frd.b @FredBednarski@merveilles.town

Over a year ago I discovered the 1986 Portal "game", and the fact that there was a lost macintosh 512k version of it (see thread).

Now it has been found and archived by a generous macintosh garden user!

You can download it from here: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/portal

...although you might want to wait few days (or reach out to me) as this "dump" does not allow you to save your game. I made a fixed version and will post on garden once the original uploader will give me a go-ahead.

80s bits no.1 (redux) + no.2

Today in #theGalley I am sharing one of my favorite dishes - Roasted Red Pepper Pasta: https://fdisk.space/roastedredpepperpasta

It's has a bit of a kick, but it's mainly smokey & cheesy...and all vegan!

Because my wife made it today, I am sharing one of my favorite meals in #theGalley: Sweet and Spicy Peanut Sauce Tofu Bowl!

Recipe: https://fdisk.space/peanutsaucetofu

Help! I fell into MSX rabbit hole and can't get out

I still can't get over the fact that we embraced the boring beige boxes for our computing needs over the industrial design that was happening with the MSX platform. Even the cheaper models had STYLE that still looks sleek today.

It's a shame the platform never really took off much outside of Japan. #theObservatory

I keep running into some real *fossil* websites during my research into early nerd games.

Today's find is a web1.0 site from a military major about (matrix) games he uses for training: http://www.mapsymbs.com/wdmatrix1.html

From the looks of it, it's all hand-coded, and because how simple it is, it kinda has a responsive layout!

Also, love the bit that tells you how big each file is - it reminds me of all the home sites I used to visit in the late 90s.

Today I spent couple hours making a little April Fools joke in a form of an RPG(?)... it's all very hermetic & "inside baseball," catering to a niche within a niche.

Needless to say, it didn't really reached many people as a joke, but I still enjoyed designing an obnoxiously *de-luxe* flyer.

I really need to make time for creative activities, because it really makes me feel better (and I kinda need that right now).

#theWorkshop #PrintOMatic

I got my hands on a late XIX century mimeograph to help with back-engineering the forgotten printing/duplicating method.

There is very little information about pre-electric mimeography, & I was struggling to recreate it with the small, mid century machine I have - simply too many variables & unknowns.

This kit is all manual, but what's more important, it comes with stencil paper and a writing plate. Now I can experiment with using materials that I know to work!

It is not often I stumble upon a 80s computer I wasn't aware of... but today is one of those days.

Jupiter Ace was a British micro similar to ZX spectrum in its hardware and form factor, but instead of running BASIC like all of its contemporaries, it's running....

FORTH! 😮

Oh, the realities of living in USA.

This is the amazingly stocked salad bar in my local supermarket today.

Thanks to Joe Bob Briggs' Last Drive-In today I discovered *The Love Witch*

It's such a stunning film and an amazing homage to 60s cinematography.

So...

...somewhere during working with mimeographs I fell into the typewriter rabbit hole: https://fdisk.space/typewriter

I guess it's time to try my hand at concrete poetry or some other kind of artyping.

This wild red haired Frenchman from a XIX century ad for a mimeograph machine is my spirit animal ever since I have started researching the tech.

I mean, this is probably how people see me when I start talking about hand cranked copy machines 😆

So, I recently discovered that in mid-century US there were fully functional toy printing presses - movable type and all.

Also, because it was before plastic overtook everything, they were all metal (well, tin) and quite stylish.

...I kinda want one.

more info here: http://www.letterology.com/2014/03/press-kit.html

#theWorkshop

The #PrintOMatic got some needed cleaning and TLC. It's still a bit squeaky, but it's now feeding paper correctly. So that's a win.

Sadly, not much progress with making DIY stencils. Tested store bought wax paper with india ink and sponge brush to push it onto a page below, but that failed 😞

Not giving up yet on it as my "blind" using a pre-cut stencil also failed the india ink/sponge combo.

Next step is to source flannel for ink pads (I only have 1) and test on the device.

...like this noir mimeograph!

60s mimeograph is the aesthetic mimeograph.

...but you can't beat the crank powered earlier/cheaper models ;)

#theWorkshop #PrintOMatic

The Print-O-Matic came in today! Here's some first look observations:

* It's bigger than I expected (banana for scale)
* It's a bit squeaky, but seems to work fine
* It uses cloth on the drum as a kind of "ink sponge"
* The stencils are thinner and softer than I expected.
* It came with awesome extras like never-used "clip-art" stencils, a "tool" for shading/half-toning and an original 1963 proof of purchase!

Will post more once I have time to do some proper tests.

#theObservatory

Titans of Brutalism.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/founders-of-the-bulgarian-state-monument