deskthority

Same. It's been on my shopping list for a while, since I started upgrading/changing up my setup. This is what I'm planning on getting. I'm not really into gamer chairs - I actually prefer armless task chairs, and don't like to sit more than 30 minutes to an hour without getting up - but I like the ...

davkol wrote: ↑

23 Oct 2017, 12:40

JP! wrote: ↑Any recommendations for a nice office chair?

Ultimate Chair Buying Resource Thread

Interesting: I need a new chair. But we don't seem to have a chair discussion here and this topic isn't really the place!

That's because you're seeing it laid out wrong. e.g. Wikipedia shows the ITA 2 teletype code arranged according to a binary numeric interpration of the signals/holes, like this: [snip] But nothing cared about the binary number interpretation a hundred years ago. The code was ordered by letter frequ...

Fedex handled my Unicomp Ultra Classic order last year, only sending me the import charges three weeks after I received it. Parcelforce are twats. They will hold your parcel and expect you to pay the ransom before you get it. It would be more expensive to travel to the depot and refuse the "handlin...

I can only speak of my experiences in the UK but incoming parcels will usually be held hostage until relevant import duties, local taxes and "handling fees" are paid. The exact mechanism depends on the courier who does the last leg, which is whoever the originating shipping company has a contract to...

The new Tool album is coming out soon… for real this time. A friend of mine is a huge fan of theirs but I haven't a clue what they sound like. Maybe I should find out; I mean given that she's also a massive Numanoid so they can't be all bad, and there's a video right here. Meanwhile, I'm still list...

Sometimes you just gotta. I've been on teh intarwebz since before the web... er, well you know what I mean, and right since the early days I've had periodic moments of "argh"; and have occasionally been the cause, remembering somewhat awkwardly that I nearly got chucked out of college over 30 years ...

What's the board with the yellow and white caps in the center? That's the Shimadzu FKB-1A, a Tactile Fujitsu Magnetic Reed board. I think I have the only FMR board with a case :lol: I was wondering the same thing! I thought it looked (very) vaguely reminiscent of an Acorn Electron, almost like a pr...

So Brits are Europeans nowadays? :lol: I'm quite happy to be any of European, British, English or Northumbrian as the mood takes me; and the mood is usually contrary. Of course there's the "EU Question" which will likely never be resolved, but the EU doesn't have any more of a monopoly on Europeann...

Chyros wrote: ↑

28 Aug 2019, 15:35

That CAN'T be an actual workstation xD . Where's all the mess?!

I agree, I'm slightly taken aback. Surprised, really. Surprised and shocked. In fact I'm disgusted: this is an outrage! Why is the mess not represented? I demand a rerender!

Unlikely that character-case was restricted: the 80 column punchcards seem to have at least eight bits per character. Some punchcards have twelve bits per column, with four bits presumably for error checking/correcting. Only paper tape with five-bit data characters would conceivably have such a res...

Well, this IS a "data entry" layout, which has its own set of rules. I've seen it in other keyboards as well, not just in beamsprings. I think it was the arrangement of function keys that got to me more than anything else. But even if there's a good reason for the remainder, as much as I keep harpi...

Trends and beam-springs. Happily it seems this beam-spring layout didn't catch on. I'm not going to say "I'm sure there was some logic behind it" because it's clearly absurd.

They are quite impressively long legs. Certainly longer than mine.

But it's not a beam-spring, and the 5251's keyboard has a certain charm in that it looks a bit like a VIC-20. Albeit one with 3" of armour plating.

Ah, think I've identified the swivellicious terminal: it seems to be a 5291-2, which also seems to imply the famous "Bigfoot" keyboard.

I thought it was a bit early as I'd just sort of randomly assumed it appeared with the PS/2 or thereabouts, but maybe this thing was its origin? Anyway, as much as I love the buckling-spring keyboards, even more than 30 years later I can still remember the awesomeness of typing on a beam-spring.

Yeah, that's the creature! My back hurts just looking at. The swivelly things in the other office looked like this, but must've been some twinax equivalent. I guess that'll be a Model F keyboard, it's too little for a beam-spring. https://terminals-wiki.org/wiki/images/e/e7/IBM_3178_182457871926-1.j...

Slightly longer wait than I'd expected, though far from the longest! Though it may be worth me cancelling and resubmitting assuming I don't just end up having to pay a bunch of bank charges anyway... hopefully the transaction will simply be cancelled with no further faffing about. But, y'know, banks...

The layout seemed to make more sense on a large IBM system but just seemed insane on the PC. Even at the time it looked weird. Never used a 3278; would've been nice paired with a System/370 running VM which was actually a pretty decent interactive system, especially compared to bloody TSO. Didn't ch...

It worked out to USD$145 in total including postage (base set, modifiers, UK ISO kit, arrow keys and black spacebars) with a US$10 discount, though as I forgot to use my credit card my bank will sting me with a bad currency rate and a foreign transaction fee. And then I'll also get hit with import V...

It's strange that we're now at a time where desktop computers and CRT monitors are considered "vintage". Funny how quickly things move on. That office I've pictured was still quite unusual for the time in that nearly every desk had a terminal and/or PC on it: the only reason the "U" of desks next t...

Damn you both! I've had to do a pre-order. :D Impulsive, me? I guess I'm still sore that my 19" rackmount cab turned up broken and I can't console myself with more shoes as they're already spilling out the wardrobe and I've already been snarked at for making the bed look like Pratchett's luggage wit...

The lack of mice / pointing devices in front of Vometia’s displays gives me the same tinge of dread so many people had back then, when face to face with a computer. “How do I even use this thing?” By knowing all the magic spells, of course, you imbecile. I think I did have a pointing device for the...

My office looked similar - except we usually had those typical fabric dividers so you didn't have to stare at the ugly faces of co-workers (a considerable improvement). Oh, yeah, we had lots of those in the immediate vicinity too. It's just that our bunch got rid of a lot of them in the immediate v...

Oh yeah, I saw the elvish thing when I was looking them up. If they must insist on being made of unobtainium, I guess at least I can slightly console myself with having used proper beam-spring keyboards when they were still in active use. Even though I had no idea at the time of how special they wer...

@vometia: It took me a surprisingly long time to understand, how it was possible, that modern notebook keyboards became acceptable. One factor was certainly - people with long fingernails. Now that I know, that you sport properly maintained nails, I can - with good conscience - recommend a keyset w...

Oh, I recognise those terminals! Never could figure out who made them, they were rebranded by everyone. This one had a Philips badge on it. https://vometia.com/images/stuff/philips.jpg My desk in about '91-ish, complete with thoughtful observation about the meaning of life from one of our ops. Quiet...

I've always been a rancorous old fart, even when I was (technically) young. Parents were born during WW2, gf's dad actually grew up then and was an evacuee. And then a nuclear physicist, which was a new and exciting thing back then rather than today's "that's something we can buy from China because ...

Unfortunately, most of the games modding tricks are Windows-only - and I hate Windows and refuse to ever use it again. Yeah. I can't really argue with that and I do object to paying the "Microsoft Tax" to game on something I can mod. But on the other hand I have such a love of generally interfering...