[vcf-midatlantic] Three history talks at Trenton

[Neil Cherry]

On 02/17/2017 01:48 PM, Herb Johnson via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
> Evan announced these events at the Trenton Computer Festival:
>
>> 12:25-1:20 - Brian Stuart, "ENIAC Then and Now"
>>
>> 1:30-2:25 - Frank O'Brien, "Flying to the Moon / The Apollo Guidance
>> Computer"
>>
>> 2:35-3:30 - Jeff B. & [Evan Koblentz], 8-Bit 'Bots (Capsella, Lego)
>
> ..and Neil Cherry posted in reference to his talk: "Do It Yourself:
> Home Automation & More"; also scheduled at 12:25-1:20

I was going to jokingly chime in that there's nothing historic about my presentation
but I realized that it would diminish the work done by Jeff B and Evan (no
sarcasm or anything). Folks put a lot of hard work in their presentation (as
Evan's email chain has shown) and we get a plaque and praise. Yes I think it's
worth it. I've given ideas to a bunch of people and I've exchange emails after
the presentations also.

> Brian gave a fine presentation, about the construction of the ENIAC and about its general
> operation. He demonstrated a visual and operational model of the ENIAC, which runs on
> modern computers. He described both its physical architecture, and its computing methods.
> ENIAC design and operation were a key part of computing development in the 1940's and
> 50's. I believe a video of this talk, may be on YouTube in due course.

I'm going to miss this one, I'll be next door giving my presentation. Good to hear it'll
be on Youtube. I'll look for it.

> In attendance was my good friend and colleague, Frank O'Brien - an active member of the
> sponsoring organizations, and of course he's part of InfoAge. We took time to chat and I
> caught up with his recent activities. He's given his AGC talk a number of times recently.
> He tells me he's added some props to give descriptions about the fundamental issues of
> spaceflight guidance: "where you are, where you are going, which way is up?". So I look
> forward to seeing his presentation again.

I'm really looking forward to this. NASA is the reason I wanted to get into electronics.
I'm hoping there's enough room to see this, I'll stand if I have to!

> I've heard Neil's talks on Home Automation at TCF; they are informative and not "too
> technical for mere mortals". He's published, and well-versed, on the software and hardware

Herb, thanks for the kind words (I really do appreciate that :-) ).

> Another friend of mine, but one not active in VCF discussions, is Jonathan Allen.
> "Practical Electronics Tricks of the Trade" will be presented by him at 1:30-2:25.
> Jonathan has repaired and restored TV's and radios for decades. He's very familiar with
> 20th century test equipment and tools. His talk's content may be of interest to those
> beginning to restore their vintage computers.

I'm going to miss this one, I'll be next door giving my presentation. Wish we could
record the presentations.

> There are many other talks at the Trenton Computer Festival. There will be exhibits by
> computer clubs, including VCF Inc.; and by The Sarnoff Collection which is on the TCNJ
> campus, and which has vintage computers from RCA.

I'm hoping to get time to visit the Sarnoff Collection. Working on the Atari
600xl's video gave me an appreciation of the complexity of TV.

I'm also looking forward to Prof Rajkumar's Autonomous Cadillac presentation. Yes AI, ML
and the things we take for granted will be historic. Consider what it took to just do
voice recognition before 2007 (first year of the Phone). Now we're doing AI/ML in the
cloud. We're on the verge of a historic revolution. Our vintage 'junk' got us there.

BTW, I found Connor's video on youtube also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45X4VP8CGtk

-- 
Linux Home Automation         Neil Cherry       ncherry at linuxha.com
http://www.linuxha.com/                         Main site
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/                    My HA Blog
Author of:    	Linux Smart Homes For Dummies