Ed in SoDak

The tomato used to be called the Love Apple. Might be suitable for an Apple fansite. Bit of a thread necro, but it was still on the first page. -Ed

Summer 1986. We were hitting the area pawn shops looking for a small color set. I was crossing a street to the next shop, when a guy carrying a Sears 12" color TV was walking out, along with his two pals. I asked if he'd just bought it and he answered he had gotten it out of pawn. I then aked if he wanted to sell it for $60 cash. They all looked at one another and the deal was struck in the midde of the street! Since then, it's seen heavy use with computers and as a second or third TV. It spent many of those years in our dusty workshop. I've certainly had far worse luck with later CRT sets purchased new. The only "repairs" have been blowing the dust out, perhaps opening it up for control and tuner cleanings. Maybe once a decade, or as needed. CRT TVs and monitors still far outnumber flatscreens here, expecially if you peek into my shed. I'm all set for awhile yet! -Ed

The Mac didn't ship with BASIC, it was a third-party app. Microsoft BASIC was first released in '85 and would probably run on a Mac Plus. I don't think the magazines picked up much on type-in listings for Mac. Most people just used the programs that shipped with it or purchased other ready-to-run apps (like me, lol). But Microsoft pretty much wrote all the early BASICS and this one is likely very similar, with some nods to the Mac's hardware and display. It should be possible to adapt or modify listings written for other computers. Linky: http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/microsoft-basic Around '87, Mac shipped with Hypercard. That programming language was popular for years and hundreds, even thousands of "stacks" were written and released for it. Popular, perhaps because it was included and was not an extra purchase. Since everyone had it, it also made sense to share the stacks. Here's version 1.2.2 which runs on a Plus with System 3.2. http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/hypercard-z1-122 It may not run newer stacks that use the features of later versions of Hypercard. The page above includes links to all the versions stored on Macintosh Garden. Or click the category: Hypercard link near the top on the right to see all the many stacks available.

Hey, that's great you finally found it! Obtuse filenames always make finding things much more of a challenge. I'm not much of a journaler, my old weather log was the closest I ever came to making daily entries. I did grab a copy of the full version to check it out, thanks for sharing! Acquiring an os9 machine that would run Hypercard and your mom's program must've been a similar quest. I do a similar thing as your dad when I upgrade, moving folders from the old machine to the new. After a few iterations over the years, I find I have 6 or more copies of old files floating around when I don't really need to keep any of them so many years later. But rather than hunt them down for deletion, it's just easier to leave them be. Then I create even more copies of copies when I do a backup. Not to mention I save the old hard drives, then there's floppy and CD backups as well. I'm another die-hard os9 fanboy. I'm pretty much upgraded to the "newest" 2007 Macs that will still run Classic or boot into os9 native. I'm comfy with 10.4.11 as my daily driver, but darn-near anything other than email or browsing is still done with an os9 app. Too bad that keeps me behind the curve with essentially all of the newer & better TI99 emulators like Classic99 or JS99er. The wife likes her Macbook Pro with whatever version of OSX she's using. She would cringe at going back to anything pre-Intel. She makes far more use of the modern browsers and video players, games and etc. than I do. -Ed

For XB, I started with TI's then later upgraded to SXB, Super Extended BASIC. The more advanced editing options really help with programming. When editing a long line, you can jump the cursor up or down a row, or to the beginning or end. The RENUM is more flexible where portions of code can be moved elsewhere without disturbing the rest of the program. There's other features as well. Other flavors of XB no doubt have similar improvements. RXB is very full-featured beyond SXB, but I'm not sure about its availability on a cart or if it can be ported to one for use on the iron. Speed of execution depends a bit on the programming techniques. Short E/A routines can be developed to perform some things much faster but remain in the XB environment. For raw speed outside of writing it all in assembly, Harry's compiler is the way to go. -Ed

http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-star-trek-the-next-generation

It seems odd nobody at TI pointed out the Circus Train being built before it left the station. The successor PEB and Firehose made a huge and unwieldy combo itself. Then again, compared to the TI-990 system, maybe they thought they were "thinking small." But I guess you could take the skyscraper approach some of the ZX81/Timex expansions chose. Or just keep sticking additions off the Back Porch. Some companies just sold boards and let the user figure out what to do with 'em. Don't forget the "real" keyboard upgrades -Ed

How warm does it run? Mine used to be left running a BBS program for extended periods and sometimes crashed. It behaved much better when I placed a small 12-volt computer fan over the cooling slots behind the cartridge port. I powered the fan with its own wallwart robbed from my hoard. I chose a 3-volt wart, as the fan is much quieter and still cools adequately. I just set it in place during long sessions. In just a couple minutes the "coffee warmer" feels cool to the touch. RXB might be a resource hog performing more chip-level accesses. That, along with the load of your add-on board(s) = more heat. The RXB cart itself might be more temp-sensitive than other "standard" carts you've tried. High line voltage might be an issue at your location. That makes the regulators in the console shed more heat. A flaky cart connection wastes power by voltage drop which again dissipates as heat and contributes to bit errors. One reason why cleaning the port helps! -Ed

Beery wrote: " ...Perhaps I am killing my own idea, but was there a mod somewhere that holding the space bar down, bypassed an attempt to load DSK1.LOAD?" SXB has the spacebar LOAD bypass. TIXB does not. I didn't test other XB variants. -Ed

These stories bring back the excitement, special times that deserve retelling. I didn't join the ranks till after the market shakeout, but I got a much better deal by waiting. I'd checked out the TI99/4 in Sears out of curiousity, so that was back when prices were up there. In '84, I ended up with a used Timex 1000 with 16k for $50 and learned BASIC on it. In a year or so, I'd hacked it into a useful tool, indispensible in my photo darkroom business. My dad meanwhile, had picked up a Osborne and became totally frustrated by not being able to print to it, so he went to TI. A South Dakota Snowbird, he scrounged the huge fleamarkets in Arizona and scored both of us a console and good assortment of carts and cassette programs. That's how I got my introduction to TI and we both dove in. About a year or so later, he scored big, we both ended up with populated PEBs, dual drives plus tons more software, newsletters and magazines he continued to pick up. I repaid his expenses, can't recall my share, $180 maybe? A second full setup came from a "flyboy" stationed at Ellsworth AFB. I guess a lot of them were into TI. The disks held a lot of programs I was unfamiliar with, likely user-written by fellow airmen and passed around. Of course the TI fully replaced the old TImex, and the Mac retired the TI, but I still have most everything and get my hands dirty messing around on and in them. I have no idea if the giant Arizona fleamarket is still around, I never got to even see the place where most my TI stuff came from! -Ed

Interesting! I own a Stereo Realist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo_Realist camera and used it a lot for a number of years. For fun, I converted a few to anaglyphs. For the Devil's Tower pic, I used a fairware Mac software, which put a large X in the pic till you registered the program. You can also use Photoshop to create the cyan & magenta colored images, then manually overlay them till you achieve a good stereo effect. -Ed

Open the bottom a bit and flush the dark out. Since it's a Commode monitor, there may be a lever for this. Be sure to do it on a sunny day or you won't be able to see till the darkness disburses!

Cool, I hope it does well for you. It's far nicer looking than any of mine!

Heh. I clued the seller onto the caps lock. She sent a nice thank you message. Did the price go up? I think so, but wasn't paying much attention to the original listing and price. I see she changed the description to all working. More power to her if she sells it. Meanwhile, she also has a clean-looking and tested console-only, no PS or cables for ~ $60 and free shipping. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instruments-TI-99-4a-Home-Computer-System-CONSOLE-ONLY-Tested-Works/264066709786 There's something to be said for clean tested working versus the typical used "as-is." Toucan, I'd guess you still have the power supply and misc. cables from your beige console? -Ed

Who knew? (Not I) TI made a laptop! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Texas-Instruments-TravelMate-4000-M-Color-Laptop-PN-9792531-0001-50MHz/382661634770?hash=item5918692ad2:g:F7gAAOSwpLdcCooX It has some sort of full-featured docking station. I can't say for sure but looks like 5" & 3.5" floppies plus CD tray and the usual slew of ports. It would be cool to emulate the '99 on this baby!

And the UVETICA1_F is a font for TI-Artist. It's larger since it contains an instance for all the characters. It's based on the Helvetica font. -Ed

Interesting mod! Looks to me with a little more case hacking you could have a "sideport" coming off the rear. That might be an advantage on a cramped desk. -Ed

My favorite line when going into a bar, "Hi, I just stopped in for one too many!" -Ed

Fun game, thanks! My resistance was futile, my score 2300 or so. I need more than one shot! -Ed

It seems it's a bit different for everyone. I'm an old-schooler and built my TI systems back when they were currently sold and not long after TI pulled the plug. Like now, there were numerous avenues for upgrading the TI. I'm currently perusing old issues of Ryte Data's newsletters from circa 1986. The number and variety of upgrades back then was no less than astounding. There were multiple versions of memory cards, PEB replacements, disk controllers, GRAM emulators, video upgrades and several proposed console replacements, among other choices! Out of them all, the Geneve caught my fancy (I could only afford ONE, so why not dream big?), but the extended wait for a functional form and then a working, supported OS was too long and I moved on. My ultimate goal was photo-quality desktop publishing, so I went with Mac. For me, the proof was in the printout. My own explorations using The Printer's Apprentice, Joy Paint and my Epson were still only glorified dot-matrix approximations of magazine-quality output. Other than the photo-realistic output the Mac provided, my dual TI+peb setups still met all my needs in my darkroom/photography business, so I never felt the strong urge to upgrade and that's how my TI remains to this day. I sure don't use them like I used to. Back in the early 90's, I was almost as active online as I am today, though it was all text-only and dialup back then. If I wasn't programming, I was surfing. If neither of those, I was timing a darkroom process or figuring costs/profits, printing invoices or letters or doing bookwork for both my own self-employed business and my wife's. Perhaps unlike many others here, my TI was essential to my business, so it's usefulness lived on long after I'd switched over to Mac. Similarly, many of my own TI XB programs were utility- or business-related. Game playing was important, but secondary. I got seriously hooked on Legends! If I needed a program to do something, I turned to my TI. I never did learn how to program my Mac! These days, I can scratch my TI itch with emulation. With a bit of effort, I can port my old programs or new stuff between the Mac and TI using the RS232 and Telco on the TI (Z Term on the Mac). My disks of 30 years ago are still good with multiple backups of important stuff. Plenty of spares to keep the TI's hardware side going as well. For the most part, I don't have a real need to upgrade and I admit I'm not a dedicated gamer type. But I also admit I'm seriously watching all these upgrade options once again. With my 3-foot-long firehose extender, the size of the PEB or the cables is not an issue. It can tuck it away off the desk entirely. I only need to be able to hit the power to it and insert a disk to be off and running. An interesting question: Would I have landed in this same place today if the Geneve had come off a little better? Would I still have ended up in the Mac camp eventually? Probably, but it would still be fun to see what coulda-shoulda been, with the new TIPI here now and the also amazing Eric's Tiny PEB in development and so many other wonders of software and hardware! Final note: What's redundant to you and just taking up space could be much-appreciated by others with only a console/cassette and looking for more. At one time, two full PEB systems was indispensable to me. I should take my own advice and move one on. -Ed

I wish I woulda had this info back when I bodged an attempt at socketing and replacing the VDP RAM in one of my consoles. I never got it to work and the guy I sold it to as non-working also gave up! Originally, probably only one chip was bad, but my shotgun approach killed not only the perp, but all the witnesses! -Ed

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What format are the files? Standard DV/80 such that TI-Writer could load/save them? Or is it some cassette-only format? Still, oughta be a BASIC loader for that. Does the printer only accept output created by Miniwriter or can other programs access the printer through the cart? In other words, is there any usefullness to them other than the original intended purpose of printing what you just wrote? It would just be a collector cart for most of us unless it had broader uses. Jes' curious. -Ed

I submitted a short segment on what the ZX81/Timex TS1000 has meant to me. While it didn't lead me to a new career, as vintage computers did for some of us, it sure enhanced my darkroom business when I wrote that programmable timer program. It freed me from being a clock watcher for 45 minutes. I could do other things during that time, which could double my production of enlargements and thus, my hourly profit. Randy might still accept more, so why not add your own ZX memories? -Ed

That's great news! Can you run over there real quick for me? Are they open at 2AM? Are you even up?? Helllooo!! Coincidentally, last week I came across a male sidecar connector by pcd, just like the one on my 36" PEB extender. Maybe mine works being so long is because I have the ribbon folded in half lengthwise. Not intentionally, just the way it all worked out over time. Being a one piece crimp connector with no insert mini-card and gold-plated, it should be more reliable. Except one end's snap connector has failed. Which a dab of epoxy or superglue should fix once assembled. So, go back to bed, I've got mine. That's quite the connector site, BTW. -Ed