Geezer

There are 384 posts filed in Geezer (this is page 37 of 39).

IBM’s computer archives

IBM-5520

As a kid I remember my dad taking us to his office at IBM on an occasional weekend. While he’d fetch something from his office we’d all look around at the technology around us. The darkened offices were full of mysterious, silent computer displays and massive copiers. In those days before the IBM PC these strange, exciting boxes always fascinated me.

I recently stumbled again upon IBM’s Computer Exhibits Archives, where IBM’s earlier computers still live on, if only as webpages. It was fun checking out the hardware I remember as a kid.

Weatherford auction

Yesterday we drove home from T’s soccer game to see signs for an auction at a neighborhood house. We stopped by to see what was going on and found the auction was at a home near ours that belonged to the late Rebecca Weatherford, who used to own the property our house was built on. The house’s items were being auctioned.

I was looking through the home when I recognized Dan Blue, who is handling the estate affairs. He told me some history of the place: that it used to be a dairy farm from the 1920s to the 1960s that encompassed about 70 acres. There was a plantation-style home that dated from the late 1800s but burned down long ago. My neighbor once told me he used to play on the majestic porch of the now long-gone home. I was fascinated to learn that such an old home was once nearby, and saddened that it no longer exists.
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U2 yesterday and today

U2 plays Carter-Finley Stadium tomorrow night, so I asked Kelly if she’s ever seen them. She said she had, so I jokingly asked her how much her ticket cost. That sent her marching into the attic to fetch a handful of ticket stubs. Proof!

Tickets for tomorrow night’s show start at $100. Kelly saw them play at Maryland’s Capital Centre in 1985 for a whopping $13.50! That’s less than the Ticketmaster fees tacked on to tomorrow night’s show. Even tomorrow’s $20 parking fee is more expensive!

Ten year anniversary

Exchanging Rings - 11 September 1999

On this day ten years ago Kelly and I were married. The luck that allowed our picture-perfect wedding to take place between two hurricanes (Dennis and Floyd) has continued to serve us well. As the man standing before that beautiful bride, it would’ve been hard to fully comprehend how blessed I would become – how blessed we would become. Even now I can’t fully comprehend it.

Thanks to everyone who helped make that day special, and to my lovely wife who has made every day special ever since. I love you!

I’m on a Boat

Navy-Im_On_A_Boat

My friend Jamie sent a link today to a music video made by officers of the USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53). It’s set to the parody rap song I’m on a Boat by The Lonely Island (YouTube). The John Paul Jones version is a pretty good copy, considering the guys were limited in their props.

This video and another version of I’m on a Boat made by different sailors goes to show you what pulling six months worth of 12-hour shifts can do to one’s sanity. It’s a long way back from the Persian Gulf to California and sailors get a little slap happy. This is the kind of thing I would’ve put together on the end of a deployment if I’d had a MacBook back then.

Check out this version of Pump It by the VAW-116 Sunkings and the British Royal Navy doing Bohemian Rhapsody. Good times.

Warning: some videos contain explicit language.

Update 7 Oct 2009: The John Paul Jones video is also available here.

Happy Birthday, Linux!

150px-Tux.svg
Today is Linux‘s 18th birthday. On August 26, 1991, Linus Torvalds announced Linux to the world:

Hello everybody out there using minix –

I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I’d like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things).

(h/t Warren Myers)

Cheviot Hills Golf Course virtual edition

Cheviot Hills Golf Course

I put up the last webpage of the now-defunct Cheviot Hills Golf Course that formerly stood on Capital Boulevard between Gresham Lake Road and Durant Road. I’ve had this floating around for three years and figured I’d finally find a home for it. The webpage mirroring isn’t perfect as it missed some of the Javascript mouse-over graphics, but most of the content and photos are there.

Revisit the long, gone Cheviot Hills here.

Facebook is the new AOL

Remember in the early, dot-com days of the Internet there were two classes of Internet users, dialup users and AOL users? The dialup users had access to the full Internet (well, full for the time, anyway) and AOL users got a sanitized, prepackaged version of the Internet at best. We dialup users looked down on the AOL users and their “walled-garden” system.

It dawned on me today that Facebook is the new AOL. Facebook has this whole environment where things are controlled and it’s set apart from the rest of the Internet. There are some people whose online experience consists almost completely of Facebook. It’s a walled-garden just like AOL.

I’ve been on the Internet since 1992, the same year that AOL for Windows debuted. Seventeen years later we are back where we started.

(You clever MT.Net readers are different, though. The fact that you’re reading this shows you’re not part of the unwashed masses. Pat yourselves on the back.)