Category: Ancient Computers

WELCOME BACK TO UVIC September 2022!

! WELCOME BACK !
! to UVIC !
! September 2022 !
! … and The CALL Facility too !

A full week has  passed since classes started at UVIC! That would cover every day that has classes! It has been extremely busy on campus, especially outdoors with so many orientations, booths, tents and activities like Thunderfest for all students, especially new students! WELCOME TO UVIC!

The  Computer Help Desk had tents up at Thunderfest as well as the day before classes started last week. CHD had a brand new PRIZE WHEEL to give away prizes! YAY CHD!

A couple of photos of the tents for all the activities and staffed by ALL kinds of CHD staff from new Coops to Consultants to Supers to Full Time Staff to our Associate Director too! GREAT TEAM EFFORT FROM EVERYONE! Those tents DO require team effort to setup and take down! YAY CHD!

All sorts of exciting stuff will be happening throughout September
& all upcoming semesters!

Did you know you can reserve Student Study Spaces, including the desks at the back of The CALL Facility? There are Project Rooms in BEC, Group Study Tables in Clearihue (CALL), Virtual Reality (VR) Studio in BEC and a Digital Media Studio in HSD! ALL from THIS WEBSITE! Photos below!

A few more Dual Monitors

CALL now has DUAL MONITORS ON ALL COMPUTER WORKSTATIONS! And that is on all the Macs and WIN computers! I was able  to re-purpose a bunch of monitors heading towards recycling and they now have a new lease on life in CALL! And it did not cost a penny! I used all available cables,  monitors, dongles and power bars! BONUS FOR BEING A GREEN CALL FACILITY! Here are many UVIC Green Recycling Sites to check out too! These and the best of my Pages are always at the right hand side of each of my Bog Blog Posts. 

I am always tinkering with my CALL Facility orientation, starting as a PowerPoint and with the goal to be under 5 minutes TOTAL as a presentation! I have tweaked my BETA version  and now have what I think  I will use as my file! And as a YouTube video as well!

CHD Jeopardy Greg's Playlist II
                     CHD Jeopardy Greg’s Playlist II

AND I have the next CHD All Staff Training Jeopardy ready!  Greg’s Playlist II and all new questions, answers, prizes and lyrics and CHD questions to try and answer! I even have NEW TYPES OF QUESTIONS TOO! But you will have to wait and .. also be staff at CHD to get the invite to the training! Come for the training … but stay for the food … and CHD JEOPARDY!

And huge HUGE NEWS THAT … I can’t really tell you about …  but WILL! There are new computers coming! Wait, they are ALREADY HERE! But wait, they are not yet ready to deploy! YES NEW  COMPUTERS! CHD staff unpacked them and we have to store them for now, as classes have started, so maybe  by Reading Break I will  let everyone know where they will be deployed! YAY NEW COMPUTERS! Stay glued to my Bog Blog for that and any other breaking Computer Help Desk news!

And how about a new feature every so often – a Throwback Link to topics … somewhat close to this one! LOL! And even some parting advice at the end of this blog, if you read that far!  I sure hope you do!

The best feature of the CALL layout (thanks to rolling desks!) is distancing to make sure everyone has enough room, should they want it. There are lots of open workstations for students and of course, all new computers from last August 2021 too.

CALL has  hosted many mid-terms, Finals and special workshops including a Chat Café with Korea! Really! So come on down and see what you  have been missing out on as a study space for yourself and fellow students!

Thanks to EVERYONE for all your help and support over the past 2+ Covid years. Without my colleagues support and friendship, I have no idea how I would have fared! THANK YOU ALL! And hey, to quote one of my favourite  TV shows of all time …. Hill Street Blues ….. and I have to mention St. Elsewhere too. AWESOME SHOWS! ENJOY!

CALL Towering Tech Arrivals

CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu .. All Over Again

The Recycling of CALL … and HSD!

Early Computer Help Desks!

TTFN!

ON VACATION! Back on AUGUST 30!!

I AM NOW ON VACATION!

What an exhausting and long year since last August – my last full vacation!

And exhausting … for ALL OF  US! I am so fortunate to have been able to  work with such amazing and incredible colleagues at The Computer Help Desk over the past … 500+ DAYS! Yes, it has been that long since we started working remotely, late in March of 2020!

Without ALL of their support, humour, leadership, imagination, guidance  and every single possible ‘intangible‘ that each and every single one of them, ALL BRING to our Teams meetings, emails, texts, GIFs, Emojis, Jeopardy, Quote Contests, it would have been impossible to accomplish a fraction of what WE ALL DID AS A TEAM!

THANK YOU ALL!

A few key UVic and BC websites for returning to campus in September for everyone!

  1. Return-to-Campus Guidelines now available
  2. Return to campus info for students
  3. Communicable Disease Plan now available
  4. UVic News
  5. Update on getting your COVID-19 vaccine
  6. Remote work arrangements announced for the fall
  7. Working remotely
  8. Post-secondary studies during COVID-19
  9. NEW COMPUTERS IN CALL! YAY!
  10. NEW FURNITURE IN CALL! YAY!

Not to worry . . .

August 30th to prep for
. . . Septem . . . PURR !!!!

 

Pandemic


I will bring Empire Donuts when I return to UVic!

~~Bogman~~

 

CALL Towering Tech Arrivals

HUGE Towers of TECH …..
now in CALL !

MORE DELIVERIES OF TECHNOLOGY
FOR COMPUTING FACILITIES!!!

This was the amount of tech that came LAST time, and was stored temporarily at the Front of CALL! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at how much there is NOW!
AND MORE IS ON THE WAY!

 

And of course, there will  be MOUNTAINS OF CARDBOARD TO RECYCLE TOO!
Last time … check out those OAC Posts:

The ReCycling of CALL and … HSD!
Comparing Apples and Oranges . . . but Not Oranges
Comparing Apples and Oranges III . . . The ReCycling

And if anyone is interested in UVic’s Sustainability News, then click here or on the image below! And ALL the UVic Featured Topics are right below it!

                                                                   UVic Sustainability
                                                                     UVic Featured Topics

Whatever CAN be recycled 
WILL be recycled!

  1. Recycling – UVic
  2. Sort-It-Out-Stations – UVic
  3. Zero Waste Program – UVic
  4. Water – UVic
  5. Energy and Climate – UVic
  6. Dining and Food – UVic
  7. Computing – UVic
  8. UVic’s Built and Natural Environments – UVic
  9. Sustainability in Academics and Research – UVic
  10. UVic’s Waste Reduction Hub – UVic
  11. Campus Planning at UVic
  12. Campus Plan – UVic
  13. Sustainable Transportation – UVic
  14. Sustainability Champion Awards – UVic
  15. Featured Stories – UVic
  16. Campaigns – UVic
  17. Campus Sustainability Fund – UVic
  18. Resources – UVic
  19. Sustainability Videos – UVic
  20. Tips for Living a Sustainable Lifestyle – UVic
  21. Sustainability Reports – UVic
  22. Sustainability policy – UVic
  23. Campus Guides – UVic
  24. Vision and Values – UVic
  25. Green Buildings – UVic

Global Warming
                                                                               Global Warming

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

The ReCycling of CALL and … HSD!

The ReCycling of …..
CALL  &  HSD!

THE CALL FACILITY COMPUTERS …..
ARE NOW RECYCLED!

52 iMacs (circa 2012-2013), Dual-Boot (WIN and iOS) that served students, staff, Instructors and Faculty SO WELL … and don’t owe us anything, are now on the way to their Forever Recycle Home!

And The CALL  Facility is back to … mostly normal, as you can see the ‘Before‘ all the iMacs (& other miscellaneous recyclables!) were picked up and the … ‘After‘! And yes, those are NEW DESKS, TABLES AND FURNITURE! More presents are coming for September!

And the huge mountain of tech has now been moved to their Forever (for now!) homes across campus! Thanks to ALLISON for organizing everything so we all knew … what would go where! YAY ALLISON!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each workstation in CALL now has either a NEW DELL  or a NEW MAC MINI! They will all be ready for September – so much ‘Behind the Scenes‘ is going on, so that we are ready for September!

And HSD was added to the mix for recycling cardboard, plastic and paper too!

Thanks to Sage and Keanu for helping  out make mountains out of cardboard molehills! YAY SAGE AND KEANU!

We are not done yet and there are more presents to unwrap and recycle the wrapping over the summer, in preparation for September! Stay tuned!

I did a previous post about Recycling in CALL, and have also included the same Gallery of photos here, to show HOW MUCH CARDBOARD is used when purchasing technology! One computer is lots … DOZENS ADDS UP TO ?QUITE A BIT OF CARDBOARD!

More posts about The CALL Facilitly computer refresh and recycling are at ‘CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu ….. All Over Again‘ with another Photo Gallery.

I have included the same list of UVic Recycling Links at the bottom from that same post.

Previous ‘Cardboard‘ Gallery

And if anyone is interested in UVic’s Sustainability News, then click here or on the image below! And ALL the UVic Featured Topics are right below it!

                                                                   UVic Sustainability
                                                                     UVic Featured Topics

Whatever CAN be recycled 
WILL be recycled!

  1. Recycling – UVic
  2. Sort-It-Out-Stations – UVic
  3. Zero Waste Program – UVic
  4. Water – UVic
  5. Energy and Climate – UVic
  6. Dining and Food – UVic
  7. Computing – UVic
  8. UVic’s Built and Natural Environments – UVic
  9. Sustainability in Academics and Research – UVic
  10. UVic’s Waste Reduction Hub – UVic
  11. Campus Planning at UVic
  12. Campus Plan – UVic
  13. Sustainable Transportation – UVic
  14. Sustainability Champion Awards – UVic
  15. Featured Stories – UVic
  16. Campaigns – UVic
  17. Campus Sustainability Fund – UVic
  18. Resources – UVic
  19. Sustainability Videos – UVic
  20. Tips for Living a Sustainable Lifestyle – UVic
  21. Sustainability Reports – UVic
  22. Sustainability policy – UVic
  23. Campus Guides – UVic
  24. Vision and Values – UVic
  25. Green Buildings – UVic

Global Warming
                                                                               Global Warming

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

CALL Computer Refresh Deja Vu ….. All Over Again

CALL Computer Refresh
DEJA VU …..
All over again!

CALL, & other computing classrooms, are getting new computers! Over the past few weeks, all the older iMacs have been removed, accumulated and are currently waiting to be recycled! Most of the new hardware had been put in place, but is not quite ready yet! The biggest change will be that there will no longer be dual-boot computers, running on Apple computers. Dual-Boot? What is that?  It just means that with the right kind of Hogwart’s Magic, you  can run both WINDOWS and iOS on an iMac! Just partition and install. Oh, if it could be THAT simple, but … let’s just say that those old iMacs served us very well!

It was always satisfying to hear from some students, that Windows running on one of our CALL iMacs was often FASTER than their OWN Windows laptop! But time catches up to all of us, and technology advancements are even faster!

CALL Facility Large Screens
            CALL Facility Large Screens

New dedicated Windows and Mac are strategically located at workstations for individual and/or group work starting in September! AND THEY ARE REALLY FAST COMPUTERS!!! And the new BIG SCREEN MONITORS ARE AMAZING! They were barely installed when … we were all sent home! I did a sneak peak a few posts ago, “SSShhhh . . . Clearihue’s Hidden Secrets . . . & GEMS” and at the bottom are the new monitors! SO MUCH MORE COMING!

And there is SO MUCH ROOM for individual studying, quiet workspaces, quiet group workspaces and comfy furniture too! A BRAND NEW CALL!

More details on the NEW computers will be in a future post, but looking back at how over the past ~9 years, the ‘old’ iMacs certainly don’t owe us anything. Every single iMac that was used since the last refresh in ~2012 was still working! That was a total of 52 computers! And I always like to say CALL had 104 COMPUTERS making it the largest computing classroom at UVic!

The CALL Facility CLE A025
                                                          The CALL Facility CLE A025 – Post Flood!

Some were moved to other locations AFTER ‘The Great CALL Flood of 2015‘ and continued to work for students as drop-in with newer operating systems! We did lose some keyboards and mice and kept a wary eye on the iMacs that were doused, but amazingly, the design, the curvature of the back of the iMac, helped displace the water and they survived!

And below is the last look at all the ‘old’ iMacs from CALL! Thanks for the memories … well … maybe the memory, all 8GB of onboard RAM! Colin and crew removed ALL THE HARD DRIVES IN ONE DAY! THANKS COLIN!

Oh, and the very last photo – I even included my own work iMac, so I have reconfigured my desktop, literally, for when I am on campus! The first time in MANY YEARS, at UVic that there has not been a Mac computer on my own desktop! Lots of Macs around though! And every blog has been created on my DELL laptop at home! So, WIN wins in the end … for now! 

But,  one last bit of trivia is that … we have kept a couple of the slightly newer Post-Flood CALL iMacs for testing purposes. They can run iOS up to Catalina, but since all the new Macs in CALL will be running Big Sur, they really are test iMacs in case we need to test out support for similar hardware. They too will eventually go at some point in time.

And if anyone is interested in UVic’s Sustainability News, then click here or on the image below! And ALL the UVic Featured Topics are right below it!

                                                                   UVic Sustainability
                                                                     UVic Featured Topics

Whatever CAN be recycled 
WILL be recycled!

  1. Recycling – UVic
  2. Sort-It-Out-Stations – UVic
  3. Zero Waste Program – UVic
  4. Water – UVic
  5. Energy and Climate – UVic
  6. Dining and Food – UVic
  7. Computing – UVic
  8. Green Computing – UVic
  9. UVic’s Built and Natural Environments – UVic
  10. Sustainability in Academics and Research – UVic
  11. UVic’s Waste Reduction Hub – UVic
  12. Campus Planning at UVic
  13. Campus Plan – UVic
  14. Sustainable Transportation – UVic
  15. Sustainability Champion Awards – UVic
  16. Featured Stories – UVic
  17. Campaigns – UVic
  18. Campus Sustainability Fund – UVic
  19. Resources – UVic
  20. Sustainability Videos – UVic
  21. Tips for Living a Sustainable Lifestyle – UVic
  22. Sustainability Reports – UVic
  23. Sustainability policy – UVic
  24. Campus Guides – UVic
  25. Vision and Values – UVic
  26. Green Buildings – UVic

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

JEOPARDY – June 2021 Famous Computer Quotes

“DANGER WILL ROBINSON!“
or 
“I’m sorry Dave.
I’m afraid I can’t do that“
Famous Computer Quotes !

ANOTHER CALL JEOPARDY YESTERDAY FOR HELP DESK! The theme this time was ‘MEMES‘ and the movie quotes were all from famous SF computers, androids, robots, AI, replicants, ‘bots or even organics (people!) for them!

                      Click On Jeopardy ‘MEMEs R US” to go to a PDF version in another Tab

I sure had fun creating this new updated version, which included all kinds of memes and .gifs that are Computer Help Desk related! So, for a new feature here, will identify EACH QUOTE in EACH CATEGORY below, with a link to the IMDB movie page too! And as most of them are potentially ‘older’ movies, many Consultants have not SEEN these awesome movies! So a quick way to go to EACH MOVIE that I referenced! I will call this .. CHDMDB for Computer Help Desk Movie Database! 

(Click Character-for IMDB profile / on Movie/TV Show- more info)
I’m sorry Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey
OH dear!
C3PO … in every Star Wars movie ever made!
Shall we play a game?
WOPR in War Games
Number Five … is alive!
Johnny Five (#5) in Short Circuit
Daisy, Daisy …..
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey
42
Deep Thought from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
We’re doomed!
C3PO … in every Star Wars movie ever made!
He’s not any kind of program, Sark. He’s a User.
Master Control Program from TRON 
You’re part of a time travel experiment that went a little … ka-ka.
Al via Ziggy from Quantum Leap
Doo-Do-DOO-Do-DUMMM?
Alien visitors in Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Forget it, mister high-and-mighty Master Control! You’re not going to make me talk!
CLU (Codified Likeness Utility) from TRON – Original version
Everybody good? Plenty of slaves for my robot colony?
TARS in Interstellar
Good-bye Dr. Brand. See you on the other side Coop!
TARS in Interstellar
DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!
(Robby the..) Robot in Lost in Space – original B&W TV Series!
Fiery the angels fell. Deep thunder rolled round their shores. Burning with the fires of Orc.
Roy Batty in BladeRunner
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.
Roy Batty in BladeRunner
What about the others? Can I help them?
Now that I fulfilled my purpose … I don’t know what to do …..
Sonny in I, Robot
I am superior, sir, in many ways,
but I would gladlyu give it up to be human.
Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation
(1st ever ST:TNG episode!)
You must talk to him; tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat, and ….
Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation
(Worf instructions for Spot!)
Believe me, I’d rather not to. I may be synthetic, but I’m not stupid.
Bishop in Aliens
Look Dave. I can see you’re really  upset about this.
HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey

 

Next Jeopardy (October 2021??) will involve Movie Quotes, again, for the categories, but … the CATEGORIES will  be based on a Poll in Teams that I will create soon! So they will be more current i.e. released AFTER most of our Consultants were BORN! Some of the movies I referenced, some of the PARENTS of our CHD Consultants .. might not even have seen!

But, guilty pleasures, if I have to recommend TWO of the movies, do yourself a favour on a Saturday night and watch War Games and 2001: A Space Odyssey! You will not be disappointed in either! The original trailers are below. And for TV shows, try Quantum Leap and The Hitchhiker’s Guide  to the Galaxy (Original BBC production!)

WAR GAMES
(and yeah, that IS Ferris Bueller!)

2001: A Space Odyssey

Quantum Leap

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy ORIGINAL BBC 1981

ENJOY!
     
TTFN!

TIME TRAVEL at UVic … Sort of …

TIME TRAVEL
at UVIC !!!!
[ … sort of … ]

TODAY is Day 407 since Help Desk staff – ALL of us, have been working from home!

Sounds like an entry in a Doomsday Diary!

And … kinda right about that! So, of course, I immediately think of Time Travel! But, to keep it centred on TECH .. I will offer proof that the Commodore 64, and in fact, my own Commodore SX-64 is .. THE FASTEST COMPUTER OF ALL TIME! So .. Time Travel between different Techs and how fast they actually .. Travel through Time …. stay with me!

Absolute video proof that it is faster than any computer … AT STARTING UP! Hey, Time Travel is possible … but for now .. only forward!

You can see that my SX-64 is fully booted .. even before the Apple chime HAS FINISHED on my Apple 27″ iMac! BOOM! Hands down WINNER .. for starting up!

And as you can probably guess, my SX-64 is fastest at … shutting down too! Just turn the switch off! My 27″ Mac has to go through the proper shutdown sequence, and that can take anywhere from 30-60 seconds.

So, literally, my SX-64 is faster than my 27″ iMac – coming and going! I also have an old Mac SE, amongst other computers, too! But that needs a FLOPPY to boot up – and installs a RAM disk and … well if you know what a RAM disk is … good times … good times! And the SX-64 would still beat it! I even have an old external SCSI 100MB drive. That is NOT a typo – 100MB drive! Sure was an upgrade from 800K floppies!

OH, and that is my pet Flerken, Lilly! She is always on, so she wins by default! Don’t mess with Lilly!

Original iMovie
               Original iMovie

So, sometimes old tech, even ancient tech, might still have a purpose! I want to do a post about the original, ORIGINAL version of iMovie! Yes, WAY back when! I created some training videos WAY before I joined The Computer Help Desk!

      Back to the Future

And I still have an old 24″ iMac in CALL, dedicated (i.e. NO internet at all!) for analog to digital video conversion using a Pinnacle Movie box. Works incredibly seamlessly, and literally, I can digitize a 90 minute VHS movie in about 90 minutes of real time conversion! Then burn it to a playable DVD (Single or Double-Density!) in about the same amount of time. BOOM DONE! And uses either USB or Firewire .. how  quaint!

But that is another OAC Post .. in the future of course! BACK to the Future of course!

PS: This is my 200th published post here at OAC! First person to email me with this ‘200’ number wins a … chocolate bar!

Pinnacle Movie Box
      Pinnacle Movie Box
Pinnacle Movie Box Ports
     Pinnacle Movie Box Ports

‘TIME TRAVEL‘ Technologies… mostly  🙂

  1. Commodore SX-64 (Wikipedia)
  2. Commodore SX-64 Computer Review (YouTube)
  3. Systems ‘Meet the Team’ Open House (OAC)
  4. The IT Crowd (YouTube .. ALL EPISODES!)
  5. The 25 Best Time Travel Movies Ever
  6. 21 Time Travel TV Shows You Need To Binge-Watch
  7. 20+ Best Time Travel Books for Science Fiction Fans! (Up the Line by Robert Silverberg not there!)
  8. 10 Ancient computers that are still in use today
  9. 18 Things To Do With Old Computers That Still Work Today
  10. Check out how much a computer cost the year you were born

The Best of the 11th Doctor
(Matt Smith is MY Doctor!)
( Time Travel, of course! )

Apple II vs. Commodore 64

The 75 Best Commodore 64 Games Ever!

The 30 Best Time-Travel Movies That Will Blow Your Mind

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

 

NEW NEW NEW and COLOURFUL NEW TOO!

NEW NEW NEW
COLOURFUL NEW iMACS!

Hello Tim Apple!
                                                                                Hello Tim Apple!

NEW is good, right? Of course it is! And new technology is even better, right?

Absolutely! So .. NEW iMACS ARE FANTASTIC, right? YOU BETCHA!!!!

SPOILER ALERT #1 – Yeah, a big fan of Apple! Ever since I was able to convince a skeptical Macintosh salesclerk to ‘Test Drive A Mac‘, way back in 1984, I have been hooked! Okay, also a Commodore-64 Fan Boy too! But I do use WIN computers for about 99% of CHD stuff now too! I was able to demonstrate the all new Macintosh, to the entire teaching staff where I worked – and even to my night courses too! Good times … good times …..

Apple Spring Loaded Event April 2021
Apple Spring Loaded Event April 2021

The entire  Apple “Spring Loaded” event is below, at  YouTube! And just the new  iMac announcement too! They are certainly a far cry from the first ever Macintosh sold by Apple! Click here to see a full roster of ALL the Apple Events going back to 2019.

iMacs will now be powered by an 8-core M1 chip, which is a huge step forward for security. THAT ALONE should be a major factor when considering a new computer.

Click for colourful GIF iMacs!
               Click for BIG colourful GIF iMacs!

Colours ARE pretty – but not new. Apple did a similar theme years ago with the a ‘Fruit Colors’ release of the G3 iMacs! And I just found out that there were 13 different colours! WOW! I actually still own the Graphite one – and it still works! All the colours are in a YouTube video below and an article here.

Click for BIG NAMED colourful GIF iMacs!
Click for BIG NAMED colourful GIF iMacs!

And if you want to see a HUGE GIF of them ALL NAMED as they make your head spin, then click here or on the iMac to the left!!

 

Full Technical specifications of the recently announced iMacs, directly from the Apple site: click here  on the image/text below:

New iMacs 2021
                                                                                New iMacs 2021

Hello iMac Colours!
                 Hello iMac Colours!

For me, the M1, Big Sur, RAM, CPU, SSD, 4.5K (there is half a ‘K’ now?) etc. are all fine and dandy. I expect improvements and enhanced tech in those areas. But I was SO GLAD TO SEE … A RETURN TO THE 24″ SCREEN!

I have a 27″ and it is … too large. CALL has had 21.5″ screens for years … and they are fine. But I really like that ‘Sweet Spot’ of 24″ monitor size!!!!!! Just seems the right size for my eyes and desktop.

And the new ‘Magic Keyboards‘ also look VERY promising! I am an old school fan of the wired extended keyboards and mice, but those are not an option, so I will eventually … get used to them!

Magic Mouse
                  Magic Mouse

The ‘new’ size monitor, Magic Keyboard and Mouse are the real imporovements for me. What you see, what you type and what you point at. Yup, those are key to me! 

Magic Keyboard
           Magic Keyboard

I will probably order my new iMac in July-ish, when their Educational promotions are on. So probably just a free headset that I will never use! It could be a cheap christmas present too!

I will  just have to wait! I have small Table below (one of my new favourite ‘toys’ with OAC!) comparing the original Macintosh (128K) and the new iMacs announced!

And further below, is a great site, EveryMac that you can look up ANY Apple product and find specifications! A great site!

Mac vs iMac (Apples vs Apples!)

The TECH StuffMacintosh
(1984)
iMac
(2021)
RAM128K maximum 512KUp to 16GB
STORAGE400K Single Sided 3.5" floppy! Maybe an external SCSI HD of 10MB if you were lucky!256 / 512 / 1TB SSD
SCREEN9" monochrome
512 x 342		"True Tone" widescreen "Retina 4.5K" display mounted on a svelte aluminum stand.
4480 x 2520
MOUSEClunky but worksWireless
WIRELESSYeah.No. Cables galore!Wireless everything!
INTERNETHAHA x ♾One iMac to rule them ALL!
PROCESSOR & SPEED8 MHz 68000 processor,5-nm Apple M1 processor with 8 cores (4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores), an 8-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, 8 GB of onboard RAM
Operating SystemOriginal Mac 0.97macOS 11 Big Sur
Original Price$2495 (US)$1499 - $1699 (US)
Weight16.5 lbs (7.5 kg)9.88 lbs. (4.48 kg)

FULL TECH details of Macintosh, iMac and … G3 MAC CUBE!

Macintosh vs iMac vs Cube
                                                                    Macintosh vs iMac vs Cube
Mac Cube
                     Power Mac G4 Cube

Anyone dare to guess what colour
I am going to buy?

‘NEW‘ Technologies 
… in theory …

  1. How Magical is Apple’s M1 Chip, Really?
  2. Apple M1 Chip (Wikipedia!)
  3. Apple M1 Chip: Everything You Need to Know
  4. Should You Skip the Apple M1 Chip?
  5. All 13 Colors of iMac (YouTube video imbedded in article!)
  6. Apple History and Other Fine Nerdery (512 Pixels YouTube  Channel!)
  7. Apple iMac G3 333 (Fruit Colors) Specs
  8. Commodore SX-64 TV Ad 1984 (YouTube)
  9. Timeline of Computer History
  10. This Day in Tech History
  11. Awesome Computer History (A curated list of computer history ….)
  12. 24″ iMac M1 Buyer’s Guide-DON’T Make These 8 Mistakes🔥(YouTube)🔥
  13. Apple M1X iMac Release Date and Price–Available in 2021?🔥(YouTube)🔥

Apple announces new iMac models that come in different colors, advanced camera and mic systems

Apple Event Spring Loaded
April 20, 2021

All 13 Colors of iMac G3

Apple “Test Drive a Macintosh”
Ad Campaign (1984)

1985 – Macintosh – Test Drive A Mac Computer (Better Quality)

Macintosh 1984 Promotional Video – with Bill Gates!

Evolution of Laptops (Portable Computers) 1975 – 2020

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

 

Comparing Apples and Oranges II . . . Technology!

Comparing Apples and Oranges
but this time …..
TECHNOLOGY!!

My last post was about Recycling, but .. prefaced with a mea culpa of ‘Comparing Apples and Oranges‘. I liked that concept so much, I am going  to do it again … and whenever the mood strikes me!

How about camparing Apples to … Commodores! Yes, compare a few ingredients between my first ever computer – a Commodore SX-64 and a new iMac! An earlier post was entitled “Open the Pod Bay Door HAL. . . or Computers I Have Owned or Worked With” and talks a bit about my beloved Commodore SX-64!

I will still go out on a limb and say that the SX-64, that I still own, and still WORKS, is the fastest computer ever built! EVER! Well, EVER .. for startup!

I will prove it too! BUT in a future post about how fast computers are! You will have to stay tuned for that!

Okay,  so Google is your friend and I will display a few offerings when I searched for “compare commodore 64 with new mac“.

SX-64 vs iMac (Apples vs Oranges!)
INSTALLEDSX-64
iMac
RAM64KUp to
32GB 2666MHz DDR4
STORAGEHAHA!1TB SSD
SCREEN4"21.5"
MOUSEJoystick!Wireless
WIRELESSHAHA x 2!Oh, yeah!
INTERNETHAHA x ♾Can't live without it...
PROCESSOR & SPEEDMOS Technology 6510 @ 1.02 MHz (NTSC version) @ 0.985 MHz (PAL version)3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
Operating System Commodore KERNAL Commodore BASIC 2.0macOS 11 Big Sur

And that is about it! Definitely .. Apples and Oranges Commodores!

Yes, a bit cheeky, but just think about how much technology has not only changed, but IMPROVED! Look below for a comparison between a mobile phone and the computers used to … LAND A MAN ON THE MOON! And don’t be so hasty to dismiss …. older technology!

Oh, and … learned about inserting a TABLE here too! BONUS! Tables are very curious beasties here at OAC. A bit of fiddling but .. they do work. Just fussy! And I did learn about them! And that will be a future post too!

Curious Links for 
Comparing Technologies!

  1. Did Commodore, more than Apple, contribute to the birth of the personal computer?
  2. C64 cs iPhone
                            C64 vs iPhone

    The Commodore 64 vs. the iPhone 3G S: The Ultimate Showdown

  3. Your Mobile Phone vs. Apollo 11’s Guidance Computer
  4. Your Smart Toaster Can’t Hold a Candle to the Apollo Computer
  5. Mac, iPod, iPhone & iPad Specs – EveryMac.com’s Ultimate Mac Comparison
  6. 1984 Apple Macintosh vs today’s Apple iMac: Spec comparison (A Little Dated but fun to read!)
  7. Showdown: Original 1984 Macintosh vs. Today’s Apple iMac (A more up to date comparison – still fun to read!)
  8. Comparison of Macintosh models (Need at least ONE Wikipedia Article per post!)
  9. Systems ‘Meet the Team’ Open House (December 2017 & I set up my old SX-64!)
  10. Cray-1 v. MacBook Pro (A threaded conversation .. but interesting!)
  11. The 80’s supercomputer that’s sitting in your lap (Dated, but so much fun!)

Is a new Mac slower than a Commodore 64? Old 🆚 New

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI3C9yLVsVE

Can an 80s computer beat a new one at Chess? Old 🆚 New

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN8AbHpCRF0

Apple 1984 Super Bowl Commercial Introducing Macintosh Computer (HD)

The Real Story Behind Apple’s Famous ‘1984’ Super Bowl Ad

BE SAFE EVERYONE!

Pandemic

 

OS Emulators on WIN and macOS

 Did You Know …
You might be able to experience . . .
macOS on a WIN computer?
. . . OR other neat EMULATORS too?

You can actually try legacy operating systems … on a browser! And it does not matter if you have WIN or macOS either! There are websites that … almost … let you Time Travel to see what earlier version of (then) current Operating Systems were like! They are not intended to be functional, only descriptive and ..  kinda fun, most of them! And no implied guarantee of success here! Just some emulator sites I found out there! 

And a HUGE distinction between an emulator of an OS, running on a browser and … actually remote access TO a real computer on campus. That is through  a real service at: remotelab.uvic.ca and is EVEN COOLER! The screen grab below is of my old  MacBook Pro, accessing a WIN computer in Clearihue! A rather existential question arises … is this Windows IN a Mac, or Windows ON a Mac! 🙂 This will be a future post, just to whet your whistle!

remote.uvic.ca
                                                                               remote.uvic.ca

Emulators! According to Wikipedia an emulator is:

In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the host) to behave like another computer system (called the guest). 

There are many, many, MANY browser based emulators out there! So I will show a few of them, and then put a list below to try out.

Let’s try Mac emulators first!

Quite a few of these sites have both operating systems listed, so … a Treasure Trove of Emulators!

7 classic versions of Windows and Mac OS you can run in a browser lets you try Mac System 7! This is even before the Cats took over the Mac! Fun Fact – I still own a functioning Mac SE, bought way back in … 1989!!! Such a cool computer!

And what is regarded as the single greatest Macintosh game of all time is … DARK CASTLE! And you can try it out at the same Mac System 7 site! A bit more on games later ….

MAC 8.6
                MAC 8.6

Inevitable updates to all operating  systems are … inevitable! And one of the next ones was Mac OS 8.6: The classic Mac OS nears the end of its life and this was a HUGE upgrade from System 7 – the number alone is … 1+! You can go directly there from here or click the Mac desktop to the left.

OSX 10.2 Jaguar
           OSX 10.2 Jaguar

And one final Macintosh emulator OS X 10.2: The classic Mac OS is retired …ah, good times, good times …. A HUGE selection of MANY emulators is at VirtualDesktop.org, including OS X 10.2.

 

And now WINDOWS

The one that started them all .. well, at least in 1995 .. WINDOWS 95! And again, these are all from VirtualDesktop.org, amongst many others! Considering The CALL Facility started out with DOS based machines, running McMaster French, more closely resembling a text adventure game … WINDOWS 95 WAS CONSIDERED SLICED BREAD at the time!

WINDOWS NT
           WINDOWS NT
WINDOWS ME
       WINDOWS ME

And a final pairing of WINDOWS ME and WINDOWS NT! Microsoft sure like using lots of letters of the alphabet! But, to be fair … Apple liked using cats before Roman Numerals and then portable devices started to show up and now all kinds of … flavours …  just like an ice cream shop!

For more Virtual Experiences, I will list a few sites below, but the best to see the most, is at VirtualDesktop.org. Not all there, but .. enough to do a decent days work of Time Travel and see how Operating Systems have changed considerably over the years!

C64 Emulator
              C64 Emulator

And one last emulator, from my first ever computer that I bought … COMMODORE – C64 Online Emulator! The drawback here is that you need to upload some kind of file FROM an original C64, then it works. So, not much to try here. But I am going to find out HOW to do it though! And even more Online Emulators from the same place too!

I mentioned games earlier, but will have another post in the future about games. Spoile – I am NOT a Gamer!

Emulator Sites to Surf Towards …..

Virtual Desktops
                              Virtual Desktops
  1. List of Emulators (Wikipedia)
  2. List of Computer System Emulators (Wikipedia)
  3. Commodore 64 emulators (Wikipedia Category)
  4. 7 classic versions of Windows and Mac OS you can run in a browser
  5. Mac OS 8 emulator lets you relive the past for the first time
  6. 5 best PC emulation software for Mac [2021 Guide]
  7. Emulators can turn your PC into a Mac, let you play games from any era, and more — here’s what you should know about the potential benefits and risks of using one
    VICE – the Versatile Commodore Emulator
  8. Commodore 64 emulators (Wikipedia)
  9. Commodore 64 emulators for Windows 10
  10. C64 Forever 8 “R3”: Create & Play
  11. C64 online emulator
  12. CCS64 – A Commodore 64 Emulator – By Per Håkan Sundell
  13. On-line Emulators
  14. Virtual (Complete) Desktops – SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST!

ENJOY!

How to Play Commodore 64 Games on PC!
Commodore 64 emulator! Vice Emulator Setup!

Kim Justice’s Top 50 Commodore 64 Games
of All-Time (YouTube)

Pawn Stars:
A Working Commodore 64
(Season 14) | History