I met Dan for brunch today. He suggested going to a movie, and explained that I wanted to head right back home and resume hacking. He really knew how to twist my arm. The movie he wanted to see was The Brothers Grimm. How can I possibly turn down a chance [...]

Al and I urgently needed a way to read old HP 9144 cartridge tapes. These are mechanically standard DC600 or DC615 tapes, but have an HP-unique format. Al hooked up a PC with an IEEE-488 interface card, and I voluneered to write code to read the tapes. I had no idea what [...]

I went to the annual Computer History Museum Volunteer Appreciation Day today. As is now traditional, there was a delicious catered barbecue lunch, a trivia contest (in which I won a movie pass for two), a drawing for door prizes, and presentation of service pins. This year the volunteer tee-shirts are red with [...]

I just got back from a three week vacation in Colorado, where I visited family and friends. I did some contract work while I was there, so it wasn’t all fun and games. I drove my GMC Yukon this time, rather than flying. It worked out quite well. I actually enjoy [...]