It would seem it’s my birthday.
And it’s unexpectedly turned out to be a really good one. Wow. Thanks to Ben, Richie, Anson, Joanne, Dean, Mary, Jeff, Natalie, Margerat, Dick, Jane, Robin, Cameron, Nick, the dual wielding dwarf with the dead ThinkPad and Heidi. And Tim, Renae, Scot, and Misha.
I really need a new rain poncho. Preferably one without holes.
24 pole double throw rotary switch. This is just nuts.
http://www.electronicsurplus.com/Item/1883/
I’ve planted a few trees in my life.
Most of them have been burned down.
Less then 8 of them are left.
Last night lightning killed this one that my brother and I planted over 30 years ago.
Between my back, my knee and my wallet I doubt I’m going to ever plant another tree. Which makes me very sad. Which makes this very, very hard to write.
You might want to consider planting some. Think about it the next time you go to the bathroom. Or the next time you breathe.
WE’RE AMERICA’S CRAZY CAT LADIES
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IT’S NOT THE HEAT. IT’S THE STUPIDITY
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IT’S SPELLED _A_R_I_Z_O_N_A_
BUT IT”S PRONOUNCED EUGENICS.
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AS BIGOTED AS WE WANT TO BE.
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20% UNEMPLOYMENT. 46% STUPIDITY.
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BUD SELIG DOEN’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH US.
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BIG SKYS. SMALL MINDS.
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WE’LL LEAVE THE HATE ON FOR YOU.
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IN YOUR HEART, YOU KNOW WE’RE WHITE.
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OUR FATHERS DIED FIGHTING THE NAZIS. IN 1955.
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BRINGING BACK TENNIS WHITES.
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FOR PEOPLE WITH DISCRIMINATING TASTES.
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PAINTED DESERTS. ALTERED MURALS
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WE SPEAK OUR MINDS. WITH A FORKED TONGUE.
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this post would be sponsored by the Arizona Department of Tourism if they weren’t a bunch of whiney shits.
First, many, many, many, thanks to our intrepid sys admin, and best friend Ben, for getting FFEJWORLD back on line. This time he had to do something insane by programmer’s standards: repair a database. So be especially nice to Ben this month, he’s probably still shivering in horror. If he wasn’t already asleep.
Second, thanks again to Ben. Words really are inadequate. Really. He has really important things to do, and didn’t need to be polluting his synapses with this shit. Thank You!
Doesn’t mean I’ll be posting with any more regularity 
Back in the 70s there was a networked computer system with flat panel plasma touch screens and networking. Yes, the screen was orange and white, and yes, the touch part was only 16 sectors, but it would be another 10 years before you could do that at home. Everything you spent the 90s and 00s getting used to we had in the 70s, on Plato. Man, makes me wish for a Papa Del’s with everything (no anchovy) or a Garcia’s whole wheat. Just deliver it to CERL, will ya?
Ed Roberts has died. He changed the world, and walked away. Ed qualifies as one of the people who ruined my life
Ed Robert’s business was selling LED clock kits, back when they were new, cool and expensive (I wanted one so bad, i had to be content with a Copal Mechanical shutter digital clock that my neighbor gave me when he built his MITS LED clock). The Japanese entered the market selling pre built clocks for much less then Ed could sell kits, leaving Ed with huge debt. Facing bankruptcy, Ed had his chief engineer design a personal computer kit. He managed to get the kit on the cover of Popular Electronics in January 1975. And the world changed forever, although it took a few years for the mainstream to notice.
Here’s the error filled NY Times Obit: Link.
And here’s the cover that changed the world: Link.
For those of you who don’t know, the Whale, home of the Lamprey Group as well as batcave to Michelle Faust, Nat Ward and Kenneth Morrison burned down late in 2009. Efforts to rebuild need your help-there is a fundraiser tonight @ The Co-Prosperity Sphere.
There is a public facebook group for those of you who engage in that kind of thing (I don’t, and don’t allow my photos on facebook).
Here’s a few rescued photos of the Whale’s interior across the years:
Notice the quant curved hutch visible in the background
The Kitchen, with art by Brady Haston
Another shot of the front room.
(these were pulled from the rescue file after the 2005 server crash, i lost the originals in the backup drive crash of 2007-so remember kids, you don’t actually own the file if you don’t have it in 3 places, on 2 different media types with one offsite…)
