The Green Hornet Chapter 1 - The Tunnel of Terror (1940)

A Green Hornet Novel from the 1960s

During the golden age of radio no hero was cooler than The Green Hornet. He wasn't as dark as the Shadow, or as wholesome as the lone ranger, but he was certainly the most fun.

The Green Hornet was the prototypical anti-hero. By day a mild mannered reporter, by night a vigilante who operated inside the dank criminal underbelly.

The Green Hornet was more than just a radio star, he also appeared in a number of serial films. They aren't anywhere nearly as well remembered as the radio shows, and they haven't aged nearly as well, but they are still a good bit of fun.

I've been digging through the vintage green hornet serials available at the Internet Archive and I've found some real gems. Don't let the fact that it was originally filmed in 1940 keep you from enjoying it. This relic of the days before America joined WWII is a prime example of the classic movie serial.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

You can find the next episode, as well as a ton of other cool stuff at the link bellow.
via: Archive.org

The Green Hornet Chapter 1 - The Tunnel of Terror (1940)

A Green Hornet Novel from the 1960s

During the golden age of radio no hero was cooler than The Green Hornet. He wasn't as dark as the Shadow, or as wholesome as the lone ranger, but he was certainly the most fun.

The Green Hornet was the prototypical anti-hero. By day a mild mannered reporter, by night a vigilante who operated inside the dank criminal underbelly.

The Green Hornet was more than just a radio star, he also appeared in a number of serial films. They aren't anywhere nearly as well remembered as the radio shows, and they haven't aged nearly as well, but they are still a good bit of fun.

I've been digging through the vintage green hornet serials available at the Internet Archive and I've found some real gems. Don't let the fact that it was originally filmed in 1940 keep you from enjoying it. This relic of the days before America joined WWII is a prime example of the classic movie serial.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

You can find the next episode, as well as a ton of other cool stuff at the link bellow.
via: Archive.org

Vintage Sci-fi and Fantasy Art

I've just come across a fantastic trove of mid 20th century Science Fiction and fantasy art. Some of these images are simply astounding. I hope you enjoy.  Many of these images are just begging to be turned into glorious retro-style posters.

Source link

Vintage Sci-fi and Fantasy Art

I've just come across a fantastic trove of mid 20th century Science Fiction and fantasy art. Some of these images are simply astounding. I hope you enjoy.  Many of these images are just begging to be turned into glorious retro-style posters.

Source link

Man recreates first "personal computer"

A man has recreated the Kenbak-1, albeit without the super cool case that the original sported.

A brief description of the original:

The Kenbak-1 is considered by many to be the world's first "Personal Computer." The Computer History Museum granted it this designation when they were still located in Boston in 1986. More specifically, the machine represents the first commercially available Von Neumann (stored program) computing device intended and priced for personal use.
John V. Blankenbaker designed the Kenbak-1 and marketed in the pages of Scientific American in 1971. The machine's name was taken from the middle of John's last name.
The Kenbak-1 was designed in 1970 and pre-dated microprocessors. The Intel 4004 (the worlds first microprocessor) was introduced in 1971. Instead of being microprocessor based the Kenbak-1 was built almost entirely from TTL components.
Unlike many earlier machines and calculating engines, the Kenbak-1 was a true stored-program computer that offered 256 bytes of memory, a wide variety of operations and a speed equivalent to nearly 1MHz.
Approximately 40 of these machines were built and sold before they were discontinued. The world just wasn't quite ready for personal computing and the Kenbak-1 lacked some critical capabilities (such as expandability and I/O) that were needed to foster the revolution. 14 are currently known to exist with few more likely to be discovered. <>

via: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1259



Apparently this recreation/simulation was done by use of an arduino development board.

Video Description:

Here I (silently) program the Kenbakuino with a simple program which just adds 1 to the displayed number, in an infinite loop. It's too fast to really see, the LEDs are a blur, so I use one of my extensions to slow it down. Note that when entering the program, sometimes I choose to use the CLR button to reset the number to 000 before entering a new value, other times I modify what's already there.

Via: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/arduino-powered-modder-recreates-first-pc

Man recreates first "personal computer"

A man has recreated the Kenbak-1, albeit without the super cool case that the original sported.

A brief description of the original:

The Kenbak-1 is considered by many to be the world's first "Personal Computer." The Computer History Museum granted it this designation when they were still located in Boston in 1986. More specifically, the machine represents the first commercially available Von Neumann (stored program) computing device intended and priced for personal use.
John V. Blankenbaker designed the Kenbak-1 and marketed in the pages of Scientific American in 1971. The machine's name was taken from the middle of John's last name.
The Kenbak-1 was designed in 1970 and pre-dated microprocessors. The Intel 4004 (the worlds first microprocessor) was introduced in 1971. Instead of being microprocessor based the Kenbak-1 was built almost entirely from TTL components.
Unlike many earlier machines and calculating engines, the Kenbak-1 was a true stored-program computer that offered 256 bytes of memory, a wide variety of operations and a speed equivalent to nearly 1MHz.
Approximately 40 of these machines were built and sold before they were discontinued. The world just wasn't quite ready for personal computing and the Kenbak-1 lacked some critical capabilities (such as expandability and I/O) that were needed to foster the revolution. 14 are currently known to exist with few more likely to be discovered. <>

via: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1259



Apparently this recreation/simulation was done by use of an arduino development board.

Video Description:

Here I (silently) program the Kenbakuino with a simple program which just adds 1 to the displayed number, in an infinite loop. It's too fast to really see, the LEDs are a blur, so I use one of my extensions to slow it down. Note that when entering the program, sometimes I choose to use the CLR button to reset the number to 000 before entering a new value, other times I modify what's already there.

Via: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/03/arduino-powered-modder-recreates-first-pc

Floppy Drives play the Imperial Death March

Playing music on vintage computer hardware is not a new sport, in fact it is a fairly thriving demo scene at this point.

This particular video was making the rounds this morning, and I couldn't resist the urge to share.

I was brought back to this video, from several years ago. I consider it the pinnacle of achievement in this genre.

It doesn't get much better than this.

From the video description:

Based on the lyric (and alternate title) "Big Ideas: Don't get any" I grouped together a collection of old redundant hardware, and placed them in a situation where they're trying their best to do something that they're not exactly designed to do, and not quite getting there.
It doesn't sound great, as it's not supposed to.

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Guitars (rhythm & lead)

Epson LX-81 Dot Matrix Printer - Drums

HP Scanjet 3c - Bass GuitarHard Drive array - Act as a collection of bad speakers - Vocals & FX

Thanks to Afrotech and Dr Roland Shregle (ganjatron)"

Enjoy!