[vcf-midatlantic] A personal project

[Thomas Fuchs]

I wonder if you’re interested in sort of tangential stuff—I recently acquired a new-in-box 1980s Fischertechnik Computing set and IBM interface. 

(I’m originally from Austria and played with Fischertechnik a lot as a kid back in the 80s, but didn’t have the robot/computing stuff.) 

Once I get to actually play with it I want to make some YouTube videos and maybe even showcase sometime at VCF East! :)

Early LEGO robotics sounds fantastic! I’ll definitely chip in (pun intended).

-Thomas F.

> On Jul 2, 2018, at 5:36 PM, Evan Koblentz via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
> 
> Time to reveal a personal project, unrelated to my role at VCFed.
> 
> In the past two years, while getting neck-deep in the historic Lego robotic set, I learned that there is a TON of information about this set (and about other Lego robotic sets from before the Mindstorms generation) which is mostly missing, or at best scattered, on the web.
> 
> I decided a few months ago to make a web site about it. I call the site www.mindsbeforethestorm.com. The site is under construction but you can visit now and see where it is going.
> 
> I'm asking for contributions to the project.
> 
> Most of you know that I make a very modest living through my work as a freelance tech journalist and additionally through VCFed fundraising. Many of you will also recall that a personal fundraiser is what enabled publishing of my computer history book in 2015. That was a positive experience.
> 
> I do not plan to sell anything on this new site, only to offer helpful information that isn't currently available or is very difficult to find. As such, I cannot promise any Kickstarter-style rewards: I don't have any ideas about what a good reward for this might be (open to suggestions). Instead, I appeal to your altruism: fund this project because it is a good thing.
> 
> Please visit my new site. If you think it exemplifies how the web should be used, if you'd like to see it get finished, and if you would like me to continue to be able to pay my rent and eat food, then please make a contribution via https://fundrazr.com/61N3ef?ref=ab_74VRia.
> 
> Thanks,
> -Evan