Found a 1967 first edition of Kemeny & Kurtz's "BASIC Programming" book. The language was already spreading far enough beyond Dartmouth to warrant a book published by Wiley & Sons. It was only a three or four years old then.
November 11, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Found a 1967 first edition of Kemeny & Kurtz's "BASIC Programming" book. The language was already spreading far enough beyond Dartmouth to warrant a book published by Wiley & Sons. It was only a three or four years old then.
And then you might see this. This is the video output from the CRT driver board showing the state of its static video RAM on power up. Did you know that static RAM usually powers on with a random, but predictable, pattern of bits? Every Sphere system had its own ghost screen, like a fingerprint.
November 8, 2025 at 5:09 PM
And then you might see this. This is the video output from the CRT driver board showing the state of its static video RAM on power up. Did you know that static RAM usually powers on with a random, but predictable, pattern of bits? Every Sphere system had its own ghost screen, like a fingerprint.
The back of a Sphere computer was a mess. Why? There was no "backplane"-- no slots. The whole system was loomed together with 14-connector ribbon cables, and the cards sat in loose slots. Moving the system could easily wiggle out a pin or two somewhere, and maybe the computer wouldn't start up.
November 8, 2025 at 5:07 PM
The back of a Sphere computer was a mess. Why? There was no "backplane"-- no slots. The whole system was loomed together with 14-connector ribbon cables, and the cards sat in loose slots. Moving the system could easily wiggle out a pin or two somewhere, and maybe the computer wouldn't start up.
Color of the day: Mauveine, aka Aniline Purple. The color of ditto machine ink of old, among other things. Developed in 1856 by someone trying to cure malaria. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauveine
October 31, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Color of the day: Mauveine, aka Aniline Purple. The color of ditto machine ink of old, among other things. Developed in 1856 by someone trying to cure malaria. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauveine
Tell me this original 70s Polaroid and its caption (!) is not "giving Halloween!" These great photos and many more in Go Computer Now!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...
October 31, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Tell me this original 70s Polaroid and its caption (!) is not "giving Halloween!" These great photos and many more in Go Computer Now!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...
Happy Halloween! Here are some sample design spreads from my forthcoming book on the Sphere computer, company, and community. Archival, newly-commissioned, and never-before-seen images of the early micro era. Please check it out so we can get it printed! Thanks. www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...
October 31, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Happy Halloween! Here are some sample design spreads from my forthcoming book on the Sphere computer, company, and community. Archival, newly-commissioned, and never-before-seen images of the early micro era. Please check it out so we can get it printed! Thanks. www.kickstarter.com/projects/bzo...
The only Free Press I know about is the one that published the big book of random numbers !
October 25, 2025 at 3:57 PM
The only Free Press I know about is the one that published the big book of random numbers !
(My parents live in Weston!! I grew up on the North Shore.) Here's a photo I have of the guys from Waltham Computer Mart showing a Sphere-- might be a trade show pic given the banner. Not sure this will make the cut for the book, but there you go! Small world.
October 19, 2025 at 3:54 PM
(My parents live in Weston!! I grew up on the North Shore.) Here's a photo I have of the guys from Waltham Computer Mart showing a Sphere-- might be a trade show pic given the banner. Not sure this will make the cut for the book, but there you go! Small world.
Over the last few years I helped write a career retrospective coffee table book about one of San Francisco's most influential artisans: Bob Buckter, aka Dr. Color, aka the guy whose sign is on all the colorful Victorians. The book is now available for sale! drcolorbook.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Over the last few years I helped write a career retrospective coffee table book about one of San Francisco's most influential artisans: Bob Buckter, aka Dr. Color, aka the guy whose sign is on all the colorful Victorians. The book is now available for sale! drcolorbook.com
Incredible retroactive casting vindication: the guy who played college-age Robert Redford in Sneakers grew up to look really quite a lot like middle-age Robert Redford in Sneakers.
September 16, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Incredible retroactive casting vindication: the guy who played college-age Robert Redford in Sneakers grew up to look really quite a lot like middle-age Robert Redford in Sneakers.
tfw the computer is compact and portable
July 7, 2025 at 8:34 PM
tfw the computer is compact and portable
Coronet also the site of 60s SF Film Festival, as advertised in my favorite Saul Bass poster (excuse to share my favorite Saul Bass poster). Wish I'd been around to see SW there!
May 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Coronet also the site of 60s SF Film Festival, as advertised in my favorite Saul Bass poster (excuse to share my favorite Saul Bass poster). Wish I'd been around to see SW there!
50 years ago today—on April 7, 1975—MITS published the first issue of its Altair customer newsletter, Computer Notes. The big headline story was BASIC, which they'd just seen demonstrated by Paul Allen but hadn't yet finalized contracts for.
April 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
50 years ago today—on April 7, 1975—MITS published the first issue of its Altair customer newsletter, Computer Notes. The big headline story was BASIC, which they'd just seen demonstrated by Paul Allen but hadn't yet finalized contracts for.
I feel pretty confident that this is some kind of fake book because even thought the title is in Arial, the subtitle is in Susan Kare's bitmap Chicago, famous for its appearance on the original Macintosh.
April 4, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I feel pretty confident that this is some kind of fake book because even thought the title is in Arial, the subtitle is in Susan Kare's bitmap Chicago, famous for its appearance on the original Macintosh.
FDC/1: A 5.25" Floppy Disk Controller for Sphere computers. An art project+useful thing done as a learning experience. sphere.computer/shop.html
February 23, 2025 at 2:40 AM
FDC/1: A 5.25" Floppy Disk Controller for Sphere computers. An art project+useful thing done as a learning experience. sphere.computer/shop.html
