Monday, August 20, 2012

The Computer Age .... 1985.


I have this Time-Life book called Computer Basics.

It was published in 1985.

This was Vol. 1 of a series to explain a marvelous new device - a personal home computer.

I didn't have a computer yet. My first one was bought in 1994.

My device had slots for two floppy disks, 51/4 inch and 3.5 inch.

Computers were not networked back then so these disks were used to transfer data you had saved. A patient friend was teaching me how to use DOS and I asked him about something called a Window.

He laughed and said it was just a fad.

The Time-Life book explained the electronic camera pictured above. Notice the film advance lever in the upper left. A true digital camera was still years away.

I liked the idea of computers as soon as I heard about them.

My first job at the Post and Courier involved using a computer to answer queries people made by phone. We called it InfoLine.

Our slogan back in 1998 was "You can't be at your computer all the time, but you always can get to a phone." Pretty catchy, huh?

The book said that it all was based on "ones and zeroes" and showed Armstrong's 1969 message sent from machine to machine to earth saying "That's one small step for a man..."

What triggered all this was noting I had four(4) VCRs sitting in my basement shop.

Upstairs I counted four more.

Two were VCR/DVD combo machines.

Progress.

(Click on the scanned photos for more detail.

I should note these should be credited to Time-Life.

I hereby credit that source.

They probably can track what I did.

With a computer.

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posted by chuckography @ 2:01 PM 1 Comments

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Dog - and Cat - Days of Summer...

Saw this in a cart at Sam's Club a while back.

I didn't ask the "cat lady" how many she had.

The packaging look on the bag has just changed but I'm sure my kitty recognized what I brought in from the car.

It's August and I hope she knows how lucky she is to be living the good life as an INSIDE cat.

MAN, it's extra hot right now.

Summer time and the parking gets choosey.

It's "Park Southern Style" time. That means in the shade.

Oh sure, you'll walk further but you're rewarded when you get back to your car.

Cruise slowly through the parking lot looking for a good spot.

Yes, the shady space tucked under the trees.

Thank goodness there was one left.

When I come back, it will be cooler when I open the door and climb in.

If you've been to a place before, you just figure where the shade will develop and pull in there.

Beats baking on the tarmac in August.

I've been doing this for years. Even when I lived out in California.

In San Diego I saw cars double-parked at the entrance to a hiking trail.

And it wasn't even in the shade.


(Click on the photos to see the shady spots in more detail.)You really should wear a wide-brimmed hat these days. Protects the tops of your ears from sunburning. Stop by again. Thanks.

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posted by chuckography @ 5:31 PM 1 Comments