9 Jun
2006
9 Jun
'06
10:26 a.m.
Regarding my switch from an email newsletter to a weblog, there's been a
tremendous about of feedback in support of the old format. Unfortunately
the old format was just too much work for me to keep up with. I would keep
doing it if I had unlimited time and money, but obviously no one does
(except maybe Bill Gates on the money side.)
The good news: I finally got an Atom feed working. The address is
http://www.technologyrewind.com/atom.xml.
Would those of you who prefer email updates be willing to pay a modest fee?
I haven't worked out what technology I will need, but as I said before, I'd
be happy to keep doing an email feed if it were easy and not terribly
time-consuming. This isn't for profit, it's too avoid losing money when I'm
formatting newsletter emails instead of doing real work. (This also is not
any plan to contradict earlier statements about keeping the main product
free -- you have my promise on that.)
Of course, if someone points me to an automated blog-to-email conversion
technology that is SO simple and takes no time at all, then I'll just do it
without any premiums. Or maybe someone can write a cross-platform feed
reader for vintage computers. :)
- Evan
9 Jun
9 Jun
10:45 a.m.
Evan Koblentz wrote:
Of course, if someone points me to an automated
blog-to-email conversion
technology that is SO simple and takes no time at all, then I'll just do it
without any premiums. Or maybe someone can write a cross-platform feed
reader for vintage computers. :)
You need someone with a few PHP (or C, or whatever) skills I would have
thought, and to be using some sort of CMS for the website (or at least have
timestamped blog entries as plain-text in a database, which presumably any
half-decent blog software does anyway).
Homebrew some PHP (or whatever) code to pull any blog entries for a certain
date range out of the database and concatenate them. You probably want to do
something sensible with any images (or other non-text content) at that point
too, like replace URLs with: [IMAGE http://blah/blah/blah.jpg] so that
mailing-list subscribers can still access the non-text content via a web
browser if they so wanted.
The PHP/whatever code just submits the concatenated text to the mailing list
in the same way as you've done in the past for newsletter submissions (e.g.
using PHP's built-in SMTP abilities if needs be).
Set up a cron job on the server to run the code once a day in order to send
out a plain-text digest of that day's blog entries to mailing list subscribers.
I doubt it's a lot of work at all for someone with a bit of free time -
providing that you still have the mailing list software in place, and
providing that you're using an openly-documented CMS/blog software that gives
you the database format.
cheers
Jules
11:01 a.m.
>> providing that you still have the mailing list
software in place, and
providing that you're using an openly-documented CMS/blog
software that
gives you the database format.
Quite the opposite. I unsubscribed from the hosted mailing list service
and I'm the Google Blogger.com system now.
I don't necessarily feel good about that, but it makes my life easier.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jules Richardson [mailto:julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 1:46 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: In response to overwhelming demand...
Evan Koblentz wrote:
Of course, if someone points me to an automated
blog-to-email
conversion technology that is SO simple and takes no time at all, then
I'll just do it without any premiums. Or maybe someone can write a
cross-platform feed reader for vintage computers. :)
You need someone with a few PHP (or C, or whatever) skills I would have
thought, and to be using some sort of CMS for the website (or at least have
timestamped blog entries as plain-text in a database, which presumably any
half-decent blog software does anyway).
Homebrew some PHP (or whatever) code to pull any blog entries for a certain
date range out of the database and concatenate them. You probably want to do
something sensible with any images (or other non-text content) at that point
too, like replace URLs with: [IMAGE http://blah/blah/blah.jpg] so that
mailing-list subscribers can still access the non-text content via a web
browser if they so wanted.
The PHP/whatever code just submits the concatenated text to the mailing list
in the same way as you've done in the past for newsletter submissions (e.g.
using PHP's built-in SMTP abilities if needs be).
Set up a cron job on the server to run the code once a day in order to send
out a plain-text digest of that day's blog entries to mailing list
subscribers.
I doubt it's a lot of work at all for someone with a bit of free time -
providing that you still have the mailing list software in place, and
providing that you're using an openly-documented CMS/blog software that
gives you the database format.
cheers
Jules
11:23 a.m.
It was thus said that the Great Evan Koblentz once stated:
Of course, if someone points me to an automated
blog-to-email conversion
technology that is SO simple and takes no time at all, then I'll just do it
without any premiums. Or maybe someone can write a cross-platform feed
reader for vintage computers. :)
If you have the Atom feed, then you can use something like xsltproc (and
an XSLT file) to convert the Atom feed to plain text (it would be a minimal
XSLT file---the bare minimum XSLT file will strip out all XML tags so you
need *a bit* of formatting). The trick then becomes pulling out the right
entries ... hmmm ... depending on the blog software you're using, and if
your using XHTML (or very pedantic HTML) then you could possibly use XSLT on
the entries themselves and skip processing the Atom feed.
-spc (So if say, the entries are stored in a MySQL database, just
query for the dates you require, get the entries, pass it into
xsltproc ... )
12 Jun
12 Jun
11:33 p.m.
Thanks to everyone who suggested changes.
I changed the style to traditional black text on a white background, instead
of the inverse, and I made the page width dynamically resizable to the
window.
Still working on an email updates solution.
-----Original Message-----
From: Evan Koblentz [mailto:evan at snarc.net]
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 1:27 PM
To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'
Subject: In response to overwhelming demand...
Regarding my switch from an email newsletter to a weblog, there's been a
tremendous about of feedback in support of the old format. Unfortunately
the old format was just too much work for me to keep up with. I would keep
doing it if I had unlimited time and money, but obviously no one does
(except maybe Bill Gates on the money side.)
The good news: I finally got an Atom feed working. The address is
http://www.technologyrewind.com/atom.xml.
Would those of you who prefer email updates be willing to pay a modest fee?
I haven't worked out what technology I will need, but as I said before, I'd
be happy to keep doing an email feed if it were easy and not terribly
time-consuming. This isn't for profit, it's too avoid losing money when I'm
formatting newsletter emails instead of doing real work. (This also is not
any plan to contradict earlier statements about keeping the main product
free -- you have my promise on that.)
Of course, if someone points me to an automated blog-to-email conversion
technology that is SO simple and takes no time at all, then I'll just do it
without any premiums. Or maybe someone can write a cross-platform feed
reader for vintage computers. :)
- Evan
26 Jun
26 Jun
9:43 p.m.
I changed the style to traditional black text on a
white background,
*groan* This has got to be just about the last place I would have
expected to find reverse video called "traditional".
Sic transit gloria mundi.
/~\ The ASCII der Mouse
\ / Ribbon Campaign
X Against HTML mouse at rodents.montreal.qc.ca
/ \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B
10:21 p.m.
der Mouse wrote:
Indeed. I would consider only green-on-black to be traditional.
Peace... Sridhar
I changed the
style to traditional black text on a white background,
*groan* This has got to be just about the last place I would have
expected to find reverse video called "traditional". 
11:27 p.m.
On 6/27/2006 at 1:21 AM Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Indeed. I would consider only green-on-black to be
traditional.
I had a brief fling with orange-on-black (somehow called "amber").
The recent talk about terminals reminded me of a terminal I evaluated
sometime around 1979. I think it was by Tandberg, but I could be
wrong--all I remember is that it was of Swedish manufacture. Probably one
of the nicest terminals I'd ever seen. Everything on it was ergonomically
engineered. The screen could be positioned any way you could imagine; the
keytops were colored according to function and the contrast of the display
was controlled. The other thing I recall is that it was one of the most
expensive terminals I'd ever run across. The Volvo of terminals.
Anyone care to fill me in on what the thing was--and if anyone ever used
them. Tandberg sticks in my mind because the same salesman dropped off a 9
track tape drive for evaluation that was definitely a Tandberg.
Cheers,
Chuck
2 Dec
2 Dec
11:28 a.m.
On Mon, 2006-06-26 at 23:27 -0700, Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 6/27/2006 at 1:21 AM Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
HEY!!
The Tandberg is 100% NORWEGIAN!! :)
The Tandberg - I think legacy might be the word - is held in extremely
high regard by most Norwegians, and its founder Vebj?rn Tandberg as
something of an engineer's hero.
The company has a quite interesting history. Tandberg started off as
Tandberg Radiofabriker, started by a brilliant civil engineer by the
name of Vebj?rn Tandberg. Tandberg made a string of innovative,
high-quality radios (The Huldra and S?lvsuper lines are to this day held
in very high regard) and (up until 1971 purely analog audio)
reel/cassette tape decks, and in the early 70s started a subsidiary,
Tandberg Data, tasked with production of computer equipment.
Vebj?rn Tandberg was a pioneer in improving the labour conditions of his
workforce from the 1930s through the 1950s, often being decades ahead of
the rest of the industry.
In 1972, Tandberg and Radionette, the other major Norwegian radio
manufacturer, was purchased by V. Tandberg, after RadioNette had started
a downward spiral into brankruptcy.
In 1978, Tandberg entered bankruptcy protection. Vebj?rn recieved a
letter stating that he was not welcome on the premises. On October 30th,
Vebj?rn committed suicide, and on the 14th of December the company is
declared bankrupt.
In 1979, large parts of Tandberg were swallowed by Norsk Data -
practically at government gunpoint. ND management were optimistic, and
expecting the company to show a profit by 1980. Already halfway into
1980, it was very apparent that this was not to be. The company was
separated back out, and ND continued to grow until 1987.
both http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vebj?rn_Tandberg and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandberg
may be worth reading.
Indeed. I would consider only green-on-black to
be traditional.
I had a brief fling with orange-on-black (somehow called "amber").
The recent talk about terminals reminded me of a terminal I evaluated
sometime around 1979. I think it was by Tandberg, but I could be
wrong--all I remember is that it was of Swedish manufacture. Probably one
of the nicest terminals I'd ever seen.
Agreed.
Everything on it was ergonomically
engineered. The screen could be positioned any way you could imagine; the
keytops were colored according to function
And the keyboard is extremely ergonomic, too. The keyboard has a really
beautiful feel to it. If I could plug a TDV-2200 keyboard into my PC, I
would in an instant! Also, the refresh rate is very high.
Since I have an abundant supply of these, including broken ones, I some
day want to put a modern motherboard in there and have a very very fast
terminal. Maybe even somehow make it show an X display.
and the contrast of the display
was controlled.
Mine have problems with brightness/contrast. One has a very bright
background, and one has a very very weak video signal.
The other thing I recall is that it was one of the
most
expensive terminals I'd ever run across. The Volvo of terminals.
Yeah. To make matters worse, their main OEM dealer Norsk Data, when
selling the terminals, marked them up at least 20 percent when selling
them. As one customer remarked - it was a very expensive "Norsk Data"
sticker...
Anyone care to fill me in on what the thing was--and
if anyone ever used
them. Tandberg sticks in my mind because the same salesman dropped off a 9
track tape drive for evaluation that was definitely a Tandberg.
From your description I'm going to guess that
you're talking about a
TDV-2200 series, most likely the TDV-2215.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDV-2200 (Picture taken by me)
Here is a picture of one in a "complete system" from an annual report:
http://toresbe.at.ifi.uio.no/nd560-unproc.jpeg
http://nodaf.no/images/f/f0/00013.jpg NODAF has quite a lot of them.
The smaller, lighter-coloured terminal with the Mycron label is the
successor TDV-1200, which was a cheaper, and much later (6 or 7 years)
terminal. It was more compatible with the ANSI standard. It was
white-on-black or black-on-white, with a very high refresh rate.
http://toresbe.at.ifi.uio.no/nodaf/gallery/kp-lager/plan9/00010.jpg
This is the predecessor, the TDV-2115. Less spectacular, but nonetheless
a nice all-round VDU for its day. This is closer to 1973-75. In this
case, Norsk Data did more than add a sticker. They painted the case in
the same low-key, lovely SCREAMING ORANGE!! they did with the rest of
their original and OEM equipment between around '71 and '79. :) The CRT
was yellow-on-black.
-Tore
3:08 p.m.
On 2 Dec 2006 at 20:28, Tore Sinding Bekkedal wrote:
HEY!!
The Tandberg is 100% NORWEGIAN!! :)
Sorry, I had Volvo on the brain. I would have compared it to a
Norwegian-made auto, but I don't know of any offhand. :)
Yeah. To make matters worse, their main OEM dealer
Norsk Data, when
selling the terminals, marked them up at least 20 percent when selling
them. As one customer remarked - it was a very expensive "Norsk Data"
sticker...
Looks very close, except I think the display on mine was on a
moveable arm support.
We also received a tabletop 9-track tape drive at about the same
time. Not an autoloader per se, but reel-to-reel in a vertical
plane. The interface was very simple--I was able to use a single
8255 to talk to the drive (i.e., it wasn't a Pertec interface). But
again, far, far too expensive. :(
Cheers,
Chuck
Anyone care to fill me in on what the thing
was--and if anyone ever used
them. Tandberg sticks in my mind because the same salesman dropped off a 9
track tape drive for evaluation that was definitely a Tandberg.
From your description I'm going to guess that
you're talking about a
TDV-2200 series, most likely the TDV-2215.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDV-2200 (Picture taken by me)
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cclist＠sydex.com -
evan＠snarc.net -
julesrichardsonuk＠yahoo.co.uk -
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toresbe＠ifi.uio.no