paulrickards

paulrickards, 9 months ago to retrocomputing

Well, I just placed orders for boards and parts to build a new Lisa 2/5 around my existing Lisa CPU card, the only part of a Lisa I’ve ever owned.

I would never have thought this was possible if it weren’t for the work of @DosFox who recently built the first new Lisa since 1986! Thanks for the inspiration!

I’ll continue this thread as parts roll in. I may ask (beg) if folks have some parts in your bins! 😀

#RetroComputing #VintageComputing #AppleLisa #AppleLisaClone

paulrickards, 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago) to retrocomputing

We're Zoning out! We've now got three different sites connected via Apple Internet Router!

#RetroComputing #VintageApple #VintageMac #MARCHintosh #GlobalTalk #LiveLaughLocalTalk

paulrickards, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to bbs

So I think got my #AppleLisaClone online as well! It's currently running SubText #BBS on MacWorks/ System 6.0.8 with 2MB of memory over a PPP connection!

Ok so it worked for about 30 minutes, the BBS was packed, all nodes busy! There was a multi user chat!

Then it just stopped responding. Oh well! I'll try again soon. =)

#RetroComputing

paulrickards, 3 months ago to random

Ok, I caved and bought that $32 “instant” digital camera that prints on thermal paper.

It’s a weird and wonderful shitty camera. The printer is pretty good, using error diffusion dithering but a bit slow. It’s apparently a 12MP camera that can also do 1080p video on the included 32GB SD card. Obs targeted at kids with the built in filters but there’s something about the immediateness that’s fun about it. Wonder how hackable it is?

https://amzn.to/42DSsrS

#ShittyCameraChallenge #InstantCamera

paulrickards, 3 months ago to retrocomputing

I got an untested SyQuest 88MB removable SCSI drive and some 88MB cartridges are coming soon. I had one of these in the past so this scratching a retro itch for me.

Anyone have modern experience with them? How likely is the drive to work? Do they always fail over time, have known issues, etc?

#RetroComputing

paulrickards, 28 days ago (edited 28 days ago) to RaspberryPi

I’ve been rebuilding a #RaspberryPi installation that supports my classic Mac habit 😄

I used to use the awesome #MacIPGW image which includes a ton of pre-configured software like #netatalk. But it hasn’t been updated in a while so I used it as excuse to start from scratch.

I used this Pi Zero W as my starting point. HDMI video stopped working on it for unknown reasons. I added an Ethernet/USB hub hat and a #TashTalk 2 hat for #LocalTalk devices.

#RetroComputing #VintageApple #VintageMac

paulrickards, 10 months ago to retrocomputing

Dug out my two Sony Mavica digital cameras. It’s still bonkers to me that they use floppy drives for storage. It’s an alternate universe that I could live in honestly.

#RetroComputing #VintageComputing #SonyMavica #FloppyDisk

paulrickards, 8 months ago to random

Deep diving into motion capture used for biomechanics research. I know absolutely nothing about it, but it's always fascinating to peek into other disciplines to learn new terminology, workflows, software, and file formats. Seems .C3D files are used a lot for datasets.

paulrickards, 4 months ago to retrocomputing

My New Year’s resolution this year is 640x400x1 🥳

Say Hello, World! to the new-to-me Macintosh Portable. This is the fancy backlit version (M5126). More luggable than laptop weighing in at 16 lbs. It’s just such a beast of a machine.

It comes with this even larger travel case with room for lots of extra gear.

#RetroComputing #VintageApple #VintageMac #MacintoshPortable

Mac Portable case standing upright.
Mac portable case laying flat, handle facing you.
Mac Portable inside the case with the case lid opened.

paulrickards, 10 months ago to retrocomputing

Hello from my Mac 128k and Color Classic! 👋

#RetroComputing #VintageComputing #VintageApple #VintageMac #ClassicMac #MacPaint

paulrickards, 11 months ago to random

Everyone’s on their Hand386 so I dusted off my PocketChip and look at that, I’m running System 7.5.3 thanks to Mini VMac! It’s delightfully quick!

#RetroComputing #VintageComputing #VintageApple #VintageMac #PocketChip #MiniVMac

paulrickards, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to retrocomputing

#RetroComputing folks: Have a recommendation for a storage system for plastic DIP ICs and other small parts? Preferably something that locks closed and stacks. I have these which I really like but I don't think they're ESD safe.

Edit: added product image

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Anvil-30-Compartment-Double-Sided-Small-Parts-Organizer-320028/321084143

paulrickards, 8 months ago to retrocomputing

Graphically visualizing the erasure of a 16kbit #EPROM with a UV source in 16 seconds!

This time lapse shows all of the bits being flipped from 0 to 1 over about a 24 minute period. The first bit flips at 8 minutes.

What's fascinating to me is the bits "twinkle" as they flip back and forth before settling.

#RetroComputing #TimeLapse

video/mp4

paulrickards, 3 months ago to vintagemac

Rhapsody in VirtualBox. It's so cool to see these early versions of MacOS and to see what's changed (and what hasn't).

#Rhapsody #VintageApple #VintageMac

paulrickards, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

Are there any hacks to modern MacOS 14 that forces windows to have an actual title bar at the top of them? You know, an area that contains the application title or document title and allows you to move is easily?

For instance, with Firefox and lots of tabs open, the window itself has no tittle bar at the top. Moving the window is difficult and only possible on the far left or right of the top of the window. It also doesn't identify itself.

Update: see replies!

paulrickards, 1 month ago to retrocomputing

Recently got a new (to me) wide format plotter. But it’s weird— it’s not a #PenPlotter?!

It uses this new fangled technology called inkjet or something 🙃

#RetroComputing

Close up of the left side of a HP DesignJet 230 wide format inkjet plotter with the lid open. The cartridge is visible labeled “40”.

paulrickards, 3 months ago to retrocomputing

I’ve got my Amiga 1000 setup today with something special. This is the Frame Grabber from Progressive Peripherals and Software (PP&S) and it’s a video frame digitizer that connects to the Amiga over the parallel port. It can create images up to 640x480 in 4096 colors, which was a big deal in 1990.

#RetroComputing #Amiga #CommodoreAmiga #FrameGrabber

Picture of the frame grabber, a small black box with three knobs for intensity, hue, and saturation and an RCA input labeled NTSC. A green cable is plugged into it.

paulrickards, 9 months ago to random

Morning! Here’s a plot of some #waves and a sun rising. 🌊 🌞Have a great Saturday! 11”x17” on a HP 7550 Plus #PenPlotter

paulrickards, 9 months ago to python

Mac 128k says hello! 11”x17” drawn on a Roland DXY-1200 #PenPlotter using #Python #RetroComputing

A pen plot of a Macintosh 128k with keyboard and mouse in front. The screen says hello. The paper is sitting on the drawing table of a Roland DXY-1200 pen plotter.

paulrickards, 9 months ago to python

Plotting images with #Python with a #Casio PB-700 and a FA-10 cassette/plotter!

http://www.stark.fr/blog/plotty/

#RetroComputing #PenPlotter

paulrickards, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago) to retrocomputing

Choose your fighter #RetroComputing

paulrickards, 9 months ago to retrocomputing

New blog post: Repairing my HP 7585B 36 in. wide pen plotter.

https://biosrhythm.com/?p=2722

#RetroComputing #VintageComputing #PenPlotter #HP7585B #Repair

The control panel of the HP 7585B pen plotter with large chonky buttons, a joystick, and a lovely dot-matrix LED numerical display.
A power transistor in a TO-3 case connected to a LCR meter to determine if it's functioning. The screen of the LCR meter says it's a PNP.

paulrickards, 4 months ago to random

Trading the pen for the laser: I'm going to try some of my #PenPlotter designs on a laser cutter soon. I think something like differential growth would work well since it's a single path and should provide a very interesting positive and negative in the material.

Here's an animation of how I build (err, growth) them.

#Maker

An animation of a circle that grows so quickly that it distorts into arms that stretch out, folding over and branching into new arms. It ends when the arms reach a hidden circular boundary and begin to wiggle in place as if behind held by an invisible force.

paulrickards, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to genart

My first large plot in many months: a new Carousel, about 5 hours in, about 2 hours remaining. Cyan and yellow are down, magenta going down now, and finally black. Python generated and plotted on a vintage HP DraftPro DXL on 24”x36” watercolor paper.

See next post for completed plot!

#PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt #Art #Artist #ArtForSale

paulrickards, 10 months ago to genart

My first #PortfolioDay! I’m Paul and I’m an artist that uses modern code to create unique works using vintage pen plotters, which I also collect and repair as needed. My works are typically in CMY color but I also do monochrome or other specialty inks. I can do up to 36”x48”.

🚀 Boosts appreciated! Cheers!

#PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt

CMY pen plot of overlapping arcs that looks wrinkly.
Monochrome pen plot of thick black lines that meander like roots. The background is filled with outlined squares.
CMY pen plot of a circle with various hatch fills that are dominated by quadrants of green, magenta, and yellow.