iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Not sure if I'm getting the logic right here, but doesn't the logic go that if he didn't hire killers, then he wouldn't have employees who kill people, and then he wouldn't need the stress ball?

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I played it for my sister and I think I was far more amused than she was.

Oh they tangled over that too, it was an even more blatant violation of the agreement. But that didn't happen in October and I needed something to date Oct 8. The lawsuit over the IIgs settled on Oct 9 so I called it close enough.

Apple Records and Apple Computer tangled over trademark infringement, settling when Apple agreed to stay out of the music business. But then Apple released the Apple IIgs with an Ensoniq synthesizer in it, so Apple Records sued. dfarq.homeip.net/when-apple-r... #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

When Apple Records sued Apple Computer

Computers becoming musical instruments violated an earlier agreement

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Captain Sensible - Wot (1983)

I think all phones should answer unidentified callers by playing this song. Is that too much to ask? www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q6Y...

youtube.com

YouTube video by ClassicVideos80s

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I hope Copperman's last words to Gould were, "Well at least I own and know how to fly my plane."

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

The Amiga tank mouse was a hot seller at $5? I bet! It's worth a lot more than that today!

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Oh I know what you mean, some dot matrix printers would wake up your neighbors. This one was quiet because it was a thermal printer, but that meant it needed special (and expensive) paper.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

39 years ago, Commodore hired former Compaq executive Max Toy to turn the company around. Was he just another two-years-and-done Commodore president, or was there something different about him? dfarq.homeip.net/max-toy-emba... #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

Max Toy, embattled Commodore president

He saw opportunities, but nothing he could cash in within 12 months

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Reposted by Dave F

Fine. I’ll update with a word count when I start writing again. @legalminimum.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Make them burn millions of dollars on ads saying "we don't support electric shocks for children".

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Reposted by Dave F

Wellman For MO @wellmanformo.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Check your registration here ASAP!: sos.mo.gov/elections/go...

sos.mo.gov

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I'm sorry I wasn't able to tune in (I was moderating a webinar at the time). Your topic was more interesting than mine!

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I had that $49.95 printer. It wasn't great. But it was $50 and advertised widely. There may have been cheaper printers on the market but you had to look hard to find them.

Yes to all that, and use Firefox, not another Chromium-based browser. That way you're not running any Google-written code.

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It's worth testing the old ones, sometimes they are better than their would-be replacements.

Yeah, when it comes to cancer I throw politeness out the window. I either learned or inherited it from my dad, maybe both.

Here's a hot take that might get me some blocks: If he'd been in prison, he might still be alive because his cancer would have been treated according to then-standard practice for medical care.

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I get so tired of Woz saying the Apple II outsold everything from the start and no one challenging him. The TRS-80 outsold the Apple II from the start, Commodore outsold it in the early 80s, and the Tandy 1000 outsold it in the late 80s.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I was researching on Zenith this weekend and kept finding the statement "Zenith's dominance of the laptop market." Now I see what they meant.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

That'll be a fun rebuild. I tell myself I don't need a 5150 or 5160 but I know if I ever see one in the wild (or even a clone) it'll totally follow me home.

Those tubes were made in Illinois and the sets were assembled in Missouri!

I built a couple of very nice servers from those Alpha boards circa 1998. They ran NT4 really well.

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Zenith built TVs and monitors in my home state for almost 25 years, so I have to go with amber.

Tracking Kevin O'Leary doing not-so-wonderful things?

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"I don't think you realized we had this...."

Kennedy holding up a sign mocking Missouri as Eric Schmitt looks all smug like

Ah, Mediagenic. I remember at least one magazine headline making fun of that name change. Who knew Hypercard business software for the Macintosh wouldn't sell like Ghostbusters?

I'll always remember Activision for Ghostbusters and Pitfall!. Happy birthday to Activision, the original third-party game development studio. dfarq.homeip.net/what-happene... #retrocomputing #retrogaming

What happened to Activision

44 years was a good run for something that looked like it might be a passing fad

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We always look for black dogs. Black Lab mixes are sweethearts and there's always at least one.

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Nice! And I'm guessing it was placing the bomber with POKEs, not by printing the > character.

One gaffe pays tribute to another...

Kennedy holding a photo of Guiliani's press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping while Schmitt looks smug

The web used to be littered with GIF files, as far as the eye could see. Then Unisys decided to get unisysy and GIFs disappeared for a while. Twenty years ago today, the last patent expired, and GIF became free to use, forever. dfarq.homeip.net/the-day-gif-... #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

The day GIF became free to use, forever

The patents around the GIF file format caused an uproar

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I had to deal with an IBM contractor at a mutual customer a number of years ago. He got a 'tude with me, but so much so that I skipped Microchannel and said, dude, don't make me bring up the PCjr. That shut him up fast.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

38 years ago, IBM announced it had sold its 3 millionth PS/2. IBM thought it was doing fine, not realizing how fast the market as a whole was growing. That was the problem with the PS/2. dfarq.homeip.net/ibm-ps2-seri... #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

The PS/2 didn't flop, and maybe that was the problem.

IBM PS/2 series

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Didn't they have to knock down an old White Castle to build that, even?

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Alright, seeing that it weighs five tons, I think I'm gonna call bullcrap on the guy who says he knows someone who has one in his basement that he uses as a couch.

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I've seen voluntary retrocomputing in production IT, unfortunately. Fridge-sized DEC VAX minis, DEC Alphas, HP PA-RISC. One guy told me with a straight face he thought it was perfectly reasonable to keep a computer in production for 30 years.

Kauffman Stadium is the 5th oldest park in MLB and so good both Toronto and Chicago copied it. They should keep it and save the tax money. But since all John Sherman has to do is threaten to move the team to Toledo (or Kansas, same difference), he'll get his stadium.

When I worked at a pharmacy benefits manager, our best AIX administrator had a heart attack right at his desk and died. I wish stories like this were unusual but they aren't.

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My thumbnails for my blog posts are formulaic and probably fall short of mediocrity but at least I typed every word myself, edited the photos myself, and placed all of the elements myself. And as I make more of them, sometimes I make one that's a bit better than the others were.

My convicted pedophile Boy Scout leader got 10 years. That wasn't enough, but a lot more than 60 days.

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I like it better than a DePlorean!

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It was 54 years ago that AMD held its IPO. It's easy to forget AMD is that old, and that AMD processor logic powered most 1970s minicomputers, so they were no stranger to enterprises when they started selling x86 CPUs. dfarq.homeip.net/amds-ipo-sep... #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

AMD's IPO, September 27, 1972

Its chips also found its way into many 1970s and 1980s midrange minicomputers

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Excellent advice. Sometimes stuff is still there on the last day because they didn't know how to price it and nobody asked. Another trick: Not all sellers do this, but many of them will sell at even bigger discounts the final hour of the sale.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

First console: Coleco Telstar (a Pong clone), 1981-ish. It could play tennis, hockey, handball, or Jai-Alai, all variants on the same theme. First computer: Commodore 64, 1984. I'm more nostalgic for the 64 than I am for the console.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I went about 12 years without using my health insurance. Pretty common for men in their late 20s and into their 30s. Moral of the story: Use your health insurance once a year whether you need to or not, so you don't lose it.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I also use Firefox. I was a Netscape holdout for about as long as was possible. I use Chrome at work because they make me, but they can't make me like it.