- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

past, present and future
by Herb Johnson 20 Jun '21

20 Jun '21

> [ a future VCFed exhibit on] PC Transporter for the Apple > //e. I will also be able to show demos of Ted Nelson's JOT and Jef > Raskin's SWYFT systems for anyone interested. Sounds good to me. I'm familiar with some of Ted Nelson's work. I never saw JOT in action. Raskin, I"ve heard of. Not sure what the Apple product has to do with either person's interests. I'm over 60 by the way, so these are contemporary to me. > The potential uses for them I see in the > decentralized internet space (which is already being crowded out by > corporate interests). I am not aware of "decentralized internet". I did a Web search, and it seems to be something that MIT people are looking at for grants and funding (and businesses and IPO's). As in: https://dci.mit.edu/decentralizedweb That does not strike me, as a vintage computing subject. I'm not in charge of those judgements, but I think it's a fair call to make. If MIT is talking up half a dozen start-ups to supersede the modern Internet, it's not "vintage". I have no clue about such stuff, myself. And I'd suggest, a lot of my vintage computing colleagues won't know either. I don't think this should lead to a thread of explanation. As you said, "contact you privately". I myself think that would be off-topic. I used a search engine to learn more; so can others. But you know: vintage computing things, don't *have to be* potentially usable today. They have their own time and place where they were (or weren't) in use. They should be considered in their context. Vintage things, often are simpler and more approachable. More familiar to those of that time; and static so they can be examined by people of after that time. This is something I know about. Still, my opinions. But to see old stuff in use today, is kinda fun, if that's reasonable. To that extent, I have a "different opinion", which you asked about. 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 comcast DOT net

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Prop rentals, another way VCF raises money
by Jeffrey Brace 20 Jun '21

20 Jun '21

So VCF just rented out a NeXT computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse to a TV show fo Apple TV+. The show will be called Ripple Effects. It is still in production, but you can see some info about the show here: https://screenmag.com/elisabeth-moss-series-chooses-chicago-leonardo-dicapr… Our computer will appear in a scene with another NeXT computer. ========================================= 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

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Your selected charity received a $32.71 donation from AmazonSmile
by Gregg Levine 19 Jun '21

19 Jun '21

Hello! It's a big rabbit hole. That's the same amount that shows on mine. (Not at this address) So far I've gone and left the setting, and so far everything that gets bought by me from Amazon goes that way. So... It could be anyone else who has gone ahead and done so. ----- Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8(a)gmail.com "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again." On Sat, Jun 19, 2021 at 9:45 AM David Hayden via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > "This is my Amazon Smile donation to VCF for this quarter ?" > > That's what they want you to think. But the fine print shows something different: > > "... the amount of $32.71 as a result of qualifying purchases made by you AND OTHER CUSTOMERS who have selected this charity" > > While your purchases certainly help, they don't help as much as you might think. > > Dave >

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RE: Your selected charity received a $32.71 donation from AmazonSmile
by David Hayden 19 Jun '21

19 Jun '21

"This is my Amazon Smile donation to VCF for this quarter ?" That's what they want you to think. But the fine print shows something different: "... the amount of $32.71 as a result of qualifying purchases made by you AND OTHER CUSTOMERS who have selected this charity" While your purchases certainly help, they don't help as much as you might think. Dave

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past, present and future
by Jeffrey Jonas 19 Jun '21

19 Jun '21

I hope the URLs weren't munged by the cut-and-paste 1) https://spectrum.ieee.org/video/geek-life/profiles/extended-directors-cut-t… Extended Director's Cut: Ted Nelson on What Modern Programmers Can Learn From the Past The inventor of hypertext talks about the birth of personal computing, the web, and how to think beyond the currently possible Editors Note: Due to popular demand, we're releasing this extended version of our interview with Ted Nelson, in which he talks about the work of Douglas Englebart, and in more detail about the origins of Xanadu, and how he views programs as art. … Back in the summer of 2016, Nelson was a keynote speaker at Vintage Computing Festival East in New Jersey and IEEE Spectrum had the chance to interview him off-stage. 2) computer history as of 1978 https://ia802603.us.archive.org/28/items/byte-magazine-1978-07-rescan/1978_… July 1978 Byte: pg 48: ANTIQUE MECHANICAL COMPUTERS, Part 1: Early Automata History-Williams pg 64: The First Ten Years of Amateur Computing, by Sol Libes pg 84: A SHORT HISTORY OF COMPUTING History-Reid-Green pg 124: HOW TO CHOOSE A MICROPROCESSOR Architecture-Frenzel 3) compatibility is good, incompatibility is okay too The "how to choose a microprocessor" article noted that the Z80 succeeded by being 8008/8080 code compatible, thus capitalizing on the pre-existing code base. Being "PC compatible" was essential for years, thus the intel/AMD duopoly and the reason the intel Itanium failed. But ARM started to erode that, and now Apple Silicon: https://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/gadgets/the-mac-is-selling-l… The Mac Is Selling Like Never Before Thanks to the M1 Chip Apple's homegrown chip fulfills Steve Jobs' whole widget design philosophy

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] FW: Your selected charity received a $32.71 donation from AmazonSmile
by Tony Bogan 18 Jun '21

18 Jun '21

That’s great! I’ve been doing all my work purchases from Amazon on Amazon smile now, and this time of year we buy stuff frequently so it should hopefully be making a difference. I had a bad habit in the past of forgetting about it so now I’ve set all the shortcuts on work and home computers to go to smile.amazon.com. Tony Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 18, 2021, at 1:22 PM, Jim Scheef via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > > <mime-attachment>

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The TI-99/4A turns 40!
by Jeffrey Brace 18 Jun '21

18 Jun '21

Didn't realize that it came out in 1981. Fun article: https://www.howtogeek.com/731558/a-successful-failure-the-ti-994a-turns-40/ ========================================= 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

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FW: Your selected charity received a $32.71 donation from AmazonSmile
by Jim Scheef 18 Jun '21

18 Jun '21

This is my Amazon Smile donation to VCF for this quarter – but look down the email at the total for VCF! I’m not sure what time period this reports covers, because I have not spend any significant money on Amazon since January. Most of my purchases are small stuff, but, as you can see, this donation adds up to benefit our favorite 501(c)3. I hate contributing to Jeff Bezos’s latest toys, but knowing some tiny percentage goes to VCF makes it slightly less onerous. So, if you’re going to spend money on Amazon. Make sure you to do it thru Smile. Jim From: Amazon.com <store-news(a)amazon.com> Sent: Friday, June 18, 2021 12:03 PM To: jscheef(a)outlook.com Subject: Your selected charity received a $32.71 donation from AmazonSmile There’s no extra cost to support your charity by shopping with <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3Q03K2FXR862G&K=2YGCAIIZA4SK3&M=urn:rt…> AmazonSmile. <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3Q03K2FXR862G&K=2YGCAIIZA4SK3&M=urn:rt…> Dear Jim, This is the quarterly notification to inform you that AmazonSmile has made a charitable donation to the charity you’ve selected, Vintage Computer Federation Inc, in the amount of $32.71 as a result of qualifying purchases made by you and other customers who have selected this charity. Thanks to customers shopping at smile.amazon.com <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3Q03K2FXR862G&K=2YGCAIIZA4SK3&M=urn:rt…> , or with AmazonSmile ON in the Amazon Shopping app, everyday purchases have generated over $293 million in donations to charities worldwide so far. AmazonSmile's impact: * $712.30 to Vintage Computer Federation Inc* * $262,635,668.36 to all charities in the US * $293,003,584.01 to all charities worldwide To track donations or change your charity, simply visit Your AmazonSmile Impact <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3Q03K2FXR862G&K=2YGCAIIZA4SK3&M=urn:rt…> page. <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3Q03K2FXR862G&K=2YGCAIIZA4SK3&M=urn:rt…> Go to smile.amazon.com Want to use AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app on your phone? Learn how to activate here <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3Q03K2FXR862G&K=2YGCAIIZA4SK3&M=urn:rt…> *Message reflects the charity you were supporting as of June 8. Please see smile.amazon.com/about <https://smile.amazon.com/gp/f.html?C=3Q03K2FXR862G&K=2YGCAIIZA4SK3&M=urn:rt…> for AmazonSmile program details. © 2021 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Amazon, Amazon.com, the Amazon.com logo, and 1-Click are registered trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Amazon.com, 410 Terry Avenue N., Seattle, WA 98109-5210. Reference 588247430 Please note that this message was sent to the following e-mail address: jscheef(a)outlook.com

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Tales from the Repair Workshop 6/12 & 6/13, 2021
by Daniel Fitzgerald 17 Jun '21

17 Jun '21

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High Scores on Netflix
by Jeffrey Brace 17 Jun '21

17 Jun '21

Just started watching a new show on Netflix called "High Scores". It highlights different videogame history (of the 80's) phenomena each episode. It reminds me of the 2000's show "Icons" which did something similar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icons_(TV_series) So far I like it a lot! Great fun and learning some history that I didn't know. ========================================= 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

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