April 2017 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] NYC tonight: Peter Samson speaks on 1967 subway race (MIT/PDP-6)
by william degnan 21 Apr '17

21 Apr '17

hopefully someone will film this. The story is in the Hackers by Steven Levy in one of the first 5 chapters IIRC b On Fri, Apr 21, 2017 at 2:05 PM, Ken via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > [Peter Samson to be interviewed by Manhattan borough historian Michael > Miscione, NYC Fri. 4/21 7pm. Details below. -Ken] > > -------- > > > > *THE GREAT SUBWAY RACE OF 1967 *Fifty years ago an M.I.T. computer whiz > kid named *Peter Samson* and a group of his schoolmates attempted one of > the most audacious stunts in the history of the New York City subway > system. Samson programmed M.I.T.'s PDP-6 mainframe computer -- about the > size of a passenger elevator -- to calculate the most efficient route to > ride the entire subway system in the least amount of time. In their > outrageous attempt to break the existing riding record the team employed > payphones, runners, and a teletype hook-up between a makeshift "data > center" in midtown Manhattan and the mainframe in Cambridge, Mass. *Michael > Miscione,* the Manhattan Borough Historian, will interview Samson and one > of his schoolmates, *George Mitchell,* as they recount the *Great Subway > Race of 1967.* Come and find out how it all played out. > > Watch a 5-minute video preview: https://vimeo.com/212423979 > > > Read an article about it in the New York Times: https://nyti.ms/2pDoukH > > > Samson’s subway racing experience, by the way, was a mere colorful blip in > a much more substantive career. At M.I.T. he and his friends were the high > priests of the school’s still-new computer lab – the original “hackers,” a > term that originated in the lab. Their vision of computers as more than > just business calculators laid the foundation for today's personal computer > and video game era. They were the pioneers who would later move out west to > inspire and teach the Bill Gateses, Steve Wozniaks, and Steve Jobses! > > Do people today still try to break the subway riding record? Sure -- it > makes the news every year or two. But now they carry their route-planning > computers in their pocket. > > THE GREAT SUBWAY RACE OF 1967 > Friday, April 21 at 7:00p > > Hunter College West Building > Lecture Hall HW615 (6th floor) > SW corner of 68 St. & Lexington Ave., Manhattan > > Advance registration required > Free (or suggested donation: $15 + small fee) > RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-great-subway-race-of-1967- > tickets-33530635032 > > > Questions? Email mmiscione(a)manhattanbp.nyc.gov > > > Thanks to the following institutions for their generous support: > > CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities (CISC) at Hunter College > Hunter College Computer Science Department > Sam Schwartz Engineering > The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York > The New York Transit Museum > Freedean Tech > The Bowery Boys > Nerd Nite > Society for the Advancement of Social Studies (S.A.S.S.!) > ATX Nation > >

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Little adventure today
by Evan Koblentz 21 Apr '17

21 Apr '17

Ted Nelson is sorting through a lot boxes in multiple buildings on his farm here in central NJ. Yesterday he had Jason Scott visit to take some brochures and things for Archive.org scanning. Today he had me over to put aside interesting periodicals for our museum. Quote of the day #1: "Here. These issues were Calvin's." (aka Calvin Moeers, the inventor of TRAC) Quote of the day #2: "A jacket is a system of pockets connected by decorative cloth." http://vcfed.org/evan/evan_ted.jpg ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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AS/400 stuff in Ohio, Dialogic AMX
by Ethan 21 Apr '17

21 Apr '17

A friend of mine from the laser community has AS/400 systems in his basement that he is looking to clear out. He was talking about scrapping the boards, but I said I'd ping some people. "No this not a red stripe.. They are 36" tall units.. the iframe models 1995-1997. I emailed two of the companies they resell them, they said too heavy to ship. So going to pull the boards, and sell for scrap gold unless you have a idea. Going to look at the boards as I pull to sell I have fiber boards for these old things and ram I have a few hundred pounds of fiber trancievers for 10-base-t to 10-base-f that I am going to scrap and 50-60lbs of Dialogic AMX boards. Anyone into this stuff?

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OT: Looking for a new job
by Jason Perkins 21 Apr '17

21 Apr '17

VCFers, I'm looking for a new job at the moment. If anyone knows of a systems / network admin position in the DC area could you drop me a line? I've mainly worked with Microsoft stuff (ADDS, Exchange, Powershell...) but have done some Linux stuff as well. On the networking side Sonicwall is what I'm most familiar with, followed by Cisco. Thanks! -- Jason Perkins 313 355 0085

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tablets -- good news
by Evan Koblentz 21 Apr '17

21 Apr '17

All of the museum info kiosks (tablets) are now driven by a single Raspberry Pi. Special thanks to Jeff Galinat for donating the microcontroller. Special thanks to Bill Dudley for configuring it, creating a web admin/content interface, and building a remote access system. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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So who's going to the Workshop May 5 & 6, 2017?
by Jeffrey Brace 20 Apr '17

20 Apr '17

So who's going? It looks like things will be tight as we have 100,000 people signed up already. Signup here to reserve your space: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1waEqeNHZeYM9t7OprYWHbwBrIVS9EzGNGl7… -- Jeff Brace - ark72axow(a)gmail.com Sent from my Commodore 64 ========================================================

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Little adventure today
by Evan Koblentz 20 Apr '17

20 Apr '17

Ted Nelson is sorting through a lot boxes in multiple buildings on his farm here in central NJ. Yesterday he had Jason Scott visit to take some brochures and things for Archive.org scanning. Today he had me over to put aside interesting periodicals for our museum. Quote of the day #1: "Here. These issues were Calvin's." (aka Calvin Moeers, the inventor of TRAC) Quote of the day #2: "A jacket is a system of pockets connected by decorative cloth." http://vcfed.org/evan/evan_ted.jpg

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Success in restoring old mechanical keyboards
by John Heritage 20 Apr '17

20 Apr '17

Hey folks, You probably all know this but I wanted to report success in restoring some old Focus 2001 mechanical keyboards... I've had these around since the BBS era, and they were quite yellowed (and pretty disgusting otherwise too.. :( ).. Anyway, after doing some research -- Salon Care 40 Volume Creme is basically "retrobright" in a bottle. $5 for 32 oz, and I still have a lot left over (next case to restore = Amiga 1200). Attached pic shows basically a before and after (two different keyboards, but both were equally as bad). A few things I learned: - 4 hours of sunlight (UV) is enough, 6 hours with clouds is just enough with the solution - Use cling wrap over top of any plastic you've applied the solution to to keep it wet -Soaking the keycaps in dish soap and hot water for a few hours does wonders, then: - You can be a little lazy with keys by putting them in a glass bowl, pouring 3% hydrogen peroxide over everything, and putting aluminum foil underneath to make sure UV bounces everywhere. With this method you'll probably need a second bath or manual application of the creme to restore all keys properly. - I used a lot of q-tips and 90% rubbing alcohol to clean the keyboard and electronics internals - Of course wear gloves with this stuff - Using a keyboard with an XT/AT switch on a modern PC is fun :)

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: Looking for a new job
by Alexander 20 Apr '17

20 Apr '17

It's fun crossing 66 and 495 on my commute to work, looking down from the overpass and knowing that I don't have to drive on either one to get where I'm going. 66 westbound out of the interchange is perpetually jammed. -Alexander 'Z' Pierson Sent from my pocket telephone. Chris Fala via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: >Oh yeah, Rt. 66 is fun! > > > >On Thu, Apr 20, 2017 at 2:17 PM, Systems Glitch via vcf-midatlantic < >vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vintagecomputerfederation.org> wrote: > >> > It's in Arlington VA, where a $100K house costs like $550K. Or more. >> >> But you can have the convenience of living in a condo in Winchester -- >> just commute in! :P >> >> Thanks, >> Jonathan >>

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PC-sized rescue needed in Rockville MD
by Evan Koblentz 19 Apr '17

19 Apr '17

There's a Columbia MPC (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=633&st=1) being donated to us in Rockville, Maryland. We need someone to pick it up and bring it to the museum. This is an interesting system. It's an IBM 5150 clone before Compaq. ________________________________ Evan Koblentz, director Vintage Computer Federation a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org facebook.com/vcfederation twitter.com/vcfederation instagram.com/vcfederation

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