Lee rambles about old computers and other stuff

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  • I thought Android is Google's own OS.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    It is, but just like with Windows, every manufacturer doctrs it to their liking. There's also carrier-mandated bloatware; my Rezound has several apps on it I will probably never use, simply because they're poor substitutes for things like YouTube. (Okay, I hear Slacker isn't that bad, and the bundled golf game is fun [but then, I actually liked Wii Sports Golf], but come on, Videosurf is useless and you know it. And so is VZ Navigator. :P)
  • Samsung has some issues but aside from S Voice being a pile of crap their influence isn't the real problem.

    The real problem is fucking Verizon.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I was just reading about the Alpha CPU, and I've always been kind of disappointed in how ignominious its final days were. It was so clear that Compaq wanted to remain a PC company at the time; I suppose they saw the AlphaServers as competing with the ProLiant, which was homegrown.

    The fastest Alpha in the nbench listings is an 833 MHz EV68, as tested on an AlphaServer DS20l. It's about as fast as an Athlon XP. :P
  • imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    Verizon

    the company that can't tell dollars from cents
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Ah, Sprint is a bit better about bloatware than Verizon, I think. They preload one or two apps but on my S3 the majority of the apps I don't want are Samsung shit.
  • yeah, Sprint and T-Mo are generally pretty decent about things.  AT&T is shit, and Verizon is super shit.

    Of course, VZW and AT&T are the ones with the huge networks outside of major cities.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I never travel anyway so it's not a big deal for me :P

    Though I'm still amused at my foolishness in buying an LTE phone in an area where Sprint's not yet offering LTE. No 4G data for me!
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    What do you expect from a company whose name literally means "truth horizon" :P
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Not actually a computer this time, but it's electronic at least:

    image

    The poster on the WMC didn't know what some of the stuff on the 4th rack from the left is. I was able to figure it out. From top to bottom:

    • Moseley 1600 remote control
    • Moseley analog STL (labeled "Aux")
    • FMB80 RDS encoder
    • Another Moseley analog STL (labeled "Primary")
    • Moseley LANLINK microwave IP router/modem
    • 3x PTEK FM Series aux transmitters
    • Continental 802B FM exciter (low-power transmitter that feeds the big one to the left)
    • BIRD forward/reflected power meter
    • Continental 802A FM exciter (appears to be the aux exciter)
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    And while I'm at it, the 5th rack is:

    • Moseley digital STL, can't see the model number (and no, I don't know why they have 3 of everything, either...HD Radio, maybe?)
    • BIRD digital power meter
    • Eventide BD600 broadcast delay (the dreaded "dump button")
    • 3x Omnia audio processors (I suspect these take the place of Ye Olde Optimod, and can do a lot more)
    • Audioscience BOB1024 AES/SBU-to-XLR break out box (patch bay, more or less)
    • Crappy Dell PC for various stuff
  • What's the name of the font with which "Continental Electronics is embossed(?) on the frame?
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I actually don't know. I should dig through the 1950s category on myfonts and see if I can find a match.
  • The proper answer is "ask CentralAnonus".
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    OMG I love those old buckling-spring keyboards
  • edited 2013-11-17 16:58:53
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    The cool thing is, you can actually still buy one new. The IBM division that made them still exists as an independent company.

    There also used to be clicky keyboards made by others back in the day, usually with ALPS keyswitches, but they're even harder to find than Model Ms now.
  • does Das Keyboard still exist?
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    It does, and it seems it uses Cherry keyswitches (made in Germany).
  • Touch the cow. Do it now.
    I used to have one of those old PC keyboards

    ...now I kinda miss it

    YNTKT
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    If I ever had a desktop computer of my own, I might buy one of those Unicomp keyboards. I'm not buying one for the shared family computer, because I don't trust my family members not to break it, and all my personal computers have been laptops, for which buying an external keyboard would be silly.
  • READ MY CROSS SHIPPING-FANFICTION, DAMMIT!

    i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
    ^ Less silly depending on if you have something like a dedicated work station. 

    I have a keyboard, mouse, and extra screen for my laptops. The keyboard isn't seeing a ton of use at the moment, though, because my Vaio seems to be the nicest setup for writing, and I have the other monitor connected to it.

    This has temporarily rendered my Qosmio to a giant music playing laptop with the occasional thing being watched off it since my nice headphones are attached. It'll see more use when I get back into a video game, or something... I'm sinking most my free time into writing. 
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    My sister and I had an amusing conversation the other day, after I found a 3½-inch floppy disk in an old drawer.

    Sister: So how did these even work? You just pop it in and it shows up on screen?
    Me: It's like anything else, it showed up under "Computer". Have you ever wondered why the first drive letter is always C?
    Sister: Whoa.

    We also talked about how floppy drives made an annoying grinding noise if you tried to click on the floppy icon with no disk inserted.
  • I thought it was an EERRKKing noise rather than a grinding noise.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Thought: Remember when cell phones without visible external antennas first came on the market, and they seemed like the coolest thing ever? It's so smooth and slick without that antenna on it!

    I specifically remember a Sprint salesman telling my dad not to buy one, because the internal antennas at the time were crap and couldn't get nearly as decent reception as one of those little antennas you pull up.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    So, anyway, we have a Wii U now. :D

    I was playing with the Internet Channel on it, and guess what? It's not Opera anymore, it's WebKit. :D Specifically, it seems to be a port of the AOSP browser to Nintendo's proprietary RTOS. HH looks great in it and is relatively easy to use (though it does do that same annoying thing the AOSP browser does, where you have to zoom in to click on things sometimes).
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS

    Thought: Remember when cell phones without visible external antennas first came on the market, and they seemed like the coolest thing ever? It's so smooth and slick without that antenna on it!


    I specifically remember a Sprint salesman telling my dad not to buy one, because the internal antennas at the time were crap and couldn't get nearly as decent reception as one of those little antennas you pull up.
    This was also back in the days before GSM/PCS and CDMA were everywhere. AMPS required a lot more power (up to 3 watts on transmit) and so required bigger antennas.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Aw man, I haven't used the AOSP browser in forever

    I just tend to use Chrome on everything now >_>
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I haven't even been able to see what's available for our Wii U yet, because the god damn eShop was down last I checked. :P
  • Are you going to try and install the Homebrew Channel on it?
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I tried doing that on my Wii a while back, and I wasn't that impressed with it, so I took it off.
  • READ MY CROSS SHIPPING-FANFICTION, DAMMIT!

    i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
    lee4hmz said:

    So, anyway, we have a Wii U now. :D


    I was playing with the Internet Channel on it, and guess what? It's not Opera anymore, it's WebKit. :D Specifically, it seems to be a port of the AOSP browser to Nintendo's proprietary RTOS. HH looks great in it and is relatively easy to use (though it does do that same annoying thing the AOSP browser does, where you have to zoom in to click on things sometimes).
    Playing any of the games, or just playing with the system itself?
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I actually played a bit of New Super Mario Bros. U, and it's pretty good. (I also tried a Wii game, the one that came with the racing wheel, and I'm not sure if it's my fault or the games, but the trucks' handling is awful...I want to kick that tutorial's ass. :P) 

    Haven't really been able to play anything else because the eShop has been swamped for days. :P
  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    I admit I kind of want to play NSMBU but I'm a sucker for Mario...
  • Touch the cow. Do it now.
    do the Mario
  • I can't let the Wii U be mentioned without speaking of Rayman Legends

    you should try it out if you can
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    As some of you mayknow, I've been messing with my old Apple stuff recently, and I've come to the conclusion that the Performa 6360 I have is unusably slow. (Among other things, it can't do more than 256 colors, and even with a 160 MHz PowerPC 603ev, screen updates are ridiculously slow. And don't get me started about how much of a pain it is to get Linux going.)

    So I broke down and ordered a much better machine, a 266 MHz Power Mac G3 Desktop. This is the last beige Mac Apple ever made, and for a machine with LocalTalk ports and a floppy drive, you really can't do any better. (That and the G3 is faster than the machine that would have been my first choice, a PowerSurge desktop, i.e. the 7500/7600/7300.)
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Also, I figured out why my IIgs wasn't netbooting: It turns out PhoneNet adapers require 4P4C cable, not the cheap 4P2C cables that ship with phone stuff and multifunction printers. I plugged my spare printer cable in, and it booted right up.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Oh, and those blank 5.25-inch DS/DD floppies I've had sitting in a box for years? They work!
  • edited 2014-02-19 04:18:42
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    As I noted in the other thread, I'm interested in replacing my small, hot-running IIgs monitor with something a tad more modern, and I know there's a way to do it, but it all comes down to cost. It seems the conversion box a lot of people are recommending  (the MICOMSOFT XRGB range) has perfect conversion with no artifacts...and is only easily available in Japan. :P Here in the US, you'll be out $400 (!!!) if you can find a seller willing to ship to the US. 

    Since I'm not an obsessive Neo-Geo or SNES nut, I think I'll pass. $400. Cor blimey. :P

    That brings up to the cheap Chinese-made stuff. They're a fifth to a tenth the cost of the MICOMSOFT boxes, but apparently they have issues that the purists don't like. Artifacting around the mouse (big deal, I've seen worse with RDP and VNC before), no scanlines (LCDs don't have scanlines, deal with it), nitpicky crap like that. Sill, though, if $30 for the GBS boards (or $90 for a different board in a nice case) will get me most of what I want, I'll take it.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    This is a stupid question, but...what does the conversion box do? 
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Well, it takes the video from the IIgs (which is an old, pre-VGA "RGBS" standard that runs at the NTSC-M scan rate and isn't really compatible with much anymore, except maybe the CRT monitors arcade games used) and upscales it to something a normal VGA monitor or LCD panel can use. The really nice boxes can do HDMI and such, but for this, plain old VGA is fine.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Ohhhh that makes sense.
  • edited 2014-02-27 23:56:52
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Old Mac update: I figured out why Quik wasn't working....I remembered that it can't multiboot, like yaboot can. Linux has to be on a second drive. (I only remembered this after having to reformat drive 0 twice. :P)

    Thankfully, I still have some PATA drives lying around. I can disconnect the CD-ROM, put one of the Maxtor 120 GB drives I have in, then try again.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    yissss

    Also, JavaScript on the T30 is really, really slow. This is a Northwood Pentium 4 running Chrome under Ubuntu 12.4, and I'm pretty sure my Power Mac G3 running Linux and Iceweasel is faster, despite being clocked almost 10 times slower.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    tl;dr: Pentium 4 is shit :D and intel
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    also, YAY IBM IS PORTING V8 TO POWERPC

    this means Chromium will work on my PPC machines soon XD
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