January 2017 - vcf-midatlantic

PDP stuff from Omni?
by Evan Koblentz 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Anyone have experience working with this company? http://omnicorp.net/dec.htm

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Advice on Xenix VCF exhibit
by Herb Johnson 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

There's a few threads now, about VCF exhibit design. I may post the same basic message in a couple of them, but point to this one for details. It's pretty long, but I'm saying: my friends here are thinking-through their exhibits, and who will be attracted to them. I suggest being more deliberate. David Gesswein posted some of his deliberations; I'm posting what I did last year, in cooperation with others, by luck and intention. A Xenix exhibit by content, may be limited to certain interests; don't be shy about that, but ask for suggestions otherwise. Keywords: intention, process, discussion. ----------------------------- To put it simply: different exhibit designs, will attract different audiences of "people". Which "people" are you intending to attract? Be specific about your audience; and what you expect out of them. And then the discussion can be about the exhibit design, or the content, or some strategies and gimmicks, for the intended result from the specific audience. "Intention" is a key word. I think the discussion would be better directed, to a notion of intentionally attracting specific groups and therefore naming and categorizing such groups. An exhibitor can either decide on a group and create an exhibit to attract them; or more likely have an idea for an exhibit and try to tailor the exhibit toward some group, or recognize which group is more likely to be interested. Then others can discuss the merits of any of those considerations. I observe that the notion of an exhibit, is moving from "this interests me, this is something I've done, I'm gonna show my work or interest"; to a desire to have some impact on some group (not "people", sorry) about some product or concept. If you wanna have an impact - attention, interest, etc. - you are obliged to identify *who*. Then you can figure out their interests; then you can figure out how your exhibit's content can attract them (or not). YOu can work that forwards, or backwards. "My Xenix word-processing exhibit which is my interest, won't attract teenagers who want gaming. That's fine, I'm focused on people who did word processing in the 1980's or earlier". Even so, having some text-based game program around, would not be a bad idea. David Gesswein's post, described his process for his recent exhibit designs; and also specific strategies for drawing interest. He didn't specify audiences but they were implied. David uses fewer words, better, than I. I don't/didn't plan to exhibit this year. But I'm impressed that this kind of discussion is going on. It's very thoughtful. Here's my thoughts about what I exhibited last year. --------------------- Last year, I chose to show a relatively impressive S-100 system - the Ithaca Intersystem DPS-1, two of 'em. To me, the amazing thing was to make them work! So my exhibit (and Web pages) were about that process of repair and diagnosis. For many people that's the hardest part; for some like me it's the most fun. http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/ith_feb16_repairs.html http://www.retrotechnology.com/vcfe11/vcfe_11.html Target audience? Probably "hardware" people over 40, plus people doing repair of S-100 stuff. "Impact" strategies? Lots of blinkin' lights, I included a Jade Bus Probe (look it up), and the Ithaca front panel is the best IEEE-696 toggle front panel ever made. And they booted CP/M - check how many DPS-1's described on the Web, aren't working. I displayed one-page flyers with bullet points, Web links. "Concept?" - show a good working S-100 system, support other S-100 exhibitors, I called that out beforehand. Bill Sudbrink showed working IMSAI and Altair and Cromemco early video products. A few other folks had S-100 systems, or sold S-100 in the Dealer's area. John Chapman gave a good talk on S-100 repair, I supported him with good questions, comments. We and other people did active repairs at John's exhibit, very nuts-and-bolts S-100 boards and meters and a hot soldering iron. But other audiences? Under-25, non-techies - they saw my "ugly boxes of big boards", yawn. John had tools, chips and cards on his table - that's interesting to tinkerers young and old. Collectively, we "represented" S-100. That was my prime objective. Hard for me to see how that could be topped, this year. ------------------ In general and to the topic: I think one emphasis for an Xenix exhibit, would be word processing and coding. Both use text tools, printers, formatting. Lots of keyboard time. In the early 1980's, "word processing" for home and small business was ground-breaking. There were still jobs for secretaries and documentation-writing and production. Not to mention, C programmers writing for Xenix, Unix, and of course those micro-computers. I'm sorry if that's boring for 20-somethings and younger. But their parents and grandparents DID this kind of work - or designed the software and hardware for it - and they too will be visiting VCF-East, so they are a target demographic. How to make this interesting for teens? - that's a considerable challenge that may only be met by other exhibits. But I dunno, someone may have an idea..... Herb Johnson retrotechnology.com

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Size of mattress during Workshop overnight
by Jeffrey Brace 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Twin XL is the size for those staying overnight.

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Workshop Important Info 1/14 & 1/15, 2017
by Jeffrey Brace 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Everyone who has already told me that they are coming will have a table. If you haven't told me, then you will have no table, be shunned and have to watch through the window from outside and watch everyone else play. ;) We are back to 9032-A because the 9010-A room as shown to be too small to accommodate us. LOCATION: InfoAge Building 9032A - (2201 Marconi Road, Wall Township, NJ) TIME: Start about 10 A.M. on Saturday and ends whenever we go to sleep. End about 5 P.M. on Sunday. (Starts around 10 A.M. Sunday morning) COST: - $10 for all members attending the workshop, which VCF donates to InfoAge as thanks for providing the space for us. - $25 for those wanting to stay overnight. Please pay me when you get there so that I don't forget. - OVERNIGHT: Bring your own pillow, blankets, soap etc. We provide a bed frame and an uncovered mattress. There are showers and a kitchen for your use. - We will have PayPal credit card swipes available. EQUIPMENT: - VCF will provide a table and you can use any available electrical outlet. - Bring your own tools, power strips, power cords and supplies etc. DRINKS: You should bring your own. I would recommend bringing a cooler of some type. FOOD: You provide your own. We may order pizza or go out to a dinner. Usually we make a decision when everyone gets hungry. GATE: During the hours from 1pm to 5pm close the front gate behind you. We want museum visitors to go to the front lobby and not wander through the middle of the campus. Outside of those times you can feel free to leave the gate open. PARKING: Park across from 9032A on the grass area. WEATHER: We will watch the weather very carefully. Snow is a predicted Saturday. We will make a judgement Friday night weather we will cancel due to snow. QUESTIONS? Please ask me (Jeff Brace) or Evan. My cell is 732-759-1783 and Evan’s is 646-546-9999 in case you need to contact us. See everyone there! And have fun! -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com

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Dan Kottke pitching a Raspberry Pi-like system
by Jeffrey Jonas 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

there are many many Raspberry Pi clones. Here are 5 slick commercial-videos for them. Daniel Kottke starts with a pitch for the Pine A64 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1l4I2UIw1Q 5 Raspberry-pi alternatives

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Ultibo
by jsalzman＠gmail.com 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Ultibo is not my project. I discovered it only because someone wrote a CP/M emulator in the environment. I assume Pascal was chosen because it's considered the "perfect" language due to its structured style and ease of use. Pascal is sometimes studied for programming theory for the same reason. Regardless, it's all compiled to machine code anyway, so even a made-up programming language could have been implemented. On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 11:16 AM, Douglas Crawford <touchetek(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hello: > > Pascal & Pi? You sent me through a rash of searches and web links to > figure that out. > I had no idea a Pascal derived from Borland lived on and thrived, let > alone was some folks choice even on embedded development. > The list of the supported environments on the Free Pascal wiki is fully > shocking to me. > The list of software produced with it is not so long on the wiki, but I > have used > one on the list PeaZip it works very well and of course had no idea of its > underpinnings. > > What are you implementing with it? Why have you stuck with Pascal? Its > fascinating to me. > > -Doug Crawford > >

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What are you working on for The next great workshop is Jan 14 & 15
by Jeffrey Brace 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Workshop attendees watcha workin on? Also let me know about overnight dorm stay if needed.

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Needed: one helper tomorrow
by Evan Koblentz 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

Can anyone help me in the museum and warehouse tomorrow? Dean was going to but he got sick. Contact me privately.

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OT: new product, Kickstarter campaign
by Dave McGuire 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

This is very much off-topic. Last year, I was introduced to a friend-of-a-friend who had a lighting control project with...shall we say "engineering problems". I was brought in to finish it up. While it's a simple concept, it also solves a real problem and is rather cool. It was a fun little project. They just fired up a Kickstarter campaign to fund the initial production run. You might see a familiar face in the video. ;) Here it is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/neilson/switcheroo-lighting-made-easy They're pretty close to their funding goal; it'd be great if you folks could help push him over the edge. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA

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What types of VCF exhibits do you like......Re: Advice on Xenix VCF exhibit
by Dan Roganti 12 Jan '17

12 Jan '17

thought I'd alter the subject just in case the thread police is looking :) As mentioned in the original thread, striking a balance with the types of exhibits is really the best option. I was fortunate to participate here for a decade and noticed at times there can be a shortage in the variety of exhibits. It's just plain logistics, it's very cumbersome to setup minicomputer exhibits. You can't make everyone happy. But you still can appeal to a wider audience, to help sell tickets -- and t-shirts :) In general, I always found it intriguing to make a VCF exhibit with case examples of computer being used in the industry, the real world, where it was put to work. I think that would make an attractive display, and steer away from the gamer. They already have different events around the country specifically for gamers. Versus a static exhibit of a computer, peripherals and software. Personally, I like to collect and record historical info like this about about my first job at SEL. They were around since the early days of the space race and were one of the many "grunts" in the industry. They had to fight for contracts against the big heavyweights such as IBM and the Seven dwarves. I entered their company midstream but I worked with many old timers. And it was very cool to learn of the many contracts they won while being a "grunt" in the market. About the fascinating projects we got to work on. Everything from Nasa, aerospace, military, nuclear, simulators, physics, etc, etc. There were some very exciting projects over there from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Despite the usual business politics from the suits, I was really proud to have a part in those projects. And so one of my pastimes, as best as I can, is collect info like this on my website. Most museums just collect the machine and software but you never hear about those exciting examples on where it was used. But in my case, finding one of those systems to use in an exhibit from my first job is about as rare as hen's teeth. Because the amount of systems produced is a far magnitude less than IBM or DEC. And then removing them from existing installations is highly improbable :) But this idea can still apply to any other systems out there. I never had a chance yet to exhibit an idea like this, but maybe some time in the future I can. And I would encourage others to try this. Because it goes beyond the "who designed" it or "who wired it", and more about the practical use of a computer. How it made a significant impact in the world. Take for example Mike's SAGE exhibit or in recent years the spreadsheet exhibit from Douglas. I know there's other examples of past exhibits like this that I can't recall at the moment. Some examples like this can obviously be difficult to obtain or replicate for those projects to make a live demonstration in a VCF exhibit. Perhaps just a simplified example can be produced, and I think that's still acceptable. It's not very easy bringing a nuclear power plant to VCF :) But it's nothing that some additional pictures, posters, or multimedia presentation which can supplement the exhibit because of space or logistics. So you can highlight the significance of this work in the real world. This idea may be more difficult for microcomputer exhibits. But one simple example I hoped to exhibit sometime in the future was how microcomputers were increasingly used in laboratory research. Mainly because of economics. Let's face it, companies had a strict budget. Some didn't need megabytes of storage or a supercomputer. And then 8bit CP/M computers were being outpaced by 16bit CP/M computers, then you had the IBM PC market and other 16bit desktop computers. Rugged systems is not really needed for this, but they could still calculate and compute large data sets from laboratory experiments. There are books from the 70s and 80s that illustrate how they were integrated with laboratory instruments to perform experiments. This reminds me of a very old article from the early 80s which I have no luck in recovering these days. During the early Apple][ heyday, they were already comparing the horsepower from the Eniac era. Where it was shown this was just as powerful as during the Manhattan project. Being able to simulate [ie. no graphics] the chain reactions by computing the Markov chain using Monte Carlo algorithms for a nuclear explosion. Maybe Homeland Security wouldn't be too keen these days on this kind of exhibit, but who knows !! So I always found it compelling to learn how computers were put to work. Dan

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