|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nduMTX86Zl0
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2017 22:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 11:44 |
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:Hah, I have that exact netbook. Bought it in college for a project, then used it as my daily driver after that until I graduated, plugged it into a stereo to act as a media box for a couple years. It was pretty drat solid although I seem to recall installing Debian was a hassle. Battery is still good for hours after all these years; I sometimes still grab it for a quick ssh frontend or when I just need to hook up a USB-serial adapter. I also used my eePC as a media server. Last year I replaced it with a raspberry pi.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2017 22:33
|
|
|
doctorfrog posted:Even as someone with a PC and a bunch of games on it, I wanted something without distractions, dedicated to writing, way back in the early 00's. Weren't they kinda expensive for what they were? For some reason I'm thinking like $300. Get a later-model Selectric typewriter. It's this, but you hit a button and whrrr-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-clunk you get a printed page. Even the Selectrics without the display are pretty worthy of this thread:  I swear I still have the exact sense-memory of the weight and feel of those type balls, and how they slot down onto the write-head.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 00:43
|
|
|
HookedOnChthonics posted:
same
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 00:45
|
|
|
>:O how dare u.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 00:53
|
|
|
Buttcoin purse posted:Challenge accepted. I tried this in the past with a lovely Psion 5 (which I still wish I could resurrect): You had to use a proprietary cable and their unique software to sync. I think it was designed for Win95 and I tried to get it to run on 2000 or XP and you had to bodge together some compatibility patch to get the software to run. Even if you could get it running, sync only worked 10% of the time and the official conclusion was 'yes, it's crap'. You couldn't get anything off the Psion without the software as it used it's very own protocol and no-one bothered to write their own software to decode it. We've come a long way is getting things to run universally: so much uses standard cables and protocols now. torgo posted:What you want is an Alphasmart(already mentioned once on this page) EDIT: the experience was much like this: quote:Very frustrated, would appreciate help trying to get Win 7 64 bit to see my psion 5mx. I followed you blogs, installed Startech ICUXUSB232 serial to USB connector with chipset Prolific PL 2303 ID, connector 1-DB9 Male and the computer sees the connector. I installed psiwin 2.3.3 and no luck seeing the psion. I uninstalled the psiwin, reinstalled it after cleaning the register, checked that the com ports (3) matched and emptied the temporary folders and even switched off the FIFO buffer on the serial port but still no luck, running in Win XP (x86) service pack 2 emulation mode, but still no luck. Would appreciate any advice. Muchas gracias. Ted spog has a new favorite as of 01:14 on Feb 14, 2017 |
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 01:12
|
|
|
HookedOnChthonics posted:Get a later-model Selectric typewriter. It's this, but you hit a button and whrrr-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-chk-clunk you get a printed page. My preference for keyboards is still informed by the IBM Selectric we had at home and I used to write school papers on. No display, but ours had a nifty correction tape so you could back up and carefully white-out miskeys and such.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 05:00
|
|
|
I haven't used a handheld calculator in maybe 15 years but I still instinctively look at TI calcs as for babies compared to the might RPN of an HP48. I think I have both a G and GX somewhere in the house. I use an HP style calf app because RPN is the only correct way to do multi step math without ninety symbols.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 05:05
|
|
|
SLOSifl posted:I use an HP style calf app because RPN is the only correct way to do multi step math without ninety symbols. same 
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 05:09
|
|
|
I'm gonna leave "calf app" there I think.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 05:20
|
|
|
SLOSifl posted:I'm gonna leave "calf app" there I think. That typo is golden.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 05:27
|
|
|
How heavy is a Selectrics ball, would it make a good paperweight?
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 05:35
|
|
|
Casimir Radon posted:How heavy is a Selectrics ball, would it make a good paperweight? Nope.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 06:39
|
|
|
HookedOnChthonics posted:Selectric typewriter Speaking of the Selectric, how about a tech relic of good old Cold War espionage? In the mid-1970s, the Soviets invented the very first keystroke-logger bug, specially made for Selectric typewriters. They somehow got these bugs into no less than sixteen typewriters at the US Embassy and US Consulate in Moscow and Leningrad.  Crypto Museum posted:The advanced digital bugging device was built inside a hollowed-out metal supporting bar that runs from left to right inside the IBM typewriter. It registered the movements of the print head (ball), by measuring small magnetic disturbances caused by the arms that control the rotation and elevation of the print ball. Exhaustive details: http://www.cryptomuseum.com/covert/bugs/selectric/
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 06:58
|
|
|
Casimir Radon posted:How heavy is a Selectrics ball, would it make a good paperweight? I'm guessing it would make a choice projectile though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 07:01
|
|
|
Casimir Radon posted:How heavy is a Selectrics ball, would it make a good paperweight? Not sure if they're hollow and open, but you could always fill 'em with something heavy.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 07:31
|
|
|
Powered Descent posted:Speaking of the Selectric, how about a tech relic of good old Cold War espionage? That's a pro-read, thanks.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2017 09:34
|
|
|
spog posted:I tried this in the past with a lovely Psion 5 (which I still wish I could resurrect): I'd go for running Windows 95 in a VM/DOSBox/etc., with passthrough of whatever the connection is. I gather from the text you quoted it might just be RS-232 serial? If you actually want to try some other things I can make some suggestions, I have had to pass through other RS-232 stuff in the past. It took me back to the days when I needed to upgrade my PC's serial adapter to one with a 16550A FIFO so I could use higher-speed dial-up modems, because various software (DOSBox and VirtualBox I think) that I tried didn't have buffered virtual serial ports, so data got lost 
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2017 05:45
|
|
|
Buttcoin purse posted:I'd go for running Windows 95 in a VM/DOSBox/etc., with passthrough of whatever the connection is. I gather from the text you quoted it might just be RS-232 serial? If you actually want to try some other things I can make some suggestions, I have had to pass through other RS-232 stuff in the past. It took me back to the days when I needed to upgrade my PC's serial adapter to one with a 16550A FIFO so I could use higher-speed dial-up modems, because various software (DOSBox and VirtualBox I think) that I tried didn't have buffered virtual serial ports, so data got lost Thanks for the offer - I really appreciate it and it's cool of you. But this was more of a pipedream exercise- not least because a used Psion 5 is about £100 on ebay and for that price, I could buy an Android phone plus external keyboard which is miles more practical. Because you made an effortpost, I looked up the sync issue to refresh my memory about the point I was making: http://www.epocfaq.co.uk/faqSerial_USB_IR.htm http://psion.info/GJ5/psiwin233_32.html TLDR: getting the cable to connect was easy. Converting stuff from the Psion into a usable format (such as Outlook for calendar/contacts) was the tricky part as you could only convert the files with the official Psion software which was considered flaky at the best of times and downright non-functional at others. Even if you could get the conversion program running somehow, it still might just refuse to work for unknown reasons. And that's the problem with the older hardware. Newer stuff tends to be built on common data standards: pretty much anything from the last decade that generates data is going to have an 'export to .csv' format which opens up conversion options.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2017 10:22
|
|
|
spog posted:And that's the problem with the older hardware. Newer stuff tends to be built on common data standards: pretty much anything from the last decade that generates data is going to have an 'export to .csv' format which opens up conversion options. This. Ended my 'I'm going back to a Nokia N97 and N900 for a month" challenges I set myself. Most programs I could find that would help were no longer available and hacks to make stuff work had dead URLs or were sketchy. Still use them for SSH though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2017 12:51
|
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:Same, I ordered one yesterday when I realized how cheap they are. Went with a Neo 2. It showed up yesterday and it's pretty cool. It boots fast. The keyboard feels like a good-quality laptop keyboard. Pressing Ctrl-W shows you a word count and how much of the memory you've filled. That's about it. Oh, it has a calculator too. Besides plugging it in like a USB keyboard, it can apparently transfer files to another Alphasmart or a computer using infrared. Unfortunately, while smartphone cameras can pick up infrared (10,000 lifehack articles about how to check your TV remote confirm this), I haven't found anything that can use the camera to receive IR data as sent by an Alphasmart or an old Palm Pilot.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2017 20:47
|
|
|
doctorfrog posted:Not sure if they're hollow and open, but you could always fill 'em with something heavy. Words. Fill them with lots of heavy words. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2017 23:16
|
|
|
Pham Nuwen posted:Besides plugging it in like a USB keyboard, it can apparently transfer files to another Alphasmart or a computer using infrared. Unfortunately, while smartphone cameras can pick up infrared (10,000 lifehack articles about how to check your TV remote confirm this), I haven't found anything that can use the camera to receive IR data as sent by an Alphasmart or an old Palm Pilot. I don't think that's entirely doable. I'm not sure what speed it transfers at, but I'd guess 9600 baud. That's way more transitions/second than a 60fps webcam can capture.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2017 11:33
|
|
|
Computer viking posted:I don't think that's entirely doable. I'm not sure what speed it transfers at, but I'd guess 9600 baud. That's way more transitions/second than a 60fps webcam can capture. Good point, hadn't thought of that. Even 300 baud would be too much.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2017 15:06
|
|
|
Computer viking posted:I don't think that's entirely doable. I'm not sure what speed it transfers at, but I'd guess 9600 baud. That's way more transitions/second than a 60fps webcam can capture. You get a dedicated 38khz ir receiver then. The challenge is figuring out how to talk to it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2017 15:23
|
|
|
I cannot remember which old stuff thread to post this since the merge but: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJ3BTKMILw I finally found that vid after nearly 2 decades. There is another which was on either steankandcheeze or funnyordie which was a shiftily Macromedia Flash animated parody of Bomfunk MC's Freestyler called 'Freekstyler'. If you know it. and have a link please do so for my nostalgia!
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2017 15:51
|
|
|
EVIL Gibson posted:You get a dedicated 38khz ir receiver then. Well, I already have an arduino with an IR LED lying around to build a transmitter... (Or, to be exact - to build a roomba IR wall. Apparently the blocker signal is just 38kHz IR in 1ms pulses.) As for IR, there is this - I wonder if that USB thing is just a plain IrDA receiver? Either way it should be possible to talk to it with an USB IrDA dongle ... bar the fun problems of reverse engineering the protocol and data formats. Computer viking has a new favorite as of 18:36 on Feb 17, 2017 |
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2017 18:19
|
|
|
spog posted:Thanks for the offer - I really appreciate it and it's cool of you. Not a problem! quote:TLDR: getting the cable to connect was easy. Converting stuff from the Psion into a usable format (such as Outlook for calendar/contacts) was the tricky part as you could only convert the files with the official Psion software which was considered flaky at the best of times and downright non-functional at others. Even if you could get the conversion program running somehow, it still might just refuse to work for unknown reasons. Oh I see, I assumed the problem was that the program was flaky because it was being asked to run on newer versions of Windows, not just because it was always like that. I suppose that back in the day one would have been quite happy to put up with that crap because it was bleeding-edge technology without many alternatives!
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2017 09:58
|
|
|
I was poking around in my Amazon recommendations and I guess Texas Instruments still makes the TI-108. I don't think I've seen one since before 2000.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 05:23
|
|
|
I don't know if it was the TI-108 but I used those in sixth grade. The teacher would bring out a big plastic container of them.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 07:04
|
|
|
Casimir Radon posted:I was poking around in my Amazon recommendations and I guess Texas Instruments still makes the TI-108. I don't think I've seen one since before 2000. TI has such a stranglehold on calculators in schools it's not a surprise. Still paying 100$ for new TI83s directly from the school: it's more likely than you think!
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 07:05
|
|
|
Casimir Radon posted:I was poking around in my Amazon recommendations and I guess Texas Instruments still makes the TI-108. I don't think I've seen one since before 2000. These things were the best. Is there any rhyme or reason to TI's numbering convention? The TI-85 and 92 are like ten years older than the 84 for example.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 07:55
|
|
|
Casimir Radon posted:I was poking around in my Amazon recommendations and I guess Texas Instruments still makes the TI-108. I don't think I've seen one since before 2000. Amazon is basically also eBay now. I'm not saying that TI isn't still making it and am too lazy to find out, but overpriced "vintage" stuff will show up now and then for me. e: Ok, question. I went to elementary school in the 80's, and in the library they had some quiz calculators that were already kinda old looking. They were white, rounded, about the size of a small plate, and plugged into a wall. They had bright green or blue vacuum fluorescent displays and instead of acting as calculators (which is what they looked like), they would bother you with addition/subtraction/multiplication/division problems. One really old one had a slide-back plastic bubble like a space helmet. What the hell were these? One more thing. This was a new addition to the library at the time: a little film projector that played a short video and some audio (maybe), and was designed to project a tiny 15-30 FPS image about 6 inches away. All I remember about it was that I never got to use it and it used hard plastic film cartridges. No idea what the hell make or model it was, but it seemed light years ahead of the film strips we would always watch. doctorfrog has a new favorite as of 09:31 on Feb 21, 2017 |
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 09:22
|
|
|
Humphreys posted:Ended my 'I'm going back to a Nokia N97 and N900 for a month" challenges I set myself. Most programs I could find that would help were no longer available and hacks to make stuff work had dead URLs or were sketchy. Still use them for SSH though. Buttcoin purse posted:Oh I see, I assumed the problem was that the program was flaky because it was being asked to run on newer versions of Windows, not just because it was always like that. I suppose that back in the day one would have been quite happy to put up with that crap because it was bleeding-edge technology without many alternatives! I was in the supermarket today and they had a Win10 laptop for £149. Sure, it was low spec (2GB+32GB) but would be able to handle the same stuff that I could do do on the Tech Relic, without any conversion issues, plus it was ultra-light with a 8 hour battery. Take away the rose-tinted specs and this made a lot more sense on almost every level.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 13:02
|
|
|
spog posted:I was in the supermarket today and they had a Win10 laptop for £149. No conversion issues until Microsoft forces an update on you that puts your data in the cloud where only their apps can get to it or something  I know most people wouldn't really care about that, but I just like old simple things that keep working the same way until *I* want to upgrade them. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 14:50
|
|
|
Buttcoin purse posted:No conversion issues until Microsoft forces an update on you that puts your data in the cloud where only their apps can get to it or something Well you know what they say... Install Linux, problem solved
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 14:58
|
|
|
Nobody ever says that!
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 17:02
|
|
|
They say that, but you can't hear it because you loaded Linux and don't have any soundcard drivers.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 17:05
|
|
|
The one problem with the 32GB Win10 devices is that you risk getting into a state where the space required to install windows updates is larger than the free disk space - we ran into that with a stick PC at home. How much of a problem you find that to be is of course up for discussion.
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 18:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 11:44 |
|
|
Humphreys posted:I cannot remember which old stuff thread to post this since the merge but: His "name" is David Elsewhere and he's done loads of poo poo since that including a heineken advert iirc, very cool
|
|
#
?
Feb 21, 2017 19:27
|
|
