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Old Vintage Computing Research

Old Vintage...
The "35-cent" Commodore 64 softmodem Rockwell famously used 6502-based cores in modems for many years, but that doesn't mean other 6502s...
a month ago
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a month ago
Rockwell famously used 6502-based cores in modems for many years, but that doesn't mean other 6502s couldn't be used. If only there were a way to connect a Commodore 64's audio output directly to an RJ-11 plug ... Convergent WorkSlate stuff I've got to catalogue. Officially...
Old Vintage...
Refurb weekend: Atari Stacy Ask any Atari Stacy owner how to open an Atari Stacy and the answer is always "never, if you can...
a month ago
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a month ago
Ask any Atari Stacy owner how to open an Atari Stacy and the answer is always "never, if you can avoid it." So I'll just lead with this spoiler image after the refurb to prove this particular escapade didn't completely end in tragedy: see the much lighter and streamlined STBook...
Old Vintage...
A mostly merry Southern Hemisphere Commodore Christmas A merry Christmas and happy holidays from the Southern Hemisphere, where it's our year to be with my...
2 months ago
2
2 months ago
A merry Christmas and happy holidays from the Southern Hemisphere, where it's our year to be with my wife's family in regional New South Wales, Australia. One of my wife's relatives had an "old Commodore" in their house and asked if I wanted it. Stupid question, yeah? The...
Old Vintage...
Composite and hard reset mods for the Tandyvision One I still have my literal first home computer (the Tomy Tutor), and it so happens I also have my...
2 months ago
2
2 months ago
I still have my literal first home computer (the Tomy Tutor), and it so happens I also have my literal first game console: the Tandyvision One, Tandy Radio Shack's label variant of the Mattel Intellivision Master Component. The Mattel Intellivision proper originally hails...
Old Vintage...
The Hall SC-VGA-2 video processor, the Atari ST and NeXTSTEP: more tales of the unscreenshotable A periodic fascination on this blog is figuring out better ways to get better screenshots of our...
3 months ago
1
3 months ago
A periodic fascination on this blog is figuring out better ways to get better screenshots of our classic systems, which often hail from the Wild Wild West/East in terms of video standards (read all entries in this series). Naturally the best way is a bitwise direct grab of the...
Old Vintage...
One-parting some Commodore 64 utilities for fun and profit I've got a few retrocomputing bucket list items I'm slowly working down, and a couple of them...
3 months ago
1
3 months ago
I've got a few retrocomputing bucket list items I'm slowly working down, and a couple of them involve some little Commodore 64 games I've had kicking around on the backburner. However, every game needs media assets, and while there are many great tools for doing art on your...
Old Vintage...
The unreleased Commodore HHC-4's secret identity Once upon a time (and that time was Winter CES 1983), Commodore announced what was to be their one...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Once upon a time (and that time was Winter CES 1983), Commodore announced what was to be their one and only handheld computer, the Commodore HHC-4. It was never released and never seen again, at least not in that form. But it turns out that not only did the HHC-4 actually exist,...
Old Vintage...
Ward Christensen dies There was initially some issue verifying this, but there appears to be direct confirmation now that...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
There was initially some issue verifying this, but there appears to be direct confirmation now that Ward Christensen passed away October 11 at the age of 78, co-founder of the pioneering Computerized Bulletin Board System in February 1978 with Randy Suess — now believed to be the...
Old Vintage...
Refurb weekend: the Symbolics MacIvory Lisp machine I have hated Every collector has that machine, the machine they sunk so much time and, often, money into that...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Every collector has that machine, the machine they sunk so much time and, often, money into that they would have defenestrated it years ago except for all the aforementioned time and money. Yours truly is no exception. a future article.) They existed in highly technical...
Old Vintage...
So thieves broke into your storage unit - again If you've been wondering why entries have been a little slow lately, let me tell you a story. All...
5 months ago
1
5 months ago
If you've been wondering why entries have been a little slow lately, let me tell you a story. All collectors tend to be a bit obsessive by nature, and us classic computer nerds probably pick up more hardware than we can (or should) store in our residence — especially if the...
Old Vintage...
Programming the Convergent WorkSlate's spreadsheet microcassette future In this particular future, we will all use handheld spreadsheets stored on microcassettes, talking...
6 months ago
1
6 months ago
In this particular future, we will all use handheld spreadsheets stored on microcassettes, talking to each other via speakerphone, and probably listening to Devo and New Order a lot. (Though that part isn't too different from my actual present.) a computer whose manufacturer...
Old Vintage...
Pretty pictures, bootable floppy disks, and the first Canon Cat demo? Now that our 1987 Canon Cat is refurbished and ready to go another nine innings or so, it's time to...
7 months ago
1
7 months ago
Now that our 1987 Canon Cat is refurbished and ready to go another nine innings or so, it's time to get into the operating system and pull some tricks. from our historical discussion of the Canon Cat, the Cat was designed by Jef Raskin as a sophisticated user-centric computer...
Old Vintage...
Two tiny 65816 DTV consoles The 21st century direct-to-TV game console: a dirt-cheap toy dragging poor ports of cherished games...
8 months ago
1
8 months ago
The 21st century direct-to-TV game console: a dirt-cheap toy dragging poor ports of cherished games to a more downmarket age. If you couldn't afford the real device, your alternative was these inexpensive, inadequate facsimiles faithful only to one's gauzy recollection. As their...
Old Vintage...
The Living Computers Museum finally isn't First off, apologies for a quiet month as I've been dealing with family matters which hopefully are...
8 months ago
1
8 months ago
First off, apologies for a quiet month as I've been dealing with family matters which hopefully are now on a better footing (more articles are in the hopper). Unfortunately, the same apparently can't be said for the once-great Living Computers Museum + Labs in Seattle,...
Old Vintage...
Refurb weekend: Canon Cat It's the Memorial Day holiday weekend and it's time for a little deferred maintenance, especially on...
9 months ago
1
9 months ago
It's the Memorial Day holiday weekend and it's time for a little deferred maintenance, especially on those machines I intend to work on more in the near future. So we'll start with one that's widely considered to be a remarkable cul-de-sac in computing history: the Canon...
Old Vintage...
Commodore does the iPad "crush" concept right ... in 1985 I get what Apple was trying to say with their infamous Crush ad, even though they made it a little...
9 months ago
1
9 months ago
I get what Apple was trying to say with their infamous Crush ad, even though they made it a little weird. They should have simply done what Commodore did for the C128 — ironically, competing with the Apple IIc. Notice the emphasis on audio and sound, plus the Commodore 64 perched...
Old Vintage...
With PowerPC, Windows CE and the WiiN-PAD slate, everyone's a WiiN-er (except Data General) Telemedicine (and mobile health generally) accumulated a hunk of public mindshare during the...
10 months ago
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10 months ago
Telemedicine (and mobile health generally) accumulated a hunk of public mindshare during the pandemic emergency, but speaking as someone with a day job in public health for almost two decades, it's always been a buzzword in certain corners of IT with enough money sloshing around...
Old Vintage...
Virtualizing the 6502 on a 6502 with 6o6 (and The Incredible KIMplement goes 1.0) Okay, promises, promises. Here's the first of my bucket list projects I'm completing which I've...
10 months ago
1
10 months ago
Okay, promises, promises. Here's the first of my bucket list projects I'm completing which I've intermittently worked on for literally two decades. Now that I've finally shaken out more bugs, tuned it up and cleaned it off, it's time to let people play with the source...
Old Vintage...
So long, Z80 You can still buy 6502s from Western Design Center and others, but Zilog's getting out of Z80s...
10 months ago
1
10 months ago
You can still buy 6502s from Western Design Center and others, but Zilog's getting out of Z80s (PDF), announcing earlier this week that after June 14th you won't be able to buy them anymore (specifically the last-part-standing Z84C00 which comes in various speeds from 6-20 MHz)...
Old Vintage...
Refurb weekend: Data General/One (and the worst LCD in the world) I mentioned earlier that while I prefer specializing in non-x86 laptops, that doesn't mean I don't...
11 months ago
1
11 months ago
I mentioned earlier that while I prefer specializing in non-x86 laptops, that doesn't mean I don't collect interesting or unusual x86 laptops, like the Brother GeoBook NB-60 (I finally tracked down a mostly working NB-80C, the top of the line model, which will be the subject of a...
Old Vintage...
After 41 years, my first assembly program on my first computer, the Tomy Tutor We got it in 1983, I think, so it only took me about 41 years to get around to it. This Tomy Tutor...
11 months ago
1
11 months ago
We got it in 1983, I think, so it only took me about 41 years to get around to it. This Tomy Tutor isn't a replacement system I secondarily acquired, nor is it a Ship of Theseus Frankenstein rebuild. This is my actual first computer, in its original case, on its original...
Old Vintage...
xa (xa65) 2.4.1 A quick one: xa (xa65), André Fachat's compatible fast two-pass cross-assembler for 6502, 65C02,...
12 months ago
1
12 months ago
A quick one: xa (xa65), André Fachat's compatible fast two-pass cross-assembler for 6502, 65C02, R65C02 and 65816 processors that André and I maintain is now at version 2.4.1. This optionally expands the syntax from 2.4.0 and fixes some bugs primarily with relocatable .o65...
Old Vintage...
An Apple district manager's Macintosh Portable in 1989-91 (featuring GEIS AppleLink and a look at... a late prototype Macintosh Portable. But it turns out it's not merely notable for what it is than...
a year ago
1
a year ago
a late prototype Macintosh Portable. But it turns out it's not merely notable for what it is than what it has on it: a beta version of System 6.0.6 (the doomed release that Apple pulled due to bugs), Apple sales databases, two online services — the maligned Mac Prodigy client,...
Old Vintage...
CAP-X and COMP-X: how the Tandy Pocket Computers got a sucky Japanese assembler I grew up primarily with the Commodore 64, where if you wanted to do anything really cool and...
a year ago
1
a year ago
I grew up primarily with the Commodore 64, where if you wanted to do anything really cool and useful, you had to do it in 6502 assembly language. Today I still write 6502 assembly, plus some Power ISA and even a little TMS9900. I like assembly languages and how in control of the...
Old Vintage...
Thou shalt follow these Vintage Computing Commandments Thou shalt check voltage and polarity on new-to-thee power supplies, or thy machines shall be smote...
a year ago
1
a year ago
Thou shalt check voltage and polarity on new-to-thee power supplies, or thy machines shall be smote and release smoke. This is sometimes very hard to judge without a load, but they should be somewhere in the ballpark, verily, and you should get in the habit of checking any new...