December 2016 - vcf-midatlantic

Semi-OT: what tech gifts did you get/give?
by Herb Johnson 29 Dec '16

29 Dec '16

I gave my wife a hand-crank sewing machine from Germany, probably manufactured after the turn of the 20th century. she made that identification right after unwrapping it on late Christmas Eve. http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/german_sewing.jpg She's very knowledgeable about pre-1950's sewing machines; I also have a clue. And I have no doubt these are "technology". They are mechanical devices with precision parts which perform mechanical computations. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Hey! January workshop. Who's going?
by Jeffrey Brace 29 Dec '16

29 Dec '16

1.Jeff B. 2.Evan K. 3.Ian P. 4.? 5.? 6.? 7.? 8.? 9.? 10.? And those questions marks aren't print statements neither! :P -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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Teacher needed: power supply repair class @ VCF East
by Evan Koblentz 28 Dec '16

28 Dec '16

Everyone, We're going to have a bunch of new topics for VCF East tech classes (Friday, March 31) next spring, however there are three topics we plan to repeat because of demand: power supply repair, CRT repair, and computer cosmetics. CRT repair is (we hope!) Ian's gig, and computer cosmetics is Corey's deal. Who would like to teach power supply repair?

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the GE 225 mainframe
by Jeffrey Jonas 28 Dec '16

28 Dec '16

BoingBoing just noted how Steven Spielberg's father was a pioneer of the GE 225 mainframe. My dad mastered that machine in the early 60s, making it run efficiently under COBOL at the Girl Scouts National Headquarters. He still vividly remembers the details of the Analex printer and how using it offline saved a lot of computer time. Even the card reader had quirks. But back then, it wasn't hackers who focused on such optimization, it was every programmer and operator's job to understand such things. Ft Monmouth had some too. They were available for training courses my dad took. I hope some of those Ft. Monmouth folks are on this list. the main article: http://www.gereports.com/jurassic-hardware-steven-spielbergs-father-was-a-c… the short article: Arnold Spielberg (Steven's dad) developed the first computer to run BASIC in 1964 http://feeds.boingboing.net/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/gPNulCvMi_U/arnold-spielb… http://boingboing.net/?p=502025 Arnold Spielberg (Steven's father) developed the computer that first ran the BASIC programming language on May 1, 1964. Here's an interview with 99-year-old Arnold on the exciting early days of computers. Long before GE started connecting machines to the Industrial Internet, one Arnold Spielberg helped revolutionize computing when he designed the GE-225 mainframe computer in the late 1950s. The machine allowed a team of Dartmouth University students and researchers to develop the BASIC programming language, an easy-to-use coding tool that quickly spread and ushered in the era of personal computers. Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs all used the language when they started building their digital empires. Arnold Spielberg will be 100 years old in February 2017.

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Museum wireless doorbell thingamajig
by Evan Koblentz 28 Dec '16

28 Dec '16

I'm looking for an innovative (read: simple and cheap) way for museum visitors to press a button in order to alert our docents who may be elsewhere, such as working in the warehouse or visiting other InfoAge exhibits. There are video doorbell products from Ring.com and others ranging from $120-$300. These have cameras connecting to smartphone apps. That way range isn't an issue and you can have video conversations. These products are awesome but expensive. What's a cheaper solution? There is no easy way to run a wire from our museum to the warehouse. Video is not necessary, but a simple "house phone" approach would work (such as in an office building or hotel) or even just a buzzer. Or maybe some kind of pager. This is a project I'd like to get done very soon, not just someday. Most of all, if people have proposals that require engineering, then we need to see "I'll do it" not "Here's what someone should do".

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NOS PC parts at Green Brook Electronics
by Dean Notarnicola 27 Dec '16

27 Dec '16

Saw these today in case anyone is interested in building a P4 system. They also have sound blasters for $9.

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More about Friday talks @ East XII
by Evan Koblentz 27 Dec '16

27 Dec '16

For those who may be interested: the Friday technical talks at VCF East don't have to be simply "how to fix xyz". They could be other topics such as how you did some cool project, how to use certain modern or vintage peripherals, etc. .... almost anything as long as it's educational, on-topic, and technical (not historical) in nature. Please send me your ideas.

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Reliable volunteers needed: East XII consignment booth
by Evan Koblentz 26 Dec '16

26 Dec '16

We need two or three ultra-reliable people to lead the consignment booth for VCF East next spring. One person to be the room leader and a couple of assistants. This is a very important job so whomever volunteers must be reliable as (censored), on-the-ball with money/transactions, and represent VCFed professionally at all times. I will waive all show expenses for the people who do this job.

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VCF East flyers for MAGFest?
by Ethan 26 Dec '16

26 Dec '16

Heya, I volunteer with a Video game music and video gaming festival called MAGFest that happens off of the DC Beltway in Maryland. It's in it's 15th year or something and brings around 20,000 people. The division I mostly deal with is arcade machines, but we spawned a computer museum section in the arcade a few years ago that now has it's own room. The guy that ran the entire event from 2nd event to 9th event is a chiptune artist who is big into retro computing and retro computing music (Inverse Phase is his chiptune name.) The computer museum is 3000 square feet and mostly plastic micros and DOS machines. Kaypro, Osbourne, etc. Some early Macs and other technology makes it on display, as well as rare and odd console gaming systems. Not exactly 1:1 with what VCF is but still it's a pretty wide audience. I actually just found out that a new Amiga documentary is being premiered at 'fest in the movie area about the Amiga and a few early Amiga people are going to be there. Anyways, if there is a flyer for VCF East in PDF form or something I'll print out a bunch and make sure they're at event so that people coming to the museum (and Arcade) learn about VCF East. 1/2 a page is best, but I also have a large format printer (36" wide) and am willing to run off a big sheet or two. The people that handle the museum room (who are also into the arcade thing) are long time friends, they actually came to VCF East 2016 with me and probably will come again to 2017. Anywho, figure I'd put it out there :-)

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Jan workshop RSVP
by Jeffrey Jonas 25 Dec '16

25 Dec '16

++jeffj

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