[artur9]

Another TOPS-20 dude! Seems your career has spanned computer gaming: VTTrek on DEC timesharing at the beginning, and VR simulation at the other end…. ...

VTTrek on a Techtronics graphics terminal back-ended by TOPS-10 or TOPS-20 running on a KL-10 processor was always a blast… as was OG Adventure (Xhack it was called after being ported to Ultrix).

We had end-of-the-semester VTTrek death matches (not called that then) on the TOPS-20 system. I was a wheel and had a coop job running VT100 terminal wires through ceilings.

One very memorable match where my side was decimated, and I was the remaining ship in an enemy galaxy. I used hit-and-run tactics to start a galactic revolt and the planets themselves took out all my enemies. Sweeet! because everyone thought i was a goner
http://raspuzzi.org/vttrek/vttrek.html

One gaming thing I left out. When I worked for the speech recognition company, I used their tech to make the original text-only version of rogue voice-controlled. For that reason, I claim to have created the first speech-controlled computer game.

All these old computer memories and people talking about their first PC (mine was an 8086 IBM) made me think of:

Fun (?) fact. Infocom developed that game on the TOPS-20 system I played VTTrek on. They invented a language for it, MDL, and did all their coding in it.

The PC version, due to memory constraints was missing half the game. That big room that was circular with exits blocked by boulders? On the original TOPS-20 version, none of the exits were blocked and they all lead into other areas.

IIRC, there's a version of zork that can run in the browser.

 

[artur9]

Don't get eaten by a gru.

Hey, that's a different game!

 

[sixergixer]

[All typed while sipping an Old Fashioned made with my new bottle of @sixergixer BiB Rye, listening to my new Focal Stellia’s on my portable Fiio M17. Life quite fine here in the fishing village.]

That BiB Rye makes great Sazeracs and Boulevardiers as well.

 

[dstrimbu]

That BiB Rye makes great Sazeracs and Boulevardiears as well.

Darn it, I want a Sazerac! I have the rye, the bitters, the sugar and... no absinthe.
That's what I get for buying that tiny bottle.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day, and Total Wine is 20 minutes away.

First world problems. Listening to Primus, wafting up the stairs from the big rig (if Primus can waft, that is...)

Cheers!

 

[dstrimbu]

Qobuz's Autoplay feature, which continues playing similar music when an album or playlist ends, has evolved to be pretty amazing. IMHO. YMMV.
Who would have guessed that the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams would yield to Rush, Yello, Primus, Robbie Williams, Dean Lewis and Falco?
Pet Shop Boys coming up!

This is nice.

p.s. I went with an Old Fashioned. It is lovely, too.

 

[Ableza]

Hey, that's a different game!

I wondered if someone would catch that, nice work

 

[quimbo]

Here is a cribbage game from 2000 that can be used to learn - https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/c27b...bage.zip?rlkey=c75xfaojsrk8nm76jvm0icgvj&dl=0

A writeup can be found here - http://www.cribbageforum.com/RoyalCribbage31.htm

The help within the application does not work but it's pretty simple to figure out. Different skill levels, lots of help available while playing.

I have been playing cribbage since i was 6 in 1964. My buddy and I run a cribbage league in the fall and having been playing for 43 years (we took the league over 30 years ago). We also run a setback league in the winter. This year we had 20 teams and played everyone once.

 

[Timster]

Before Zork, there was Adventure! I think I still have a map of the whole place I made, along with the many rooms all the same and the many rooms all different.

I was playing that in high school on a Cromemco System 3.

Tried, mostly in vain, to map it out as well. Bloody maze of twisty little passage, all alike.
I also got to learn Wordstar on the same system.

 

[sixergixer]

Darn it, I want a Sazerac! I have the rye, the bitters, the sugar and... no absinthe.
That's what I get for buying that tiny bottle.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day, and Total Wine is 20 minutes away.

First world problems. Listening to Primus, wafting up the stairs from the big rig (if Primus can waft, that is...)

Cheers!

Primus is playing my town again this summer and I'm waiting to see if I can jump on special $25 tickets over the next week as the venue promotion is running. Would be my third time seeing them and man, they put on a show indeed.

 

[FellowTraveller]

I've been listening to albums from Steely Dan and Donald Fagen again recently. And I'm reminded of how outstanding their recordings were. This is even more true, I think, of their later recordings, like Gaucho, Two Against Nature, Nightfly, and Morph the Cat. The placement and almost the shape of the sound in the mix is so incredibly clear; everything can be heard, with good timbre, and the overall mix is nicely integrated and balanced. Really a joy. I have a more or less mid-fi two-channel system: Qobuz downloads => Vox on Macbook M1 => Bifrost 2/64 => IOTAVX SA3 => Triangle BR08 and REL T7x subwoofer. I think this system is quite good in general at imaging and instrument separation, as well as soundstage width and to some extent depth. But with these albums it feels like a much higher level system - and all these qualities are pronounced. So basically my ears tell me that recordings themselves are very different with respect to their ability to reveal these aspects of the music. I wonder if any of you are recording engineers or could otherwise confirm what I'm hearing.

 

[highgrovemanor]

My first IT job was writing JCL for IBM 360/370 computers at Warner Brothers.

Where did my GDGs go? Simply doing a +1 to append to a file name was brilliant!

I did cobol on 3090s for first year or two outta school, then luckily moved on to PC and client/server and then web. Early project included map-info integration - which was Google street maps like product in the 90s. It was so cool having street maps, but not so much as cell phones where just that - a phone at the time.

 

[hearditontheX]

I’m way behind on the anniversary tag of the sine wave.

We recently celebrated 30 years. Went to a nice Italian restaurant called The Garlic. Popular, no reservations and very yummy. Live music too. We were seated across from the tiny musician “stage”. A solo sax player with backing tracks. First tune was Sades Smooth Operator. We had a chuckle.

 

[Erratic Gravy]

At the risk of derailing the thread from the sinewave, I thought I'd share some experiences about Audio gear...
Shocking, I know

Out of respect for Justin and all at Schiit, I do not usually mention other audio manufacturers, but this relates to speakers, so I hope it is not a faux pas.

Back in 2007, I bought a used pair of active ATC speakers. They are big beasts which weigh about 130 lbs each.
I first heard some ATCs in about 1990 and was so blown away that I decided that one day, if I could afford them, I'd buy a pair.

When I bought these speakers from a PhD student at Cambridge University, they were probably already at least 15 years old.
However, the cabinets were in mint condition.

In 2015, I took the speakers to the ATC factory in Gloucestershire.
After testing, the Engineers said that the amp packs were faulty and the tweeters were damaged beyond repair.
The upshot was that I had the amp packs replaced with new ones and two drivers in each speaker were replaced- the bass and tweeter.
The mid range units still measured like new so were retained.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a small amount of distortion from one of the speakers, and it was coming from the 'soft-dome' mid range driver. Having noticed it, I couldn't 'unhear' it, especially on acoustic music and piano.

I contacted the ATC factory and arranged to take the speakers back in.

They fitted new mid range drivers while I waited.
There was a small amount of corrosion in each, which is hardly surprising as they are well over 32 years old and have survived several house moves.

I also asked ATC to check the amp packs.

These measured well, but it was suggested that they were re- calibrated and some new, longer lasting capacitors fitted , whilst they had them.

I brought the speakers home and ATC forwarded the serviced amp packs to me by courier, about 2 weeks later.

The amp packs were fitted in custom made wooden crates so that they would not get damaged in transit.

I paid a £100 fully refundable fee for the crates.

It took me a couple of hours to re-fit the amp packs. as they are quite heavy.
Each amp pack comprises three amps- 200W LF, 100W mid and 50W HF

They now sound absolutely amazing.

As the ATC engineers said, despite being 32 years old, my speakers now look and sound exactly like brand new ones, which retail at £20k here in the UK!

At £2k back in 2007 they were a great investment.

In an age where it seems almost impossible to get any form of personal customer service, it really is heartening to come across companies like ATC and Schiit who produce superb products and genuinely care about their customers.

I am a huge fan of both companies and several friends have bought products from Schiit and ATC, purely on my recommendation.

I attach some pics.

Now we can get back to computers, cats, dogs etc...

Thats great to hear , just like Schiit ATC do have a reputation for looking after their customers well and yes I would love a pair also !!! Rega gave me a similar experience with 30 year old Planar 3 turntable a few years ago that was above and beyond expectations - the good guys are still out there !!!

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

I've been listening to albums from Steely Dan and Donald Fagen again recently. And I'm reminded of how outstanding their recordings were. This is even more true, I think, of their later recordings, like Gaucho, Two Against Nature, Nightfly, and Morph the Cat. The placement and almost the shape of the sound in the mix is so incredibly clear; everything can be heard, with good timbre, and the overall mix is nicely integrated and balanced. Really a joy. I have a more or less mid-fi two-channel system: Qobuz downloads => Vox on Macbook M1 => Bifrost 2/64 => IOTAVX SA3 => Triangle BR08 and REL T7x subwoofer. I think this system is quite good in general at imaging and instrument separation, as well as soundstage width and to some extent depth. But with these albums it feels like a much higher level system - and all these qualities are pronounced. So basically my ears tell me that recordings themselves are very different with respect to their ability to reveal these aspects of the music. I wonder if any of you are recording engineers or could otherwise confirm what I'm hearing.

+1. I'm also a Donald Fagan fan but I think you missed his best album - Kamakiriad.


JC

 

[FellowTraveller]

+1. I'm also a Donald Fagan fan but I think you missed his best album - Kamakiriad.


JC

Oh! That's good news! Thanks for the recommendation!