Technology of days gone by...

I cleared out 4 more drawers today and took a cartload to the dumpster... I did not toss out technology history...

For you youngins... in the middle is my slide rule from high school. It still has my crib notes on it. Would not have a clue how to use it today. But, it sure served me well in high school - math was the only thing I didn't absolutely suck at in high school.

Above the slide rule are mag cards. They were used in magnetic card typewriters (and in one big honkin' printer/copier - I used to capture the data from this giant typewriter onto the magnetic card and then carry the card to the printer and stick it in to get a hard copy of the data. These mag cards also made very handy straight edges.)

Below the slide rule is a 5.25" diskette for PC's. It is the last of the floppy disks that actually flopped. I have at least one of it's parents down the storage area - a 8" version (used in the IBM Displaywriter and a prehistoric accounting machine who's name I've forgotten) the - it looks like a dinner plate.

I am giving serious thought to taking the rest of the day off. I have organized the bedroom and the living room (kind of) and I still need to do laundry. But I may be at the end of my part of this deal until we have a schedule and I need to move stuff to the center of the rooms for painting or get it all out for carpeting. I'm ready!

But, first... breakfast.

Technology of days gone by...

I cleared out 4 more drawers today and took a cartload to the dumpster... I did not toss out technology history...

For you youngins... in the middle is my slide rule from high school. It still has my crib notes on it. Would not have a clue how to use it today. But, it sure served me well in high school - math was the only thing I didn't absolutely suck at in high school.

Above the slide rule are mag cards. They were used in magnetic card typewriters (and in one big honkin' printer/copier - I used to capture the data from this giant typewriter onto the magnetic card and then carry the card to the printer and stick it in to get a hard copy of the data. These mag cards also made very handy straight edges.)

Below the slide rule is a 5.25" diskette for PC's. It is the last of the floppy disks that actually flopped. I have at least one of it's parents down the storage area - a 8" version (used in the IBM Displaywriter and a prehistoric accounting machine who's name I've forgotten) the - it looks like a dinner plate.

I am giving serious thought to taking the rest of the day off. I have organized the bedroom and the living room (kind of) and I still need to do laundry. But I may be at the end of my part of this deal until we have a schedule and I need to move stuff to the center of the rooms for painting or get it all out for carpeting. I'm ready!

But, first... breakfast.

The ugly side of TV

And, no, this is not a programming statement.

I liberated the TV partners (1 Comcast digital box, 2 Tivo's and a GoVideo vcr/dvd combo) from the cabinet they were in and labeled all the cables and photographed them. I put the system together myself but it gives me a headache to try and remember how. So now each cable is labeled at both ends with details about where each end goes... I thought I could do it all with photographs so I took this one

And then I decided I needed to label every single cable just in case. With any luck, I might be able to squeak by with only unplugging the cable and one power cord, move the cabinet and plug them back in. That's what I'm shooting for anyway.
Sheri's suggestion for new housing is something like this:

But my TV is different and smaller and we would have the four components lined up side by side in their own little carport things in between the tv and the cabinet (which would have doors, not drawers). And maybe making the whole ting a little higher.

The ugly side of TV

And, no, this is not a programming statement.

I liberated the TV partners (1 Comcast digital box, 2 Tivo's and a GoVideo vcr/dvd combo) from the cabinet they were in and labeled all the cables and photographed them. I put the system together myself but it gives me a headache to try and remember how. So now each cable is labeled at both ends with details about where each end goes... I thought I could do it all with photographs so I took this one

And then I decided I needed to label every single cable just in case. With any luck, I might be able to squeak by with only unplugging the cable and one power cord, move the cabinet and plug them back in. That's what I'm shooting for anyway.
Sheri's suggestion for new housing is something like this:

But my TV is different and smaller and we would have the four components lined up side by side in their own little carport things in between the tv and the cabinet (which would have doors, not drawers). And maybe making the whole ting a little higher.