So my son brought home a cd he bought at elementary school by a local band called Jackie Rocks. Apparently they played at an assembly or something. Anyway we listened to it in the car and I really liked it. So Jackie Rocks is now on heavy rotation on my Ipod. Check these 14-year old kids rocking the KingsHead pub!
I'm planning to catch their show this Friday (7/25/2008) at Cafe Pergolesi in Santa Cruz. 8pm - be there or be square!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum in Redwood City is worth the trip for any dyed-in-the-wool geek. Jonah (my 11 year-old son) and I made the trek on Saturday, and we both had a good time.
If you've heard anything about CHM, you've probably heard that they have one of only two reproductions of Charles Babbage's famous Difference Engine - a mechanical computer which was designed in the 19th century, but never built. Not, that is, until some genius at the British Science Museum dug out Babbage's original plans and decided to have a go at it.
It's one of those pieces of technology which is as beautiful to behold as it is amazing - it could generate tables of "differences" to 30 digits, and and had a built in printing capability with two fonts and word-wrap! Here is a picture of it, but if you're interested follow the links for the CHM and see the videos of it in action, which came out better than mine.
Another must see (for me, at least) was the PDP-1. The PDP-9 was the first minicomputer I played with, when I was in high-school. My Dad was a Dartmouth prof, and we hung around the Kiewit computer center. We would somewhat surreptitiously avail ourselves of this piece of technology, upon which we played Spacewar! for hours. Here are two of the chaps who demonstrated the PDP-1 Saturday (the one with the ponytail is Lyle Bickley - I didn't get the name of the smiling chap at the console).
Jonah and I even got to play Spacewar! on this beauty, which is some kind of amazing time warp! One last note -- if you do go, check the schedule, as the tours/demos of the Difference Engine and PDP-1 are only available on certain Saturdays.
If you've heard anything about CHM, you've probably heard that they have one of only two reproductions of Charles Babbage's famous Difference Engine - a mechanical computer which was designed in the 19th century, but never built. Not, that is, until some genius at the British Science Museum dug out Babbage's original plans and decided to have a go at it.
It's one of those pieces of technology which is as beautiful to behold as it is amazing - it could generate tables of "differences" to 30 digits, and and had a built in printing capability with two fonts and word-wrap! Here is a picture of it, but if you're interested follow the links for the CHM and see the videos of it in action, which came out better than mine.
Another must see (for me, at least) was the PDP-1. The PDP-9 was the first minicomputer I played with, when I was in high-school. My Dad was a Dartmouth prof, and we hung around the Kiewit computer center. We would somewhat surreptitiously avail ourselves of this piece of technology, upon which we played Spacewar! for hours. Here are two of the chaps who demonstrated the PDP-1 Saturday (the one with the ponytail is Lyle Bickley - I didn't get the name of the smiling chap at the console).
Jonah and I even got to play Spacewar! on this beauty, which is some kind of amazing time warp! One last note -- if you do go, check the schedule, as the tours/demos of the Difference Engine and PDP-1 are only available on certain Saturdays.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Rat is Dead!
Hey fans, I wanted to make a brief post about one of my new favorite bands - Cansei der Ser Sexy, or CSS for short. They are a punk/techno/rock band out of Brazil. I discovered them on Pitchfork which is a good place for a geezer like myself to keep up with the latest. Check out this long interview with CSS's singer Lovefoxxx.
Anyway, here is the video from their forthcoming cd Donkey-
Let me know what you think!
Anyway, here is the video from their forthcoming cd Donkey-
Let me know what you think!