July 2019 - vcf-midatlantic

Osborne for good home
by Evan Koblentz 17 Jul '19

17 Jul '19

NOT MINE/NOT VCF's -- contact Greg -- Greg(a)BurlingtonTelecom.Net -- do not reply on this list.

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 17 Jul '19

17 Jul '19

Moderate number of visitors today. One visitor insisted that he bought an IBM PC in 1979. :) I politely explained that it debuted in 1981, but he was adamant about it. He offered to bet me, as if he'd Google it and prove me wrong ... I was tempted to ask how much is in his bank account! Today's best visitor was an 11-year-old who said he codes in JavaScript and Python. Bill I. stopped by to do some preliminary evaluation of the EAI TR-20 that we got last month. It has some parts that he can use to get our other '20 running, including an EAI-branded digital volt meter. Among the EAI documentation, Bill found an unrelated CD that contains an important file which I misplaced several years ago! This time I uploaded the file to Google Drive or safe keeping. I also made some tweaks to our museum network to keep it secure. The new hotspot was set to allow 10 simultaneous connections, but it only needs one connection (to a wifi/Ethernet bridge) into our firewall and the rest of the network. So I changed that value to one; thus even with the credentials nobody can get on that network. No need for any extras, right?

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Fernando J. Corbató obit
by Glenn Roberts 17 Jul '19

17 Jul '19

Fernando J. Corbató, a scientist who fostered the digital revolution by developing shared computer operating systems and also put his stamp on daily life by introducing the computer password, died July 12 at a nursing home in Newburyport, Mass. He was 93Colleagues and historians of the computer world honored Dr. Corbató for work that drastically expanded the usefulness of the computer and put its benefits at the reach of all. Obit from Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/fernando-corbato-dies-at-93- mit-scientist-fostered-the-digital-revolution--and-the-computer-password/201 9/07/16/e1f454ac-a68c-11e9-86dd-d7f0e60391e9_story.html?utm_term=.4f7f9919aa 09

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Funny
by Evan Koblentz 16 Jul '19

16 Jul '19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdgvceSBroU&feature=share

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fly me to the moon ... (50th anniversary)
by Herb Johnson 16 Jul '19

16 Jul '19

So: where can I find more information, about the "maybe in Phila?" display of the restored AGC? I asked the Google. http://rescue1130.blogspot.com appears to be a running account of AGC restoration activity, by Carl Claunch, who is apparently involved. Otherwise, I could not readily find by Web search, another specific Web page or blog, that was an "authoritative" means to know what's going on with that restoration (or where it might be demonstrated). Any Web search for the Apollo AGC is saturated with all the replicas that are in construction now, and in the past; and links to those discussions, links to the links, etc. Plus discussions about the AGC and the Apollo program, etc. I checked the Computer History Museum Web site; Evan mentioned some connection. A search there, shows they have a AGC artifact, a prototype. No references to activities involving it or other AGC's, but 9300 search hits found on the Web site. The link to the CHM blog, on their home page, is broken. Of course, I may be asking about something that doesn't exist - a central Web site or even blog, about this artifact. Maybe it has its own Twitter feed, for all I know - I avoid the stuff myself. This kind of "diaspora" appears normal, seems to me, for what used to be called "the Web". regards, Herb Johnson -- 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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Alan Turing is the new face of the Bank of England's £50 note
by Christian Liendo 15 Jul '19

15 Jul '19

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-48962557 I think this is a rather nice tribute. I may have to get a few

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 14 Jul '19

14 Jul '19

Moderate amount of visitors today (and yesterday). Some beach tourists, some locals. Neil stopped by today and got our new hotspot connected to our network, via the wireless-to-ethernet bridge from Dean. Neil had to change some network settings because the bridge wanted to use the same stuff as our firewall. After that (and after drawing a network map to visualize it all), the rest of the job was smooth sailing. So now we're back online, and supposedly this is a more reliable Internet connection than we had with the old Netgear modem. Jeff Brace and I will keep an eye on it. I am skeptical that a hotspot can run 24/7 but we'll see. Evan Koblentz Executive Director, Vintage Computer Federation evan(a)vcfed.org / (646) 546-9999 www.vcfed.org @vcfederation

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Museum stuff this week
by Evan Koblentz 14 Jul '19

14 Jul '19

It's going to be a busy week at our museum: - Tony is stopping by tomorrow to pick up our latest straight Apple II for evaluation. - I will be there for normal open hours on Wednesday. - Bill Drom. and Duane will be there Thursday/Friday working on the Univac. - Adam and I will be there Friday doing warehouse organizing. - Then there's the repair workshop on the weekend.

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Semi-OT: Update on Maker Media
by Evan Koblentz 11 Jul '19

11 Jul '19

https://hackaday.com/2019/07/10/maker-media-reboots-itself-as-make-communit…

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Museum report
by Evan Koblentz 10 Jul '19

10 Jul '19

Lots of visitors today, especially toward the end of the day. Also a couple of weird guys named Jeff and Corey stopped by. :) (They picked up supplies for VCF West next month.) Corey looked at the new-to-us Apple II and said it's better than the one we have on display. So I will swap them.

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