Tonight the pleco decided to take a liking to the catfish food, and ate that instead of his algae pellet. With their original food tied up, the catfish managed to find a tasty green gem.  The platties followed suit, as they seem to like eating from the bottom of the tank too. There was plenty for all of them, though it must have been difficult to eat for fish without sucker mouths.

I guess at this rate, it was more of a food exchange program than absolute theft.

I’m guessing something is going through their minds as they dart across the tank back and forth, usually in a pack.

“Hey over there, that is clearly the best side of the tank, let’s go!!11!”

“Woah this is soo coool… wait… what’s that over there, on the other side of the tank?”

*zooom*

“Wow, it’s like a whole new world, we’ve definitely never been here before”.

Eventually I must wonder how different they are from us.

He’s so awesome, and it makes me glad that I am not made of algae.

I’ll start with one of the most impressive pieces. This museum, with personal sponsorship from a top Microsoft Executive, was able to build a functional Babbage Machine, based on the Babbage’s original designs. Back in the day, such conveniences as gear ratios and standardized threadcounts did not exist, making the original Babbage machine an unmitigated impossibility at the time. With modern tools and technology, we finally were able to construct a true steampunk computer. Though lacking in steam, it’s powered by a hand crank and is mostly made of brass. It even could export to multiple formats: paper and printing plate. This way, the machine could directly print numbers in calculation books without the need to manually typeset numbers, eliminating yet another opportunity for operator errors to appear in books. Now we’re just fighting over XML and JSON. This was true multi-publishing. One must ponder upon the 1800’s equivalent of an MS Word Document. Probably chicken fat burned onto a slab of scrap metal.

At one point this was the most effective way to solve polynomials

After seeing this, I have suddenly appreciated my TI graphing calculator much more. They had a live demo in which Polynomials were solved by turning gears to the correct spot.

Moving on to slightly more modern times, a retail copy of Microsoft Windows (first version). Key features include a clock, and at least a moderate ability to be better than a DOS prompt sometimes. It wasn’t long after this one that they figured out how to draw overlapping windows.

The "Better than Vista" sticker confused MS employees for almost 20 years

Before the fruit-flavored computing companies laugh too much at the above example, here is one of the very first Apple Computers:

"Grapefruit" was rejected early in the design stages

The Apple computer kit was just the big green board near the top. Early Apple fans had to provide their own keyboard, mouse, power supply, video interface, and monitor in order to get their kicks. Makes lack of Blu-ray player BTO options seem not so bad, doesn’t it?

Of course, no tour of early computing would be complete without the first Xerox workstations. They sported a vertically oriented monitor, which makes sense when you want to eventually make paper documents. To this day I’m unsure why every monitor is horizontally oriented. I blame TV.

Ironically, everyone copied Xerox

These workstations also sported the world’s first WIZIWIG GUI, complete with windows and a desktop and a mouse cursor, among other things. Eventually a couple Jobs caught wind of this, and so did others, and the rest is history. Xerox hasn’t made a computer in 20 years, but they’re still selling copiers just fine, so they weren’t doomed by the paperless office anyway.

The true highlight of the tour for me was seeing a working IBM 1401 Business Computer. The entire setup, including several punchcard printing terminals, a printer, two magnetic tape drives (12 MB a piece), the computer itself, and the punchcard reader took up an entire room.

The days of real computing, when men were men, women were women, and a syntax error could easily blow out 145 fuses

The best part about this is that the machine was staffed with volunteer operators who ran the machine in the height of their careers. It was really fun hearing their stories and explanations of how the whole system worked.

600 Lines per minute; pager per minute is just a cop-out

The printer had ~27 wires connected between it and the computer. One wire per character, and another to switch to control codes (such as carriage return and line feed; line feed, as it might sound, actually fed a new line into the printer).

The trip would not be complete without a personal touch however. I was invited to write some input punch cards to actually run a program on this behemoth! I carefully put my name on one card, and the current date on another. The operator put these two cards underneath a big stack of cards labeled “BANNER”, and separated the two stacks with a control card, so that the system could distinguish my input from the program itself.

My typing was more accurate as I realized that each keypress punched a hole in a piece of paper

Here, we can see the origins of KDE

Above is the control panel that I was looking at while the program ran. Lights blinked on and off as assembly instructions rattled off, card by card. Vi seems so tame by comparison. Eventually I was the lucky owner of a banner proudly proclaiming “Benford visited the Computer Museum on November 25th, 2009″, immortalizing me for all history.

Full sized images are available within the gallery below:

If it looks familiar, you saw it here first.

Bad News

The LCD only accepts VGA input. The video card only has DVI output. There is not enough space within the iShell to fit a regular DVI to vga converter, so I got creative, with a DVI to VGA cable. Unfortunately there was not enough space between the bottom of the lcd and the top of the “floor” of the upper iShell half to fit the supersized VGA end. This leads us to…

Good News

my dad has a bench grinder. And it works really really quickly on injection molded plastic. This made the whole “not enough space” issue into quite the trivial mattter:

vgacord.minify()

Of course, this inherently leads to some more

Bad News

Once I got everything plugged in and fully attached, I put it to the acid test, and turned the computer on. One heart stopping moment later, I remembered to turn the power supply  on. After rectifying this, several more heart stopping moment later, the PC turned on and gave evidence of whirring, but nothing came to the screen. Fearing for the worst, I plugged the iShell into another monitor, and…

Good News

everything worked on another monitor. I knew at this point that my custom sized cable, being the most suspect component in the chain, was probably the culprit. Unfortunately this meant an order for more parts, as my shiney new cable was recently demoted to “cat toy”.

Flash forward two weeks later, and I use a standard vga cable and realize that a flexible dvi -> vga adaptor will do the job just as well. I’ll be acquiring one of them quite soon. Meanwhile, some pics of the iShell, with motherboard fully installed, and PSU held in place with a heavy ration of gravity:

An inside job

And that’s all for now. Tune in next time for Power Supply Stabilizing action. Unless I need to work on something else first.

My favorite part of the natural history museum was an exhibit called “The Deep”. It was a montage of images and information about assorted deep sea creatures. This included preserved bodies of several deep sea critters, including an anglerfish, and even a juvinile Giant Squid! My favorites were probably the siphonophores, which assembled into towers that resembled taipei 101, aaaaaand the medusa jellyfish, which is nearly invisible to all unaided earthly forms of vision.

Botanical gardens were also nifty. It had a giant two story butterfly statue out front and an amazon river themed garden inside. Though a greenhouse in taiwan was doubly tropical for me. There were amazon river fish inside that were as big as any that I would see at an aquarium or zoo. The biggest one made an audible *whoomph* sound as it suched in fish during feeding time. The sound greatly resembled a speaker blowout, and had the whole audience in hysterics.

Art museum was also super fun, but sadly the time was cut short because we got there about an hour before closing. Too much fun at the other museum I guess. A robot greeted us as we got in, and we got some pictures with it. I eventually figured out that it was mostly a puppet, controlled by an attendent about 20 ffeet away. The robot even knew some English phrases, such as “Yaaaaaaay. Rock and Roll!”. Barry and I got to play a mind game where we tried to move a ball with electericall sensers that detected brain waves. Barry wone that game.

My flight heads home today. I’ll miss taiwan, but I will be glad to be back home as well.

Later that night, Barry took me for a ride on his moped scooter. I was very glad that he was driving; navigating Taiwanese roads and traffic laws seems more complex than many tropical ecosystems. We got to explore another night market. I especially enjoyed going to the tea shop which claims to have invented bubble tea. I’d certainly like to meet the guy who first thought to put small orbs of tapioca into tea. They must have been a genius.

Today we went to an aborigonie styled theme park. It reminded me quite strongly of Oaks park at times, but with fancier rides and a cultural education system. They had restored versions of buildings originally used by native taiwanese tribes. If I understand correctly, the park is owned and operated primarily by aboriginees. It had space mountain and slpash mountain, so it was not all that bad. Except that many of the arcade games were just PLaystations hooked up to TVs, positioned into fancy boxes.

Another stop we made was at Sun Moon lake. It was a pretty cool nature spot, but was a bit harder to appreciate without a boat and several warm afternoons to spend. Barry says that he has trouble seeing why it is internationally famous. My theory is that being the biggest lake in Taiwan has something to do with its popularitly.

Dr. Sun was more of a philosophical leader, but he had a similar statue too. He was famous for changing the local philosophy a bit. `Thinking is easy, doing is hard” became “Thinking is hard, doing is easy”, making things much easier on the average citizen.

We also got to do some urban crawling; checking through malls and visiting a tea convention that my friend`s sister was working at.

Of course, we had to visit Taipei 101 This is the tallesssssst building in taiwan, and until recently, it was the tallest buiding in the entire world. The view from there was pretty cool. To my suprise, going to each of these tall towers was a bit of a unique experience. Shanghail, Tokyo and Taipei are all different enough cities that I think it was worthwhile to see each from far up.

We also got to go to a hot springs place. The colder pool that we went to in the end seemed fine for me, but my more tropical ajdusted friends seemed to be super cold. Similarly, the hottest pool we went to was not the msot fun for me, but seemed like the best ones for my Taiwanese friends..

We head to Taichung today, my friend`s hometown. My ffriend says that things are slower there and less formal, and views this in a positive light, so it looks like I will get a taste of Taiwan aside from the capital city.. Thst couple of days have been incredibly busy. We managed to visit two memorial halls; One for Chaiang Kai Sheck, and the other for Dr. SUn, both of which were highly important Taiwanese leaders. CKS was a political and millitary leader, and his museum had two sedans. We also got to see the changing of the guard, in front of a twopstory tall statue of him. The army, navy, and air force are responsible for guarding this statue, and they take turns every hour. They do an impressive baton style routine at each switch to boot. Some people think that his memorial hall gives CKS too much individual credit, not giving acknowlegment for all of th people behind his movements.

Dr. Sun was more of a philosophical leader, but he had a similar statue too. He was famous for changing the local philosophy a bit. `Thinking is easy, doing is hard” became “Thinking is hard, doing is easy”, making things much easier on the average citizen.

We also got to do some urban crawling; checking through malls and visiting a tea convention that my friend`s sister was working at.

Of course, we had to visit Taipei 101 This is the tallesssssst building in taiwan, and until recently, it was the tallest buiding in the entire world. The view from there was pretty cool. To my suprise, going to each of these tall towers was a bit of a unique experience. Shanghail, Tokyo and Taipei are all different enough cities that I think it was worthwhile to see each from far up.

We also got to go to a hot springs place. The colder pool that we went to in the end seemed fine for me, but my more tropical ajdusted friends seemed to be super cold. Similarly, the hottest pool we went to was not the msot fun for me, but seemed like the best ones for my Taiwanese friends..

We head to Taichung today, my friend`s hometown. My ffriend says that things are slower there and less formal, and views this in a positive light, so it looks like I will get a taste of Taiwan aside from the capital city.. Thst couple of days have been incredibly busy. We managed to visit two memorial halls; One for Chaiang Kai Sheck, and the other for Dr. SUn, both of which were highly important Taiwanese leaders. CKS was a political and millitary leader, and his museum had two sedans. We also got to see the changing of the guard, in front of a twopstory tall statue of him. The army, navy, and air force are responsible for guarding this statue, and they take turns every hour. They do an impressive baton style routine at each switch to boot. Some people think that his memorial hall gives CKS too much individual credit, not giving acknowlegment for all of th people behind his movements.

Dr. Sun was more of a philosophical leader, but he had a similar statue too. He was famous for changing the local philosophy a bit. `Thinking is easy, doing is hard” became “Thinking is hard, doing is easy”, making things much easier on the average citizen.

We also got to do some urban crawling; checking through malls and visiting a tea convention that my friend`s sister was working at.

Of course, we had to visit Taipei 101 This is the tallesssssst building in taiwan, and until recently, it was the tallest buiding in the entire world. The view from there was pretty cool. To my suprise, going to each of these tall towers was a bit of a unique experience. Shanghail, Tokyo and Taipei are all different enough cities that I think it was worthwhile to see each from far up.

We also got to go to a hot springs place. The colder pool that we went to in the end seemed fine for me, but my more tropical ajdusted friends seemed to be super cold. Similarly, the hottest pool we went to was not the msot fun for me, but seemed like the best ones for my Taiwanese friends..

We head to Taichung today, my friend`s hometown. My ffriend says that things are slower there and less formal, and views this in a positive light, so it looks like I will get a taste of Taiwan aside from the capital city.. Thst couple of days have been incredibly busy. We managed to visit two memorial halls; One for Chaiang Kai Sheck, and the other for Dr. SUn, both of which were highly important Taiwanese leaders. CKS was a political and millitary leader, and his museum had two sedans. We also got to see the changing of the guard, in front of a twopstory tall statue of him. The army, navy, and air force are responsible for guarding this statue, and they take turns every hour. They do an impressive baton style routine at each switch to boot. Some people think that his memorial hall gives CKS too much individual credit, not giving acknowlegment for all of th people behind his movements.

Dr. Sun was more of a philosophical leader, but he had a similar statue too. He was famous for changing the local philosophy a bit. `Thinking is easy, doing is hard” became “Thinking is hard, doing is easy”, making things much easier on the average citizen.

We also got to do some urban crawling; checking through malls and visiting a tea convention that my friend`s sister was working at.

Of course, we had to visit Taipei 101 This is the tallesssssst building in taiwan, and until recently, it was the tallest buiding in the entire world. The view from there was pretty cool. To my suprise, going to each of these tall towers was a bit of a unique experience. Shanghail, Tokyo and Taipei are all different enough cities that I think it was worthwhile to see each from far up.

We also got to go to a hot springs place. The colder pool that we went to in the end seemed fine for me, but my more tropical ajdusted friends seemed to be super cold. Similarly, the hottest pool we went to was not the msot fun for me, but seemed like the best ones for my Taiwanese friends..

We head to Taichung today, my friend`s hometown. My ffriend says that things are slower there and less formal, and views this in a positive light, so it looks like I will get a taste of Taiwan aside from the capital city.. Thst couple of days have been incredibly busy. We managed to visit two memorial halls; One for Chaiang Kai Sheck, and the other for Dr. SUn, both of which were highly important Taiwanese leaders. CKS was a political and millitary leader, and his museum had two sedans. We also got to see the changing of the guard, in front of a twopstory tall statue of him. The army, navy, and air force are responsible for guarding this statue, and they take turns every hour. They do an impressive baton style routine at each switch to boot. Some people think that his memorial hall gives CKS too much individual credit, not giving acknowlegment for all of th people behind his movements.

Dr. Sun was more of a philosophical leader, but he had a similar statue too. He was famous for changing the local philosophy a bit. `Thinking is easy, doing is hard” became “Thinking is hard, doing is easy”, making things much easier on the average citizen.

We also got to do some urban crawling; checking through malls and visiting a tea convention that my friend`s sister was working at.

Of course, we had to visit Taipei 101 This is the tallesssssst building in taiwan, and until recently, it was the tallest buiding in the entire world. The view from there was pretty cool. To my suprise, going to each of these tall towers was a bit of a unique experience. Shanghail, Tokyo and Taipei are all different enough cities that I think it was worthwhile to see each from far up.

We also got to go to a hot springs place. The colder pool that we went to in the end seemed fine for me, but my more tropical ajdusted friends seemed to be super cold. Similarly, the hottest pool we went to was not the msot fun for me, but seemed like the best ones for my Taiwanese friends..

We head to Taichung today, my friend`s hometown. My ffriend says that things are slower there and less formal, and views this in a positive light, so it looks like I will get a taste of Taiwan aside from the capital city.. Thst couple of days have been incredibly busy. We managed to visit two memorial halls; One for Chaiang Kai Sheck, and the other for Dr. SUn, both of which were highly important Taiwanese leaders. CKS was a political and millitary leader, and his museum had two sedans. We also got to see the changing of the guard, in front of a twopstory tall statue of him. The army, navy, and air force are responsible for guarding this statue, and they take turns every hour. They do an impressive baton style routine at each switch to boot. Some people think that his memorial hall gives CKS too much individual credit, not giving acknowlegment for all of th people behind his movements.

Dr. Sun was more of a philosophical leader, but he had a similar statue too. He was famous for changing the local philosophy a bit. `Thinking is easy, doing is hard” became “Thinking is hard, doing is easy”, making things much easier on the average citizen.

We also got to do some urban crawling; checking through malls and visiting a tea convention that my friend`s sister was working at.

Of course, we had to visit Taipei 101 This is the tallesssssst building in taiwan, and until recently, it was the tallest buiding in the entire world. The view from there was pretty cool. To my suprise, going to each of these tall towers was a bit of a unique experience. Shanghail, Tokyo and Taipei are all different enough cities that I think it was worthwhile to see each from far up.

We also got to go to a hot springs place. The colder pool that we went to in the end seemed fine for me, but my more tropical ajdusted friends seemed to be super cold. Similarly, the hottest pool we went to was not the msot fun for me, but seemed like the best ones for my Taiwanese friends..

We head to Taichung today, my friend`s hometown. My ffriend says that things are slower there and less formal, and views this in a positive light, so it looks like I will get a taste of Taiwan aside from the capital city..

Once departed from the train, we boarded a tour bus that set out on a path on the trans-island east/west highway that tunnels and wraps around the main mountian range in Taiwan. This place is tropical enough that there was no tree line; vegetation prospered at all levels of the mountains, even the mostly vertical parts. The local plans strongly reminded me of the flora of Hawaii (the big island).

The best part was the drive through the east/west highway. This highway was carved at great risk trhough a narrow gorge between the mountains. Signs saying “Caution: falling rocks” and numerous variants thereof sprinkeled the entire roadway. The highlight of this triip was about w km of walking down a trail (with hard hats, of course). The mountains were shaped in such an amazing way that by looking up, you could see the same mountain at three different views. I’ll post some pictures later to give a more fuller impression of what this is like. It almost defies description.This gorge was apparently the fimling location for “The Journey West” if that rings a bell to anyone.

We also got to visit a cool shrine oin the way and saw multiple waterfalls. The scale of the place was so huge that I felt like an ant that had discovered a particularly wierd rock. Butterflies abounded, in sizes that made me confuse them for bats at first.

Near the end of this trip, I saw a breif mini rockslide across the valley which included rocks that could crush a person, helmet or no. I was very glad that noone was on that side of the valley at the time