Sphere papers gone

William Donzelli <william(a)ans.net> writes: As I recall you wanted some sort of justification and I really couldn't think of anything beyond "yeah, I'd like to get a look at that" -- really I figured you would find other respondents who could offer it better homes. I do have some 6800 stuff (not Sphere, Smoke Signal Broadcasting) but also have the manuals for it and probably have a book or two around somewhere with the 6800 instruction set. I guess it's time for one of those questions I still don't have a good answer for. Where the foo has all the SS-50 stuff gone? Or is it still hiding? Or is it just not here in Sillycon Valley? I have a couple of SS-50 systems in my collection. Depending on how you look at it, the SSB Chieftain may be the system that started me off collecting, though I really bought it with the idea that it was all put together out of commonly-available parts that I could replace if I let the magic smoke out while teaching myself hardware hackery. (I never got the appropriate round tuit, and am still lacking a proper appreciation of electronics.) Oh, and it was another few years before I finally admitted to myself that what I was about was collecting old computers. You know, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem....[1] And, well, last week I saw the first SS-50 stuff I've seen up for grabs since I moved to Sillycon Valley seven-plus years ago. I recognized it as SS-50 at a distance, but it had already been stripped: all that was there was the chassis and power supply, with the motherboard, baud rate generator, and a couple of serial cards. All Gimix stuff but that's all that was there of it. Even the front plate from the case was missing. Well, I left it there.[2] When I went back for it today I got there a little bit past closing time. I expect it's still there, and will go back for it again on Monday. -Frank McConnell [1] "Well, I've filled this storage closet...I guess I'm gonna have to rent another one." Somehow I don't think this is the sort of "admitting I have a problem" that will lead to recovery. [2] No, I won't write about why I did that. Suffice it to say I felt pressed for time, and when I think about the time my colleague in this endeavor wasted before and after I am *still* seeing a little red.[3] [3] Insert a smiley after every third word if you think that helps.