retrocomputer Archives

Restoring a Late-90s Packard Bell Multimedia PC

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.

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@garethb2

November 9th, 2017

Look over the shoulder of an antique computer collector as he’s restoring a homely PC from the last century.

Reverse Engineering the Antikythera Mechanism

By Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.

View more articles by Gareth Branwyn

@garethb2

June 20th, 2017June 20th, 2017

A clock maker tries building a copy of an ancient computer using the tools and engineering skills the original creators may have employed.

It’s ALIVE! The MOnSter 6502 Returns to Maker Faire

By Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.

View more articles by Gareth Branwyn

@garethb2

May 15th, 2017May 15th, 2017

EMS Labs returns to Maker Faire Bay Area with the latest progress on their giant, retro-licious transistor-scale 6502 microprocessor.

Hello, World (and more) on a PDP-11!

By Brian Jepson

Brian Jepson

I'm a tinkerer and finally reached the point where I fix more things than I break. When I'm not tinkering, I'm probably editing a book for Maker Media.

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@bjepson

February 9th, 2009 0

When I read about the PDP-11 videos, I went directly to SIMH, downloaded, compiled, and installed it. But I couldn’t for the life of me get my program to run after toggling it in. Fortunately, lab[oratory] has posted a great HOWTO that explains the parts that were escaping me: I will use Bob Supnik’s amazing […]

Lisp Machine keyboard close up

By Brian Jepson

Brian Jepson

I'm a tinkerer and finally reached the point where I fix more things than I break. When I'm not tinkering, I'm probably editing a book for Maker Media.

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@bjepson

February 5th, 2009 8

Joey deVilla has posted some closeup pictures of the Lisp Machine that he donated to HackLabTO: The keyboard is bristling with modifier keys. Yes, we’ve all got shift and control, but most of us don’t have hyper, super, and meta keys. I have a guess as to what the network and local keys do. HackLabTO’s […]

Tech Adventure in Bristol UK

By Chris Connors

Chris Connors

Making things is the best way to learn about our world.

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@connors934

November 17th, 2008 4

Nikki from Bristol UK writes in to tell of the next TechAdventures meetup. “An Adventure in Technology” is a party which will be held on the 28th February at the Trinity Centre in Bristol. We want you to create and discover new ideas using technology. Bring your unexpected toys, your creations, projects and ideas, put […]

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