Tom Stepleton
@stepleton.bsky.social
AI research engineer, glider pilot. Apple Lisa power user. @stepleton@oldbytes.space on Mastodon. Most of my posts will be about old computers; occasionally I'll mention flying.
PSA for Jan 1: www.fvap.gov remains a fine way for US citizens living outside of the US to request an absentee ballot without winding up on somebody's mailing list.
Americans can vote. Wherever they are.
Ensuring Service members, their eligible family members and overseas citizens can vote -- from anywhere in the world.
www.fvap.gov
January 1, 2026 at 11:53 AM
PSA for Jan 1: www.fvap.gov remains a fine way for US citizens living outside of the US to request an absentee ballot without winding up on somebody's mailing list.
How I got an Apple Lisa to play audio samples: lisalist2.com/index.php/to...
An extension of this technique: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlR...
using a method also speculated by Adam Podstawczyński forgottencomputer.com/retro/sound/...
An extension of this technique: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlR...
using a method also speculated by Adam Podstawczyński forgottencomputer.com/retro/sound/...
Some disk images for Lisa 1 and Lisa 2/5 systems
Some disk images for Lisa 1 and Lisa 2/5 systems
lisalist2.com
December 28, 2025 at 12:53 PM
How I got an Apple Lisa to play audio samples: lisalist2.com/index.php/to...
An extension of this technique: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlR...
using a method also speculated by Adam Podstawczyński forgottencomputer.com/retro/sound/...
An extension of this technique: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SlR...
using a method also speculated by Adam Podstawczyński forgottencomputer.com/retro/sound/...
Reposted by Tom Stepleton
I'm recruiting a PhD student for autumn 2026 on a project on accessibility in musical instrument design, in partnership with disability arts charities OHMI and Drake Music.
Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...
Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...
Instrument design by and for disabled musicians: the roles of technical discourse and vernacular creativity - LISS DTP
PhD project summary: An estimated 16 million people in the UK live with a disability (DWP statistics 2023), of which 48% have mobility impairments and 25% have impaired dexterity. Traditional […]
liss-dtp.ac.uk
December 19, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I'm recruiting a PhD student for autumn 2026 on a project on accessibility in musical instrument design, in partnership with disability arts charities OHMI and Drake Music.
Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...
Application deadline 15 February 2026. More info and contact details: liss-dtp.ac.uk/project/inst...
Has anyone ever heard of a (UK?) journal called University Computing? Know where I could find archives? Long shot, but this paper could contain info that helps us open-source a remarkable operating system developed by the UK MoD in the 1970s and 1980s. Boosts appreciated!
December 17, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Has anyone ever heard of a (UK?) journal called University Computing? Know where I could find archives? Long shot, but this paper could contain info that helps us open-source a remarkable operating system developed by the UK MoD in the 1970s and 1980s. Boosts appreciated!
Oh dear, could this be in regard to oldbytes.space/@stepleton/1...?
I'd never say lithiums don't leak (I've seen enough Maxells and Tadirans to know better), but I still quest to find a BR-2/3A cell that has. It's the only exception, so I ask out of disbelief. Or was a better world always possible?
I'd never say lithiums don't leak (I've seen enough Maxells and Tadirans to know better), but I still quest to find a BR-2/3A cell that has. It's the only exception, so I ask out of disbelief. Or was a better world always possible?
December 13, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Oh dear, could this be in regard to oldbytes.space/@stepleton/1...?
I'd never say lithiums don't leak (I've seen enough Maxells and Tadirans to know better), but I still quest to find a BR-2/3A cell that has. It's the only exception, so I ask out of disbelief. Or was a better world always possible?
I'd never say lithiums don't leak (I've seen enough Maxells and Tadirans to know better), but I still quest to find a BR-2/3A cell that has. It's the only exception, so I ask out of disbelief. Or was a better world always possible?
@breakintoprogram.co.uk so the problem with my Spectrum+ was the Z80, it turns out. The address bus was stone dead, +0V on all sixteen lines. Subbing in the CPU from my Jupiter Ace got it going; a replacement is now on order. Thanks for the chat on Sunday!
November 18, 2025 at 1:23 AM
@breakintoprogram.co.uk so the problem with my Spectrum+ was the Z80, it turns out. The address bus was stone dead, +0V on all sixteen lines. Subbing in the CPU from my Jupiter Ace got it going; a replacement is now on order. Thanks for the chat on Sunday!
Just in time for #PERQtober ! An adapter to replace your missing or broken #PERQ T2 landscape monitor with a VGA display: codeberg.org/stepleton/pe... Thanks to @skeezicsb@oldbytes.space for early advice.
September 29, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Just in time for #PERQtober ! An adapter to replace your missing or broken #PERQ T2 landscape monitor with a VGA display: codeberg.org/stepleton/pe... Thanks to @skeezicsb@oldbytes.space for early advice.
The Olivetti Programma P203 (1967) uses a circuit construction technique known as "transistor jail"
(or "cordwood" [1]. Seen at [2].)
[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed...
[2] www.thecomputerchurch.org
(or "cordwood" [1]. Seen at [2].)
[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed...
[2] www.thecomputerchurch.org
August 26, 2025 at 3:24 AM
The Olivetti Programma P203 (1967) uses a circuit construction technique known as "transistor jail"
(or "cordwood" [1]. Seen at [2].)
[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed...
[2] www.thecomputerchurch.org
(or "cordwood" [1]. Seen at [2].)
[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed...
[2] www.thecomputerchurch.org
Wheeling Airglow (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow... ) out to the runway at the British Human Powered Flying Club's 2025 Icarus Cup event, Lasham Airfield, Hampshire.
June 20, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Wheeling Airglow (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airglow... ) out to the runway at the British Human Powered Flying Club's 2025 Icarus Cup event, Lasham Airfield, Hampshire.
#Smalltalk -80 on #PERQ --- Mario Wolczko's implementation (www.wolczko.com/st80/) running with maybe some gremlins still to sort out.
May 20, 2025 at 12:12 AM
#Smalltalk -80 on #PERQ --- Mario Wolczko's implementation (www.wolczko.com/st80/) running with maybe some gremlins still to sort out.
#PERQ PNX 5.03 manual pages at mg-1.uk/pnxman/pnxma... . The most interesting ones don't render very well with my hacked copy of a roff-in-JS "typesetter", but some interesting nuggets are there to reward persistence.
PNX 5.03 manual pages
mg-1.uk
May 13, 2025 at 10:52 PM
#PERQ PNX 5.03 manual pages at mg-1.uk/pnxman/pnxma... . The most interesting ones don't render very well with my hacked copy of a roff-in-JS "typesetter", but some interesting nuggets are there to reward persistence.
Grab your ear defenders, it's time to see the exciting features of 1986's PNX 5.03, the Unix for the #PERQ 2 workstation! Skip to 2:10 to bypass booting and go straight to the non-X11 graphics action!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZRo...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZRo...
PNX 5.03 reboot and demonstration on a PERQ 2T2
YouTube video by stepleton
www.youtube.com
May 7, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Grab your ear defenders, it's time to see the exciting features of 1986's PNX 5.03, the Unix for the #PERQ 2 workstation! Skip to 2:10 to bypass booting and go straight to the non-X11 graphics action!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZRo...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZRo...
OK, so the #PERQ 2T2's disk system will work if:
* you let it warm up for a bit
* you have the logic analyser attached to U9 on the EIO board
* ...and running
* you let it warm up for a bit
* you have the logic analyser attached to U9 on the EIO board
* ...and running
April 22, 2025 at 11:58 PM
OK, so the #PERQ 2T2's disk system will work if:
* you let it warm up for a bit
* you have the logic analyser attached to U9 on the EIO board
* ...and running
* you let it warm up for a bit
* you have the logic analyser attached to U9 on the EIO board
* ...and running
Say, would anyone like to answer a newbie's gpg question? security.stackexchange.com/questions/28...
March 22, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Say, would anyone like to answer a newbie's gpg question? security.stackexchange.com/questions/28...
The EC2 instance is terminated and the AWS account cancelled. The site no longer links to larger files on Google Drive. Continuing to pull away from larger tech firms...
March 10, 2025 at 12:25 AM
The EC2 instance is terminated and the AWS account cancelled. The site no longer links to larger files on Google Drive. Continuing to pull away from larger tech firms...
This is pretty funny to, like, maybe three people on Earth.
February 25, 2025 at 11:18 PM
This is pretty funny to, like, maybe three people on Earth.
If you transport something that sorted right, speak of a six one one member contact to see staff or police the sea. We'll sort on it. Doesn't say it, zero six it, look British.
February 23, 2025 at 11:43 AM
If you transport something that sorted right, speak of a six one one member contact to see staff or police the sea. We'll sort on it. Doesn't say it, zero six it, look British.
Question for email self-hosters: what do you do with two email servers? Plenty of self-hosting docs say what to do with one, but what are some common small-site configurations for people who like two MX entries for their domain? It seems like it could make things more dependable, but in what form?
January 31, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Question for email self-hosters: what do you do with two email servers? Plenty of self-hosting docs say what to do with one, but what are some common small-site configurations for people who like two MX entries for their domain? It seems like it could make things more dependable, but in what form?
I post what from This is .
January 28, 2025 at 10:55 PM
I post what from This is .
Had a Great Clown Pagliacci moment after searching "depraz mouse manual" and turning up www.tuhs.org/pipermail/tu...
[TUHS] Depraz/Logitech Digimouse manual
www.tuhs.org
January 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Had a Great Clown Pagliacci moment after searching "depraz mouse manual" and turning up www.tuhs.org/pipermail/tu...
After learning the true meaning of "we're not doing presents this Christmas", it was off to the makerspace to hastily laser-engrave and laser-cut jigsaw puzzles for everyone.
![A parody clone of the cover of a Ravensburger puzzle box, advertising a "Laserburger Puzzle" with "up to 570" pieces and "Crummy Laserburger Qualtiy [sic]". The puzzle claims to have "Arduousclick Technology", referencing the "Softclick Technology" of actual Ravensburger puzzles. The puzzle itself appears to be a halftone image of a bunch of potatoes, and helpfully the original potato image appears at the bottom of the box art alongside the text "it is potates".](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jnkt7ufz6gagh23g2mimla26/bafkreigxi34pq7bgbsriesdpvmihkrevr5apmlxjgz7ws4cnip3f4dpf54@jpeg)
December 27, 2024 at 3:35 AM
After learning the true meaning of "we're not doing presents this Christmas", it was off to the makerspace to hastily laser-engrave and laser-cut jigsaw puzzles for everyone.
About a month ago I fixed the mouse on my circa-1983 #PERQ 2T2 computer: a key feature for an early graphical workstation. It was a wild troubleshooting journey --- in the end, there was nothing wrong with the mouse itself. You might not believe what it was...
December 21, 2024 at 3:11 PM
About a month ago I fixed the mouse on my circa-1983 #PERQ 2T2 computer: a key feature for an early graphical workstation. It was a wild troubleshooting journey --- in the end, there was nothing wrong with the mouse itself. You might not believe what it was...
I'm running low on tractor-feed paper. There's barely enough to make this year's greeting cards!
![Close-up of an Apple Lisa computer's display as the LisaDraw program sends a festive card design with a Christmas tree to a dot-matrix printer. The Lisa's print dialogue is verbose. It tells the user that print spooling is available: that is, the user can dismiss the dialogue and do other work while printing continues. But it also points out that if the user does this and then at some point "hear[s] a whistle", they should reopen the print dialogue. (The Lisa's "whistle" is a rising bloopy sound that the Lisa makes if printer trouble occurs, like running out of paper. I only know early versions of the Lisa Office System to make this sound.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jnkt7ufz6gagh23g2mimla26/bafkreigusajvo7xa4xjyqwcxh7oekwdidpixwn5mcvgyhkxm2uuw3ikxpi@jpeg)
December 12, 2024 at 1:09 AM
I'm running low on tractor-feed paper. There's barely enough to make this year's greeting cards!
Proparoxytone! Obtained in pharmacies and restaurants. Measured in Jupiter's atmosphere; in the Indian but not Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Available in quantity, produced by electricity, also chemical processes and mystical rituals. Proparoxytone: it's not for you or me but it's right for everyone.
December 9, 2024 at 9:43 PM
Proparoxytone! Obtained in pharmacies and restaurants. Measured in Jupiter's atmosphere; in the Indian but not Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Available in quantity, produced by electricity, also chemical processes and mystical rituals. Proparoxytone: it's not for you or me but it's right for everyone.