February 2022 - vcf-midatlantic

Commodore 1702 door
by svcatitc＠aol.com 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

Jeffrey Brace jeffrey at vcfed.org Writes:Wed Sep 2 13:48:24 EDT 2020 Sounds like an Outer Limits episode where the world was taken apart and remade every moment and sometimes they made mistakes which is why when you lose your keys you find time in a place that you already searched. I thought this was a Spielberg "Amazing Stories" episode, obviously not. The episode is: "A Matter of Minutes" is the third segment of the fifteenth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Minutes I remember that scene where the couple is in the "Void of White Space" and the "Supervisor of the Maintenance of Time" says: (paraphrasing) "Ya know how you go back to look for something you know is supposed to be there multiple times and then it finally is where you thoughtit should be? That's us. We forgot something. We are now working on moving Christmas!" I personally call them the "Minute-Ahead" men and you may hear me at a workshop cursing at them!!!! I DOOO BELIEVE! Bill Inderrieden

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Wordle in BASIC
by Christian Liendo 30 Jun '22

30 Jun '22

Someone posted what looks like a BASIC program called Wordle from Creative Computing. https://twitter.com/katie_panda/status/1496607013589204998/photo/1

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FYI: Vintage Anniversaries
by Jeffrey Brace 09 Jun '22

09 Jun '22

As part of the brainstorming for VCF East themes we came up with anniversaries. I am sharing them here. I'm sure that there are many more that we missed, so this list isn't exhaustive, but these are the most interesting and important that came to mind when brainstorming. I thought I would share to inspire and as an FYI. Space War = 1962 Removable Storage = 1962 C programming = 1972 Magnavox Odyssey = 1972 Pong = 1972 Bell’s Law = 1972 Commodore 64 = 1982 Timex Sinclair = 1982 Tron = 1982 Knight Rider = 1982 Linux = 1992 Vintage Computer Festival = 1997 ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Show-runner VCF Mid-Atlantic Executive Director Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize
by Bob Shuster 04 May '22

04 May '22

Oops, I missed one of my favorite computers, my Mac Plus 1MB with hard drive. I updated the Google sheet listing. Btw, I think I’m going to move the list over to a webpage. Google Sheets is not well-suited for a complex format like this and is very prone to accidentally deleting items (which I did with several!) I’ll send a new link when I’ve done that (and added a significant amount of new items, probably Atari next…) Bob Shuster

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VCF Swap Meet discussion on YouTube Stream of Mike's Mac Shack, Steve(Mac84) and Sean (Action Retro)
by Jeffrey Brace 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

Saw this posted on Twitter originally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSYxCHe_P0 (Mike and Steve Went To The VCF Swap Meet. Did They Come Home With Goodies?) I haven't gone through it all the way, but so far it's fun what they are talking about. Two of these YouTube Streamers went to our Swap Meet this past weekend and talked about what they picked up. This is great exposure for VCF and I hadn't known much about these guys before this. Be warned, it is 5 hours and 17 minutes long. Enjoy! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Jim Scheef (DACS prez still?)
by Jeffrey Brace 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

On Sun, Feb 27, 2022 at 2:00 AM skogkatt007--- via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > You on here? I could find your contact through DACS but I figured this > might be easier. > Hello, I forwarded your e-mail to Jim. What is your name by the way? You didn't leave a signature, so I wasn't sure how to identify you to Jim. Jeff Brace

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Swap Meet feedback: How did it go?
by Jeffrey Brace 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

Just looking for feedback from everyone. What went well? What can be improved? Feel free to reply to this or send me a private message. Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Swap Meet feedback: How did it go?
by RETRO Innovations 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

On 2/28/2022 11:41 AM, Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > One of the best ideas that you guys had was not requiring an entrance fee for the buyers. > > I don’t know how many people on this list realize this but the Hamfests and other computer shows charge for buyer admission. > Sometimes up to $10 or more depending on the venue. > Some of these events have more than just a swapmeet or Hamfest and can justify the charge. > > If it is just going to be a indoor or outdoor, especially outdoor swap meet/Hamfest, > then no charge to buyers is actually a very good idea. > > Also, I have seen the Hamfests in the area charge vendors $25 and up for spaces if you’re not a member. > And still charging admission fees of up to $10. > > In reality the admission fee for vendors should pay for their operating costs, If done properly. > > And the result would be a larger attendance overall. > > My observation and two cents. > > Mike Rosen I have little to add, since I was not able to attend, but I wanted to align with this perspective. Charging vendors and using those funds to underwrite the cost of the event reduces the entry barrier and maximizes engagement. Vendors don't mind (some view it as the cost of early access, while others see it as simply the funds needed to justify the event), and attendees have little excuse not to attend. Of course, if traffic gets too high, attendance fees can help manage it, so it can be useful as well. Jim -- RETRO Innovations, Contemporary Gear for Classic Systems www.go4retro.com store.go4retro.com

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Swap Meet feedback: How did it go?
by Adam Michlin 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

To my mind, the event is nothing without the vendors and a perk of being a vendor should be having early access to other vendors especially since we want vendors manning their table during open to public hours. Whatever "official" hours we post, there will always be "unofficial" hours. And it is worth mentioning that vendors are the only ones paying to be there. So early vendor to vendor access at 7am and general public access at 8am seems to be the worst option except for all those other options that have been tried from time to time (with apologies to Churchill). -Adam On Mon, Feb 28, 2022 at 11:53 AM Sentrytv via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > Well I guess they can tighten up restrictions on everybody, to stay at their own table after moving stuff in. > Until the pre-arranged time. > > But then it wouldn’t be fun would it? > > > Sent from: > My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device. > > On Feb 28, 2022, at 11:27 AM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > Oh I remember it :). LIke I said, this isn't a new problem. There's > really nothing to be done about it. It's just frustrating to drive a > long distance to come to an event that is mostly done 15 after it's > opened. > > -d > > On Mon, Feb 28, 2022 at 11:26 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic > <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > > On 2/28/22 11:02, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > >> Unfortunately, the real 'problem' is something that's the case in any > >> hamfest, swapfest, etc. 95% of the 'dealing' is done before hte > >> public arrives. I am as guilty of this as the next person, but I was > >> in there 20m after the official opening date, and the piles of 'sold!' > >> gear was enormous. Too many buyers, too little gear maybe? > > > > Hahaaa, surely you remember when you and I would often get a selling > > spot at TCF in the mid-1980s with the express purpose of getting in > > early and having a place to put our purchased goodies! :-) > > > > -Dave > > > > -- > > Dave McGuire, AK4HZ > > New Kensington, PA > > > > -- > Dave Shevett > shevett(a)pobox.com >

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Volunteer hours for 2021
by Jeffrey Brace 01 Mar '22

01 Mar '22

Hello everyone, InfoAge needs an estimate of volunteer hours for their tax return. It benefits them a lot. The more hours the volunteers report, the better for them. Not everyone is using https://www.trackitforward.com/ to keep track of their hours on a weekly basis, so estimation is necessary now. If you could estimate how many hours that you volunteered in 2021 including talking on the phone, meetings, docent duty, repair workshops, etc. Basically anything that you did for VCF. I know that this is hard to estimate for the whole year, but it really helps InfoAge a lot. It shouldn't take too long if you are only estimate. To make it easier just figure out how many times you did something (i.e. docent every week for 4 hours, repair workshop every month for 15 hours, etc.) and the number of hours you spent doing it. InfoAge needs this quickly as they are preparing their taxes, so if you can get it to me within a week, then they would appreciate it! You can send me a private e-mail with the number of hours for the year. Thanks! ========================================= Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity http://www.vcfed.org/ jeffrey(a)vcfed.org

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