Vintage Tech YouTubers Discussion Panel | VCFMW 20 (2025) VCF Midwest 2026-09-18 | Vintage Tech YouTubers Discussion Panel | VCFMW 20 (2025)
VCFMW 19 Timelapse: Setup and Opening Day VCF Midwest 2024-09-29 | Special thanks to hooloovoo for shooting and providing the setup timelapse footage!---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Things I Wish I Knew When Starting FPGA and PCB Design | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-28 | An electrical engineer with 40 years experience in Gate Array design, Graphics Chipset design, SoC design, and GPS RF design and layout, Jefferey Wilson sees newcomers to the PCB or FPGA design experience collectively making the same mistakes and pit-falls he made 40 years ago. In this presentation, he covers how to side-step these pitfalls with knowledge he wished he had when first starting out.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
From Nexa to Sphere: The Beginning | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-27 | Ken Van Mersbergen goes over Nexa corporation's early days and their eventual merger with Spectrum Holobyte to form Sphere, Inc. Covered in the presentation are the games they developed and the people who created them.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
KEYFAX: A 1984 Vision of the Internet | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-26 | KeyFax, initiated in 1984 by Keycom Electronic Publishing, was a collaborative venture between Field Enterprises, Honeywell Information Systems, and Centel to create an online service. The service, designed to compete with CompuServe, Prodigy, and AOL, was intended for a custom terminal and offered PC emulators for various platforms. This presentation covers the history, and ultimate failure, of the KeyFax Videotex rollout in Chicago. And, thanks to the power of a large show, a special surprise KEYFAX guest is uncovered...---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
The Commander X16: Latest Updates and Demos | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-25 | At VCFMW 19, David, Kevin, and Troy demonstrated some of the latest gadgets and software for the Commander X16, with a big surprise.Commander X16: commanderx16.com---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Using an Amiga for Medical Education | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-23 | This presentation is the story of how an Amiga was used to give the first all-digital presentation at any large medical conference, using only an Amiga 4000, Scala, and a video projector starting in 1993. This was during a time when all other medical education presentations in all fields of medicine were made using 2 x 2 photographic slides in carousels on a slide projector. This "presentation about a presentation" will cover the early days of how images were digitized using the Amiga, and how digital images and other assets were utilized for pathology reports and teaching. The original talk was to pathologists, by pathologists. The presentation will utilize an Amiga computer to show parts of the original presentation, with minor modifications. Virtually all medical education conferences are now given by laptops and digital projectors.Dr. Peter K. Shireman, a Board-Certified Pathologist who practiced community-based pathology in Kansas and Michigan, was one of the three architects of the "Digital Imaging in Pathology" course in the early 1990s using only an Amiga platform. He later served on the Informatics Committee of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (ASCP). The course was given over 5 years at ASCP and College of American Pathologists national meetings.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Attack of the Mac Clones! | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-22 | @Mac84 and @RonsCompVids take a deep dive into the weird and quirky Mac clones released in the '90s in an attempt by Apple to regain market share. They discuss different models to collect, what to avoid, and cool things about these oddball Macs.Presentation slides: http://mac84.net/start---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
A New Soul for an Old Machine: Building Modern Solutions for Retro Computers | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-21 | As certain parts on older computers fail and rare working examples command higher and higher prices, and as people want to integrate their retro machines into modern life, many new projects have popped up to meet those needs. This panel features members of the community that have created new hardware, firmware, and software solutions to breathe new life into old machines, not just restoring functionality but enhancing quality of life in ways unthought of when those systems were new.Panelists were:@helfire23@ianpolpo@jeffpiepmeier9411 @JoesComputerMuseum Tony Kuker...and were moderated by @RonsCompVidsWebsites mentioned in the panel talk:bluescsi.compicog.uspiscsi.comhttps://fujinet.online/ronscompvids.com---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Vintage Tech YouTubers Discussion Panel | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-19 | Coverage of vintage computing on YouTube has been growing strong for over a decade: There are tens of thousands of videos covering vintage computing history, gaming, and repair. This panel hosted a discussion between the operators of vintage computing channels large and small, including:@The8BitGuy @ComputerClan @adriansdigitalbasement @ActionRetro @polymatt @retrobitstv @MacintoshLibrarian @TaylorAmyShow @VeronicaExplains Questions asked during the panel:00:00:00 - Intro00:01:19 - What are your earliest memories of computing in popular media?00:04:54 - Should vintage computers be kept stock, or tricked out with tons of homebrew mods?00:08:10 - Has generative AI helped you manage your vintage computer hobby or the production of your youtube channel?00:18:22 - What new computer products were you looking forward to that turned out to be disappointing or flops?00:24:14 - What is the music at the end of Macintosh Librarian videos?00:25:12 - Who on the panel is your favorite YouTuber?00:26:20 - What got you started doing YouTube in general?00:29:06 - What's a machine you wanted years back and couldn't get, but now own?00:32:23 - What is your favorite computer operating system?00:34:49 - What single technology did you use for the longest amount of time?00:37:41 - What are your thoughts on new homebrew products that require new old stock or salvaged parts?00:41:12 - Which project was your most frustrating? Which project gave you the most satisfaction?00:45:40 - Has the emulation community been a boon or a hinderance to your activities?00:51:04 - What is your definition of "retro"?00:53:52 - What is it that attracts you to computing?01:04:27 - What modern technology are you exicted about?01:06:39 - What is Krazy Ken's favorite scam video?01:08:02 - What's your favorite printer?01:12:22 - When did you discover you could torture a computer with Linux, or make it useful again with Linux?01:13:25 - What were the best and worst computer deals you've had?01:18:21 - How does the design philosophy of 30 years ago compare to the present day?01:24:00 - What's your least favorite operating system?01:26:41 - What is your favorite computer game, and what platform do you play it on?01:29:59 - What should I do if I only enjoy fixing vintage computers but don't actually enjoy using them?---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
How to Rescue Vintage Equipment from E-Waste Recyclers | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-16 | Tons of vintage systems go into e-waste every year; is there any way to save them? In this talk, Chris Skeeles discusses how to approach and deal with your local e-waste facility for the purpose of acquiring computer equipment for the purpose of refurbishing. An e-waste recycler himself, Chris will speak to the do's and don'ts of dealing with e-waste facilities increasing their chances of building a working relationship.Chris owns and operates boardsort.com, a leading computer recycling service, and has decades of experience dealing with the rescuing, refurbishing and the unfortunate, albeit necessary, scrapping and recycling of computers. Boardsort can be found at boardsort.com---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Visiting Area 5150: Investigating a PC Demo | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-15 | In 2022, the wizards behind the infamous demo 8088 MPH released a new production, Area 5150. Once again, the creaky old hardware of the original IBM 5150 was pushed beyond all conceivable limits. In this talk, Daniel Balsom explores some of the tricks used to bully the IBM CGA card into showing 16 color graphics and animation on a standard monitor, breaking the overscan barrier at the same time.MartyPC Emulator: github.com/dbalsom/martypc---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Resuscitating A 16-bit DOS Open Source Project on Life Support | VCFMW 19 (2024) VCF Midwest 2024-09-13 | FRACTINT was a 16-bit DOS program for creating fractal images that has been around since 1988. It was always available as an open source program and predates the use of the term "open source" by about a decade. FRACTINT was improved and extended by many developers over the course of many years, but never really made a successful transition to a GUI environment. Iterated Dynamics (Id) is a fork of FRACTINT that brings the program into the future. It is an answer to the age-old question for 'dusty deck' software projects: rewrite or refactor? For Id, Richard chose refactor. In this talk, Richard describes his journey of reviving this code as a project on github with it's first release.Richard Thomson is a Senior Software Engineer for NVIDIA where he works on GPU raytracing. He is the creator of the Terminals Wiki, maintainer of the manx online documentation database and is the principal effort behind the Computer Graphics Museum in Salt Lake City. The museum has a collection of artifacts housed in storage with future plans for a public exhibit hall.Iterated Dynamics: github.com/legalizeadulthood/iterated-dynamics---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
The Origins of QuantumLink Reloaded | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-10-09 | Keith Henrickson provides the history of the original reverse engineering effort that became QuantumLink Reloaded, and how how the effort progressed from understanding the BASIC modem dialer to the ML service code. Walking through the process, Keith takes people through where the original clues were found that gave a roadmap into a very complicated piece of code.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Imagic: Triumph to Tragedy | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-10-08 | Ken Van Mersbergen (Dutchman 2000) covers the history of Imagic, the second third party software publisher: Their successes, and their ultimate failure, with a spotlight all of the products and platforms they supported.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
A Crash Course on Moving Big Iron | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-10-07 | Tips, tricks, and planning guidance for moving large vintage computing equipment (in excess of one rack or cabinet). Do not underestimate the logistics of transporting Big Iron!Brought to you by VCFMW's own Director of Telecommunications, Joe_z. ---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Collecting Macintosh PowerBook Computers For EVERYONE | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-09-27 | @RonsCompVids and @Mac84 discuss how to get started collecting Apple's original line of portable computers - the 1xx Series PowerBook! Ron and Steve cover evaluating machines for purchase, required repairs, and must-have upgrades.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
HyperCard Introduction and Experiments with Erics Edge | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-09-26 | @EricsEdgeVideos and @RonsCompVids present a light introduction to HyperCard, where they explain what all the hype was about when it was introduced and attempt to answer the question "What's so interesting about a forty year old programming environment today?" Coverage of Eric's HyperCard experiments then follow.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Vintage Tech YouTubers Discussion Panel | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-09-23 | A roundtable discussion between YouTubers who dedicate their channels to vintage technology, featuring: @LGR, @The8BitGuy, @ComputerClan, @adriansdigitalbasement, @ActionRetro, @theserialport, @NybblesandBytes, and @TaylorAmyShow. Topics discussed include: Dealing with burnout, loved and hated depictions of computing in popular media, whether software piracy is needed for preservation of hardware, multichannel content marketing organizations, and much more. The panel was moderated by @TheOldskoolPC .HUGE thanks to @VeronicaExplains for helping us with the youtuber panel footage!NOTE: The camera is fixed at stage left for the first 11 minutes, then it pans around to view whoever is speaking.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
The restoration of a GT40 to play lunar lander | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-09-19 | 2023 is the 50th anniversary of the DEC GT40 version of Lunar Lander, which is why Scott Swazey and Fritz Mueller decided to repair and restore a DEC GT40 graphic terminal that plays the original lunar lander game. Also presented is the work on an FPGA re-creation of the GT 40 hardware. Both systems were on display at VCFMW 2023.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
VCFMW 18 (2023) Saturday Timelapse VCF Midwest 2023-09-19 | Want a VCFMW 2023 show experience in concentrated form? Here's the Saturday of the show compressed down into 5 minutes for your viewing pleasure.Q: Why did most of the cameras shut off before the end of the day?A: We don't know. We also don't know why the soldering station / LAN gaming camera stayed on. We asked around a forum for the cameras' manufacturer and got the answer "oh, yeah, they do that sometimes". We will try something different for next time.Q: Where can I learn more about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, see past websites and shirts, and get a sense for what ozone smells like?A: Head on over yonder to www.vcfmw.org for all your VCFMW needs.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Whats Inside a Terminal? A Comparison of Architectures | VCFMW 18 (2023) VCF Midwest 2023-09-18 | Terminals were the main user interface for interactive computing throughout the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s. Eventually the personal computer or workstation displaced the terminal as the 'face' of the computers we use. What's inside a terminal and how does it work? In this talk, Richard Thomson takes a look at the internal architecture of several different CRT terminals: the Beehive B100, the DEC VT100 and the HP 2648A. We look at how these terminals are different as well as their similarities, and ask the question 'How does a terminal differ from a microcomputer?' and provide some reasonable answers.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
VCFMW 2022 Complete Timelapse VCF Midwest 2022-10-18 | Want the full VCFMW show experience in concentrated form? Here's the entire weekend compressed down into 17 minutes for your viewing pleasure.Q: Why do some cameras blink in and out?A: We didn't realize some of the cameras were set to motion-detect mode, and when there was no motion to detect, they didn't record anything. Those responsible have been sacked.Q: Why did one camera cut out completely Saturday afternoon?A: Someone unplugged it, as they needed the power for their vintage computer exhibit. A worthy sacrifice.Q: Where can I learn more about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, see past websites and shirts, and get a sense for what ozone smells like?A: Head on over yonder to www.vcfmw.org for all your VCFMW needs.Q: What's that song at the end of the video?A: I Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/dtvArtist: http://chriszabriskie.com---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Demon Debugger | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-26 | Demon Debugger is a completely open, flexible, hardware/software debugger system, primarily used for repair of vintage computers of all kinds. Over the past 6 years, it has evolved into a powerful and scalable tool and tested on ~10 hardware platforms, and currently supports 3 CPU architectures, with potential for many more. Current hardware exists as a small PCB that plugs into a standard rom socket. However, it can be used with as little hardware as an Arduino Nano and a single transistor! In this presentation, Frank Palazzolo and Evan Allen demonstrate how this tool has been used for repair and reverse-engineering, and how it can help you bring vintage systems back to life.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Keeping Retro Computing/Gaming Alive with MiSTer FPGA | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-25 | MiSTer is an FPGA device that allows many different older computers, game consoles and other miscellaneous devices to be recreated with a hardware simulation bringing the feel of using the original hardware back with close to 100% authenticity. Alan Reeve maintains the MiSTer Manual project which is an attempt to go further than just a 'how do I run the games?' approach with these older computers. Alan presents what MiSTer is, what cores are currently available, and demonstrates how well it works and the benefits of using FPGA technology for Retro Computing.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Vintage Tech YouTubers Discussion Panel | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-24 | A roundtable discussion between the operators of some of the largest vintage tech youtube channels, with 8-Bit Show and Tell, The 8-Bit Guy, Computer Clan, LGR, Adrian's Digital Basement, and Ben Heck. Storage management, pushing through difficult projects, and many other subjects are discussed, with insightful and humorous stories.Timestamps:0:00 Introductions2:09 How do you manage the storage of your collection? 14:51 How can a beginner learn about electronics? 25:48 Is there a way to tell the story of unpopular historical subjects? 31:45 How do you find people to interview about vintage tech subjects? 37:19 Have you thought about opening up a museum? 40:48 Have you ever regretting discarding tech that, years later, you would have been able to repair? 45:41 What was the hardest computer for you to repair? 50:39 How best to introduce your children to electronics? 56:54 How do you get through a project where you've hit a roadblock, or has become frustrating? 1:02:53 What donations have blown you away? 1:04:05 When people fake donating an item 1:09:53 Why did you start your YouTube channels, and how do you "work" the algorithm? 1:16:02 What rare computers do you own that you really like? 1:21:45 How long does it take you to record and edit videos? 1:28:55 Conclusion ---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
The History of Roklan Corporation | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-23 | A presentation about the former Illinois-based software company Roklan. Discussed are its formations, what the company did, and ultimately what happened to it. They wrote most of the home software titles for Parker Brothers, and also did engineering work for Atari, CBS and Coleco.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
What Does it Take to Start an Indie Computer Museum? | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-22 | Bill Degnan describes how he and his friends started Kennett Classic computer museum to service the local community and foster the hobby to a new population. Bill reviews what works and what does not, and what makes Kennett Classic unique.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Scope out some of these Bleep Bloops | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-21 | Ever wanted to be able to tell sound chips apart by ear? No? Well, it was late at night, so Inverse Phase thought it was a good idea to listen to some cool chiptunes with the VCFMW audience and tell them what's different about each configuration. Get your bleep bloop on.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Collecting Classic Macintosh Computers Is for EVERYONE! | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-20 | Ron McAdams and Steve (Mac84) explain how to get started in collecting classic Macintosh computers. Mac 128K through Early Intel... broken down by generation... how collectable are they, how valuable are they, what do you need to look out for when making a purchase. Must-do repairs by series.. recapping / battery woes / etc. Using those machines in the modern era... what must-have upgrades are out there... neat things on the horizon... cool resources online for new folks to leverage (Macintosh Garden, popular YT channels, etc)---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
A preview of the Apple Lisa Documentary | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-19 | After some delays, the Apple Lisa documentary film is almost complete and expected to be finished in time for the show. Meet the Producer/Director & Associate Producer and learn much more about this fascinating computer that kickstarted everything we use today. Whether you use a Windows computer or Mac, an Android phone or iPhone, you are using the legacy of the Apple Lisa, even in 2022.The presentation includes samplings from the film, plus extra interview footage and behind the scenes pictures.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Storage Tube Displays: How You Get 4K Resolution in 1974 | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-18 | In 1969 Tektronix introduced the Type 611 11-inch storage display unit for $2500. Tektronix subsequently integrated the storage display and serial communication circuitry into a line of graphics terminals, including the Tektronix 4014 terminal capable of 4K addressable points resolution in 1974. In this talk, Richard Thomson goes over the history of the storage tube display and its impact on computer graphics.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
25 Years of the Vintage Computer Festival | VCFMW 17 (2022) VCF Midwest 2022-09-14 | A talk from Sellam Ismail on the history of the Vintage Computer Festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
TeleVideo Rises Again: Recreating a lost machine | VCFMW 16 (2021) VCF Midwest 2021-09-20 | VCFMW Founder Emeritus Pat Finnegan walks us through the process of reconstructing a system without any schematics. After years of no success in finding a whole machine, in early 2020 a bare PCB came up on eBay that appeared to be for TeleVideo's first networked diskless Z80 system, the TS-80. This talk details the process of going from a blank PCB with design errors and no schematics or instructions to recreating the system from the PCB up through boot code to run TeleVideo's CP/M based networking environment.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
VCFMW 16 (2021) Show Timelapse VCF Midwest 2021-09-20 | Curious about the scope and flow of VCFMW 16? This timelapse from Saturday 9am to Sunday closing time should help!Some fun things to check out include late Saturday night, when the auction let out and everyone lined up to get what they won (03:15 in the video). On Sunday, you can see the slow teardown of the show as some people decide to leave early.Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):uppbeat.io/t/zayner/alitaLicense code: 9XZS51GRT4WDYXH9---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Vintage Tech YouTubers Discussion Panel | VCFMW 2021 VCF Midwest 2021-09-19 | VCF Midwest 2021 was extremely fortunate to have Clint from LGR, Ken from Computer Clan, and David from 8-Bit Guy participate in a roundtable discussion about the process of creating vintage computer and tech content for YouTube. Nearly 30 questions are answered over the course of 90 minutes, some posed by our moderator, others by the audience.00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:10 Why YouTube specifically? Why not a website, blog, or podcast? 00:05:02 Which projects of yours had surprisingly disappointing receptions? 00:10:23 How do you plan your video production? 00:14:15 How many projects do you have in the pipeline at any given time? 00:16:45 Stories about being recognized in public 00:22:18 What would you be doing today if you had never made YouTube videos? 00:24:54 The Holy Grail project that got away 00:29:28 Do you look back on some videos and cringe? 00:32:08 What is the cause for videos not getting finished, or followed-up on? 00:33:40 What is it about YouTube that grinds your gears? 00:38:39 What is the most interesting story of how you acquired a piece of vintage tech? 00:44:15 Are there any projects you regret doing, or regret *not* doing? 00:49:04 How do you gauge how much detail to put into your videos? 00:52:16 What do you like and not like about doing YouTube? 00:56:02 Is there a Holy Grail piece of tech you've been unable to acquire? 01:00:00 How did Ken come up with the Crazy Ken persona? 01:01:16 For your channels, how old is too old? How new is too new? 01:04:03 Stories of disappointing hardware 01:05:54 What is the crown jewel of your collection?01:07:46 Comfy chairs and pushing up roses 01:08:53 What's your favorite piece of ordinary tech? 01:11:06 What production problems does 8-bit Guy's new studio space solve? 01:13:43 What's your favorite memes of yourselves? 01:15:18 How do you explain what you do for a living? 01:18:50 Does David still use a heat sink to cool TV dinners? 01:19:21 A comment on vacuum tubes 01:26:44 How can small channels get the word out about their content? ---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
A short history of SWRAP/ECCC/VCFMW and the after-party | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Jesus Eric provides an oral history of the various shows that preceded, and complemented, VCFMW, with emphasis on how their after-parties were sometimes a vital catalyst for each show.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Ghost King: Shakespeare Meets Scott Adams Text Adventures | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | :GET YE FLASK -- Classic text adventures are lousy with wizards and princesses, hobbits and trolls, pirates and detectives. But there are few soliloquizing heroes. This video documents the development and release of Ghost King, imagined as a head-on collision between William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Scott Adams in the year 1980, from its design on a modern computer to its eventual release on Commodore 64 and TRS-80 platforms.For more info or to play, visit https://ghostking.netlify.app/---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
D-116, an obscure clone of an overlooked mini | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Steven A. gives a bit of history on the Digital Computer Controls D-116, and on the Data General Nova upon which it is based, then demonstrates bootstrapping it from the bootstrap loader into Data General Standalone Basic, and discuss future plans for the machine.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Retro CAD Workstations | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Robert Burns gives a presentation of vintage CAD workstations from the 80’s through 2000. The collection includes 8086, 286, 386, 486, and Pentium machines running various early CAD programs (and custom accelerators).---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
An interview with TAMIKO THIEL, lead product designer at Thinking Machines Corporation | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | This is a recorded interview with TAMIKO THIEL which aired on anonradio.net/djs/vintage-computer during the Vintage COMP! w/ jasmaz show at 0200 UTC 06-Aug-2020. Tamiko goes over her involvement in creating Thinking Machines systems, and relevant images from that time are also presented.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
The 50th birthday of the PDP-8/E | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | The PDP-8/E was introduced 1970 August 25.-28. at the Western Electronic Show And Convention Los Angeles (WESCON). DEC showed the PDP-8/E with the new OMNIBUS design. This was a big advantage for the PDP development, offering other companies an easy way to develop options for the PDP-8/E. So this is 50 years ago! To celebrate this, Volker Herrmann made a small birthday film. Happy Birthday, PDP-8/E!---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
The SPARCserver 1000 Series, Inside and Out | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | The SPARCserver 1000 series is one of Mowgli Assor's favorite computer series, and the Sprawl Library has a small collection. This talk will cover some bits of history and then go into the anatomy of the series, also showing an SSA if it cooperates. This series was the beginning of Sun's newer "Enterprise" series, designed as an expandable large computing platform.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Kennett Classic: Behind the Scenes at the Museum | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Kennett Classic is our brick and mortar location in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania USA. Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of our exhibits and meet the people behind them.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Vintage Computer Crawlspace Transformation and Tour | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Other than money and time, what's the thing vintage computer collectors never have enough of? Space! In this quick transformation and tour, Jim "Trixter" Leonard provides a quick before and after comparison of how a crawlspace can be transformed into something practical for storing your collection overflow. As an added bonus, we'll quickly identify everything that was uncovered.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
A Java Library for Commodore Disk Images | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Glenn "Cenbe" Holmer gives a brief talk about his C64 image library, discussing the API and showing several programs based on it.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
History and Demonstration of the Super Card Pro and Super Tracker | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Craig Ernster provides a short demo on Jim Drew's Super Card Pro and Super Tracker, from their beginning to final evolution. Included is a brief history of both devices, their operation and Jim developing the latest version of these devices.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
A Look At An IBM System 370 Model 148 | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Uniservo takes us on a tour of a rescued IBM System 370.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Keynote from the VCF Midwest Underground Quarantine HQ | VVCFMW 2020 VCF Midwest 2020-09-12 | Welcome... to VVCFMW15. Pull up a chair, and stay a while. Let's reminisce about previous events, and the T-shirts that accompanied them.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Jack Rubin and Friends Annual Family of 8 Panel (improved audio) | VCFMW 2019 VCF Midwest 2020-03-27 | A tradition since the very first VCFMW, Jack Rubin and a panel of PDP8 enthusiasts talk about various PDP8 restoration and homebrew projects underway.(This is a re-upload of the original video with drastically improved audio.)---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
Restoring the Machine that Destroyed the Death Star | VCFMW 2019 VCF Midwest 2019-10-01 | In 1974, Steve Heminover became a part of the Circle Graphics Habitat at UIC, an early pioneer of computer graphics modeling and animation. One of the most famous outputs of this group was the use of the Vector General Graphics Display to display the 3-D wireframe animation for Star Wars, featuring Larry Cuba's groundbreaking work. In this talk, Steve goes over that history, how he obtained the original Vector General Graphics Display used for Star Wars, how the restoration process progressed, and the final result: Viewing the Death Star on the very screen it was filmed from.Q&A:Q: How was the original animation created?A: If you want to see how the original animation was created by Larry Cuba back in 1977, here's a short film that shows how he did it: youtu.be/yMeSw00n3AcQ: Is the high-res video of the animation, or the animation data available?A: As the animation data and its original presentation is still under copyright, these items are not available to the general public at this time.---Vintage Computer Festival Midwest is a free, volunteer-run show for the vintage computer hobbyist community. For more information about Vintage Computer Festival Midwest, visit http://www.vcfmw.org
