Technologically speaking it has been the worst of months, it has been the best of months, or perhaps neither. On the low tech side of things, the Acme engine (never terrific) on his 40+ year old BCS Mainline walk behind tractor that he lately uses only as a tiller, choked out its last while preparing […]
The Spy has it on good authority that on Monday next week after the markets close, Apple will announce the takeover of one-time rival IBM for a cash and stock package valued at $162B, just under a 25% premium over where the latter’s stock was trading this week. Given that Apple’s own market cap at […]
Last Month’s chat ended with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are no doubt laughing at the North Americans who must seem to them bent on destroying the very democracy we once touted as superior to their brutal and genocidal dictatorships. Surely they can now go to war, annex their neighbours (and eventually us) into a […]
A couple of recent purchases are worth a mention here. First up is Apple’s second generation TV+ Siri remote –product A2540 with the aluminum case, now sold with the Apple TV. 4K, but also available for standalone purchase. This is the replacement for earlier iterations of the Siri remote in the black case–a rather poorly […]
James Savage and John Leake have released the 599th episode of their RetroMacCast podcast. Join them as they talk about their eBay Finds: American Girl desk and Mac, icon trash bag, and Apple Game Team jacket. John gets his RaSCSI working, and news includes 3D printed Apple logo and iMac found on Twitter. To listen to the latest episode or any of their […]
On the world stage, 2021 started with the failed violent coup attempt against the government in Washington, proceeded through an assortment of bad to worse COVID-19 news, the Afghanistan fiasco, deepening hostile divisions in the formerly more temperate and tolerant United States, worsening political situations in many parts of the world, the first potential breezes […]
It used to be that the three most important things to business success were location, location, and location. Today they are the content of your inventory, the content of your web site that permits access to ordering said inventory, and how content you make your customers (you don’t want your reputation slagged on social media […]
Some four decades ago when many of us knew some form of net-based document linkage was coming, just not who would instantiate it and what form it would take, the Spy coined the term “metalibrary” to refer to the collection of all a society’s knowledge, in whatever medium, together with the means of accessing them. […]
To the thieves who stole jewelry from my Bradner home on September 16–two questions: 1. How much did your fence give you for 52 priceless years of memories? Enough for a couple of fixes each of your favourite narcotic? 2. Why didn’t you also take the flowers in the living room? You could have made […]
Joyce Sutcliffe March 5 1947 – August 27, 2021 Joyce Arlene Sutcliffe (nee Madland) was born at home in Surrey, B.C. on March 5, 1947 to Philip and Grace (Halls) Madland and lived her early life near Whalley’s corner. Her parents were in fellowship at Westminster Gospel Chapel, where at a young age she accepted […]
A hot summer gasps to an end in numerous western wildfires that spew smoke across the continent, the degree of Arctic ice melt is unprecedented, high temperatures and drought set records–all visual evidence that the climate is indeed changing, and more rapidly than even the worst pessimists once predicted. Meanwhile billionaires engage in a space […]
And the not entirely so grimas, once again, Canada persists in celebrating the Spy’s birthday a couple of daysearly and the Excited States a day late. ‘Course, both have been at it a tad longerthan he, so he extends best wishes that both will outlast him, despite at least someindicatiors to the contrary. Truth and […]
With apologies to “Our Anne” (with an “e”) the Spy this months takes note of some notable disappointments, failures, and wonders who or what is on the brink. We start with the technological realm itself of course, but this column has always been about much more than machinery. The industry giants have had their share […]
Technology News and Views Since 1983May 2021 The academic realm is often stereotyped as an impregnable, remote-from-life, unscalable ivory tower with little to say to the real world. The Spy’s corner of said kingdom is actually an ivory basement overdue for new carpeting and a coat of paint, and he likes to think his […]
With the announcement this past week that Volkswagen was to embrace the electric era by changing the corporate name to Voltswagen, the Spy decided to research the matter of pending corporate name changes and related issues. He made some fascinating discoveries. And, in an exclusive to this intrepid reporter comes word on internal debates at […]
If you have one of the early Macintosh computers in the 128K, the 512K or the Plus series and are missing a keyboard, then this video from Mac84 also known as Steve Matarazzo takes you through the building process of creating an adapter for a PS/2 type keyboard to be able to connect to the […]
Some things just last longer than others Those comfortable old sweaters, housecoats, a few pants and shirts worn to threadbare, and even beyond as they get relegated to gardening work, the 91 Buick Regal we kept till last year, and traded in before it was really finished with life, the forty year old rototiller, the […]
A nifty little video cast called the Macintosh Librarian is now running through the Retro Macintosh channels. The Macintosh Librarian ( K.Fox ) in her latest video talks about the history of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) with her digital Mac SE-30, Maccy. Taking you from the earliest days through to the hey day […]
Over the past several years, we have been following along with James Savage and John Leake as they brought us the RetroMacCast Podcast. Since last year James and John have brought back the Video Cast of the RetroMacCast. Now, for those who prefer to actually watch video of the broadcasts rather than just listen, the […]
The 560th episode of the RetroMacCast has been posted to the RetroMacCast website. In this episode, James and John talk about their eBay finds including: MacEffects Mac Portable 8MB card, computer lot, and PowerBook 550c. John also takes the time to talk about a SCSI hard drive replacement, and news includes the Action Retro Libretto Hackintosh, System 7 Today return, Lisa X […]
