Category Archives: Just Rambling

Steve Jobs: American Cool

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Blake Patterson

Living just out outside of D.C., my wife and I often find ourselves in the district on the weekends, taking our daughter whatever museum is at the top of her list at the given moment. Today we visited the National … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling | 8 Comments

The First GIF I Ever Saw

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Blake Patterson

Above, is the first GIF I ever saw. What you are looking at is a scan of a color printout that I made with my Okimate 20 wax transfer printer in 1987. I had an Atari 520ST at the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Atari, Just Rambling | 4 Comments

Happy Halloween, All You Vintage Computing Ghouls!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Blake Patterson

As I sat on the floor of our den, carving this year’s pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern with my daughter, I was reminded of a bit of caving I did nearly a decade ago as a bit of a Halloween goof … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling | 1 Comment

It Occurred to Me That a Lot Has Changed in Mobile Computing over the Last Fifteen Years

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Blake Patterson

This past weekend my wife and I headed down to Charlottesville, VA for the night, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. When we met, she was half-way through law school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and I soon … Continue reading →

Posted in Handhelds, Just Rambling | 6 Comments

Susan Kare Gives Kutcher the 32×32 Treatment

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Blake Patterson

So, what do you think? Susan Kare, who designed the icons and fonts for the original Macintosh, also created 32×32 pixel micro-portraits of the Macintosh team, at their request, back in the early ’80s. One team member who definitely did … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling, Macintosh | 1 Comment

Found Photo: Me and My Apple QuickTake 200 Camera

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Blake Patterson

I was recently digging about the storage shelves, looking for an old box of floppies when I came across a large box full of photos that I hadn’t opened since moving into this house ten years ago. I spent an … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling | 1 Comment

Regarding Keyboards, and a New Favorite: the Leopold FC660C

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Blake Patterson

Nearly two years ago I got into mechanical keyboards (real keyboards, proper keyboards) in a pretty big way. In order to truly enjoy the experience of typing on these quality boards, I decided to learn to type “properly,” as opposed … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling, Multi-Platform | 14 Comments

My First “Homepage” and Email “Sigs” of Olde

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Blake Patterson

Last month, to mark the 20th anniversary of the World Wide Web, CERN placed the first web site back online at its original address. This got me thinking of my early experiences on the Internet and, soon after (when it … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling | 5 Comments

Pinterest as a Visual Archive of Computing History

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Blake Patterson

A couple of years ago, a social network based around the photo pinboard concept went online. Known as Pinterest, the site enables users to setup an account and “pin” photos from around the net to their own set of “boards,” … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling | 2 Comments

One of the Finest iPad Apps Is No More – Thanks for the Update, Twitter

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Blake Patterson

I know this is my vintage computing blog, but sometimes I need to stray off just a little. (That’s why I took pencil to the masthead logo a year or so ago…) Right now, I just need to vent my … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling, Other Platform | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments