Ken McLeod

Retired software engineer. ☁️ @ 
"That's a lot of old computers."

雲に吠える老人

GLOBALTALK: Cloudbusting
GITHUB: https://github.com/thecloudexpanse
PIE: Rhubarb

Public Key

npub1fgap4m2rngp45qjzunuqlnakpkz689z22prnr9kr4dfe9xr0tg9skfv66m

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsy5ws6a4pe5q66qfpwf7q0e7mqmpdrj399q3e3jmp6k5ujnph45zcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dshavqyw

Publishing to

nostr.wine

nos.lol

relay.damus.io

Author Public Key

npub1fgap4m2rngp45qjzunuqlnakpkz689z22prnr9kr4dfe9xr0tg9skfv66m

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Last Notes

2026-05-30 18:23:29 UTC

Who is old enough to remember what these were for? (Wrong answers only.)
#retrocomputing
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/664/917/140/535/024/original/d85b8fd9e1b025d6.jpg

2026-05-28 20:00:55 UTC

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Heh... apparently it's now allowed to change the spelling of your word so it can magically find the letter you asked for.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/653/972/756/845/522/original/5afb09cf2fbd7472.jpg

2026-05-28 19:53:01 UTC

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Easy explanation: Google is just the stem of the longer phrase "Google AI Slop" which was used to generate the answer.

2026-05-03 20:06:09 UTC

If you want
to have snails to eat
you can get them
in different ways.
-- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

2026-04-20 22:10:28 UTC

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Here's Voyager drawn on the ResEdit icon canvas at 32x32 (pixels).
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/439/312/887/986/698/original/c03864292258400a.png

2026-03-25 20:16:45 UTC

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Those icons were from the very first season of South Park. It looks like Mr. Mackey didn't even have a name at that point.

2026-03-18 23:24:13 UTC

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Yeah, I had no trouble printing to it, but the all-lowercase 'imagewriter' type is definitely spooky! I've never seen a card report itself with a lowercase type, but maybe there was some rare version of firmware that did?

2026-03-18 18:06:37 UTC

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That's almost certainly it. @npub10ma…m2tk Is "LYLE ImageWriter II" not a real ImageWriter? I've printed to it successfully so something must be there.

2026-03-18 17:49:28 UTC

@npub1j4d…ftz8 Is this a possible bug in TalkCrawler Lite 1.1? There seems to be an ImageWriter in the "LikesOldMacs" zone, as shown in Chooser, but no icon shows up next to that item in TCL and it can't be clicked.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/251/432/351/900/941/original/32d03e84d586e56c.jpg

2026-03-13 21:36:30 UTC

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That photo gives me anxiety! One slip of that grip and you have a pile of shattered plastic and metal bits in the parking lot.

2026-03-07 07:58:14 UTC

Did you know that a slut can always be found in every HyperCard stack?
It's the last word of the hidden phrase "Nu är det slut…" (which means "That is the end…" in Swedish.) The phrase is used to mark the very end of the file. A hex editor will reveal it. Wild stuff!
#HyperCard #VintageMac #MARCHintosh

2026-03-06 22:44:30 UTC

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The manual only talks about playing through the connected MIDI interface, and nothing about MIDI Manager. Maybe there is a setting in its options menu? It does mention that it does *not* generate a clock signal. https://web.archive.org/web/20220701032733/retiary.org/ls/progs/mm_manual/mouse_manual.html
This reminds me that I need to find my MIDI interface before the end of #MARCHintosh and see if I can get it working.

2026-03-06 18:42:37 UTC

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Make that 3 of us at least. Both @npub1kmd…3fq6 and I own sheet feeders for the ImageWriter II. The surface of the sheet feeder is spring-loaded and pushes against the paper to keep it pressed against the rollers. To load paper, you first have to press the back of the sheet feeder until it clicks into place. Then you load paper in. Finally, press the button on the top left to release the spring. I usually keep at least a dozen sheets loaded and it feeds fine.

2026-03-03 21:38:06 UTC

@npub17ph…zay4 @npub14wk…508e Some very cool printouts sent to my ImageWriter II (shared on #GlobalTalk via Simple Spooler since it doesn't have a LocalTalk option card.) I think this #MARCHintosh is shaping up to be the Year of the ImageWriter.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/167/386/482/171/831/original/2f2a9ad0a5e232ac.jpg

2026-02-09 20:06:21 UTC

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That is sad. His music was something really new in the '80s and he used Macs to make it. Here's a video about how he was making music circa 1991: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI4hgN8Y3bQ . He sadly lost his house and most of his equipment in one of the many California fires in recent years.

2026-02-08 05:51:56 UTC

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Found it, finally! After running as a background task all day, the LLM that I've been training for over sixty years came through and remembered where I read it. Knew it was in a book I owned and had read more than once, a very long time ago. Not exactly high literature, but "The Boy's Own Annual" (Vol. 60, 1937-38) was the source of this memory:
Bill Stickers will be prosecuted
The public warnings run
The question we should like to ask
Is— what's Bill Stickers done?
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/033/392/279/792/010/original/9a8e5eec33cbca6e.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/033/392/573/309/224/original/3076abc590c14818.jpg

2026-02-07 20:20:51 UTC

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I took this photo in Scotland. Apparently elderly people had become such a road hazard that the council felt that they needed to put up a sign.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/031/189/613/594/129/original/11da00129391b9d3.jpg

2026-02-07 17:21:34 UTC

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Long ago, I read a Bill Stickers poem, probably in some anthology, and could not find any reference to it in a search just now. From memory, the poem went something like this:
"Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted"
The evening papers run
But the thing I want to know
Is what's Bill Stickers done?
Anyone recognize this or know the source?

2025-12-23 21:00:28 UTC

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I always wondered why they decided to make those Sony floppy drive gears out of cheese.

2025-11-15 00:49:25 UTC

We've all seen the beautiful aurora pictures taken this week. But I haven't really seen any talk about whether the solar storm activity is causing issues for computing, e.g. random bit-flips in stored data, interference with networking, surges in the power grid, etc. Is there cause for concern?

2025-10-21 00:47:34 UTC

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Uh oh, I see the MADD Agenda there. Mothers Against Drunk Downloading. Stop all the downloading, kids!

2025-10-13 20:39:28 UTC

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WiFi routers that operate in the 2.4GHz frequency band can experience interference from poorly-shielded microwave ovens. In other words, checking this box might not be the optimal solution to the problem you are having.

2025-08-21 21:14:04 UTC

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Are you maybe thinking of Michael Ironside? https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11086-michael-ironside/images/profiles

2025-04-02 19:29:25 UTC

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Funny how the options in question #2 don't include online purchases or dumpster-diving. That would come later. :)

2025-03-27 00:26:06 UTC

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You also needed a PC card that came with the software... 😉

2025-03-27 00:23:45 UTC

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"PhoneNET Talk" was software that ran on MS-DOS machines (like the Compaq in that picture) and let you connect to AppleTalk networks. https://archive.org/details/FarallonPhoneNET-eng

2025-03-23 22:07:21 UTC

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Heavy Friend is an Apple Network Server running AIX. (I would have made the hostname "heavyfriend" but the ADB keyboard I'm using has a broken "e" key!! Will change it when I get a chance to swap the keyboard.)
#GlobalTalk #MARCHintosh
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/214/016/605/984/390/original/a5b3bd66c1434f49.jpg

2025-03-23 22:04:51 UTC

A new device has joined the Cloudbusting zone on #GlobalTalk ... say hello to my Heavy Friend (hvyfrn).
#GlobalTalk #MARCHintosh
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/214/006/360/374/033/original/610bcb232cb47820.png

2025-03-16 20:10:42 UTC

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Not just any old "Invaders" game on the headrest... that is MacLanding, a Defender clone written by a grad student who would later become head of software engineering at Apple.

2025-03-04 20:47:41 UTC

SpindlerBot, just doing the things a SpindlerBot can... 🤣
#GlobalTalk #MARCHIntosh
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/106/118/483/165/820/original/72045df9fe92f51c.png

2025-03-02 20:48:15 UTC

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If I can manage to get my ANS 700 on GlobalTalk sometime this month, I am totally going to use the name "Heavy Friend" as its server name.

2025-02-24 05:08:58 UTC

My old Brother laser printer is on the GlobalTalk network pretending to be a LaserWriter. But what the heck is "BrotherDraw"? My search-fu is failing to find that phrase, either online or in printed manuals. Is it the print server?
#globaltalk #marchintosh
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/057/100/615/769/262/original/b2c8909f0b29cf18.png

2025-02-22 07:02:36 UTC

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And a printer which lay dormant for the last 25 years has joined the network!
#globaltalk
#livelaughlocaltalk
#marchintosh
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/046/251/520/471/489/original/5efe15f8a6011c8a.png

2025-02-22 06:59:19 UTC

Blinking lights are good... the link is up!
#globaltalk
#livelaughlocaltalk
#marchintosh
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/046/226/087/662/574/original/1ffda1bc975fa667.jpg

2025-02-20 18:45:31 UTC

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Eventually it was just blonde Kerry, all the time, on every cover. But think about the fact that this predated the world of e-commerce. Operators were standing by, 24/7. There was no website to place your order, no email address... you had to call an operator and give them your CC number over the phone.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/037/688/830/689/051/original/de4530389db15fb0.png

2024-12-23 03:10:58 UTC

The 12 Disks of Christmas
#macintosh #retrocomputing
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/699/943/015/035/704/original/a0c95381e17c4766.png