VCF MW Post Mortum

After a long pause (mostly due to other events, the scamdemic, and the old venue being too small), we went to VCF MW this year.

tl;dr;  It was really nice.  The venue was really good.  The main room was at least twice (some people said three time) as large as the other venue.  It was crowded, but not "subway at rush hour" crowded.

Let's start with the bad:

1. Food poisoning.  We went to the "canteen" in the main room for a quick snack.  We only picked up a pack of peanut M&Ms to hold us until dinner.  Even though the date on the packs were 2025, it was obvious that they weren't stored correctly and the one M&M that we ate was certainly off.
2. Loud neighboring party.  There was a big wedding going on in the ballroom next to VCF and sometimes their "music" system intruded into the VCF panel room.  More of an annoyance, but someone should have told them to turn it down a bit.
3. The wedding also blocked certain hallways for a while.  This was a minor annoyance, though, as there were other (but less direct) routes from the con to the rooms.
4. The traffic!  It took me 1 day (each way), to physically recover from the drive.  Chicago area traffic is horrible.

But that's about all I have to complain about.

Lots of cool displays and loads of nice people.  Everyone was very polite and pleasant.

My goal was to git rid of stuff (and not accumulate more).  I succeeded.

All the stuff I brought to the auction sold for a good amount.  We "donated" at least $400 through the auction.  All of the stuff that I dropped off at the free table disappeared by Saturday morning.

So, what did we see:

1. Adrian from Adrian's Digital Basement on YouTube.

1. David from 8-Bit-Guy on YouTube.

1. Veronica, Geri Ellsworth, June (Nybbles and Bytes) - but they were there as more of con-go-ers, not to talk/display.

1. TexElec had a table.

1. A nice Osborne display.  An 01, Execute and even a Vixen!  All working!

Most of the talks were interesting, but not real useful to me.  They still had lots of good information, though.

One of the things I got from the YouTuber channel was the realization that most LLM AIs are really nothing more than high-powered versions of Eliza.

Sperry HT

The Sperry HT is done.  I finished refurbishing the keyboard today.

Pictures are here.

The computer pretty much worked fine when I got it.  The seller shipped it correctly and it arrived in the correct number of pieces - even the CGA monitor.

As expected, some parts were worn:

1. Clock battery was dead.  But it didn't leak.
2. Hard drive was dead.
3. The foam in the foam-and-foil keyboard was disintegrating.

So, complete disassembly and clean.  That was surprisingly easy.

Clock battery replaced.

So the Sperry HT was one of the first IBM clone systems that came with a real time clock.  The battery only keeps the clock running when the PC is off.  But that comes at a price.  You need to use the special Sperry MS-DOS 2.11 to have MS-DOS use the clock.  Some people wrote some drivers if you want to upgrade to DOS 3.x.  But the system came with the original DOS 2.11 disks.  I imaged them and uploaded them to the Internet Archive.

I pulled the hard drive and disassembled it.  I wanted the "cage" with the face plate so that I could reinstall it back in the case.  I pulled the XT-CF-IDE from the Sperry Portable and hooked up the light to the old hard drive cage.  So the old hard drive light will flash as the XT-CF-IDE access the "hard drive".

So my 1985 computer has a flash drive.  :)

I then ordered some foam-and-foil replacements from TexElec, but they were going to take a while, so I grabbed a "loaner" keyboard I had in the spare parts box and started to put the Sperry through its paces.  Once I saw it was working, I reinstalled DOS 2.11 from the Sperry disks to the CF card and set the clock.

When the foam-and-foil replacements shipped, I disassembled the keyboard and popped out all the old disks (see this video).  As expected, the foam was failing.  Some would work, but most would either not come back after being "squished" or they would disintegrate completely.

The replacements have to be installed individually and there are 101 keys on the keyboard.  I spread it out over several days so I didn't go insane.  :)  But it's done and the keyboard works fine.  I might need to lube the keys, though.

Misc. Updates

 I haven't posted an update for a while.

Kaypro 1 - It was giving me fits, so I sort of turned it into a "parts" machine and got a Kaypro 4/84 working very nicely.

I was finally able to acquire a Sperry HT.  The first computer I ever owned.

As expected, the hard drive is long toast, so I took the IDE-XT-CF card from the Sperry Portable and put it there.  Then fixed the DOS on it.  Explanation: The Sperry HT was one of the first to have a real time clock, but it requires a special version of DOS 2.11 to work.  So I installed that version.

Cleaned it up.  Lubed up the floppy drive and cleaned it.  Now working on fixing the foam-and-foil keyboard.  It's looking nice.

So some of the items that I was going to bring to VCFMW won't be going now (or will be on the free table), but I still have a good amount of stuff to bring and donate.

And I'm looking at downsizing a few other systems that I simply don't have table space for.  Goal: I have all computers available for use at any time and try to rotate through them to play with them every couple of weeks.  Also, to get rid of systems that I simply am no longer interested in anymore.

The "Con Vibe" - A little more explanation

Re-reading my last entry, I think I need to explain a little more about the "Con Vibe" issue.  Let me try to equate this to an experience I had in college.

So, freshman in college.  I discover that there is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy club.  Great.  I've always liked that and it would be nice to talk to others about that.  So I go to one of their meetings.

Now, I have to say that I was "welcomed" in that people talked to me and no one gave me a vibe of "go away."  But as the meeting started, there was a great deal of "in jokes" and such.  Initially, I took that in stride because I was new to the group.  But the "in jokes" were to obtuse and related to past club events that I simply couldn't relate.

If I experienced this today, I would equate it to the Star Trek: TNG Darmok episode.

The end result left me feeling like I would always be an outsider in this group.  As a result, I decided that they weren't worth my time.  Over the next few years, I would meet up with members as part of my education.  They would try to get me to attend their meetings and I would explain why I don't go - yet they never really "got" it.

As time went on, members graduated and weren't replaced by new people (hence current members trying to get me to go) and the club dwindled.  By the time I graduated, the club was no more.

This is how I felt at Tandy Assembly sometimes.  I can't assess whether there are more or less people going each year, having only gone once.  But I really hope this doesn't happen to them and that they become more aware of how "outsiders" feel when attending.  It's nice to see old friends getting together, but they need to be more aware, and a little more accommodating, to new people too and not assume that "everyone" knows.

Tandy Assembly

So this year, we did Tandy Assembly.  This has been on my list for a few years, but the scamdemic sort of derailed that for a bit.  It finally got high enough this year.

It's quite a drive (5 hours of driving, 6 when you factor in rest stops and a meal), so we took some extra days off so that we could arrive early and be fresh for the tech talks, and to recover afterwards.

Overall: It was worth doing once, but I don't think I'll do it again.  It cost a good amount of time, energy and money to go.  I don't regret it, but I don't think it's worth it to me to do it again.  Maybe if they get someone really special to speak.  Like one year, they had Don French, who was one of the father's of the TRS-80.

So let's focus on the good first.  Great speakers on interesting topics.  Lots of cool equipment.  Some Model II/12/16/6000s as well as the expected Model I/III/4 systems, and CoCo's, plus some extra stuff (like a DT-1).

But we also have to talk about the bad, and I don't like doing this, but it needs to be said.

Venue: First off, the hotel and the staff were wonderful.  They got a perfect score.  The problem with the venue is location.  There's 1 coffee shop near by that was... OK.  Not Herman's Boy that's for sure.  The area was not nice, especially at night.  So that limited us to where we could go and we like to walk.  Most other restaurants were a need to drive and that's hard with all the construction even with GPS.

Next, the normal "Con Vibe" wasn't there.  Normally at a convention, there's a bunch of geeks who don't know most of the people there.  What ties us together is a common like of whatever-the-con-is-about.  Tandy Assembly is more like a meeting of old friends and "outsiders" are not accommodated.  That's not to say that were weren't made to feel welcome by some.  But we weren't "in the know" and we were kept in the dark a bit.

For example, on Friday night, after the tech talks, we headed to the hotel restaurant for dinner.  We didn't know that Tandy Assembly had a buffet.  It wasn't written anywhere. We weren't told about it.  We didn't see anything about it until later when we brought in our auction stuff.  Normally, such a thing is for the show "guests of honor" and the people who work to put it on, but it seemed it was open to all attendees Friday night.  It would have been nice to know about it before we went off to dinner.

Unlike many cons, we didn't take over the hotel.  I was rather surprised at the lack of attendance Friday, but we figured that it was a work day and we'd get a lot more people on Saturday, but we didn't.  Now, this is a good/bad thing.  Personally, I like the lack of crowds (ex: we won't be at VCFMW until they get a bigger venue), but there were so few people that we didn't get to meet many people - because there weren't that many to meet with.

To close on a upbeat note:  It was nice to meet Ian, Jeff Birt, and a few others that I've only seen on YouTube.  So, like I said, it was worthwhile to go.  I don't regret the time/energy/money we spent.

Tech Week Grand Rapids

So one of my co-workers alerted me to this event, so I went to check it out on their web site.

Wow!  What a load of useless "panels" and Woke trash.  Let's unpack this.

Monday 9/18 - Kickoff with Malcolm Gladwell

• This guy is just an author.  He has no technical knowledge, yet has a 3 hour speech.  On what?

Tuesday 9/19

• Tech Showcase for students - Pretty much just local companies displaying information about their companies.
• SURGE AI Talk: Unleashing the Power of ChatGPT and AI in Your Business! - ChatGPT is 99% marketing right now.  Its usefulness is very questionable.
• Supercharge Your Applications with Artificial Intelligence - Continuing the AI hype.
• Creative Solutions that Change Lives: The Engineering & Computing Mindset - Just fluff.
• Diversity & Inclusion in Tech - Woke trash
• Student Pitch Competition - Practice pitching your idea!  Wow.  An ounce of image is certainly worth a pound of performance.

And no mention of pirates (9/19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day)

Wed. 9/20

• Code, Culture, and Coffee - "Conversations about the Tech Industry", with people who know nothing about the tech industry.
• Tech Trends Reshaping Business - "Sessions on generative AI, cyber, & AI in the workplace" continuing the AI hype.
• Bridge 96: Building a Statewide Startup Ecosystem - No details, but smells like more Woke trash.
• GVSU Tech Talks - "Tech expert presentations".  No list of who these tech "experts" are, though.
• Freshwater Digital Technology Showcase - Just demonstrations of tech.
• Twisthink x Failure Lab - "Presentations and happy hour".  Translation: People who know nothing speaking jibberish.
• AI in Communications: Understanding Impact & Unlocking Potential - And still more pushing of the AI hype.
• VC Happy Hour - i.e. a bunch of stupid lushes pretending to speak on topics of which they know nothing about.
• Demo Day - Maybe interesting, but probably not.

Thurs. 9/21

• Black & Brown Founders Brunch - Woke trash
• Attracting & Retaining Talent in the Work-From-Home Era - Wow!  Something potentially useful, but seeing the amount of Woke trash already here, I doubt it.
• Latinx in Tech - More Woke trash.  Let me check my BINGO card.  I think I might have won.
• Building the Workforce You Need - Another something that's potentially useful, but I doubt it.
• Drinks on the Deck - Even more lushes pretending to speak on topics of which they know nothing about.
• Innovation at Scale: A Playbook for Building High-Growth Ventures - Did we learn nothing from the .COM bust?
• GR in XR on the Blue Bridge - "Extended reality experience".  Potentially interesting, but 1 out of how many? isn't very good.

Fri. 9/22

• Twisthink Breakfast + Panel - I have no idea what Twisthink is, so why would I think this is interesting?
• It Started at State! - Propaganda that tech ideas started at MSU.
• Confluence Music Summit - And more non-tech fluff.

Sat. 9/23

• Confluence Festival - "Free festival with art, music, science, and tech".  Seriously?  That's like saying "I have a smart watch, so I'm tech."

I'll be going to Tandy Assembly later this month and there will be more tech talking in 1 hour there than a whole week of "Tech Week Grand Rapids".

Kaypro "1" update

I decided to return the to the floppy drives.  The half height drives worked much more reliably than the full height drives.

I used the OpenFlops to boot and copy disk images to real 5.25" disks.  Once that was done, I put the real floppy drive back.  Now I have a bunch of working disks for the Kaypro "1".

Then I fixed the video "squeezing" problem.  Just some DeOxyIt and slight adjustment to a video pot.

I also use the 5.25" drive in the NuXT to copy files.  Someone way back in the day, wrote a set of utilities called 22dsk that will read/write CP/M 2.2 disks.  It also works for my kaypro 4/83, but I have to use the same floppy emulator in the NuXT.

TRS-80 Model I update

So I never gave an update on the Model I that I found locally.

I picked up the kit and parts for the power supply and fit it into a nice enclosure.

I powered it on and...  It worked!  It had some issues, but that wasn't a surprise.

On a whim, I also plugged in the Model I Level I that I had bought only for display and it worked too!  The plastic is really brittle with this one, so it's back on the shelf.

The first issue with the Model I Level II was the video.  But some DeOxyIt on the pots and a little adjustment fixed that.

Next was the keyboard.  There were 3 problems:

1. Dirty key switches.  So off go the key tops.  Dusted them out.  DeOxyIt all of them.
2. They still weren't 100%, though.  So I replaced the cable that connected the keyboard to the motherboard - a common problem.
3. Better, but still not 100%.  I reflowed all the solder for the key switches and we are now at 100%.

I picked up a Quinterface and FreHD for it.  It has no serial interface, though.  So no BBSing with it.

I need to put the Expansion Interface on the list of things to work on.

Cleaning house - C128, Tandy 1100FD, etc.

So I'm trying to clean things out a bit.  My rule of "if a new computer comes in, an old one has to go" is being enforced.  I have a few systems that have no desk space, so they are going.

The Commodore 128 went on eBay, alone with the Commodore 1571 floppy drive.  But no one wanted the printer (no surprise).

I am going to donate my spare Tandy 1100FD and PC-2 to Tandy Assembly for their Auction.

I am toying with the idea of doing the same for the Kaypro "1" at VFCMW next year.

I have a box of freebies set for Tandy Assembly and a different box set up for VCFMW.

So it's slowly happening.

Reunion aftermath

So my reunion went off better than expected.

Things that surprised me:

1. The number of people who actually matured and improved.  But I guess the other who didn't wouldn't have shown up.
2. The number of people I didn't remember.
3. The number of people who wanted to talk to us (my wife and me).
4. The number of people who wanted to avoid us (who I had always been on good terms with).

My wife was comfortable enough that she was talked into us doing our wedding dance.  The video was interesting mostly hearing the crowd reactions.  I think they thought they would be getting Amateur Hour, but soon realized that they were getting Dancing With The Stars.

A many women were crying after the dance and one told my wife "I wish my husband would dance with me like that."

I met up with a guy who had my dad as a teacher and he wanted to tell me how being in his class sent him on a career into aviation.  This was a little bittersweet for me.  First, I didn't remember the guy.  I don't think I had any classes with him.  But his memories of the rocket launches my dad did in his science classes was a bit painful for me because I had asked my dad about that, but he would not do that with me.  So all these kids who weren't his children got to do model rockets, but he wouldn't do the same thing with his children.

I think some of the people there were looking for a bit of closure, and others were like me - just curious about how people turned out.

So the next reunion will be in 10 years.  But I told my wife that we probably won't go.  But there are many variables in that equation and we won't be able to solve that for another 10 years.

Why I Am Going to My 40th High School Reunion

This is in response to an article I came across today called Why I'm Not Going to My 50th High School Reunion.

I completely understand the author of the article.  I've only gone to my 10th (at pressure from my parents), 30th (because I was going to be in town) and now, I'm going to my 40th.

But, like the article's author, I really don't care about these people anymore.  I don't say that with any negative feelings, though.  Simply put, I haven't see some of these people in at least 10 years and most of them in 30 or more years.  There's no one I've "kept in touch" with or I really want to see again.

The reunion "committee" (I applaud them for taking this work on) sent out a list of classmates that they couldn't find.  Going through the list, I can see several that I understand why they would not want to be found (sorry, not naming names here).  They also have a list (sadly, too long) of classmates who have passed.  Some I knew passed and some I didn't.

Going through the list, there was no one that I thought I really need to catch up with this person.

So why am I going?

Well, first, we can easily work it in to our schedule.  We already have to to 1/3 of the way there that Saturday anyway.  We can stop in and say "hi" to mom, which she'll like.  Spend no more than a couple of hours at the reunion and then go home.

But the main reason is that some of these people I have literally known all my life.  The first school picture that I have, from nursery school - that's pre-kindergarten - shows some of these people.  And I'm curious (yes, that would be the word) as to how these people turned out after 40 years.

Addendum:

At my 10 year reunion, there were a large number of people.  But none that I was really friends with in High School.  I knew most of them, but they weren't what I considered "friends".   The dynamic here was still very much like High School, even though (most of us) had grown up.

At the 30 year reunion, things were... interesting.  By this time I had lost most of the weight that I had put on and was actually thinner than I was in High School.  I was also more outgoing and had a girlfriend (who is now my wife).  Some people were very friendly to us - especially the few that I knew from Nursery School.  Some were cold to us - but they were enemies in High School.  I guess some people just can't let go.  But there were others who were friendly to me in High School but were now more than a little cool to me for some unknown reason.

I have no expectations for my 40th.  It is what it is.  But it will also be interesting no matter what.