Retro Thing

Retro Computer Stuffed Into An Altoids Tin

The original RCA COSMAC ELF computer appeared on the front cover of Popular Electronics in August, 1976. It was a single board machine based on the RCA 1802 CPU that cost under $100 to build from a bare board. Another $20 would get you a B&W video display. It was an outstanding value that lingered in the classified section of computer magazines like BYTE well into the early 1980s.

Lee Hart's tiny 1802 Membership Card is an incredibly simple computer built around the classic RCA 1802 chip. The dual board design is small enough to cram into an Altoids tin and includes a front panel with 9 blinky LEDs and 11 subminiature toggle switches. A 25-pin parallel port is also built in.

The system is as simple as it looks. The 1802 CPU is driven by an adjustable RC clock oscillator, and a 28-pin IC socket accepts a 2 to 32 Kilobyte RAM or EPROM chip. There's an 8-bit output port, along with an 8-bit input port and an expansion header. The system operates from a 3V-6V power supply and draws less than 1 mA.

Lee Hart's "Membership Card" Kit [via Make]

City In Ruins: Warsaw's Darkest Hour

Miasto Ruin (City in Ruins) is a heart-wrenching five minute film that simulates an aircraft flight over the ruined Polish capital of Warsaw in 1945. The project is the result of a two year collaboration between a team of Polish historians and dozens of special effects artists.

The extent of the destruction is almost too much to comprehend -- home to 1.3 million people prior to the war, the city was a barely-habitable wasteland five years later.

In the summer of 1944, a Polish uprising held out against the Nazi occupiers for 63 days. When the city fell, Hitler ordered the city obliterated in retaliation. Every building of significance was razed, along with all the bridges. An estimated 16,000 Polish resistance fighters died and as many as 250,000 civilians perished in the brutal aftermath of the uprising.

City in Ruins will be shown at the Warsaw Rising Museum, which opened on the 60th anniversary of the uprising in 2004 to tell the story of Warsaw's bittersweet resistance to new generations too young to remember anything but peace.

My "New" Retro TV

I've got a number of old TV's around (probably too many!) that I've shared with you in the past. The oldest ones either don't work, or I'm too fearful to plug them in so I'll never know. However my newest acquisition not only works, but is the most intact of all of my retro TV sets. Why? Because it had been built into a wall for the last 50 years.

Getting a television to blend into home decor has always been tough, especially as viewers desired larger displays. My mother isn't a technological prognosticator, or even a fan of electronic anything, but for decades she has wished for a thin television. Her friends scoffed, but now jokingly admit that she "invented" flat panel TVs. I love the new breed of slim televisions (my 32" CRT was a cow) that offer a large picture without necessarily dominating a room. In the past if you wanted your TV to blend in, you had to take elaborate measures.

I was at an estate sale not long ago inside one of the finest retro houses I've ever seen. This family clearly took care of their home, and the decor and furnishings looked almost untouched since the 50's. Their basement was in the top 5 best 1950's rec rooms I've ever seen, one of the best features being the television built into the wall. I'd only ever seen that pulled off in fancy home improvement magazines, but the handyman patriarch of the family figured he could build his own.

The TV made its home in the wall for decades, which not only gave the room a sophisticated look, but also preserved the television set itself from decades of sunlight & scratches. The family was hesitant to sell me the TV as they thought I was proposing to tear the wall down! Fortunately the trim was only press fitted into place, so it was an easy job to take the still-functioning Philco 22C4011X home with me. Now to just hook up a DTV tuner, and this old TV will live on for decades more.

links:
Video sharing some old TV's left behind in the DTV transition
Break The TV Habit By Watching A TV/Waterfall/Clock
Westinghouse Portable TV Mystery

Your Own Dental Office... On A Train

Frank writes, "I came across this auction for an old train that's been converted into an amazing dental office. I think it might actually make me want to go to the dentist."

I concur. This three car train is located on a large commercial lot in Spokane. It has operated as a fully equipped children's dental office for the past 30 years. The front car is set up as a reception area, with 6 dental workstations in the second. The caboose is configured as the doctor's private office with an old railroad wood stove.

The train is available for lease at $2500 per month, or purchase outright on eBay for $375,000. I wonder how I can squeeze in the time between posts to attend dental school?

Dental office and land! Complete three car train [eBay]

An Affordable Little Tube Amp

The Jolida FX10 is a surprisingly inexpensive integrated tube amplifier that carries a list price of only $450.

The 8" wide x 7" deep x 7" tall unit contains four EL-84 tubes, along with a pair of 12AX7s. The tubes are encased in an attractive heat-resistant safety glass top which keeps out dust and inquisitive fingers. My only complaint is that each tube is inexplicably lit from underneath with a bright blue LED, ensuring that it'll shine like a tacky supermarket Christmas tree when in operation.

The FX10 puts out a maximum of 10W x 2 into 8 Ohms and a credit card sized remote provides an on/off switch, volume, input select and mute functionality. Unlike modern solid state surround sound amps that offer dozens of inputs, this little stereo unit serves up a simple pair of RCA inputs along with a 1/8-inch iPod audio in.

To top everything off, the manufacturer offers a somewhat weird 9 month limited parts and labor warranty.

The FX10 is discounted to $415 at Galen Carol Audio

The History of Nintendo In Pretty Pictures

Fabrice from Musée Nintendo writes, "A very good French book, History of Nintendo, has finally been translated into English for your reading pleasure by the great French team Pix'n Love. It's really a wonderful read!"

Volume 1 of the History of Nintendo spans the years 1889 to 1980, from playing cards to Game & Watch handhelds. The 240 page full-color book includes over 500 card games, toys, home video games and arcade units. The limited edition title will be released in late August 2010, at a price of $25 + $4 for worldwide shipping. Volume 2, dedicated entirely to the Game & Watch, will be released in the winter.

You can pre-order your copy direct from Pix'n love Publishing.

N Size Batteries Can Go To Blazes

If you're lucky, you'll never need N sized batteries. If a device doesn't have its own built-in rechargeable battery these days, then it likely uses AA, AAA, and somewhat less frequently C, D, and 9 Volt. Today even button cells are easier to locate and cheaper than ever. Fair enough. The problem lies with devices whose hunger for power is of a more demanding taste.

My father's early 70s Commodore LED calculator used N size batteries. They're about the same thickness as AAA, at half the height. They were difficult to find even back then, usually necessitating a trip to the camera shop, the answer to all oddball power requirements. Once located, the batteries weren't cheap - and the calculator required four of them. hence I never got to use the calculator for fear that boyish carelessness would have lead to expensive, dead batteries. So thanks to N size batteries, I had to actually learn to do multiplication tables in my head - an arduous affair I can assure you. Once in high school, I saved up enough money to fund a solar powered calculator, the newest thing in the 80's. No more sneaking behind my father's back to check my homework.

So I thought I was done with N size batteries... I'd even forgotten that they existed, but two recent events triggered this battery-powered memory. I was going to buy a wireless doorbell, and thought to check the battery requirements of the transmitter. N size. Bastard. I walked away in disgust. Then a few days later, I came across a vintage calculator and as if by reflex popped out the ancient batteries... horrifying N size batteries. The consensus is that they're still ideal for low current applications like door chimes (damn), and laser pointers. Perhaps, but that means one more battery size to stock at home, and at $1.50-$3 each for less than special performance, I know we can do better.

I realized that this ancient experience with oddball batteries is what makes me bristle today when buying a new device with its own proprietary rechargeable battery that becomes expensive and difficult to source in just a few years. Is it wrong to buy something and to want it to work for the rest of my life? I realize that these devices have obsolescence built in, but hey... this is Retro Thing. I want my stuff to work forever. After all, I have to think ahead to what I'll be writing about in 2060.

related:
Amazingly tiny 80's Walkman made useless thanks to odd battery
Radio controlled Ferrari from Sears that ate all the batteries it could get
Prehistoric battery powered calculator watches

Angelina Jolie Becomes Spokeswoman For World's Favorite Mineral

As with all movie re-releases/reboots, I don't have high expectations for "Salt"; a remake of an obscure 50's classic. Chicago has been bombarded with advertising for the film for months now. It's a great idea to use Angelina Jolie as a spokesperson for the world's favorite mineral, but those ads sure make "Salt" seem pretty bleak. As a retro fan, it's great to see Hollywood finally remake this classic - even if they've given it a new name. When the movie was originally released in 1958, it was called "White Wonder" and was Morton Salt's way of sharing with viewers all the great uses of salt. That's right, you can scrub a saucepan or salt a sandwich with the same special seasoning.

I don't know how modern audiences are going to react to the re-release of "White Wonder" to theaters as it's a bit slow going for modern tastes (even though it's a quarter the length of the new Jolie version). The voiceover says, "Today, salt enters into almost 14,000 different uses," and by the end of the movie I felt like I'd seen pretty much all of them. I love good old NaCl as much as the next guy, but this film is a little too high-sodium for me. Almost fetish-like. Which is why I guess for the remake they're using Jolie, her legendary pecadillos might fit in well with this almost obsessive look at salt. How do you think they'll fit her into the narrative? Greenscreen her into a couple of the scenes of giant salt collecting machines? Or perhaps they might carefully reshoot key scenes with her playing the part of a salty scientist, or the medicine/cosmetics/nylons lady?

If nothing else, this re-release will bring attention back to the original film back when it was called "White Wonder". One of my best friends who grew up in Indiana remembers marching into the school auditorium to be shown this film in the 70's (it probably made a welcome change from the usual menstruation & testicular self-examination educational shorts), saw it again in the army in the 80's, and then on late night cable in the 90's. So this re-release is set to make it a classic again in the new century. Let's just hope that they don't cram in some unnecessary KGB spy sub-plot.

related:
Classic TV set salt & pepper shakers
Archive.org film teaching better bowling techniques (link at bottom)

Sandwiches In A Can

Move over sardines & Spam, there's a new game in town for canned food. Set to roll out onto store shelves next month is a new series of canned chow called Candwich. We've written about both unusual and mundane foods before, but this might just take the biscuit. An interesting collision of a number of ideas, Candwich is a new line of sandwiches sealed into a container the size of a soda can. The inventor says that inspiration hit when he had a cookie in one hand, and a soda in the other and figure that the two should somehow come together.

The first Candwiches will be grape and strawberry PBJ's, as well as the alarming BBQ chicken (with calzones and pepperoni pizza on the way). Jeff Pierson, a wildlife photographer, has been testing Candwiches for a year. Because of the nature (heh) of his line of work, he's said that it's been tremendously beneficial to have ready-to-eat food rolling around in his car for months without the worry of refrigeration or storage. Another benefit of the soda-can size is that these sandwiches can fit neatly into existing vending machines. It seems weird, but I guess there are a lot of foods we're not used to seeing in a can that can actually fit inside one. A Swedish camping supplier has fit a whole cheeseburger into a can.

The goal with Candwich is to create a more mainstream application for canned food - a 450 calorie alternative to running out to the local franchise. One PR fight they're going to have might be the public's perception that these might be some kind of gross liquified drinkable sandwich. Eww. The bigger struggle will be getting over people's fear of unrefrigerated meat, but there's no reason the Candwich process couldn't work. Military MRE (meal ready to eat) packs also store a variety of foods without refrigeration for months and even years at a time in the harshest of conditions.

The Candwich is even faster than fast food, and could conceivably be more than just a convenience for busy people - they could even be a smart food delivery method in emergencies. We'll just have to wait and see whether Candwich can rub shoulders with other canned food classics like deviled ham and Spaghetti-Os, or will it forever be a food oddity like Marmite? Let us know if you spot any!

links:
Candwich inventor interviewed on Australian TV
The Onion puts the canned cheeseburger through its paces

related:
Need food fast? Visit an Automat for more than just fast food.
Need a slug of Guinness to down your Marmite? Now it's built in!
The war on chocolate

Kodak's Last Roll Of Kodachrome Has Been Processed

The last roll of Kodachrome slide film to come out of a Kodak factory has been shot and processed, according to The Wichita Eagle. Steve McCurry, a freelancer who may be best known as the photojournalist who shot National Geographic's "Afghan Girl," got Kodak's permission to be the person to shoot it. McCurry took photos in India, New York and Kansas, home to the last Kodachrome processor on the planet, Dwayne's Photo Service.

National Geographic is documenting the film roll's journey. Kodak's museum will get the 36 resulting slides. Dwayne's will stop processing Kodachrome in December.

Books: Not Dead Yet

Amazon.com announced this week that sales of e-books had outpaced hardcovers. And the company offered some seemingly startling stats: Over the past three months, Amazon has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcovers. In the past month, the ratio is 180-to-100. The news reports were generally measured, but it was hard not to conclude that books are going to die. ("Monday was a day for the history books — if those will even exist in the future," The New York Times joked.)

It would be naive to think that publishing won't continue its march toward electronic distribution, but there are some important caveats. The biggest one is that Amazon was talking hardcovers, not all printed books. As NPR points out, a lot of e-books are cheap and Kindle's convenience factor is much bigger when the device is compared to hardcovers.

It's also worth noting that there are a lot more paperbacks out there. The wildly popular "Eat, Pray, Love," for example, sold 200,000 copies in hardcover and more than 6 million in paperback. Also consider: Amazon is selling about 2,000 hardcover titles that were released in the last three months, compared with about 14,000 paperback titles.

No doubt, the trend lines point to e-book sales increasing by leaps and bounds — something tells me those $189 Kindles are going to be big this Christmas — but it's going to take a while for them to surpass paperbacks. Even when they do, I am not sure the printed book will be on its death bed.

Or, to put it another way, you'll undoubtedly have to explain to your grandkids what a "video store" was, but you probably won't have to worry about the concept of the library.

Support Retro Thing when you contribute to the death of the printed book by buying a Kindle.

DIY Pinball Machine Emulator

In 2006, the Retro Thing team had a chance to try UltraPin. It was a $6500 commercial digital pinball machine that emulated 12 different tables on a pair of LCD flat panels. The device wasn't a commercial success, perhaps because of the price and perhaps because pinball enthusiasts prefer real tables.

Four years later, Ryan O'Horo has built a fantastic 1/3 scale DIY table that runs Windows XP and the Future Pinball emulator. It features a custom plywood cabinet, 19" LCD display for the table, speakers, LED backlit back glass, an LED marquee, shooter, coin acceptor, an accelerometer and flipper buttons with solenoid feedback.

I'm still not totally sold on the idea of a pinball emulator, but this little cabinet definitely beats having to find space for a dozen full-sized machines in the basement.

Hot Touch Arcade DIY Pinball Emulator [via Make]

Star Trek Tribble Posters Reproduce Like Wildfire

The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas has created a couple of limited-edition 18 x 24 inch posters that pay homage to a classic Star Trek episode, The Trouble With Tribbles. They feature Spock and Uhura along with an ever-growing heap of the furry little pests that the crew of the Enterprise infamously picked up on shore leave. 

The Olly Moss designs go on sale from Mondo this Friday. Three hundred and fifty of the Spock version will be available, along with only 190 of Uhura. They're bound to go fast! [via Wired]

Remembering Erasable Pens

Retailers are insane. As a kid I remember how bummed out I was seeing the school supplies come out, heralding the end of summer vacation. Around here it's been several weeks since larger stores trotted out the theme books and the #2 pencils. It's good to be prepared, of course, but holding a "back to school" sale in the single digit days of July? Crazy!

It was angrily stomping past these needlessly early displays that my eyes fell on a product I was surprised still existed; erasable ink pens. I first learned of  the Erasermate pen in 1980 when I was in 4th grade, and it became an immediate status symbol at my school. It was an early lesson for me that nothing in life is permanent, not even ink. It was a big deal to graduate from Husky pencils to turning in homework scribed in pen, and the Erasermate pen was about to turn that world upside down.

Mine was a refillable pen, but it wasn't long before disposables hit the scene. Putting aside the strangely strong smell, the inkflow was erratic, and the finished result smeared easily (lefties had no chance), forcing our teachers to put the whammy on this innovation. My writing is unstable enough without worrying about whether the ink is going to last or not, so I left the world of erasable ink behind.

Over the years, Papermate worked to improve the reliability of erasable ink, which they did. These new red pens write pretty much the same as a regular ink pen.  I've read that the secret was pressurizing the ink, meaning that at Erasermate can write at even steeper angles than a conventional pen. The erasing is less than perfect, but good enough. Funny thing is that I can't really think of a time to use erasable red pen. Accounting perhaps? When I was a teacher, I would have feared my students modifying their grades through careful erasure. Perhaps that's why the red ink doesn't disappear 100%? Too many teachers complained?

Apparently crossword puzzle enthusiasts like erasable ink. The various colors of ink are more vivid than pencil marks, which might be helpful during a tense puzzling session. However it does fly in the face of the bravado you're supposed to show by doing the puzzle in ink. Perhaps it doesn't make much difference. Let's face it, if you're using a crossword to show how fearless you are, I have a feeling you've lost the case before presenting evidence, puzzle man...

Pick up you school supplies on Amazon to support Retro Thing

The Affordable Kettle Grill

Weber's kettle-style grill still looks very much like it did when it was invented nearly six decades ago by George Stephen. The way Weber tells the story, Stephen came up with the kettle grill out of the frustration of using "brazier"-style grills — those $10 shallow saucers that show up in drug stores and supermarkets. Stephen cut a metal buoy in half, fashioned a dome lid and the kettle grill was born. Stephen then persuaded his employer, Weber Brothers Metal Works, to make them. He eventually bought the company. (His son now runs it.)

Today, Weber also builds gas grills, but it continues to roll out new charcoal styles with advancements like an ash-cleaning system, plastic table-wings, a built-in charcoal storage bin and even a gas-fired starter. A top-of-the-line 22.5-inch Performer model retails for about $300. The supersize Ranch Kettle, which can handle about 18 whole cornish hens at a time, goes for a whopping $1,100.

Or, you can spent $30 on the portable, but versatile, 14.5-inch Smokey Joe Silver model. You have to provide your own table, store the charcoal elsewhere and use newspapers or lighter fluid to get it going, but it's made with the same porcelain-coated steel as other models. It also leaves a lot of money in your pocket for steaks, veggies and beer.