Download Squad

Happy 15th, Windows 95!

Lee Mathews — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST

Today marks an important date in Windows history: the release of Windows 95.

Yes, 15 years ago I was in my university dorm ogling a friend's just-purchased copy of the 95 Upgrade, wondering how awesome my DX2/66 would be once I had replaced my factory-original Windows 3.11. Similarly fond-but-geeky memories of playing Doom deathmatches over our null modem cable also come rushing back...

It's actually pretty impressive (or depressing, perhaps?) that the Windows interface introduced in 95 remained pretty much the same all the way up until the release of Vista. Windows 95 also marked a big leap forward for PCs as a gaming platform, heralded the introduction of USB support, and also spawned a generation of BSOD-related headaches.

Ahh, memories! Share your Windows 95-related ones in the comments!

[Seb's note: I just checked the Doom Wiki page, and this is what it says: "In late 1995, Doom was estimated to be installed on more computers worldwide than Microsoft's new operating system Windows 95, despite million-dollar advertising" campaigns for the latter."]

[via TechRadar]

Happy 15th, Windows 95! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Idea Informer provides a public way to collect visitor feedback

Erez Zukerman — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: Business, web 2.0, Retrocomputing

Idea Informer is a widget that you put on your site, and it takes the form of one of those "feedback tabs" to the right of the page (you've seen them before, I'm sure).

The thing that's a bit different about Idea Informer is that any comments left by visitors become public, and other visitors can vote them up. You can think of it as a public wish list. One problem with the implementation is that it doesn't require you to log in to vote; it also lets you vote on anything and everything.

Dropbox implemented a similar system for internal use so that users can vote for features that they want to see. But what's neat about Dropbox's system is that you only get six votes at a time, so you need to choose wisely. With Idea Informer, I can click on anything I like (once per item). I actually went through an entire list of someone's feedback and added one vote to every item, just to make sure it really works (I didn't skew the ratings, though - I've kept it all even, as it was before).

You also do not have to be registered to leave an idea for people to vote on, but it does ask for your name and an email address, and it presents you with a CAPTCHA prompt.

All in all, I've seen better implementations. Get Satisfaction is one that comes to mind. However, I still have a feeling that, if its makers tweak it a bit, Idea Informer can be a valuable tool.

Idea Informer provides a public way to collect visitor feedback originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

NESoid lets you play classic NES games on your Android device

Sebastian Anthony — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Games, Android, Retrocomputing

About ten years ago, I remember installing a PlayStation emulator on my PC. With marvel, wonder and awe, I played through Final Fantasy VII yet again. It was awesome! Both the MIDI orchestration and jaggy polygons were faithfully preserved and everything!

I also remember that it was slow. My PC had a 600MHz processor, yet it struggled to emulate the 33MHz processor in the PlayStation 1. Fast forward to today, however, and the gigahertz processor is ubiquitous, be it in the desktop or mobile form factor. I don't think anyone foresaw that we'd have 1GHz processors in computers that fit comfortable in our palm.

But hey, who's complaining?

There are many emulators for Android smartphones, but today I'm going to look at the most important: NESoid. It's a free app that lets you play just about every NES game on your Android phone. It's not without its niggles (read on!), but you really can't complain when it comes to free games.

You can install it by searching for 'Nesoid' on the Android marketplace (grab the Lite version, or pay the few dollars if you need the ability to save and load games).

Continue reading NESoid lets you play classic NES games on your Android device

NESoid lets you play classic NES games on your Android device originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

HTML5 Canvas + color cycling = 8-bit graphical win!

Lee Mathews — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Retrocomputing

While the bulk of the buzz about HTML5 still seems to be focused on the video tag, there are plenty of other awesome developments cropping up. Things like drag-and-drop attachments in GMail and all those crazy Internet Explorer 9 Test Drive samples.

Then there's the work of developer Joe Huckaby. Joe has taken images created by graphic artist Mark Ferrari to produce some incredibly cool, animated retro gaming images using HTML 5's canvas element to reproduce an effect called color cycling. While the demos themselves are impressive, equally as impressive is the fact that they work extremely well on darn near any HTML5-compatible browser -- including mobile Safari.

You can view Joe's demos on this page -- my favorite is the one above, Water City Gates.

[via Ajaxian]

HTML5 Canvas + color cycling = 8-bit graphical win! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Side-scrolling, 25-year-old Zelda II, reimagined as a 3D FPS... and it works!

Sebastian Anthony — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Games, Retrocomputing

I know, I know, Zelda games are sacred. It's like trying to cover a Michael Jackson song -- you can give it your best shot, but you can't improve on something perfect, so why bother? Well, you do it for fun of course! Zelda II FPS is a delightful, painstakingly recreated version of the 1987 side-scrolling classic. No expense has been spared -- all of the original textures are there, and the sounds. It feels remarkably and eerily familiar.

Of course, it's not without its issues. Combat is... hairy. You can't see enemies sneaking up behind you, and they have an unnerving tendency to move quickly when you're not looking. Getting around can be a bit of a pain too -- just stick to the yellow brick road though, and you should avoid the random fights.

This reimagining is by no means complete, but there's at least 10 or 20 minutes of gameplay to sink your teeth into. If you're having trouble getting started, read the walkthrough. Also, don't forget to stock up on hearts whenever possible -- they respawn, and when you have a full life bar, your sword shoots frickin' lasers.

All in all, this is a fantastic example of what the Unity 3D engine, a dollop of belabored love and a garnish of ingenuity can achieve.

Now we just need Nintendo to release a first-party 3D version of A Link to the Past...

Side-scrolling, 25-year-old Zelda II, reimagined as a 3D FPS... and it works! originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Plasma Burst is a gore-tastic side-scroller - Time Waster

Erez Zukerman — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Time-Wasters, Retrocomputing

Plasma Burst is a platformer that thinks it's an FPS. On the one hand, you get traditional side-scrolling action, but on the other hand, everything else feels like an FPS.

You play a guy "sent back in time to save the world" (back-story is always the strong side for games like this). You stroll through levels full of baddies and basically shoot them up. By default, you have a laser-like gun, but when you level up, you can buy better and better weapons.

You don't "find" the weapons, but you actually buy them in a store between levels. The screenshot above shows my guy at level 2, after I have already bought a helmet and body armor (I always go for the defensive bonuses first).

Baddies don't always die on first impact, and you have to aim carefully. One thing that bugs me is that the keyboard keys cannot be remapped, so if you happen to have a non-QWERTY layout, that can get annoying. But for the main functions, even "special" keyboards should work well. You move with the arrow keys, aim with the mouse, and shoot with SPACE. The other keys are for using items and less frequent actions (or, at least, less frequent for me because I don't have a QWERTY keyboard).

One thing you should know is that this game is pretty gory. You can dial it down a bit in the options, but there's a lot of blood all over the place, and bodies flop about in a fairly realistic fashion (as far as side-scrollers go, anyway).

Plasma Burst is a gore-tastic side-scroller - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 26 May 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Uncensored is a simple online BBS with intelligent content

Erez Zukerman — Mon, 10 May 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Retrocomputing

Uncensored isn't the first BBS I'm covering for DownloadSquad. But this one seems to have some actual users, which makes it interesting for me.

Uncensored bills itself as a "fun alternative to the Information Stupidhighway". See what they did there? Eh? Clever!

What it actually is (as far as I was able to tell) is a very simple messaging system. You don't have to access it via telnet like in the screenshot; there is also a web interface, which is almost equally as bare-bones.

The service is divided into "rooms", and seems surprisingly free of spam. A "room" is actually a message board, but the messages are very short; most of them are one-liners. There are over 30 rooms and oddly enough they had one named "Israel" (I could not find any other country-specific room).

They also offer a "Tasks" module, which seems like a simple way to manage a todo-list. The whole thing is pretty retro-tastic, with no AJAX in sight and barely any images.

Still, I find it remarkable that it exists and that it actually seems to host some intelligent conversation. Quite an interesting little spam-free, ad-free community -- one of numerous tiny villages hidden around the nooks and crannies of the web.

Uncensored is a simple online BBS with intelligent content originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 10 May 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

RadioShackCatalogs.com offers a geeky slice of the past

Erez Zukerman — Mon, 03 May 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Retrocomputing

I knew Radio Shack were kind of ancient, but I had no idea they've been around since 1921. That is a long time. It took them 18 years, but in 1939 they started publishing their comprehensive yearly catalogs. And they kept on going strong and steady -- except for a couple of years during WWII.

Like any old catalog, these provide an interesting portal into a different time -- a simpler time, when nerds were mainly hardware nerds, and catalogs used phrases like "high stability crystals". Radio Shack Catalogs contains a huge, carefully chronicled collection of almost all Radio Shack catalogs from 1939 all the way to 2005, with just a few missing (1946, anyone?).

You can browse each catalog in a "large" or "small" version, and flip through the pages e-book style. The "large" versions are very hi-res, as you can see in the screenshot above.

I love the Bond-esque cover for the 1965 one.

RadioShackCatalogs.com offers a geeky slice of the past originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 03 May 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Geocities-izer lets you browse your favorite website with 90s goggles

Erez Zukerman — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:07:00 EST

Filed under: Design, Fun, Time-Wasters, Humor, Retrocomputing

Ahhh, the good old days. When men were real men, and websites were horrific white-on-dayglo-yellow creations lovingly crafted in notepad, complete with animated GIFs of randomly dancing M&M's and poor MIDI versions of Oasis' Wonderwall on auto-play.

Miss those days? Do you? Come on, you can admit it... we're all friends here. Okay, you don't have to say anything -- I can see it in your eyes, and I have just the thing for you!

Enter the Geoceties-izer! This incredible service lets you feed it with any website, and spits out a complete copy of the site, exactly as it would have looked like had it been created in Geocities back in the happy 90's. You really have to try it -- the screenshot above does it absolutely no justice; I just didn't know where to begin! Should I zoom out and show the broken images and wide expanse of yellow? Should I zoom in on that dancing M&M?

And how can I convey the incredible emotional impact a poor MIDI rendition of Wonderwall can bestow upon an unsuspecting ear, right when it autoplays on page-load, amidst that sea of eye-searing yellow?

You really, really have to experience this. If you're using headphones, don't. Share it with your office-mates. Just click. You may not get the same Wonderwall-on-yellow background I got (on a second attempt I got Alanis and Bill Gates with devil's horns), but it is sure to please.

OMG, "Isn't it Ironic" in MIDI.

[Via: Woot blog]

Geocities-izer lets you browse your favorite website with 90s goggles originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

MIGHTY JILL OFF... surprisingly enough, a jumptastic Time-Waster for both boys and girls

Sebastian Anthony — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Games, Time-Wasters, Retrocomputing

Hey, did you know that 'jilling off' is the female equivalent of ... jerking off? No, I didn't either -- not until I stumbled across this game. Then, like the curious fool that I am, I typed 'jill off' into Google... and voila! How about that. Anyway, I digress: Mighty Jill Off has nothing to do with masturbation -- unless you're into horny BSDM-themed 8bit female characters, anyway.

Essentially, Jill Off is a jumping game -- a platform jumping game. There are no moving floors and no side scrolling -- just platforms that you have to jump between. There are flames and spikes to avoid, and some crafty spider things, but that's it. In theory you are trying to get to the top of a tower, to appease the queen. Yes, this is a game with some very weird undertones, but it IS work safe, so don't worry!

My only real issue was that I couldn't turn the sound off -- you'll either love the NES-inspired music, or it'll irritate you after a few minutes. Either way, MIGHTY JILL OFF is well worth 5, 10, or even 15 minutes of your time. It's hard, though -- but don't give up! Die-hard Mario Bros. platform fanatics: this could be the best bit of jumping fun for the last 20 years.

MIGHTY JILL OFF... surprisingly enough, a jumptastic Time-Waster for both boys and girls originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

AEIN tries to bring paid BBSes back from the dead

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Social Software, Browsers, Retrocomputing

I grew up in Fidonet and the BBS culture. I remember whole nights spent online in my early teens, slugging my way through text MUDs (multi-user D&D games). I really liked it. But it's gone. Times have moved on, things have changed. We now have graphics.

Apparently, one Zach Perry takes issue with that. He has recently launched AEIN, or Alternative Electronic Information Network. In a single word, it's a BBS. You have to download custom software and pay a fixed monthly fee of $2.50 to access the service. The screenshot above isn't historical -- it really does look like that. Once you're in, you can enjoy "product reviews, news headlines, weather forecasts, software, e-book downloads, recipes, online games, world time information, computer tips, local sales boards, and forums, among other features", and it's all ad-free (!).

The whole service is apparently serious; this is not a prank. There is also an ecological angle here: Mr. Perry promises to plant a number of trees equal to the number of users on the service at the end of each year.

[Via: TinyApps]

AEIN tries to bring paid BBSes back from the dead originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Google Buzz is just part of a larger, more awesome package... including the revival of Finger!

Sebastian Anthony — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Internet, Retrocomputing

What with all the furore over Google Buzz and its questionable security, the big picture since the launch has been more than a little occluded. I hope, with the dust settling, we can now begin to look at what Google Buzz actually brings to the table -- without hyperbole, without the Mashablesque over-reporting -- the actual goodies. As always, controversy or not, Google has brought us a very shiny new toy -- but it's not about the Buzz tab in Gmail. It's about the underlying technology.

Buzz is just the beginning. Take a look at the Buzz API and the 'coming soon' developer tools. Are you drooling yet? Well, if you're one of the stubborn few that require a little more foreplay to 'get going', check out WebFinger. If you're old, the 'finger protocol' (seriously) should ring some bells -- if not, let me enlighten you: finger was the original directory service on UNIX networks, such as the early-days Internet. Finger allowed you to probe a user name (rms@mit-mc.arpa, for example) and find out meta info about them -- their job, their real world location, etc. These usernames then became modern day email addresses, and ultimately lost their associated meta data.

But now it's back, with WebFinger! It's still very early days, but it works. The eventual hope is that your email address can be used to identify you, much like OpenID does today with a URL. Kinda cool, considering how many business cards are out there with email addresses on!

Google Buzz is just part of a larger, more awesome package... including the revival of Finger! originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Top 10 Super Bowl tech ads

Sebastian Anthony — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:56:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Humor, Retrocomputing

I'm about to shock you with my most blatant 're-newsing' to date. I pray, what with the spectacular Super Bowl tonight, that you can forgive me -- well, at least the Americans amongst you. OK, the Americans from the Deep South. BUT ANYWAY...

Computerworld has a gallery of the 10 best Super Bowl technology ads, from 1976 (Xerox!) to present day (Garmin). They're all classics that you've probably seen in some form or another on the Internet, but the best -- the most 'of its time' -- has to be Apple's 1984. Moving forward to 1997, there's Intel's hilariously awful Pentium MMX 'Play that funky music, white boy' ad (has to be seen to be believed), while the rest of the 90s are littered with the almost-corpses there's-a-pulse-if-you-shut-up-and-listen CompuServe, Lotus and Iomega.

At the end of the Computerworld article there's a great Atari ad from 1982 that apparently makes them 'cringe'. They obviously have no taste at all because it's my favorite -- and you can see it after the break.

Continue reading Top 10 Super Bowl tech ads

Top 10 Super Bowl tech ads originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

One Button Bob is a retro Time Waster

Erez Zukerman — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:29:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Games, Retrocomputing

One Button Bob can only be played with an ultra high-tech Boomslang five-button gaming mouse. Well, that's not actually true. That's tech writing for you. To be honest, to play One Button Bob you do need just one button.

This retro-tastic little gem casts you as a fictional character (you're going to have to guess the name). On each screen, your one button does something different. Sometimes it makes the character jump. Sometimes it makes it throw a little boomerang at bats. There's one screen with a kind of hovercraft-looking thing that you navigate (or rather, change altitude) with your one button.

It's one button, but it's not always one click. Sometimes you need to click and hold (for jumping). Sometimes click-click-click frantically, and sometimes you need a very well-timed click to stop at an exact point to make something fall.

Definitely a worthy timewaster. It's actually nice from an accessibility standpoint too -- I don't know how many fun games require being able to click just a single button these days.

[Thanks, Javier!]

One Button Bob is a retro Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Relive the wonders of your youth and make 3D games with DarkBASIC

Sebastian Anthony — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:06:00 EST

Filed under: Developer, Games, Retrocomputing

I'm looking at you guys and wondering if you remember MS-DOS. I mean, I'm not that old, and I had computers that ran MS-DOS, so... there must be some people here that remember BASIC? QBASIC? How about BASIC on the Atari? Tiny BASIC? Failing that, I'm sure those of you that went through college during the dot-com bubble experienced Visual BASIC?

Anyway, I'm rambling. Basically (!), there's a newer iteration of the Beginner's All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code and it's both awesome and shiny! DarkBASIC is as malevolently geeky as it sounds. It's crazy how far DarkBASIC actually extends the usual bounds of a 'beginner' language: it has high-level access to DirectX, support for almost every 2D image format, built-in 3D primitives (see the full feature list) -- but most importantly it's really easy to use. Despite all the extra functionality (and 730 commands!), the syntax is as simple as always.

Here's a sample block of code:

XRotate Object 1, 180
 Scale Sprite 1, 100
 Mirror Bitmap 1
 Set Text Font "Arial"
 Set Light To Object Position
 If Joystick Fire A() Then GoSub PlayerShoot

Pretty simple, eh?!

It's free to download if you use the 'trialpay' option (where you sign up with a service like VistaPrint or Interflora), or you can buy it for $9.99 through Intel's netbook-oriented AppUp Center. There are also plenty of tutorials and quick-start guides to get you moving!

Curious? Check out the brief video walkthrough by Intel Atom developer Bob Duffy after the break!

Continue reading Relive the wonders of your youth and make 3D games with DarkBASIC

Relive the wonders of your youth and make 3D games with DarkBASIC originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Windows 3.11 in-a-browser is retrocomputing awesome

Lee Mathews — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:06:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Retrocomputing

Sure, there are fancier operating systems you can run in your web browser -- EyeOS, Windows4all, etc. -- but those of you who prefer a more low-fi, retro cloud OS experience owe it to yourselves to check out michaelv.org.

It's not an exact copy of Windows 3.11 per se, but it does faithfully reproduce a number of the core features from the classic OS -- Calculator, Minesweeper, Notepad, Picture Viewer, and more -- are all fully functional. That is, except where undue effort was required (according to the readme file).

The whole thing is written in JavaScript, XHTML, and PHP. It runs on about 16MB memory in my Google Chrome install -- twice what I had installed in the first computer I had Windows 3.11 installed on. Good times!

And fortunately for us all, Michael has decided against using Hot Dog Stand as the default color scheme...

Windows 3.11 in-a-browser is retrocomputing awesome originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tetris becomes the most-downloaded mobile game of all time

Lee Mathews — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:58:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Games, Retrocomputing

Not everyone is into gaming -- but there are a few title which have a certain timeless, universal appeal. You'd certainly have to count Tetris among that group.

The block-flipping sensation created by Alexey Pajitnov in 1984 is still every bit as fun today as it was when my friends and I were addicted to playing it on the Gameboy's miniscule black-and-green display.

Today, EA Mobile is set to announce that Blue Planet Software's remix for mobiles has crossed 100 million downloads and is the most-downloaded mobile game of all time. That's a massive feat, though not totally surprising when you take the game's appeal into account and pair it with availability in 60 countries on 64,000 different handsets.

At $5 a pop, that's a serious revenue stream for EA - though they're not spilling the beans on how much they've earned.

[via Yahoo!]

Tetris becomes the most-downloaded mobile game of all time originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

What was your first computer?

Victor Agreda, Jr. — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:01:00 EST

Filed under: Fun, Retrocomputing

I remember playing Star Wars from a cassette on our Apple ][. My dad bought it in a bike shop and it came with paddles and some starter cassettes like Breakout, Applesoft BASIC and Star Wars (complete with slightly off-pitch theme song). Later we upgraded the ][ to a ][+ on the inside (capable of addressing a whopping 8K of RAM!). We also upgraded to two disk drives -- something you really needed for playing Wasteland. The dual drives might have been on my Laser 128, but that was the first computer that was given to me specifically. The Apple ][ started it all.

Things progressed nicely when I caught my first computer virus by unsafely downloading some Monty Python sounds on my dad's Macintosh SE/30. Today my iPhone has far more computing power (and has yet to see a copy of Disinfectant cleared on the App Store) than a room full of 80's-era Macs. For anyone who reflects back upon their first computer and their current computer, it is a similar, dizzying experience.

As we head into a new decade, we've assembled a few stories from our Seed contributors on this same topic. Each contributor recalls a specific type of computer and their own special experiences with their first computers. The last story, "Helping My Mom..." is more about how computers have left a generation behind, and how the technological divide still exists... But it's OK -- the future is bright for computing, as we now carry miniature PC's in our pockets every day. Here's to the future!

To jump to a particular story, click below.

The Digi-Comp II

The Sinclair ZX81

The sad little IBM PCjr

My first computer: remembering in black and green

A used IBM 80286

Helping my Mom slide technologically backwards

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/ / CC BY 2.0

What was your first computer? originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Helping My Mom Slide Technologically Backwards

Lauren Thompson — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Humor, Retrocomputing

We leave you with a tale of a person's first computer, and her desire to get rid of the thing! - Ed.

Being in my late 20's, I am a member of the first generation of people that grew up with computers in pretty much all aspects of my life. I've witnessed and adapted to many new trends: Apple II's quirky ability to lock up when the 5 1/4" floppy got dusty, the introduction of a CD ROM drive to school computers and the widespread use of the Internet in homes and beyond. That makes me the first person many family members and older friends turn to for computer help.

About six years ago, I built a computer for my mom out of bargain computer parts found around the house and online. I was pretty thrilled as I didn't spend much on it and, while it was a little slow due to bargain RAM and processor selections, it ran pretty well. My mom had taken a few computer courses at the local community college and had gotten used to Windows 98 on their prehistoric computers, so I thought loading Windows 98 on the computer before giving it to her for her birthday would be the best choice. I was wrong. I became the 24-hour computer helpdesk and dial up Internet support.

Windows 98 played its role nicely, allowing her to get online and type up letters to print and mail (email was not her strong suit) and play solitaire, seeming to not need my computer help at the beginning. Also true to its role, however, Windows 98 started to throw blue screen exception errors occasionally which frightened my 50-something mother who thought this was indicative of having done something illegal and that the cops were on their way. She called me at work or late at night with a panic in her voice that told me she was sweating. I tried telling her that it was no big deal and that I'd look at it the next time I made the 60-mile trek to her house but that did little to soothe her jitters. She would start reading the numbers of the exception error off, expecting me to be able to write it down and immediately diagnose the problem.

To be fair, I wasn't as diligent as I should've been in researching the problem. I was in my early 20's and Mom's computer problems weren't high on my priority list. I did ask a few friends, who essentially confirmed my beliefs that perhaps something more robust than Windows 98 should be installed, and I offered to take the computer home one Christmas. My mom misunderstood my intention to take it home to fix it and instead thought I was taking it home for good. She sighed and grabbed my arm and said, "Oh my God, thank you. That thing was no end to stress for me". So my final part in providing computer help was taking the thing home. Although I do provide helpdesk services today, looking up phone numbers that she finds on her caller ID that she doesn't recognize and looking for ink ribbons for her Brother electric typewriter, which she now uses for writing holiday letters.

Back to the table of contents.

Helping My Mom Slide Technologically Backwards originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

My First Computer - a used IBM 80286

Trey Zuspan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Retrocomputing

My first computer was a used IBM 80286 with 640k RAM, a 10MB hard drive, running MS-DOS 3.0, and a sporting stylish 5.25" floppy drive on top of a 3.5" drive. The computer was brought home by my father, from work, when I was 6 years old. He'd bought it from the company when they upgraded to 386s that were brand new that year. When he carried the massive box into the living room that evening, I wasn't sure what he was carrying, but I knew that I'd like it anyway. We spent the evening setting it up, and I was the first of us to actually flip the switch on the back and power up the beastly machine.

This computer, which still exists and runs today, was the first one I'd ever seen, and I didn't know why, but I liked the thing. Even at that age, I was obsessed with technology; even going so far as to beg for a Nintendo just because it had wires. When the machine booted up, we were met with a DOS prompt and... nothing else. My dad grabbed one of the many manuals that came with the computer, and started flipping through. Eventually, he found what he was looking for, and started typing what seemed like gibberish to me.

After an hour or more of watching him type on the huge, white, loud keyboard, he finally stopped and said, "OK. We'll come back to this tomorrow," and shut down the computer. I didn't know what I'd just seen, but I wanted to learn. So while we ate dinner that evening, I read one or two pages of the manual, and figured out a few basic DOS-commands, and a few simple lines of BASIC. After dinner, I walked into the living room, up to the desk, and switched on the dusty box.

Sitting there for most of the night, typing one-fingered, and referencing the manuals every 10 seconds or so, I was eventually able to make the computer do a few things that I thought were really good--the standard "Hello World!" script being among them. Once my father came in and saw what I was doing, he sat down and had me show him a few things from the book. After that night we started picking up shareware, games, word processors, and anything else that we could find; and met the system requirements.

A week after we first set up the computer, we went to Radio Shack and picked up a RAM upgrade. So, we went from 640k to 1024k. That's right, a whole megabyte! And that was pretty much twice what every program we could find required. We went from playing horrible Classic Concentration games, to picking up all sorts of amazing products from SSI/TSR, like the Silver and Gold Box collections of AD&D games, and even an early flight simulator that wouldn't run with the computer's original hardware.

That computer was in regular use until it was replaced by a Compaq 80386 with no 5.25" drive, one 3.5" drive, a 20MB hard drive, and 2MB of RAM, but it was still pulled out every now and then to play some of those games that were only available on 5.25" floppy. It enjoyed a long life of Wolfenstein 3D, Ken's Labyrinth, Rambo III, and countless Commander Keen games. It went from DOS to OS/2, and even had Windows 3.1 installed on it at one point. Word Perfect 3 was the word-processor of choice, and batch files cluttered every sector of it's trusty hard drive. BASIC manuals and tutorials cluttered the desk, and at least 5 different "floppy containers" were in use, and stuffed, at any given time.

These days, I'm on a MacBook with a 2.16Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a CD/DVD burner, and a display that's not only widescreen, but supports resolutions nobody even thought of back then. The home computer of choice for the household is a DIY-monster I created using an old case, a Pentium 4, 4GB DDR2 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a video card that could render Pixar movies in real-time. Technology has certainly come a long way since my first computer, but that doesn't mean the thing is useless now. Like I said, it's still around, and every now and then it's still booted up, and an old game is loaded and played for hours on end. And that's perfectly fine with me. As long as it keeps chugging along, I'll keep going back to it and giving it all the attention it could ever need. As long as the parts are available to ensure that it still serves up some fast-paced Hillsfar then it will always have a place in my home.

Back to the table of contents.

My First Computer - a used IBM 80286 originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments