Replies

harrymccracken, 16 days ago to random

TRS-80 Model III imagery spotted at Microsoft Build. Or at least it’s very nearly a Model III.

harrymccracken, 16 days ago

@PenguinToot Mostly, except lacking the numeric keypad.

harrymccracken, 25 days ago to random

I reviewed the new iPads, decided that reducing the Pro's weight and thickness was a worthy goal after all, and expressed the obligatory concern about the future of iPadOS. https://www.fastcompany.com/91122368/ipad-pro-ipad-air-review-2024

harrymccracken, 25 days ago

Side note: I found the new Magic Keyboard unexpectedly balky.

harrymccracken, 1 month ago to random

I forgot to celebrate the 60th anniversary of BASIC yesterday. But in 2014, I tried to pull out all the stops in my 50th anniversary story. https://time.com/69316/basic/

harrymccracken, 1 month ago

I'm sorry that three of the people who told me BASIC stories for this article have since died: Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, PC Mag/PC World cofounder David Bunnell, and TRS-80 graphics genius Leo Christopherson.

harrymccracken, 1 month ago

@underlap I felt better when I learned that he seemed to hate most programming languages, not just BASIC.

harrymccracken, 1 month ago to random

Boy, AI has really improved Facebook search.

Screenshot of a smartphone displaying a text message conversation about Harry McCracken's fly fishing instruction approach, with a list of key points highlighting his teaching strategy for anglers.
A screenshot of a social media post about Harry McCracken, a piano instructor and author, promoting his piano instruction books, online lessons, and workshops.

harrymccracken, 1 month ago

@Drwave In this case, the specific name doesn’t seem to have anything to do with these answers.

(There’s a lawyer/actor Harry McCracken, a golfing Harry McCracken, and an Irish oil executive Harry McCracken, but I assume LLMs think we’re all the same guy.)

mstout, 1 month ago to random

@harrymccracken Did you know there is a robust Facebook group "Radio Shack Memories"?

harrymccracken, 1 month ago

@mstout Wow, no!

harrymccracken, 2 months ago to random

I swore off April Fool's pranks long ago. But the Wayback Machine still has PC World's Save DOS campaign, a parody of our sister publication InfoWorld's then-current campaign to save Windows XP. Our version included a spontaneous DOS reboot. https://web.archive.org/web/20080424031435/http://www.pcworld.com/ic/savedos/

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

@jr I forgot we offered them and don't even remember seeing one.

harrymccracken, 2 months ago to random

I finally drove a Tesla.

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

@Chancerubbage My brother in law’s.

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

@JoeBeam Deeply troubling and more directly related to the cars than Elon’s shenanigans.

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

@bouncing It was a short trip to buy donuts.

harrymccracken, 2 months ago to random

The Trop is closing on my birthday. https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/last-days-of-the-tropicana-18656872.php

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

@Newmy We have four days left to fly there, park for free, and play craps until the moment they close.

harrymccracken, 2 months ago to random

It's Most Innovative Companies day here at Fast Company. I wrote about Nvidia—which topped the list—and talked to CEO Jensen Huang about how a maker of graphics chips helped bring us the the AI age. "There's no real discontinuity," he told me. https://www.fastcompany.com/91033514/nvidia-most-innovative-companies-2024

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

Here's our complete list of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2024. https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/list

harrymccracken, 2 months ago to random

An excellent article on Adam Osborne, whom I still think should be remembered for his accomplishments at least as much as his mistakes. https://every.to/the-crazy-ones/the-rise-and-fall-of-steve-jobs-s-greatest-rival

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

From 2011, here’s my own take on Osborne—the man, the computer, the Effect. https://technologizer.com/2011/04/01/osborne-computer/4/index.html

harrymccracken, 2 months ago

@billbennett I attended a panel he spoke at in about 1980, when I was in high school, and that voice is still imprinted in my brain.

Chancerubbage, 3 months ago to random

Anyone ever use one of those ‘exercise machines’ which was basically a belt on some cams which jostled and vibrated your mid section?

What was the principle behind that?

harrymccracken, 3 months ago

@Chancerubbage My sister and I always used the one in the gym at my grandmother's apartment building.