@siliconundergro
He/him. INTJ. I blog 4-5 times a week about vintage and retro computers. Day job in information security, specifically vulnerability management. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. You can find my blog, The Silicon Underground, at https://dfarq.homeip.net
It was 26 years ago today that the NASDAQ reached its dotcom-era peak. It took a dive three days later, and didn't reach that level again for 15 years. Fear of missing out on the next Microsoft created a wild time. #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing dfarq.homeip.net/when-the-dot...
On March 8, 1983, IBM released the PC/XT, a souped up PC with a hard drive. Its slower than expected initial sales played a role in the Miniscribe brick scandal. #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing dfarq.homeip.net/ibm-pc-xt-mo...
DISCOOOOOO
I once interviewed an expert on oil consumption that focused on consumers. He said low gas prices are a religion for Americans and they will do absolutely nonsensical things to access them, like drive miles and miles out of their way.
If you wanna lose votes as fast as possible, raise gas prices.
Those were good years for that magazine!
The same reason Internet Explorer used to throw scary popups saying "YOU'RE ABOUT TO ENTER THE INTERNET ZONE! ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS?" Hmm, maybe if I didn't want to get on the Internet, I wouldn't have launched a program called Internet Explorer?
content like that used to get a fair bit of traffic. The AI bots are trying to out-SEO each other to get whatever scraps of traffic remain.
What do you need to know? Maybe I covered it in some of my old blog posts that Google buried?
I built a beater frankencomputer of spare parts I had lying around. The headliner is a 3rd-generation Intel i5 CPU from 2012, and 24 GB of DDR3. I loaded Debian Linux 13. Honestly, it was easier to get running than Windows 11 is at this point, and runs faster than Win10 did.
On March 7, 1983, New Order released Blue Monday, a single that wasn't supposed to be a single that pushed the technology of the day to its limits. And the sleeve resembled a floppy disk. #1980s #newwave #retrocomputing dfarq.homeip.net/blue-monday-...
The Michelangelo virus gave a big scare in March 1992, arguably the first of its kind. But since viruses had fewer ways to spread in 1992 than today, it didn't have the expected impact. I understood the risks, and was defiant. #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing dfarq.homeip.net/remembering-...
51 years ago this week, the Homebrew Computer Club met for the first time. Its members went on to build some of the first small computers and video game systems to reach consumers. #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #retrogaming dfarq.homeip.net/homebrew-com...
Now we just have to find some worth copying and repurposing. That might take some time.
Part of me is surprised. The other part of me shrugs and says they bought a Tesla, of course they wouldn't know.
I'm very surprised I've never used "Microslop" on my blog in 27 years. Microsloth, yes.
We used to go to Target multiple times a week. Now it's once a year. We'll go to everything from Dillard's to Dollar Tree before going to Target. And this is coming from a guy who dislikes Walmart and Amazon almost as much. They're once-a-year last resorts too. We shop at Costco and Aldi a lot.
Buried lede: Meta sends all your nudes to Kenya where humans annotate it and feed it to AI
I have that same chip in my 386! Wouldn't it be funny if we had the same motherboard too? There were lots of those though, so that seems like a long shot.
34 years ago today, a legend was born: Intel's 486DX2 CPU. It was a compromise to help the 486 scale to higher clock speeds, and to say it worked out well is an understatement. #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing dfarq.homeip.net/intel-486dx2...
35 years ago today, AMD finally released its long awaited 386 clone. What took them so long? The legal battles ended up taking longer than the engineering. #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing dfarq.homeip.net/amd-am386-re...
For a short time, it looked like the future of graphical user interfaces wouldn't be Windows, but instead, something called GEM, from a name that may sound familiar. #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing dfarq.homeip.net/whatever-hap...
This week is Sid Meier's birthday. That makes it a great time to look back on the many games he designed. Civilization probably shaved a good .25 off my college GPA. #retrocomputing #retrogaming dfarq.homeip.net/game-designe...
It's in the blog post.
Five years ago today, the storied computer store Fry's shut its doors for good. Whether you loved it, hated it, or had mixed feelings about it, there was no other computer store quite like it. #retrocomputing dfarq.homeip.net/what-happene...
Can you defeat the surveillance state with a pair of inexpensive glasses from Zenni? Not completely, but they're effective enough that I want a pair now. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOBd...
They will face accountability one day.👇
Where do I volunteer for jury duty in this trial? I can be COMPLETELY impartial in a trial involving Elon Musk. I'm even willing to spell his name right if that lets me be on this jury.
The story that Elon Musk committed voter fraud has gotten next to no coverage -- one of those things you can't make come up on a Google search.
But I think it's time for Dems to go on offensive abt right wing coddling of this immigrant interfering in our elections.
newrepublic.com/post/206857/...
I was shopping for a computer circa 1994 and asked what brand the video card was, because it seemed like a no-name card. The salesguy said "VESA" and pronounced it "VISA." Yeah, it was a no-name card.
I'm more interested in what a VIC-20 has to say here than over at Elno's place, but the VIC's tweet seems lost to history anyway. Retrocomputing is supposed to be a break from the socials, right? #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing dfarq.homeip.net/on-february-...
