Another #vcfsw in the books. I got hit by a drunk driver on Thursday (no injuries fortunately) so I had to take a smaller car with not a lot of trunk space. On the plus side, one of the regulars gifted me this gem.

I can just HEAR my wife groan and SEE her eyes roll when she notices that I've added about 100 videos from the latest #vcfsw to my YouTube "Watch Later" list :)

TOO MUCH NERDY RETRO FUN! :)

IMSA replica front plate (and S100 backplane) #vcfsw

Testing the #FujiNet Weather program for unexpanded #Vic20 before the #VCFSW show.

Changes in both API and FujiNet firmware required some last minute fixes.

Lovely. Straight and true even with the FX-80's weird tractor handling. No stuck hammers. Even the ribbon is decent. #vcfsw

As usual, I'm scrambling to get stuff together for #VCFSW. And as usual, I'm not displaying so much as bringing either projects or grabbing free table stuff to work on. This time it's a Sun Enterprise 1 and whatever else I grab at the last second.

Oddly... having second thoughts about going to #VCFSW.

I don't know if it's a #2025Anxiety thing or just general ennui, but all I can muster is a half-hearted, "maybe?"

You know what would be even better than a retro tech convention? A FOSS / #PermaCulture tech convention. THAT would be trippy.

Like, I love retro tech. I lived through that era. Sitting in front of the machines that meant so much to me growing up is a wonderful feeling.

But I guess nostalgia alone doesn't really soothe the dystopia-anguished heart. Not for long.

I miss going to #LinuxUserGroups. There was one in OKC in the 2000s, and it was always a lot of fun.

Instead of looking backwards at retro tech (which will always be awesome, just to be clear), just imagine a #FOSS/#PermaComputing symposium/convention of awesome nerds like @jacqueline, @neauoire, @mntmn, #BunnieHuang, and maybe some folks from @frameworkcomputer

That would be AWESOME!

Ooo, I just remembered that #VCFSW is next week!

Anyone else from #fedi going? (Dallas-area)

I missed last year, I'm deffo not missing it this time!!

Hmm, I even have a new(-to-me) laptop for all my favorite nerds to sign! XD

https://vcfsw.org

lol, oops, pasted the wrong url the first time... and the second time. XD

@mos_8502

What if we looked at it as a type of "retro hardware restoration spectrum?"

software emulation -> FPGA reproduction -> ASIC reproduction -> new-run (near-)identical hardware -> restored original hardware

Look at something like the VIC chip in the VIC-20. There's no new parts to reproduce it, but I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman that created an FPGA reproduction of the VIC at #VCFSW a couple years back.

Someone might rightly say "Ok, an FPGA's better than nothing, but a reproduction of the original is what I really want!" Fine! Then the community (or one really bored nerd with the requisite skills ) decides to eventually reproduce the VIC in ASIC form, or even a brand new identical open source VIC chip. Problem solved! But until then, the FPGA reproduction is darn nice to have!

Also, there's value in having per-chip FPGA reproductions, as opposed to an entire FPGA-SoC: you can just replace a single broken component.

THANK YOU to VCF SW for asking me to moderate the Streamers Panel, and to all the Panel Participants for making it fun & easy.

#vcfsw haul!

VCFSW!

Are you at#VCFSW? Stop by @Maclibrarian's table to see some cool retro Apple and Macintosh computers and BlueSCSI's in action.

If you're not at VCF SW checkout her YouTube channel - it's pretty great -
https://www.youtube.com/macintoshlibrarian