17 Aug
1999
17 Aug
'99
6:53 a.m.
So . . . Linux will use the parallel port to turn on the coffee maker, but
who'll fetch, measure, mix, and grind the beans? When does it clean out the
coffee pot and put the old coffee in the house-plants? What about the
filter? Hmmmm?
Dick
-----Original Message-----
From: John Foust <jfoust(a)threedee.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 8:43 AM
Subject: Re: Hacker tea (was Re: Late Nights and Caffeine)
At 11:05 PM 8/16/99 -0400, LordTyran wrote:
As stupid/crazy/cool as it seems, there is a Linux-Coffeemaker-HOWTO.
Tells you how to use an SCR or a relay to hook up your coffee makes to
your parallel port, add a /dev/coffeemaker entry (basically a ln to
/dev/parX) and add a cron daemon entry to make your coffee each morning.
X-10 stuff is more flexible and probably less expensive. I jumped
for the $6 promo news-ertised on Slashdot a few weeks ago, and have
been sorely tempted to buy more, so I guess the plan worked. The
offer is still up there.
What? No one's going to stand up and defend the ice-cold can of
Diet Mountain Dew?
- John
17 Aug
17 Aug
7:54 a.m.
So . . . Linux will use the parallel port to turn on
the coffee maker, but
who'll fetch, measure, mix, and grind the beans? When does it clean out the
coffee pot and put the old coffee in the house-plants? What about the
filter? Hmmmm?
In the cafeteria at my old job, they had a coffee vending machine that
purported to measure, gind, etc. the beans. It also provided options
such as three strength levels, three sweetness levels for the optional
sugar, and three lightness levels for the optional milk. All this in
addition to dispensing hot chocolate and mocha (chocolate and coffee).
Personally, I always thought that this would be a great machine to
put under external computer control. About as close to the ultimate
Linux coffee pot as you could find...
<<<john>>>
4:53 p.m.
On Tue, 17 Aug 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
So . . . Linux will use the parallel port to turn on
the coffee maker, but
who'll fetch, measure, mix, and grind the beans? When does it clean out the
coffee pot and put the old coffee in the house-plants? What about the
filter? Hmmmm?
Dick
That's what the robotic arm on the second parallel port is for!
Kevin
7:04 p.m.
On Tue, 17 Aug 1999, LordTyran wrote:
On Tue, 17 Aug 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
Has anyone here seen Brazil? It's an excellent black comedy by Terry
Gilliam. Anyway, near the beginning, there is shown an automated routine
helping the main character get up. A TV pops out of the wall, a ball falls
and plugs the bathtub while the taps turn on, two pieces of bread pop out
of a toaster, and the coffee machine pours coffee on them. You have to see
it....
As pertaining to classic computers, the movie also has a brilliant parody
of computers. They look like very old-fashioned teletypes with a bare (the
entire CRT and circuitry is open to view) screen about 4" diagonal
enlarged by a huge flat magnifying glass. Again, you have to see it...
--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)
So . . . Linux will use the parallel port to turn
on the coffee maker, but
who'll fetch, measure, mix, and grind the beans? When does it clean out the
coffee pot and put the old coffee in the house-plants? What about the
filter? Hmmmm?
That's what the robotic arm on the second parallel port is for!
7:22 p.m.
On Wed, 18 Aug 1999, Max Eskin wrote:
As pertaining to classic computers, the movie also has
a brilliant parody
of computers. They look like very old-fashioned teletypes with a bare (the
entire CRT and circuitry is open to view) screen about 4" diagonal
enlarged by a huge flat magnifying glass. Again, you have to see it...
Sounds a lot like the computer props in that old Max Headroom TV series
(anyone ever watch that? It was mildly cool).
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 05/25/99]
19 Aug
19 Aug
10:05 a.m.
> As pertaining to classic computers, the movie
also has a brilliant parody
> of computers. They look like very old-fashioned teletypes with a bare (the
> entire CRT and circuitry is open to view) screen about 4" diagonal
> enlarged by a huge flat magnifying glass. Again, you have to see it...
Sounds a lot like the computer props in that old Max
Headroom TV series
(anyone ever watch that? It was mildly cool).
mildly cool ?
_way_ cool.
On of the best serials ever made - I'll love the scenes where
Amstrad and Sinclair parts are used as props - in most
cases well disgused, but still visible enough for geeks.
Being an intelligent and sophisticated series, it was,
of course, cancelled after one season. AFAIK Max Headroom
is still the only real cyberpunk serial.
In fact, I know only one other competitive (US made) show:
Sledge Hammer! - but just on a somewhat different background ;)
It looks like as if the mid 80s have been a _very_ creative
time for unusual experiments.
Gruss
H.
'Remember when we said there was no future? Well, this is it.'
Blank Reg, Big Time TV
('there's not enough power in that bus to zip up me trousers,
never mind a network satellite' - same - I love both quotes)
--
Stimm gegen SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/de/
Vote against SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/en/
Votez contre le SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/fr/
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
8:41 a.m.
New subject: Max Headroom
At 07:06 PM 8/19/99 +1, Hans Franke wrote:
mildly cool ?
_way_ cool.
On of the best serials ever made - I'll love the scenes where
Amstrad and Sinclair parts are used as props - in most
cases well disgused, but still visible enough for geeks.
Being an intelligent and sophisticated series, it was,
of course, cancelled after one season. AFAIK Max Headroom
is still the only real cyberpunk serial.
I had the pleasure of visiting the Max Headroom set to interview
Richard Lewis for Amazing Computing magazine, an Amiga magazine.
Stop me if I've told this story here already.
Amigas were used to generate all sorts of low-rent video effects
for the show: Videoscape for 3D-ish effects, Deluxe Paint anims
for others. I think I interviewed the teen who played Bryce.
Amanda Pays wasn't around, sadly. :-)
I did get to play on several of the sets - Reg's bus, Theora's
apartment, Bryce's hangout, the network board room, a fun
false-perspective hallway. I watched them shoot a few scenes.
I think I still have the press kit around here Somewhere.
It was my first exposure to Hollywood. What struck me was how
utterly tenuous it was. In a few weeks after my visit, the show
was cancelled and everything disappears: people, sets, props.
Techies like Lewis were whipping up effects in the most meager
digs that gave me the impression they were temporary buildings
erected in the 1940s but that had been fortified only by layers
of paint over the years.
I think those sound stages were once part of MGM, so perhaps Max
was filmed on the same stage as the Wizard of Oz. (Extra credit
given to anyone who can name the connection between the movie and
my teen hometown of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.)
- John
8:57 a.m.
On Thu, 19 Aug 1999, Hans Franke wrote:
On of the best serials ever made - I'll love the
scenes where
Amstrad and Sinclair parts are used as props - in most
cases well disgused, but still visible enough for geeks.
I don't remember seeing them, but of course back then I wouldn't have
known if I was looking at a Sinclair or a Amstrad. If it wasn't Apple ][
it was CRAP!
Being an intelligent and sophisticated series, it
was,
of course, cancelled after one season. AFAIK Max Headroom
is still the only real cyberpunk serial.
What about Automan? Oh, well I guess he was a superhero, not a Cyberpunk.
In fact, I know only one other competitive (US made)
show:
Sledge Hammer! - but just on a somewhat different background ;)
That was a great show. But I liked it better with the laugh track,
because then you knew what was supposed to be funny :)
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't rub the lamp if you don't want the genie to come out.
Coming this October 2-3: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0!
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 08/17/99]
18 Aug
18 Aug
4:14 p.m.
In message <Pine.LNX.3.96.990817234743.868A-100000@fred>, Max Eskin writes:
On Tue, 17 Aug 1999, LordTyran wrote:
Has anyone here seen Brazil? It's an excellent black comedy by Terry
Gilliam. Anyway, near the beginning, there is shown an automated routine
helping the main character get up. A TV pops out of the wall, a ball falls
and plugs the bathtub while the taps turn on, two pieces of bread pop out
of a toaster, and the coffee machine pours coffee on them. You have to see
it....
As pertaining to classic computers, the movie also has a brilliant parody
of computers. They look like very old-fashioned teletypes with a bare (the
entire CRT and circuitry is open to view) screen about 4" diagonal
enlarged by a huge flat magnifying glass. Again, you have to see it...
And bringing it full circle, Brazil is the name of the latest
research OS at Bell Labs from the same folks who brought you
UNIX. They seem to take great pride in naming systems with
names that make marketing cringe. The predecessor to Brazil
was Plan 9 after the infamous sci-fi movie Plan 9 From Outer
Space.
Brian L. Stuart
On Tue, 17 Aug 1999, Richard Erlacher wrote:
> So . . . Linux will use the parallel port to turn on the coffee maker, but
> who'll fetch, measure, mix, and grind the beans? When does it clean out th
e
coffee
pot and put the old coffee in the house-plants? What about the
filter? Hmmmm?
That's what the robotic arm on the second parallel port is for!
6:17 p.m.
Brian L. Stuart wrote:
And bringing it full circle, Brazil is the name of the
latest
research OS at Bell Labs from the same folks who brought you
UNIX. They seem to take great pride in naming systems with
names that make marketing cringe. The predecessor to Brazil
was Plan 9 after the infamous sci-fi movie Plan 9 From Outer
Space.
Actually, I think the full name is "Plan 9 from Bell Labs", which is more
faithful to the original title than "Plan 9" would be. You're right about
making marketing cringe, though!
-- Derek
6:52 p.m.
In message <199908190317.UAA09420(a)saul5.u.washington.edu>du>, Derek Peschel writes
:
Actually, I think the full name is "Plan 9 from
Bell Labs", which is more
faithful to the original title than "Plan 9" would be.
That's certainly the title of the introductory paper. In the
paper, though, it's just refered to as Plan 9 and the manuals
are identified as Plan 9, Volume 1 and Plan 9, Volume 2 on the
copyright pages.
You're right about
making marketing cringe, though!
I can't claim to have made the observation myself. I can't
remember where I read it, but the statement was made by somebody
at Bell Labs. I thought it was in the documents, but I don't
find it at the moment. Maybe it's on their web site.
Brian L. Stuart
7:42 p.m.
You're
right about
making marketing cringe, though!
I can't claim to have made the observation myself. I can't
remember where I read it, but the statement was made by somebody
at Bell Labs. I thought it was in the documents, but I don't
find it at the moment. Maybe it's on their web site. 
19 Aug
19 Aug
11:20 a.m.
Brian L. Stuart wrote:
Interesting since the marketing behind M$ OSes is directly from Plan 9 from
outer space, "you earthlings are stupid, stupid, stupid."
Best I can do before my morning tea, and yes its been one of those days.
And bringing it full circle, Brazil is the name
of the latest
research OS at Bell Labs from the same folks who brought you
UNIX. They seem to take great pride in naming systems with
names that make marketing cringe. The predecessor to Brazil
was Plan 9 after the infamous sci-fi movie Plan 9 From Outer
Space.
Actually, I think the full name is "Plan 9 from Bell Labs", which is more
faithful to the original title than "Plan 9" would be. You're right about
making marketing cringe, though!
21 Aug
21 Aug
9:06 a.m.
In message <l03102807b3e21709c5ad(a)[208.135.14.73]>3]>, Mike Ford writes:
I love it!!! Now if we could only convice the earthlings that
they really aren't stupid (well at least not always).
Brian
Brian L. Stuart
wrote:
Interesting since the marketing behind M$ OSes is directly from Plan 9 from
outer space, "you earthlings are stupid, stupid, stupid."
Best I can do before my morning tea, and yes its been one of those days. And bringing it full circle, Brazil is the name
of the latest
research OS at Bell Labs from the same folks who brought you
UNIX. They seem to take great pride in naming systems with
names that make marketing cringe. The predecessor to Brazil
was Plan 9 after the infamous sci-fi movie Plan 9 From Outer
Space.
Actually, I think the full name is "Plan 9 from Bell Labs", which is more
faithful to the original title than "Plan 9" would be. You're right about
making marketing cringe, though!
18 Aug
18 Aug
4:23 p.m.
Has anyone here seen Brazil? It's an excellent
black comedy by Terry
Gilliam. Anyway, near the beginning, there is shown an automated routine
helping the main character get up. A TV pops out of the wall, a ball falls
and plugs the bathtub while the taps turn on, two pieces of bread pop out
of a toaster, and the coffee machine pours coffee on them. You have to see
it....
--Max Eskin (max82(a)surfree.com)
Sounds like Wallace and Grommit ;)
Kevin
9103
days inactive
9107
days old
14 comments
10 participants
participants (10)
-
a2k＠one.net -
blstuart＠bellsouth.net -
dastar＠ncal.verio.com -
dpeschel＠u.washington.edu -
edick＠idcomm.com -
Hans.Franke＠mch20.sbs.de -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
jruschme＠hiway1.exit109.com -
max82＠surfree.com -
mikeford＠netwiz.net