October 2020 - vcf-midatlantic

VCF T-shirts
by Jeffrey Brace 12 Oct '20

12 Oct '20

I had made an order a month ago for anyone wanting a t-shirt to be picked up on-site at InfoAge. I got a limited response. Now I have some people asking me if they can buy one. I can do a special order for those who still want a VCF 2020 t-shirt. However this will be the last order and I will not order any extras. For anyone that wants it mail ordered to their house you can go to: http://vcfed.org/wp/t-shirts If you want one that you can pick up from our museum, then send me a private e-mail with your preference in color (Green, Amber), size, quantity. Go to the above address to see what the t-shirts look like. Cost of t-shirt is $20. Ordering online adds to the cost a shipping charge. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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VCF East 2020 was a success!
by Jeffrey Brace 12 Oct '20

12 Oct '20

Phew!! I'm glad to get a day off from work the day after the show. I need the rest! It was a long, yet very rewarding weekend. It took a lot of time and effort to make this show happen. I enjoy doing the show because I see the joy that others get from the show. It was a disappointment for me and many of you that we couldn't do a live show this year. Some people recommended I simply cancel, but I refused. I pushed forward to find a way to make the show happen and make it fun, exciting and inspiring. I believe that happened. It was a challenge for me to balance work, other VCF events and my personal life for this event. It was very difficult to fit in the time in my busy life. It was also difficult to transition to a virtual show which I had never done before. There was a learning curve for the technology and logistics of doing a virtual show. I had the benefit of VCF West and other shows which had gone before me and to learn from them. I also had the benefit of volunteers who had experience in the technical aspects of implementing a virtual show. We still had the inevitable technical hiccups, glitches and failures, yet for the most part things went well. Myself as well as others had to learn something new for this show. Many exhibitors learned how to record, edit and render videos for their exhibits. It was a challenge for them as well. Some things I did last minute (like create Discord channels for the show), but I think for the most part things ran smoothly. We learned a lot from doing this show that we didn't think about beforehand (sometimes adjusting on the fly). For example, we learned from Day 1 and made Day 2 better. If we ever do another virtual show, we will improve upon it. Also we plan on making a true hybrid for next year's show with in-person and virtual experiences. I couldn't have made this show happen without the help of many volunteers. I want to thank the follow in helping me to make this show happen: Kay Savetz, Andy Diller, Chris Fala, Corey Cohen, Adam Michelin, Tony Bogan, Bill Inderrieden, Marcus Mera, Jason Perkins, Ian Primus, Alex Jacocks, Jonthan Sturges, Jeff Salzman, Kaz Kuroi, Anthony Bolan, Amiga Bill, Mike Brutman, plus all of the exhibitors, instructors and presenters who submitted videos, answered questions live, and participated on discord channels. Without all of these volunteers this show wouldn't have been as great as it was! -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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OT: I need a job
by Andy Meyer 12 Oct '20

12 Oct '20

Folks, I'm being hit particularly hard by the pandemic lockdown. Basically, I'm about to run out of savings. If anyone knows of any remote/wfh opportunities, please contact me off list. My skillset includes such vintage computer arcana as CP/M, MBASIC and RS-232 serial interfacing. TIA, Andy N2FYE

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OT - Amazon Prime Day is October 13th!!
by Martin Flynn 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

Just a reminder: Amazon Prime Day is October 13th. If you are shopping on Amazon, start here: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-4133714 Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to the VCFed. This link works even if started shopping already Go to https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-4133714 and pick up where you left off. More details on the Smile program are here: https://org.amazon.com/

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] slight diversion, was "Looking for some knowledgeable with the Harvard Mark I"
by Brian L. Stuart 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

On Sunday, October 11, 2020, 1:50:25 PM EDT, Jim Scheef via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Are you sure that Aiken was aware of Babbage? Babbage is still > not well known > even today. Jim, The most telling information is that the first chapter of the manual of operation is titled "Historical Introduction" and discusses Babbage. The chapter is introduced by a quote from Babbage that begins: "If, unwarned by my example, any man shall undertake and shall succeed in really constructing an engine..." In the back of my mind, I seem to remember some references where Aiken mentioned being inspired by Babbage. However, I'd have to do some digging to actually find such a reference. BLS From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Brian L. Stuart via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2020 11:41 AM To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org Cc: Brian L. Stuart <blstuart(a)bellsouth.net>; Jeffrey Jonas <jeffrey.scott.jonas(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] slight diversion, was "Looking for some knowledgeable with the Harvard Mark I"

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RE: [vcf-midatlantic] slight diversion, was "Looking for some knowledgeable with the Harvard Mark I"
by Jim Scheef 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

Brian, Are you sure that Aiken was aware of Babbage? Babbage is still not well known even today. Jim From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Brian L. Stuart via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2020 11:41 AM To: vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org Cc: Brian L. Stuart <blstuart(a)bellsouth.net>; Jeffrey Jonas <jeffrey.scott.jonas(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] slight diversion, was "Looking for some knowledgeable with the Harvard Mark I"

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slight diversion, was "Looking for some knowledgeable with the Harvard Mark I"
by Jeffrey Jonas 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

Jim Scheef: > My memory sort of distills down to the factoid > that the Mark I had almost no ability to branch in a "program" That's why the "Turing machine" is so important: it describes the bare minimum required for true automatic operation. I had that sort of epiphany in Jr High School when learning programming the Compucorp 025 Educator programmable calculator. [The Olivetti Programma 101 was in the corner, already obsolete but I poked at it and admired its features such as magnetic card reader/writer] Most programs were just automating a specific formula. But the real power of the computer was the BRANCH statement. Then it could make DECISIONS, not just spew numbers. [That's why many folks pigeon-holed computers as super-duper calculators, calling them "number crunchers". It was a step up from rooms of people doing repetitive calculations such as book-keeping or trig-tables. That was the mindset for the IBM ASCC / Harvard Mark I until Grace Hopper, Alan Turing and other saw beyond such self-imposed limitations.] Back to the Compucorp: not all functions had keys. The stylus-punched cards allowed access to many more instructions and features. The keys allowed "special functions" such as ONE test and branch to a fixed location. But programming with cards allowed for many test-and-jumps allowing for much more complex programs! And THEN you can write "real" programs :-) Before you say "I'm glad we no longer have such limitations", please be aware that deep down, many systems have similar limitations. Many microcontrollers and the early PDP processors had only ONE interrupt to a fixed location (vs. vectored interrupts). Bear-skins and stone-knives indeed :-) My point being that in addition to what you learn about the machine, the context is part of the story too.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Looking for some knowledgeable with the Harvard Mark I
by Jeffrey Jonas 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

There are some glorious YouTube videos of Grace Hopper showing the wide paper-tape containing the programming, and how she had to literally patch it (cover holes, add holes, etc). I vaguely remember her mentioning how it was an early form of parallel processing: calculations could be run simultaneously on each functional unit (so long as there were no data hazards). Such optimization was meticulously planned by hand. In a way, we're revisiting that with super-scalar RISC, DSPs or EPIC (Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing). My point being there's WHAT it can do (instruction set, data paths) and then there's HOW it was used. The compelling historical element is how it was all PEOPLE, not software. But Grace Hopper's Flow-Matic was an amazing leap forward. Like Alan Turing, she understood that computers can process SYMBOLS and handle all the drudgery of programming! -- jeff jonas

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VCF Day #2
by Jeffrey Brace 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

DATE: Sunday October 11, 2020 TIME: 9AM to 6PM WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/vintagecomputerfederation501c3/ ASK : DISCORD: https://discord.gg/u4ybsBK OR E-MAIL: microphone(a)vcfed.org SCHEDULE: http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-east/vcf-east-2020-… -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783 <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President & Board Member Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org cell: 732-759-1783

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] slight diversion, was "Looking for some knowledgeable with the Harvard Mark I"
by Glenn Roberts 11 Oct '20

11 Oct '20

Interesting story. I was looking at the (very nice) one on eBay (202637078233). Fascinating machine. I don’t see a card reading mechanism - was that a peripheral? Sent from my iPad > On Oct 11, 2020, at 5:09 AM, Jeffrey Jonas via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: >

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