There's a lot to be said for hard rules in signed contracts, though even with those you aren't necessarily safe. (There are court precedents, in the USA at least, where museums went against the explicit written terms of donations and the courts somehow came up with an excuse for approving that.) Personally, I would be very hesistant to *give* anything to a museum; the safe route is a loan, with well crafted written terms. That way you're not giving up ownership, and the main risk then becomes damage from inadequate care. (And yes, that too can happen.) paul

On Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 11:53 AM Alan Perry via cctalk < cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: I was curious on this too. It seems his entire estate is being liquidated into cash? It seems a sad end to one's legacy. As said by John one would assume he was aware of estate planning and had he wished he could have arranged for entities to be preserved in some ongoing way. It would be interesting to know the details.

I think I remember that he had no will? And his sister doesn't care about the nerd stuff. - Ethan

On 6/25/24 12:21, John Herron via cctalk wrote: On the other hand, Christie's will reap a pile of money in auction fees. So not a complete disaster. (I'm being cynical) --Chuck

CZ wrote: Nope. LCM had a KI-10, ISTR it was half of a dual CPU system from Kiel. When I visted there was a 2060 and a 2065, as well as a KS. I understand that later they acquired a KA and the MIT-MC KL (1080).

Chuck Guzis wrote: The Stanford Super Foonly was designed, but never built. The project ran out of ARPA funding in the earl 70s. There may or may not be SUDS drawing and/or microcode in the Saildart archives. There was ever only one Foonly F1. It was used in movie production, but no one knows where it ended up. I have seen bits and pieces of the smaller Foonlies in musems catalogs and such. I doubt there's anything complete enough to be considered working. But who knows, there were a few made and maybe one will pop up from somewhere eventually. Software wise, besides running the standard PDP-10 stuff. There is a copy of Foonex, the Foonly hacked TENEX, on Bitsavers. There is also microcode for the F2, and it even comes with a working assembler should anyone want to hack it. WAITS can run on a Foonly.

Yep, my error. I saw the picture in Christie's and thought "Heh, they picked the shiny cup" which is not really that important. This will be fun to watch. We should take turns watching the dumpster outside LCS for all the stuff that "isn't worth Christie's". Also this is a classic time to try and keep stories straight as the research and provenance done on this stuff will be hilarious. Such is the way of "museums" CZ

That makes me think of a similar case, involving a national technology museum in Holland. It at one time had (owned or on loan, I'm not sure) the world's first FM broadcast transmitter, from 1919. (No, not Armstrong's; different technology and more than a decade before Armstrong's work.) Then it disappeared; it may have gone back to its previous owner but I'm not sure about that. This is why I speak of loans. Sure, some museums say "no loans". My reply would be "sorry to hear that, I'll have to look elsewhere then". paul

On 6/25/24 13:28, Tom Uban via cctalk wrote: Mr. Allen collected a lot of things, which, given his wealth, probably can be viewed in the same way that we have an attic full of old stuff. --Chuck

Who is the trustee? Anyone know for sure? Sent from my iPhone

You should draft the letter ASAP. Also send via registered mail. And if you are claiming ownership, send a copy to the auction house. Sent from my iPhone

Possible, however museums tend to catalog artifacts completely. Last I saw the tape on the front where the MIT punch card with MIT-AI written on the back was still there (I still have the punch card, kept it as a memory and yes the tape will line up :-) If the "handshake" deal is ignored then it points out clearly that Paul's family has zero sense of honor and should never claim such in the future. That does mean something. I'm not going to endlessly fuck with lawyers and the like. I will offer to show up, pick it up, and find a BETTER home for it if I can, or just be buried in it when I die. That is the pact. If it goes to auction then I'll place a bid on it high enough to ensure that whomever DOES buy it takes on the role of the protector of the thing. Then I can lay down that burden and concentrate on the last of the ITS systems: MC which is safe in my work shed. Oi.... CZ On 6/25/2024 6:58 PM, Michael Kerpan via cctalk wrote:

On 6/25/24 15:51, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote: I think he really thought he had more time on earth, and didn't consider the estate planning of the museum to be an urgent matter.  Sadly, he was wrong about that! Jon

On 6/25/24 16:03, Jon Elson via cctalk wrote: I can understand that. Currently, my wife and I have a sort of "blanket" will that names a couple of charitable foundations as beneficiaries and little more. We have no offspring and my sibs are either dead or aging as well; no way I'll saddle them with the job of executor. Important for me, as I'm facing a couple of rough months health-wise, but estate planning is not at the top of my list. Stuff like "surgery", "palliative care" etc. have grabbed most of my attention. Nobody lives forever--and few live as long as they expect. --Chuck

On 6/25/24 16:22, Sellam Abraham via cctalk wrote: Had Allen given final instructions that the entire LCM be cleaned out and melted for scrap, would you still think that he needed an excuse? It was his money; he had no reason to explain what he did with it or with the toys that he purchased. I can understand your resentment, but that's just the way our world works. Someone with sufficient funds could purchase a da Vinci and use it for toilet paper. Didn't Joseph Haydn's wife (Maria Anna Aloysia Apollonia Keller) use his scores as pastry pan lining and for setting her hair curlers? We have no idea of what has been lost even today. --Chuck

On Tue, Jun 25, 2024, 4:23 PM Sellam Abraham via cctalk < cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote: Who knows the details. I see a lot of assumptions being thrown out. I am a bit skeptical of the "he must have thought he had years to live" theory given that he had non-hodgkins lymphoma which has a 25-40% relapse rate and was the cause of death but again who knows.

Here’s an article about it. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/paul-allens-will-sheds-litt… Sent from my iPhone On Jun 25, 2024, at 16:54, Rick Bensene via cctalk &lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt; wrote:  Allen’s estate, which has been managing and winding down his vast array of holdings since his death in 2018, confirmed to GeekWire that the 12-year-old museum is closed for good. I held out hope that somehow this would not be the end of this place. Alas, it was not to be. I had the occasion to have a nice informal chat with Mr. Allen about LCM shortly after it opened. I got the clear impression that A) He was absolutely devoted and passionate about this aspect of history, B) He wanted as many people as possible to be able to experience this history *hands-on*, and C) that he wanted it to be a lasting legacy of his passion. Of course, things can change along the way, and I know that the museum was struggling with the rather enormous expenses of keeping all of the machines up and running, as well as the expertise necessary to keep them that way(even with some very gracious volunteers), not to mention all of the administrative aspects of such an endeavor. Re-creating the inter-bay wiring of the Control Data 6500, as well as keeping the refrigeration system running with unobtainium parts, by themselves, had to cost a King's Ransom. The onset of the pandemic and the absolute necessity to close a "hands on" museum made the situation even more dire. I suspect that the costs involved with trying to resurrect it in any way that would have been consistent with Mr. Allen's passion were simply unsupportable. The thing that I’m really pissed off about is that there were no updates about the status of the museum for the entire period of time since its closure until the news release today. The veil of secrecy surrounding the whole thing seems sketchy to me. Based on my admittedly short visit with him, I honestly don't think that Mr. Allen would be at all happy with the outcome and how it was managed. I will cherish the many memories of this amazing and unique place, and am grateful that Mr. Allen built and supported it during his lifetime. I am just as thankful for all of the amazing people that made the LCM what it was. Rest in Pieces, DCM (Dead Computer Museum). -Rick -- Rick Bensene The Old (and still living) Calculator Museum https://oldcalculatormuseum.com

By the way, I think I already indicated this, but if anyone has a legitimate claim, the disbursement of the collection could be challenged in court, and some alternate outcome decreed by virtue of public policy (sometimes we can use government power for our benefit). How do we even know for sure that his sister, Jody, is actually the legal executor to his estate? Sellam

I think that's a bit of a silly question. For one thing, "executor" is a status assigned by a probate court, and courts usually don't just make stuff up. For another, one thing auction houses take extremely seriously is "provenance" which amounts to "what, precisely, is the thing being auctioned, and how did it come to be the property of the owner?" If there's doubt about proper title, it's not likely a shop like Christie's would touch the thing. paul