"Doug Coward" <dcoward(a)pressstart.com> wrote:
> I would like hear from anyone that has done any archiving of their
>classic computer documents and manuals.
I agree with Aaron Finney's suggestions about using B/W "line art"
mode when possible, and the advantages of a 600 dpi laser printer
as opposed to 300 dpi. Also tinker with the JPEG compression settings,
you may be surprised how much space that will save, and how little
it will affect the images. Reload the saved images to examine the loss.
Yesterday I noticed that the latest version of an image thumbnailing
utility, ThumbsPlus, can save HTML versions of the thumbnailed
pages. This may be a very good way to organize your images for
the CD: it would make an HTML page, viewable in any browser, that
showed all the thumbnail versions of the images, and you could
click on any one to enlarge it.
See <http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~itda/frames.html> where
two fellows have laboriously scanned, OCRed and converted to
Adobe Acrobat PDF files several documents including the Shugart
SA-800 floppy service manuals and several Terak docs. An 18-page
service manual with three-four pages of images is 262K.
I plan to archive the ASR-33 service manuals and other Terak docs.
- John
Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>
<> I'm curious to know how people deal with old data found on systems
<> they rescue/restore. The question was put in my mind recently by
<> my acquisition of a MicroVAX 3800, with three intact disks overflowing
<> with data that had apparently never been erased.
This is something I've dealt with many times.
Generally I try to preserve any software and delete data. Right now to
give an idea, I aquired over 60 boxes of 8" disks with both. I will not
go into the several hundred 5" disks and handful hard disks.
I treat it as simply this, if I read it and it's not software I forget it.
I have other things to do mostly.
Allison
> I'm currently using a UMAX 300P that claims a maximum 24 bit color
> resolution of 300x600 dpi. I'm scanning into Photoshop4 and saving
> in JPEG format. I'm trying to save as much information as I can, so
> pages that have any color besides black and white, I'm scanning
> at 299 (that's the max for color) dpi in RGB and and everything else in
> 299 dpi grayscale. I'm averaging, for 8.5 x 11 pages, about 5.3 Mb
> for color and 2.1 Mb for grayscale. Just last weekend I burned
> my first CD of docs consisting of 26 color pages and 170 B/W
> pages for a total of 454 Mb.( I didn't fill the CD bcause I was anxious
> to try printing the files at work.)
> I printed two of the highest detailed B/W pages (schematics) today
> at 400 dpi. The results were disappointing. All of the fine details were
> lost. I assume I need to use a higher resolution for printing. I also have
> quite a bit of background clutter on the printed page. I'm having no
> problems seeing the smallest details when I magnify the pages in
> Photoshop.
There's not much point in printing at a higher resolution than the scan.
I'm not familiar with the Umax 300P. Is that 300x600 intrinsic resolution, or
interpolated? You almost certainly want any interpolation or dithering turned
off, because it will de-sharpen the image.
There's also not much point in using grayscale unless you're scanning photos;
if the text is B/W, scan in B/W. It saves a lot of memory/filespace, and has a
better chance of losing the background clutter. That's why photographers copy
documents with very high contrast "line" film, which basically comes out black
and white with no shades in between.
You'll probably want to retouch the images to get best results (obliterate any
remaining clutter, and/or fill in any missing pixels), and you may need to
adjust the scanner's contrast or intensity setting(s) to get best results. The
optimum settings will probably vary slightly between documents.
Also, don't use JPEG compression, unless you're only compressing by relatively
small amounts. JPEG is a lossy compression system; the compressed-and-then-
expanded image is not the same as the original; detail *is* lost. GIF or TIFF
is better.
All this is a bit general, but is based on my own experience. Once upon a time
I was a photographer (for a printing business) and I use a small desk scanner
myself, for faxes and assorted images. More often than not, I end up either
retouching the images, or rescanning with different settings, and quite often
pass them through image enhancement software afterwards.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
Hi Daniel,
sorry for the last one, copied the wrong filename.
the right is:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/hardware/
dhv11.config
cheers,
emanuel
----------
> From: Daniel A. Seagraves <DSEAGRAV(a)toad.xkl.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: ANyone have DHV11 docs?
> Date: Monday, March 30, 1998 4:36 PM
>
> Anyone have docs for the DHV11? Does it emulate a DH11?
> (It's the Q-bus 8-line MUX)
> I'd like to figure out how to tell mine what to do...
> -------
Hi Daniel ...
have a look at:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-11/hardware/
DLVJ1.info
cheers,
emanuel
----------
> From: Daniel A. Seagraves <DSEAGRAV(a)toad.xkl.com>
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
> Subject: ANyone have DHV11 docs?
> Date: Monday, March 30, 1998 4:36 PM
>
> Anyone have docs for the DHV11? Does it emulate a DH11?
> (It's the Q-bus 8-line MUX)
> I'd like to figure out how to tell mine what to do...
> -------
I've added a new page to my Weird Computing Machines site. The page shows
my two S100 machines. I invite you to visit, as these really are quite
fascinating computers - especially the first!!
http://www.comcen.com.au/~adavie/weird/
Please select "S100 bus" on the menu to view them.
Lots of software and documentation came with these machines - its a bit of a
dilemma... I'd love to get it all running again, but have neither time nor
space. They are destined to spend their time "looking pretty" for some time
to come.
Enjoy!
Cheers
A
Hi guys. I dropped off the list a few weeks back, too much for me to keep
up with I guess, what with subscribing to three red hat linux lists. (avg.
300 messages a day total)
Anyway, I've got three Digital VAXStation 3100's up for grabs at
www.haggle.com and thought you might be interested. I also have one HP
68030 workstation if anyone is interested.
http://www.haggle.com/cgi/getitem.cgi?id=201560664http://www.haggle.com/cgi/getitem.cgi?id=201560663http://www.haggle.com/cgi/getitem.cgi?id=201560662
Bidding started at a penny, auctions end April 4th, only have one bid on
one of them. I think they'll go cheap. Check the descriptions at the URLs
for details.
On Mar 30, 17:58, Seth J. Morabito wrote:
> Subject: Old Data
> I have a moral and ethical question to throw open for debate. No,
> I'm not looking for flames, just informed opinions.
I'm not sure how "informed" my opinion is but you're welcome to it anyway.
> I'm curious to know how people deal with old data found on systems
> they rescue/restore. The question was put in my mind recently by
> my acquisition of a MicroVAX 3800, with three intact disks overflowing
> with data that had apparently never been erased.
In Britain (and the rest of Europe) the Data Protection Act is supposed to
cover anything that could be considered "personal data", ie relating to a
person or persons, and data that can identify a person is particularly
protected.
Nonetheless, leaks occur.
> If it had been user data, personal mail, and so forth, I would have
> simply deleted it, no questions asked.
I'd do the same; in fact, I have done.
> But unfortunately, it's _not_ that simple.
[snip]
> I've since simply re-initialized the drives: My thinking was, "This
> data is not mine, I have no right to keep it. It may be sensitive,
> even though I don't understand it.
A few years ago, I was given a big Fujitsu SMD drive and controller. I only
really wanted the drive, so I hooked it up to a different controller (different
format). I was very surprised to find it was not only readable, but full of a
certain very well known insurance company's head office records, including a
lot of stuff that I'm sure was commercially sensitive. I just reformatted the
drive.
I've since had exactly the situation you describe with three RZ23s. One had
VMS, the other two had an assortment of what looked like someone's office
files. I wanted two for a unix box, so I reformatted them fairly promptly
without even bothering to see what the files really were. I kept the VMS one
for a while in case it was useful, but when I finally got my MicroVax, it had
all the drive space I needed, so eventually the last one got wiped too.
I've had this happen so often that I've almost given up looking to see what's
on drives; it's hardly ever useful or interesting. I used to keep useful
software, but I wouldn't read personal files. Somehow theft (copyrighted
software) doesn't seem quite as morally objectionable as peeping.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
On Mar 30, 16:25, Daniel A. Seagraves wrote:
> Subject: RE: ANyone have DHV11 docs?
> [DHV11]
> No, I awnt CSRs and programming info. It's in a PDP-11, and I'm playing
> with code outside of an O/S: (Read: depositing things in RAM and
> playing with things that way. No OS involved)
I've got the DHV11 manual somewhere in this huge pile of ring binders on the
floor... If you have any specific questions I can look them up, but I seem to
remember it's fairly similar to a DH11.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Dept. of Computer Science
University of York
