone product tour goodness! 💿 ✨
For when you want a Serene Screen Marine Aquarium but don’t have a computer.
No??? I want
And finished editing audio. Next step... assembing a video and filming things that need filming.
Recorded an audio track last night for a video. So much more to do.
I wanted to stick to what I could get at the hardware store. I hear Rust-oleum Ivory Bisque is an even closer match but I couldn't find any.
Rust-oleum Painter's Touch Satin Heirloom White. It's not a perfect match but it's a lot closer than either of my filaments. A shade too bright and warm but for an off-the-shelf paint it's close enough. I might consider ordering a can of RAL 1013 to try some day, that'd probably be the best match.
I painted a bunch of Model 80 bezels in preparation for an upcoming video.
I wrote about IBM’s ThinkPad 701, the legendary model with an expanding “butterfly” keyboard. It was certainly the most interesting new computer of 1995, and sold well. Yet IBM quickly discontinued it, and nobody ever made anything like it again. Here’s why. www.fastcompany.com/91356463/ibm...
