Category Archives: Multi-Platform

A New Photo Panorama of The “Byte Cellar” for 2012

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Blake Patterson

I started this little blog back in March of 2004. That’s about a year after my wife and I moved into our current home in Alexandria, VA. The main requirement we held onto when looking for a larger home those … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling, Multi-Platform | 4 Comments

The KryoFlux Floppy Controller: A Magnetic Media Miracle

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Blake Patterson

Those of us who are driven to gather computers of decades past about us in order to forever enjoy that magical, early stage of home computing (that’s unknown to so many today) do, indeed, reap rich rewards from the effort. … Continue reading →

Posted in Multi-Platform | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Have a Helping of 8-bit Holiday Cheer! [Updated for 2014]

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Blake Patterson

I’ve been a computer guy for a long time now, but I’ve been enjoying Christmas even longer. I got my first computer, a TI-99/4A, on Christmas morning, 1982. I was 10 years old, and from that Christmas on, it was … Continue reading →

Posted in Multi-Platform | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

I Sat At The Retro Computing Roundtable…And It Was Sublime

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Blake Patterson

I know I said my next post would be my personal tribute to Steve Jobs — and that post is coming — but I had to jump in and share an absolutely exceptional experience I had this past Sunday, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling, Multi-Platform | 7 Comments

An Apparent Keyboard Geek Finally Learns to Type

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Blake Patterson

This is a quick post to share my latest project with readers: at long last, I am learning to type properly! I got my first keyboard in late 1982. It was connected to my first computer, a TI-99/4A. I began … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling, Multi-Platform | 11 Comments

Letting the Boxes Go: A Tale of Sadness

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Blake Patterson

This past weekend we had some water issues in the basement (the unfinished, non-Byte Cellar part of the basement) tied to our A/C unit. In hunting down the problem, I had to displace many of the boxes in which my … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Rambling, Multi-Platform | 7 Comments

Vintage Computer Festival East 7.0 Is Just around the Corner

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Blake Patterson

My friends over at the Vintage Computer Festival East just reminded me that the VCF East 7.0 is just around the corner, May 14-15, 2011 in Wall, New Jersey. The event, which is entirely indoors, is held rain or shine … Continue reading →

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Interesting Computer Ads From 25 Years Ago

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Blake Patterson

Every so often I’ll grab a computer magazine from days past off my shelf at random and thumb through it while waiting on a download. Just the other day I did so and ended up with the June 1983 issue … Continue reading →

Posted in Multi-Platform | 4 Comments

JPEG: The New Graphics Format On The Block

Posted on February 17, 2008 by Blake Patterson

Any regular readers here know that I’ve owned a lot of machines in my time. It was 1993 when I called an Amiga 1200 my main machine and when JPEG images started appearing on BBSs across the land. You know, … Continue reading →

Posted in Multi-Platform | 8 Comments

Fun With My New ImageWriter II Printer

Posted on September 6, 2007 by Blake Patterson

I’m on vacation in the Outer Banks with my family presently – a sunny week at the beach. It’s all about relaxation and, to me, that calls for another retro computing post. I thought I’d share one of my latest … Continue reading →

Posted in Multi-Platform | 5 Comments