dshelleny’s posterous

It was my official introduction into computers and apparently, the #nightshift as well.  The only thing missing from this picture is my can of Rondo!

Check out these blazing specs:

Compaq Portable
Introduced:    November 1982
Released:    March 1983
Price:    US $3,590 (two floppy system)
How many?    53,000 in 1983, the first year
Weight:    28 pounds.
CPU:    Intel 8088, 4.77MHz
RAM:    128K, 640K max
Display:    9" monochrome monitor built-in
80 X 25 text
Color graphic card
Storage:    Two 320K 5-1/4" disk drives
Ports:    1 parallel (expansion card)
OS:    MS-DOS

(Courtesy http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html)

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The other day, my wife came home from a trip to the grocery store.  As usual, my 6 year old daughter was eager to help mom put the groceries away.  Among the items was a multi-package of paper towels, which we store in a very high cabinet above the microwave.  "I'll put them away" my daughter exclaimed proudly.

Of course, our knee-jerk response was "No, that's ok sweetheart, it's too high," to which she said "No really, I got it."

So, we watched as she slid a chair into position, and went over to the silverware drawer, and pulled out a spatula, just as though she had done this a million times.  One by one, she lifted the towels up, and used the spatula to push them into the cabinet until they were all neatly put away, all the while humming a satisfactory little song.

It wasn't just the fact that she did something we didn't expect, it was the way she did it.  There was no voice in her head saying "Ooooh...I don't know if I can do that" or "It's much too high, I'd better not try."  She just did it.  How many of us learn to listen to these critical voices that say "we can't" before we give ourselves the opportunity to try.  Don't listen to the voices...take a risk, and just do it!

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Click here to download:

Autumn_at_The_Grove.zip (779 KB)

Last weekend we were able to enjoy a beautiful Autumn afternoon at The Grove, our local nature preserve in Glenview, IL.

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It's easy to incorporate technology into our lives, and then forget how we ever got along without it. But every once in a while, I get reminders of how cool these tools really are, and the capabilities they give us.

Where else but the Internet could you find a step by step instructional video on how to build a Star Wars Droideka battle droid out of spare Lego parts (which was recorded by an 8 year old enthusiast in England.).

Plus, to my son, it's not the tool that is fascinating, it's what he can do with it... how he can use it to accomplish his goal.

Pretty cool stuff!

Sent from my iPhone

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Halloween is my favorite holiday.  With the spirit in full gear, you can't help but see a lot of spooky programming on TV.  This morning, the soundtrack of the Shelleny household is filled with Scooby Doo, "Zoinks!", and a healthy dose of theremin.  I remembered a record album of spooky stories my parents bought for my sister and I when we were kids (probably way before they should have) that gave me nightmares every time I listened to it.  I used to study the album cover, and read the liner notes for as long as I could before I became too frightened, and had to take the needle off the record.  I am sure this album was the introduction that led to my love of scary stories, movies and Stephen King.

With a little searching, I found a link to the album http://scarstuff.blogspot.com/2006/02/wade-denning-famous-ghost-stories-with.html  To my delight, someone recorded and posted all the stories as mp3's.  You can download them here http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JEIXXI8H"

The best part of the stories now, is the clicks and pops of the record playing!  Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!

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I have mentioned it before, but one of the perks of having kids in school is their daily reading assignments. Yes, the main purpose is to improve their reading skills, but a beautiful side effect is that I get to re-discover the joy of reading books again.
 
With so much noise in our family's world these days, finding a quiet spot, without computers, TV's or cell phones where I can get engrossed in a story (on paper) is a welcome respite. Sometimes, we even get lucky with a quiet underscore of a rainstorm, like tonight. Pure heaven, in 20 minute increments.
 
As I write this, the timer has gone off, so the TV is back on, I think Garfield's FunFest is the show of choice tonight.
 
I am getting ready for another nightshift of work in front of the computer, but, I am happy to say, I was able to get my fix!

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We are starting to see signs that Autumn is approaching. It is by far my favorite time of year. I don't even mind the days getting shorter. Time to break out the firepit and s'mores. Bring it!

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