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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers

@dectape.bsky.social
156 followers 168 following 361 posts

I like to do stuff with ancient electronic junk, mostly computers. Sometimes I post pictures of it!

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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The VT8-E is a set of three Omnibus boards in a PDP-8/e that are lashed up to a VT05 chassis with just the monitor and keyboard installed. The logic in the 8/e can do text (64x20 or 32x20 characters with various attributes) or graphics (189x200 pixels, monochrome).
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Spent the afternoon cleaning up the basement in an attempt to find this set of drawings. I found it, finally, in a box in a forgotten corner. And even better, the drawings match the revision of the hardware I have to debug. Also: what a lovely bit of art on the cover.
Photograph of a copy of the "VT8-E video display control engineering drawings" c. 1973.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The logo is currently this tiny little icon stolen from Smalltalk-72:
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This may be my favorite Who album, it's light and carefree and goofy and it's just a lot of fun to listen to. And it's got a lotta beans on the cover.
A photograph of a vinyl copy of The Who's 1967 album "The Who Sell Out" that I picked up this weekend.  On the cover, Pete Townshend is using an oversized Odorono deodarant and Roger Daltrey is bathing in a tub of Heinz Baked Beans.  (Not pictured, but on the rear cover Keith Moon is using a giant tube of pimple cream and John Entwistle is shilling for Charles Atlas and Dynamic Tension).
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Made an amazing score at Half-Price Books in Redmond today. There are about a million different pressings of this but I'm fairly certain this one is what I have here... www.discogs.com/release/1171...
Photograph of an LP copy of The Velvet Underground and Nico.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Here’s the other half:
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
My score today during VCF load-in, courtesy of the amazing Friends of the Palo Alto Library’s book sale booth.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
We are all loaded-in and set up for VCF West! Come by and see us tomorrow and Sunday at CHM!
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
The loading for the trip down to VCF West has begun...
A Xerox Alto sits in the back of a mostly-empty cargo van.  It beckons to you.  You feel a stirring.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Gonna be a good time!
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Random impulse record purchase today. Not a ton of info on this band; Discogs (www.discogs.com/artist/43720...) says Tarwater is a "Self-described ‘hard-core country music’ band from Mountain Home, Idaho." I'm not so sure about the hard-core part but it's not bad.
The LP album "Tarnation" by Tarwater being held up by yours truly.  Cover is a black and white rendering of the band (possibly a pencil drawing).  They are sitting on a hill or something and they look very country.  Maybe even... hard core country.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
No matter how many times I eat them they keep coming back to kill me.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
And he showed up in an episode of Venture Bros. I was watching this evening.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Consider also
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
There's no way out of here, when you come in you're in for good
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
The sleeper awakens. mastodon.sdf.org/@fvzappa/116...
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Some early Intel bipolar ROMs hiding inside an HP 9810A calculator I'm getting ready for VCF Pacific Northwest. The 3301 was introduced in 1969 and holds 1024 bits. Come see the 9810A in action at the beginning of May! vcfpnw.org
Close-up photo of a PCB from inside the HP 9810A calculator, showing two ceramic packages with gold lids.  Both are 3301A biplor ROMs, but the bottom is HP-badged with HP's in-house part numbering applied.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
The 11/70 is a fun system to work on. The service documentation is excellent and you get to work thorough fun diagrams like the one below, which traces through all execution paths of the microcode (all 256 words of it).
FLOWS 9 from the 11/70 engineering drawings, which describes the microcode related to integer divide operations.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Traced it down to a faulty microcode ROM (one of several early bipolar 256x4bit PROMs in the system). We had a spare ROM board so we swapped that in; chip-level diagnosis will happen at some later date. The system boots 7th ed. UNIX once again!
Photo of my laptop running Tera-Term, displaying a successful boot of 7th ed. Unix.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Went down to ICM today and fixed the PDP-11/70 system I used to help maintain at the Living Computer Museum back in the day. Any instruction that touched memory would wedge the processor (front panel accesses worked OK). Brought along my KM11 diagnostic set (left pic) to help diagnose the issue.
Photo of "Miss Piggy," ICM's (formerly LCM's, formerly Microsoft's) DECsystem 570 (PDP-11/70) system.  The processor chassis has been pulled out of the rack and a KM11 diagnostic board is plugged into the left-hand side.  A laptop sits on top, displaying microcode flow diagrams.A shot of the 11/70's processor chassis showing the card cage.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
This was the secret behind the Akira project, I am told.
A photo of an album entitled "PERSONAL POWER through CREATIVE SELLING" by ELMER G. LETERMAN, who is apparently the World's Best-Known Insurance Salesman.  The cover features a nuclear explosion in the background.  Convincing.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Now with Funky Mode!
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Finally had time this week to work out the remaining kinks in the emulation. Behold, BUS-II in action for the first time in who knows how long:
Screenshot of the emulator running BUS-II; it has dumped a few dozen bytes of memory to the teletype.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Psst. I got some hand-woven artisinal shit here man, it's real good.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Not too many albums come with source code these days. For the record, this is the only kind of AI music I'll accept.
Photo of a vinyl copy of Synergy's album "Computer Experiments: Volume One" from my collection.  Sometimes, I don't remember exactly why I bought a record; this is not one of those times.Back cover of same.  There is a track listing and what appears to be a listing of 6502 microprocessor instructions for the program "Pink Tunes" used to compose the album.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Did *you* know that the song "Jailbreak" by Thin Lizzy has a sci-fi backstory? Well, now you do!
Photo of the back of a rather banged up copy of the Thin Lizzy album "Jailbreak."  Text reads: 

THE JAILBREAK The warrior locked himself into his video scanner and gazed throughout the Universe . . . until he came up on Dimension 5. 

DIMENSION 5 was now in the hands of the Overmaster, whose lust for ultimate power had become an obsession.  Religion and media were all under his control and computer files were kept on all known living persons within the city zones.

Many were arrested and jailed.

It was therefore significant that The Jailbreak represented a freedom for so many yet to those involved at the time it was a series of events, the outcome of which no-one could have foreseen. The plan was simple. By knocking out the alarm systems in a riot, they then would cause an explosion which would blow half the cell blocks away. Outside help came from an organisation known as Phono-Graphics, who if the plan was successful would eventually capitalize on the whole project.

The night of The Jailbreak all hell broke loose. A Red Alert was issued by the Overmaster himself. Robot trackers, military police, dogs, and all available vehicles were on the hunt. All were caught, except four, who made it to the Rampic Buildings on the south side of the city. It was in these buildings that they broadcast and recorded selected material, some of which still survives today. Through these recordings, they built up a following who eventually took to the streets in what was to become the Final War.

The Warrior had become wear and disillusioned with war, but seeing how the people struggled to be free he knew once again he must raise up his sword...

The music sailed out into the night then upward towards the skies, traveling on that thin border between reality and imagination.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Well, hello ladies... can I interest you in the finest in home video entertainment?
A man, adorned in formal white labcoat and tie stares into your eyes through coke-bottle glasses.  In his hands he holds an RCA SelectaVision Capacitance Electronic Disc.  With a deft movement he slowly releases the catch... and slowly reveals the platter inside.  You cannot resist it, you have no choice but to watch.  To look into those eyes.  To see... the future.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Now more than ever, I'd say!
An ad from a 1965 issue of "Computer Design" magazine, reading (in multiple typefaces): "WHAT THIS COUNTRY *NEEDS* is a good $98 SHAFT ENCODER."  You know it's true.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Robitussin make me feel so fine Robitussin and Elderberry wine
Photo of the cover of Moby Grape's first album, sitting on a Teletype.  The first track on this excellent psych rock album, "Hey Grandma" features the lyrics quoted in the post.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
Just gonna do a bit of reading about the future.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
My record listening adventure has taken me on many twists and turns over the past ~750 records. I've found records in my collection I forgot I even had, and among them were some real gems. I feel very secure in saying that this one is the worst I've listened to so far.
A photo of me holding up a rather worn LP copy of Ray Manzarek's "The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out Of Control."  This album has 4.5 stars on AllMusic and I am not in agreement.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Yow!
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Happy DEC-20 day to all those cool cats all around the world. You know the ones.
A photo of my KS10 powered up and running to celebrate the holy DEC-20 day.A screenshot of a terminal window showing the KS10's ITS boot.  It is very exciting.  Should I really be running TOPS-20 today of all days?  MAYBE.  But ITS is cool.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
When I was in college at MSU back in the early 2000s, a building was torn down on Grand River Ave, revealing this lovely hand-painted sign, perfectly preserved. Unfortunately it got covered up again by a new building shortly afterward. All this to say, I'm angry that Safeway no longer carries it.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Sometimes you just gotta spend $2.99 on an LP that catches your eye at the junk store. Who loves ya, baby?
Cover of Telly Sevalas's 1974 album "Telly."  He is on the cover, coat draped across his back, holding a toothpick and looking dramatic.  You cannot resist his allure, he will take you on a hard-boiled detective adventure, just put the album on the turntable, baby.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
If you gaze long into Peter Gabriel, the Peter Gabriel also gazes into you...
Photo of the inner sleeve from the 1977 Peter Gabriel album referred to as "Car."  Somethin's weird with the man's eyes, they're not right, I tell you.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Purple records sound better.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ what is this. You are literally providing a choice between three mystery options. OK, I see it now: Microsoft can no longer design products, write code, test it, or debug it, so these options here are to paper over issues they're too dumb to fix. Vibe coding, folks.
A design and implementation failure exposed as a configuration option in the Windows 11 Terminal: "Text measurement mode".  It reads "This changes the way incoming text is grouped into cells.  The "Grapheme clusters" option is the most modern and Unicode-correct way to do so, while "wcswidth" is a common approach on UNIX, and "Windows Console" replicates the way it used to work on Windows.  Changing this setting requires a restart of Windows Terminal and it only applies to applications launched from within it."
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
OK, folks, I may in fact be going insane. Because I cannot for the life of me understand what these options are doing here. Is this an advanced 3D game? Is it some kind of modeling software? Is it the latest Photoshop? No, it's the goddamn terminal console in Windows 11.
A screen shot of the "Rendering" options tab (tab?  is it a tab?  what is this attempt at a user interface and why does it look like nothing else in windows?) in the Terminal in Windows 11.  It features three verbosely described checkboxes (which are now sliders because of touch interfaces, I don't have a touch interface on this computer, why would I).  I won't transcribe them all here, suffice it to say that they are for three options that users shouldn't ever have to think about, described in such a way that users will never, ever understand the consequences of their choice.

Also the iconography here is terrible.  Susan Kare is having nightmares right now because of this.  All UX these days looks terrible, no one cares, and now "30% of it is written by LLMs" so it'll only get better.

I'm so cold.  It's getting very dark in here.

I use Windows now only because I have to, but it's still too much.  I moved to a Mac last year and it's also bad, what the hell has happened to computers, man?
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
If you're gonna start an ASCII collection, it's best to keep it on a robust storage device.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
IS RESULTS TO BE NEG. ?
YES
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
I declare that today, Nov. 19, 2025 is the 50th anniversary of BitBLT, a routine so fundamental to computer graphics that we don't even think about it having an origin. Dan Ingalls came up with a working implementation on the Xerox Alto as part of his work on Smalltalk.
A scan of an inter-office memo from Xerox PARC dated Nov. 19, 1975 and titled "Bit BLT."  The full scan may be found on bitsavers at: https://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/alto/BitBLT_Nov1975.pdf.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Yes. This is proper music right here.
The cover of "Look Out For #1" by the Brothers Johnson.  The aforementioned brothers are looking just amazingly cool with their guitars.  Funk Level: 8.9.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
This is an album that takes me back to a major turning-point in my life; in 2002 I finished college and got a job offer at a large software concern in Redmond, WA. Taking that job entailed a 2,200-mile cross-country road-trip and this album was in the car's CD player for most of it.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
This is my favorite Elvis album; no music, it's an album comprised entirely of random chatter from Elvis between sets.
The cover of the album "Having Fun With Elvis on Stage."  "Fun" may be overselling this just a tad.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
This entire album is Frank wasting your time and his talent but also I still love “The Radio is Broken” so all is forgiven. Also "Cocaine Decisions" seems to fit the current era, perhaps with a different drug substituted in, time is a flat circle, etc.
Me holding up the Frank Zappa album "The Man From Utopia" on glorious vinyl.  The cover's art makes you think the wrong things about this album, probably.  Who can say.  Not me.  I wouldn't try to influence your thoughts like that, not even subliminally via alt-text.
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Crazy Eddie's Used Computers @dectape.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
My uncle lent me this album (and a handful of other early Zappa titles) when I was 13 and it became one of my favorites. I was a total Zappa junkie through middle and high school and I'm still a big fan, though it can be difficult to reconcile some of his more problematic aspects.
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