trevorflowers

trevorflowers, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

Oh, hai tiny floppy disk organizer but for micro SD cards.
edit: I'm printing more for the store: https://store.transmutable.com/l/msdfo

trevorflowers, 3 months ago to retrocomputing

This is your friendly reminder that I make and sell delightful miniature retrocomputers like TRS-80s, Osborne Ones, and the occasional big friends like Connection Machines and Crays.
I'm a retired nerd who's living the dream. Well, if your dream is working in your garage on tiny art machines. 😺 ⚙️
#retrocomputing #miniatures #trs80 #cray #shamelessSelfPromotion
https://store.transmutable.com/

A photo of a miniature retrocomputer, the TRS-80 Model III.
A photo of a miniature floppy disk organizer sized to fit micro-CD cards instead of floppy disks.

trevorflowers, 1 month ago to random

Friends, if Microsoft tries to squeeze you to buy a new computer to run version 11 when every new version of Windows gets worse and adds ads then please consider that more than 100 million people use Linux on their desktop computer, including people who make all sorts of projects with videos, illustrations, digital photographs, laser cuttings, animations, paper media, CAD, CAM, 3D printed stuff, circuit boards, etc.
Will it be exactly the same as Windows? No.
Can it be awesome? Yes.

trevorflowers, 9 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to retrocomputing

Ok, friends. Five tiny TRS-80 Model III models are in the shop!
🎉
This is a bit of a trial to see if anyone digs this sort of work. If not, it's entirely possible that these will be the only five I make so... perhaps a limited series?
😸
If you have questions then feel free to ask them in the thread or via DM. If you have retro PC nerd friends then feel free to send them my way.

#retrocomputing #trs80 #models #miniatures #salesDontYaKnow
https://store.transmutable.com/l/tiny-model-3

trevorflowers, 4 months ago to random

When a rich person talks about all of the rich welders, send them this link. It's behind a paywall so the image (and description) shows a key paragraph.
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/09/welding-doesnt-pay-as-well-as-republicans-think/597733/

trevorflowers, 7 months ago to retrocomputing

TIL about this lovely site that lists the appearances of PCs in films and on the television, complete with stills!
#retrocomputing
https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computers.html

trevorflowers, 6 months ago to retrocomputing

In the spirit of Winter being too dang dark, from now until the solstice (Dec 21st) every order from my store will receive a bonus smol floppy disk organizer sized for micro SD cards. In addition, orders of more than $50 will also enjoy free shipping. Stay light, friends.
#miniatures #retrocomputing
https://store.transmutable.com/

A 1:6 scale miniature of the TRS-80 Model III.
A 1:10 scale miniature of the Connection Machine computer.

trevorflowers, 1 year ago to random

This Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the Computer History Museum we will have Xerox Alto lookalikes available for hands-on use! They run original Alto software recovered from diskpacks barely saved from the landfill. This includes Mazewar, the Bravo text editor, and Smalltalk 78.
🎉
The museum also has an original Alto on display but we're not allowed to touch that one. 😸

A demonstration room set up with 70s personal computer replicas.

trevorflowers, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to random

Ok, I just put more smol floppy disk organizers for micro SD cards in the store.
I'm also working on variants for full size and mini SD cards as well as for Switch cartridges. I'll post on this account every time I restock the store, tagged with #restock so that you can filter out those toots if you're mostly here for my ramblings about machining and other shop work.
https://store.transmutable.com/l/msdfo

trevorflowers, 6 months ago to retrocomputing

It's starting to look like a tiny computing lab in here.
#miniatures #cray #retrocomputing

trevorflowers, 8 months ago to random

I have restocked my store with the electronic version of the tiny TRS-80 Model III 🎉 The last batch sold in under an hour and if this batch sells then I guess it's time to get another printer to speed up the build.
https://transmutable.gumroad.com/l/e-trs-80-model-iii

A 1:6 scale retrocomputer showing a series of lines of text on its display.

trevorflowers, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to retrocomputing

What's more luggable than the original, easier to explain to the TSA, and as cute as a button? Yep, it's these 1:6 scale Osborne One miniatures that just landed in my shop! 🎉 Back in the day I spent a fair amount of time on a full size O1 figuring out how to load and unload data from floppies and though I don't miss the tiny screen I do kind of miss the springy coiled cable.
#retrocomputing #miniature #restock #osborne
https://store.transmutable.com/l/mo1

trevorflowers, 9 months ago to random

TIL that BestBuy's category for TVs without privacy-invading "smarts" is named "Commercial TVs". These look like reasonably good TV panels without the crapware they're pushing on all consumer models.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tvs/commercial-tvs/pcmcat1601999032843.c

trevorflowers, 7 months ago to retrocomputing

I dig the vibe of the Psion Organizer. Give it a small holographic projector and it could be from the year 2100.
#retrocomputing
(image credit: By The Science Museum UK - [1], CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=133515309)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Organiser

trevorflowers, 9 months ago to random

Good morning, friends. I desired a quiet ramp-up today and was rewarded with this mellow fellow with a well shot video of a soothing mechatronic work of art.
https://youtu.be/uXaGP5tik9o?si=jZof1AylZy9S5La9

trevorflowers, 1 month ago to random

Dang, that's a sweet leg. The ankle motion is especially slick though I wonder about using hard linkages instead of opposing and balanced tendons.
https://youtu.be/wLFCMwRvhVI

trevorflowers, 8 months ago to random

TIL about MotionGen, a handy browser-based free tool for simulating mechanical linkages like mechatronic manipulators, legs, etc.
https://motiongen.io/

trevorflowers, 2 months ago to retrocomputing

Ok retrocomputing folks, the "Help Make the VT100" pre-sale is live!
🎉
To thank supporters for helping fund tooling and time for production I've set this at a lower price and have included a bonus cutie VT100 mini made only for this sale.
💻
If a 1:3 scale working VT100 sounds like something you'd like then head over to the store:
https://store.transmutable.com/l/vt100-pre-sale
#miniatures #retrocomputing #vt100

trevorflowers, 9 months ago to random

Laser printing on green paper works pretty well for creating 1:6 scale screens for the TRS-80 Model III.

trevorflowers, 4 months ago to retrocomputing

If you've been putting off buying a smol retrocomputer then now might be a good time to look again. I'm clearing out most of my shop and everything is priced to move. In the name of space I don't plan to restock some of the items like the Micro Osborne Ones.
#restock #retrocomputing #miniatures
https://store.transmutable.com/

A photo of a miniature floppy organizer sized for micro SD cards.
A photo of a miniature version of a super computer from the 90s, the Connection Machine.

trevorflowers, 1 year ago to random

How I made six Xerox Alto replicas for hands-on museum use:
⚙️ Got a commission from Alan Kay
⚙️ Created models in FreeCAD from photos of his Alto
⚙️ Designed, laser cut, machined, and bent steel frames
⚙️ 3D printed, filled, sanded, and painted the cases to go around the frames
⚙️ Wired up the back panels' switches to wee x86 computers that live where the CRTs were in the originals
⚙️ Wired up LCD panels
⚙️ Installed Linux and Contralto
⚙️ Drove them in a minivan to the Computer History Museum

trevorflowers, 3 months ago to retrocomputing

Big news on the tiny art machines front: My next miniature will be a lovely 1970s terminal and it will have a working keyboard! 🎉
Tiny switches.
Tiny key caps.
Tiny display.
Tiny serial port.
If you want to vote on which terminal it will be (VT100? ADM-3A?) then join the patreon at the $3/mo tier before the poll goes up next week.
#miniatures #retrocomputing
https://www.patreon.com/tiny_art_machines

trevorflowers, 2 months ago to random

Y'all. The VT100 pre-sale has been exactly what I hoped it would be as now I have the funds to complete development and spin up production. I don't even have to sell my little dogs to the circus!
😺
In case anyone else wants to get in early and receive the bonus mini VT100 I'll leave the pre-sale open until tomorrow but I'm very happy to say that thanks to early supporters the sale has already done what it needed to do.
❤️
https://store.transmutable.com/l/vt100-pre-sale

trevorflowers, 5 months ago to random

TIL about Virginia Norwood, by all accounts a badass engineer, mathematician, and physicist who made, among other scientific contributions, significant progress in the Landsat program.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Norwood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landsat_program

FreeCAD, 1 month ago to random

It's Friday once again! Hope everyone has an excellent weekend. Feel free to show us what you are working on using #FreeCADFriday to tag! #freecad #fc3d