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by Murray McCullough

I had not realized it was 27 yrs. ago that Microsoft ‘gave’ Apple $150-$200 million. It was done to keep Microsoft safe from regulators - for its monopoly practices. Later did the lawsuits end between Apple and Microsoft. Did this save Apple? Haven’t researched this enough to deduce a learned response! Happy computing, Murray 🙂

2 years

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Looking for an IF-20 interface for an Brother AX-45 typewriter

by Christian Groessler

Hi, <subject> says it all. I've inherited an AX-45 from my late uncle. Would like to use it with a computer. best regards, chris

2 years

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The ultimate nerd fashion accessory

by Brent Hilpert

https://apollo-instruments.com <https://apollo-instruments.com/> Groan. Spoiler: Wristwatch DSKY

2 years

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A museum for the Brits and those who can reach it easily

by Liam Proven

I had never heard of the Jim Austin Computer Collection before... https://www.computermuseum.org.uk/ « The Computer Sheds The Computer Sheds hold the Jim Austin Computer Collection, over 1500 computers and many thousands of other artifacts such as books, calculators, spares, test equipment as well as a fine collection of Radios and Valves (the RadioShed). It has some incredible items including a computer that weighs over 10 Tons, a computer that ran for over 30 years, one of the first computer mice, and many others. It is one of the largest collections of computers and related technology anywhere. » 1min video: https://www.facebook.com/bbchumberside/videos/3790794644572336 -- Liam Proven

2 years

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Punch card info

by cctalk＠emailtoilet.com

Was updating my punch card database/site, www.ibmjunkman.com, and found something I don’t remember. The 026/029/129 keypunch units printed above row 12 using a dot matrix style character. I still marvel at the plate and the whole mechanism that did the printing. The 557 Interpreter could print on different rows using a solid type slug to print. I have run across cards that had dot matrix type printing on rows other than above the 12 row. Any idea what machines could do this? If any of you old unit record guys have any cards laying around I would love to add them to my collection. Needless to say the stock 5081 would have to be real unique for me not to have it already. Donald

2 years

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MS-DOS

by Murray McCullough

I had not realized that 43 yrs. ago Microsoft purchased 86-DOS for $50,000 – US not Cdn. money. With this purchase the PC industry, IBM’s version thereof, began. I remember using it to do amazing things, moreso than what 8-bit machines could do! Happy computing. Murray🙂

2 years

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WTB/Borrow: RK05 Alignment Pack

by Jonathan Chapman

All, I'm getting ready to dig into my RK05s, two of which are parts units, of which I hope to make a functional unit. I will definitely need to align it as heads from one will have to go into the other. Does anyone have an alignment/CE pack I can buy or borrow? Obviously prefer pick-up at VCF MW to avoid the possibility of shipping loss or damage. Thanks, Jonathan

2 years

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VCFMW items available upon request

by Paul Anderson

Here is a list of some items I can bring to VCFMW if requested. I am not going to bring them unless there is interest in them. Celebris 560 830WW (I think that is this one) Venturis 466 d54 WW Venturis 575 921WW DECpc 433dxLP PC473 2) PCWXE-A2 DECpc DECpc 433 workstationPCW10-A2 DEC 3000 400 PE40A-CC missing cover, parts machine? VS43A-CZ VAXstation 4000 60 few 3100 parts units storage expansion box VAX CPU, memory, option boards Q-bus CPU, memory, option boards, most boxes UNIBUS 100's of boards LA36 Printers LA120 printers

2 years

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Tektronix XP214M X Terminal (1994) is supported by XpressWare 6.3 (1993)

by Steven M Jones

I recently picked up a Tektronix XP214M - a MIPS-based, monochrome X terminal from late 1994. I thought I was going to need XPressWare 7 or later, but I haven't been able to turn up anything like that except the 8.1 patches shared on this list a couple years ago (thanks Doc!). And something about the fragments I pulled out of that wasn't working... XpressWare 6.3 is available on Bitsavers (thanks Al!), but appears to date from October 1993. I thought that would be a non-starter, since it predated the announcement of the XP214 by a year. But the v8 docs, and NC Bridge docs from after NCD bought the Tek X terminal line, indicated the binaries for the XP350 were used for the XP200 models, and the terminal was loading the v8.1 "os.350" successfully, it just died later in the boot process... So I tried booting the terminal from the 6.3 tree, and it worked the first time. It may be possible to tease out what's missing or incorrectly placed from the v8.1 patch files, but I'm more concerned with getting something running where the X networking hasn't been neutered... FYI, --Steve.

2 years

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NSA releases copy of internal lecture delivered by computing giant Rear Adm. Grace Hopper

by Christian Liendo

https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View… FORT MEADE, Md. — In one of the more unique public proactive transparency record releases for the National Security Agency (NSA) to date, NSA has released a digital copy of a lecture that then-Capt. Grace Hopper gave agency employees on August 19, 1982. The lecture, “Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People,” features Capt. Hopper discussing some of the potential future challenges of protecting information. She also provided valuable insight on leadership and her experiences breaking barriers in the fields of computer science and mathematics. Rear Adm. Hopper was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, she was a pioneer of computer programming. Hopper was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages, and the FLOW-MATIC programming language she created using this theory was later extended to create COBOL, an early high-level programming language still in use today. In 2016, President Obama posthumously awarded Rear Adm. Hopper the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the Nation’s highest civilian honor, awarded to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interest of the U.S. — for her remarkable influence on the field of computer science. While NSA did not possess the equipment required to access the footage from the media format in which it was preserved, NSA deemed the footage to be of significant public interest and requested assistance from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to retrieve the footage. NARA’s Special Media Department was able to retrieve the footage contained on two 1’ APEX tapes and transferred the footage to NSA to be reviewed for public release. NSA recognizes Rear Adm. Hopper’s significant contributions as a trailblazing computer scientist and mathematician, but also as a leader. "The most important thing I've accomplished, other than building the compiler, is training young people," Rear Adm. Hopper once said. “They come to me, you know, and say, 'Do you think we can do this?' I say, 'Try it.' And I back 'em up. They need that. I keep track of them as they get older and I stir 'em up at intervals so they don't forget to take chances."

2 years

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