February 2019 - vcf-midatlantic

Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Hackfest Tomorrow
by Bob Aviles 09 Feb '19

09 Feb '19

Hi Tony, I have a Sony 13" TV working, interest in the C64 or Atari 800.Where is the Hackfest locate at? Bobby On Friday, February 8, 2019, 10:20:10 PM EST, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: Could use an apple And c64 Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > On Feb 8, 2019, at 8:37 PM, andy diller via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > I'll see everyone there early tomorrow. > > I'll have with me: > > - Mac w/ Booterizer project to install various flavors of IRIX on any SGIs loitering around without an OS > - Amiga 2000 to copy some disks > - Some repairs- A pismo trying to get to boot, busted SGI PSU > > Some stuff for sale or trade: working C64, 1702 monitor, Atari 600xl, Atari 800, Apple IIe, Mac SE analog boards, plus any other junk I can gather up and sell for super cheap or trade - i"m looking for some oldish (non-digital) Small 13" sized color TVs. > >

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oldest spreadsheet
by Herb Johnson 06 Feb '19

06 Feb '19

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3692283/The-diary-pyramid-b… Long link, but it amounts to the Cairo Museum's July 2016 display of papyrus found in 2013 which are associated with building the Great Pyramid, during the 4th Dynasty of King Khufu. Look hard, and you'll find an image of what's clearly a table of entries inscribed in rectangular blocks. This came to my attention on a recent cable TV history show on the Great Pyramid, where the narrator/archeologist referred to these as a "Excel spreadsheet" of the supplies logistics at the port of entry for pyramid goods and supplies. Hieroglyphics for numeric values are not overly complicated, so with patience one may be able to read off some of the notations. In the cited description, it even says "Revenue was written in red, while what was paid to workers would be written in black." It's not quite a computer spreadsheet. But to see credit/debt paper ledgers from 45 centuries ago is informative, and exciting. And among the first business use of computers was for bookkeeping of this class. so it has some meaning to vintage computing. I don't know if the Babylonians used clay tablets in this fashion. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net preserve, recover, restore 1970's computing email: hjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT com or try later herbjohnson AT retrotechnology DOT info

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NE-PA - SGI Indy for sale
by Evan Koblentz 06 Feb '19

06 Feb '19

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageComputersForSale/permalink/277060219… DO NOT REPLY TO ME OR THE LIST about this. Merely "seen on Facebook".

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More facets of hard disk recovery (SA1000, RD53) and emulation
by Herb Johnson 06 Feb '19

06 Feb '19

David Gesswein: Dealing with stuck head problem with Quantum Q2040 drives http://www.pdp8online.com/q2040/q2040.shtml ---------------- I've heard a suggestion to replace or overlay a gooey rubber-bumper in a drive, with a dab of DAP or similar silicon sealant. Replacing the bumper is ideal, but presumably overlaying the bumper with new material may restore some hardners and firm-up the residue. I'd worry about fumes from the fresh sealant contaminating the platters or heads, perhaps some airflow would reduce that problem. But this is all about recovery so there's already risks, some risks are less than others. Herb -- Herbert R. Johnson, New Jersey in the USA http://www.retrotechnology.com OR .net

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Signup Repair Workshop February 2019 VCF
by Jeffrey Brace 06 Feb '19

06 Feb '19

You can still sign-up for the February 9 & 10 workshop here: < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11Iy1jqPJqVzY1gnGRrHfLfIcx5IQ82QkkaB… > Also I added two columns for InfoAge purposes: e-mail address and zip code. InfoAge now requires an after event form with a list of attendees and uses the e-mail addresses and zip codes for grant purposes. - IA thrives on grants and grassroots marketing - Granters want such demographic info from grantees - IA knows it must do better at marketing - Compliance is optional - As far as VCF knows, the info won't be used for any other purposes, but this is out of our control - However what's good for IA is generally good for VCF If you have any questions about this, please let me know. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Possible visits to the area in February
by Ethan Dicks 05 Feb '19

05 Feb '19

Hi, All, I'm still waiting for the GO to book travel, but as of today, it appears I might be on an assignment in Jersey City from 18-21 Feb and 25-28 Feb. This would be an "in on Monday AM, out Thursday PM" sort of cycle so any adventures would have to be on Monday through Wednesday evenings. I do not have word that I'll get a rental covered, so I might be limited to the area around the hotel and/or out-of-pocket Ubers or public transportation. Also, it seems likely to expect our team will have one or more evenings planned together. Checking maps, the "recommended" (read: mandatory per customer instructions) hotel is right by the Newport PATH station, making it easy to catch trains. Given those narrow time constraints, I could be up for going out to dinner at some point across those two weeks. It's probably best to nail down exact evenings after I arrive and find out when the team is going out, but I wanted to mention my likely arrival with enough lead-time to plan. There may be further trips down the line, but we are only scheduling out to the end of March for now. Cheers, -ethan

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Feb Repair Workshop - 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 05 Feb '19

05 Feb '19

It seems that the permissions on the signup spreadsheet weren't set correctly. I kept getting requests to get access. The permissions should be fixed now. Please signup for the February 2019 VCF Repair Workshop which will be February 9 & 10. < https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11Iy1jqPJqVzY1gnGRrHfLfIcx5IQ82QkkaB… > -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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OT: Coloring the Universe: NASA Visualization Lead at InfoAge Mar 9, 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

As I came into be docent today I saw a flyer for an InfoAge event that I thought others in this group might be interested in. Kimberly Kowal Arcand will be a guest speaker at InfoAge on Mar. 9, 2019. Ms. Arcand is the Visualization Lead for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge Massachusetts. Cost is $15 per person. Seating limited. For more information and to signup: http://infoage.org/arcand/ -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Museum report (for yesterday)
by Evan Koblentz 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

Two groups of visitors yesterday. An older couple who used minicomputers in the 1970s, and then another couple who visited last month but came back with their 20-something son who's a software developer. Bill I. also visited and we talked about plans for the EAI TR-20 analog computer. His goal is to get it running by VCF East.

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Apple III
by Randall Kindig 03 Feb '19

03 Feb '19

If anyone is interested in hearing from David Fradin, who was one of the product managers at Apple for the Apple III and other hardware, I’ve just published Floppy Days episode 89 at: http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-89-the-apple-iii-part-3-with-david… <http://floppydays.libsyn.com/floppy-days-89-the-apple-iii-part-3-with-david…> This is the third and last in the series on Floppy Days about the Apple III. Randy Kindig

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