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robterrell

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This is so great. Another fun trick we used in the 90s was palette animation -- by swapping the palette you can create incredibly cool effects at a low runtime cost.

I’m writing again 2 months ago

Recently I've been thinking about the nerds/hippie dichotomy from that book. Really missing the anti-authoritarian streak that was so formative in the early computer industry.

There's a pattern of movies flopping in theaters only to become top 10 on Netflix. It's very similar in many ways.

The difference is there was backend participation for VHS/DVD rentals... whereas Netflix is paying a one-time flat rate to acquire your flopped movie.

Fifty years ago this week, The Byte Shop opened its doors, becoming one of the epicenters of the personal computing earthquake that reshaped our world. A secret rebel base for a generation of hackers, engineers and tinkerers who would go on to build many of the technologies you now take for granted, it’s most famous today as the launchpad for the Apple-1.

Paul Terrell's Byte Shop was a nondescript El Camino Real storefront filled with early 8-bit computers, racks of electronics components, soldering irons and supplies, and some of the strangest and most wonderful people. This was a hangout for members of the Homebrew Computer Club. I know Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Lee Felsenstein, Chris Espinosa, and Andy Hertfeld were regulars. In the photo linked at the URL above, that's infamous phone phreaker John Draper (Captain Crunch) sitting in the window. There’s probably many others from here on HN.

This Sunday we’re throwing a party to celebrate the occasion, at the DoubleTree Hotel at the San Jose Airport, from 12–6. The afternoon will include:

* Meet-and-Greet Reception featuring demonstrations and displays of early personal computers by their original designers, plus autographed copies of period advertising.

* Books, products, and memorabilia, including computer books and hardware available for purchase.

* Silent auction of collector memorabilia signed by the designers, running throughout the afternoon.

* Stage presentation and Q&A, narrated by Lee Felsenstein of Homebrew Computer Club fame, with participation from the "Apple-1 Garage Gang” and other dignitaries, both in person and virtually.

* Tribute honoring the pioneers who helped shape the birth of personal computing and are no longer with us.

Gemini 3 8 months ago

At this point I'm surprised they haven't been training on thousands of professionally-created SVGs of pelicans on bicycles.

Lee Felsenstein 8 months ago

Yep! Paul is my uncle. My parents had a franchise Byte Shop in Greensboro, NC when I was a kid.

Lee Felsenstein 8 months ago

Lee will be speaking next month in San Jose at an event for the 50th anniversary of the Byte Shop computer store. Incredible opportunity to hear from the man himself. For computer designers of the 8-bit era, I’d say he ranks next to Woz in terms of importance: the Sol-80, Osborne, Homebrew Computer Club, member of the Berkeley free speech movement. Curious to hear his thoughts on the industry today.

996 11 months ago

If you're smart enough to get hired for one of these roles, and you're willing to work 996, be just a little bit smarter and found your own startup and take all the upside.

You've always had this ability, but with more convoluted syntax:

  osascript -e "tell application \"System Events\" to keystroke \"whatever\""
Specify the application too with multiple -e parameters. This will copy whatever is selected in Safari:
  osascript -e "tell application \"Safari\" to activate" -e "tell application \"System Events\" to keystroke \"c\" using {command down}"

My immediate headcannon was: Dedra goes to prison for sedition and builds parts of the second Death Star; is liberated after the death of the emperor; as a (purportedly) rebel-aligned political prisoner is held in esteem (that Loni should have gotten!) She works for the New Republic and rebuilds the police state machinery that ultimately leads to the first order.

My uncle is Paul Terrell, the owner of that Byte Shop. He showed me the photo and told me who was in the window. But I don't have an independent verification of this -- dunno, maybe Captain Crunch is a lurker here?