Nostr notes by Tech Tangents

RE: https://dialup.space/@TechTangents/117128373167235184 I ...

2026-08-20T16:01:27Z

RE: https://dialup.space/@TechTangents/117128373167235184

I figured I would self quote this because replies are weird on mastodon. This is a big part of why I have a hard line "Never AI" stance.

Water usage can be mitigated, energy can be renewable, manufacturing can catch up, but generative AI will always be built on theft because it needs so much data.

Gee I sure love how AI gives the power back to the people. The ...

2026-06-29T15:04:15Z

Gee I sure love how AI gives the power back to the people. The people who use it to constantly flood my public email with garbage. It's so bad that real emails that aren't this nonsense are more likely to be marked as spam and filtered out now.

I'm becoming increasingly tempted to just nuke this email address and move to a new one that isn't listed on the channel about page anymore.

I put out a video that was critical of AI without AI being ...

2026-06-08T14:43:31Z

I put out a video that was critical of AI without AI being mentioned in title, thumbnail, or description. And it was dogpiled with pro-AI comments almost instantly.

This video has almost 2.5X as many comments per view as my most recent "controversial" video, and 4.5 the average.

I don't want to say that AI bots are being used to astrorturf videos after scraping scripts, but I have a hard time believing this is real based on experience.

Turns out the trick to getting Google Classic sans-AI is to just ...

2026-05-24T00:18:56Z

Turns out the trick to getting Google Classic sans-AI is to just browse the web on a 3DS!

I can't see any possible down sides to this!

I pay for Google Workspace to host custom email domains so they ...

2026-05-17T13:41:00Z

I pay for Google Workspace to host custom email domains so they don't get blocked by the cartel. And gmail has stupid AI nonsense in it (that is broken and impossible to disable without support due to the age of the account, I don't use it).

But the thing that drives me the most nuts about it is its insistence on replacing idioms with bland corpo speak.

I get that these don't translate well to other languages. But sanitizing all language down to a lowest common denominator is awful.

Welcome to our future. My grandmother bought a book on Amazon a ...

2026-05-13T15:04:16Z

Welcome to our future. My grandmother bought a book on Amazon a few days ago and this is what arrived. My BS radar went off like crazy as soon as I saw it.

This is an almost completely AI generated book, printed on demand, and sold as a physical product.

"Slimeline" gets even worse as a name, here's an ...

2026-05-11T22:05:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…x55n
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"Slimeline" gets even worse as a name, here's an InfoWorld article calling half height drives "slimline"

Source:
https://books.google.com/books?id=GzAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61&dq=slimline+floppy+drive&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp9Ze6nrKUAxVIle4BHYaFGxUQ6AF6BAgHEAM#v=onepage&q=slimline%20floppy%20drive&f=false

Oh yeah, I left this out. That manual does give the drive form ...

2026-05-11T21:59:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…qe9u
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Oh yeah, I left this out. That manual does give the drive form factor a designation. But it is "slimline". So...yeah. I'm not going to find many helpful results searching for "slimeline 5.25in drive" here.

I still have no idea where this size comes from, but now I know I ...

2026-05-11T21:50:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…wgku
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I still have no idea where this size comes from, but now I know I can stop associating it with the Sony drives. I will be continuing my quest to find more information on this unusual form factor.

For now I've added this drive to my wiki so the info is in a more publicly available place: https://wiki.techtangents.net/wiki/Remex_RFD480

And here's the kicker, the Remex was first! Bitsavers has a ...

2026-05-11T21:47:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…adlu
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And here's the kicker, the Remex was first!

Bitsavers has a manual for it scanned: https://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/remex/floppy/Remex_RFD480_RFD960_Product_Reference_Manual.pdf

In the manual there is a mechanical draft, with a date barely legible, I believe 08/12/81. This most likely predates the original Sony OA-D30V drive that was made for a word processor that the was released in late 1981. So this "standard" is earlier than the Sony drives!.

But it gets weirder! This is the only 5.25in drive I have ever ...

2026-05-11T21:40:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…608l
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But it gets weirder!

This is the only 5.25in drive I have ever seen that is the same vertical size as a Sony OA-D3#V series drive! I have wondered about the origin of their size for a long time and was speculating it was a one-off. But clearly not!

However, if you try to install it into a computer, you're ...

2026-05-11T21:38:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…aynk
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However, if you try to install it into a computer, you're going to notice something odd. It's too big, no wait, it's too small?

It is not a standard height. It's not just the bezel being big either, the drive fills in all the space vertically. Using what seems like a full size NEMA stepper in the back probably didn't help.

At first blush you'll notice the really unusual disk latch. ...

2026-05-11T21:36:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…2jav
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At first blush you'll notice the really unusual disk latch. It clicks in and is held down with a latch unlike Tandon TM100's that have a lame channel system.

And when you open it, it is spring loaded to eject and present the disk!

https://youtu.be/79UAq5HT9xw

I've got another unusual 5.25in drive for you! I've had ...

2026-05-11T21:33:29Z

I've got another unusual 5.25in drive for you! I've had these in my collection a while after a local pickup but I didn't realize how strange they were until I tried to use one.

This is the Remex RFD480, and it doesn't physically fit in any computer you have.

Pretty cool thing I was able to do on stream today that should be ...

2026-05-09T23:19:04Z

Pretty cool thing I was able to do on stream today that should be a video coming up soon, I was able to do dual monitor AutoCAD R11 using the IBM 8514 on my PS/2!

But I'm curious if anyone knows of any other programs that specifically support this config of 8514+VGA dual monitors? It's different from VGA+MDA which is a lot more common.

The door slides up behind the bezel and the button is just part ...

2026-04-21T21:34:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…sed9
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The door slides up behind the bezel and the button is just part of a latch that releases it.

I just got to add a new unusual 5.25in drive to my collection ...

2026-04-21T21:08:35Z

I just got to add a new unusual 5.25in drive to my collection today! This is an MPI B51 single sided drive, used by a TRS-80 Model 1 here.

Bitsavers has an excellent brochure for it: https://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mpi/brochures/MPI_B51_B52_Brochure.pdf

I find the variety of full height drives fascinating and am semi-seriously trying to collect examples of as many of them as I can. I love the 8in style drive door on these!

This might be one of the greatest error messages of all time. ...

2026-03-28T23:23:04Z

This might be one of the greatest error messages of all time.

I mean, it says Windows right on the front of the box, so ...

2026-03-24T23:02:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…gl0e
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I mean, it says Windows right on the front of the box, so it's gotta be possible right?

Dumb question, and I mean dumb... Anyone ever installed Windows ...

2026-03-24T22:59:50Z

Dumb question, and I mean *dumb*...

Anyone ever installed Windows 3.1 on PC-DOS 7.0?

I've got a bad idea...

Well I had a fun day today! These are unaltered direct photos ...

2026-02-21T23:56:31Z

Well I had a fun day today!

These are unaltered direct photos (other than mirroring) of a CED and a Laserdisc where using diffraction grating I was able to VISIBLY SEE video physically encoded on the disc!

I will be editing a video about this process but also did a quick write up about it on my wiki here with the direct sample images:

https://wiki.techtangents.net/wiki/Seeing_Media

I was asked by a family member why it was taking so long to paste ...

2026-01-02T23:50:52Z

I was asked by a family member why it was taking so long to paste something large into a new Microsoft Word document on their computer, I sarcastically replied it was because it takes a while to upload it all to the copilot AI nonense first. And then I realized accidentally I might be right...I disabled copilot in Word and it went back to being instant again

So that's cool that Microsoft seems uploading everything you paste into a new Word doc to their servers now.

Typical day in RS-232 land ...

2025-12-17T20:05:20Z

Typical day in RS-232 land

What every self respecting software engineer is thinking inside ...

2025-11-11T18:20:03Z

What every self respecting software engineer is thinking inside as they watch AI wreck everything.

I have two of these cameras and have been meaning to try them ...

2025-09-13T18:05:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…6d42
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I have two of these cameras and have been meaning to try them out! The first three photos were taken with the camera and the last one is my current phone as a reference.

We've got some dark times ahead for repairing vintage ...

2025-08-15T01:01:13Z

We've got some dark times ahead for repairing vintage devices. I just ordered some of these capacitors last year to fix my 5154, and now they are gone.

Oh yeah, I'm about to enter a new era of CD ripping ...

2025-08-11T02:43:29Z

Oh yeah, I'm about to enter a new era of CD ripping capabilities!

This is an Aleratech AutoPublisher LS, a disc robot meant for duplicating disks. It is just a USB serial device though that takes commands to control it. This was done as a test with the original software in an XP VM.

I need to figure out how to snoop the serial commands to control it myself for ripping. I'm open to recommendations on that because I'm not sure since it connects as USB.

Local news this morning was talking about a settlement with 3M ...

2025-08-01T16:24:40Z

Local news this morning was talking about a settlement with 3M about PFAS.

Their B-Roll?

3M brand double density floppy disks.

For no particular reason, enjoy this image of a SmartMedia card ...

2025-07-17T01:01:46Z

For no particular reason, enjoy this image of a SmartMedia card sitting on top of some core memory.

This will eventually make sense in the context of a video, I swear.

That's awesome! You might have some insight into this then, ...

2025-07-13T14:21:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…56pl
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That's awesome! You might have some insight into this then, in the officially produced MS-DOS disk there was actually some deleted MS-DOS development code for the Dot left in the "blank" space.

Does this seem at all like what you may have done with the machine?

This is a huge video for me: https://youtu.be/AR5i9BnJqlA This is ...

2025-07-12T15:10:47Z

This is a huge video for me: https://youtu.be/AR5i9BnJqlA

This is the Computer Devices Dot. An IBM PC compatible(-ish) that used 3.5in Floppy Drives *in 1983*!

It's woefully unknown and unpreserved, today that changes.

Y

2025-07-07T18:57:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…fd9l
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Y

If this doesn't look like a setup for entrapment I don't ...

2025-07-06T15:48:42Z

If this doesn't look like a setup for entrapment I don't know what does

*Does video where I checked the PSU first, but it was the solder ...

2025-06-07T22:53:23Z

*Does video where I checked the PSU first, but it was the solder that was bad*

Comments: Obviously you should have checked all of the solder. You should just reflow every PCB you ever see.

*Does video where I checked the solder first, but it was the PSU that was bad*

Comments: Why didn't you check the PSU first? I've never seen bad solder before.

A fun side effect of the bubbling is the the solder spewing tiny ...

2025-05-29T19:48:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…0l6a
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A fun side effect of the bubbling is the the solder spewing tiny solder balls all over the whole time I'm working on this.

Seriously, this thing is terrible.

This board is CURSED. The solder bubbles on it for some reason ...

2025-05-29T19:12:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…c742
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This board is CURSED. The solder *bubbles* on it for some reason while I'm reflowing it. There is some kind of contamination here. I would say it is the conformal coating but the bubbles that form and cavitate look a lot like the existing bad solder.

This thing is a nightmare.

I took everything home for this where I could work in a open ...

2025-05-29T18:02:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…ntm9
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I took everything home for this where I could work in a open garage with a huge fan blowing for ventilation, bought some proper rubber gloves, and DRENCHED it in acetone while scrubbing with a long rough brush for half an hour and I managed to get it clear!

That was a huge pain in the butt. Hopefully the acetone won't have caused any problems on the other side (which I was rinsing during the process).

Now I can finally try reflowing this thing.

And there's why acetone isn't something I like and avoid ...

2025-05-27T20:00:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…nzx2
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And there's why acetone isn't something I like and avoid using. It is really nasty stuff.

I'm not sure how I'm even going to be able to use it for this.

Alright, I bought some acetone and tried that. It gets VERY ...

2025-05-27T19:55:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…7wex
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Alright, I bought some acetone and tried that. It gets VERY sticky but it can get it off. Now to figure out a safe way to do this without a fume hood and the ability to scrub around the pins.

You can see a thick line of it on top of the wide trace here. ...

2025-05-27T18:57:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…afal
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You can see a thick line of it on top of the wide trace here. When I tried to put a totally clean iron tip on it I ended up with that charred blob next to the "O".

I am not sure how to handle this...I'm fairly confident there is a failed solder joint on this PCB but the whole thing looks bad. And I will scorch this coating if I reflow the whole thing.

Oh great, it gets even better. When I tried to reflow the solder ...

2025-05-27T18:53:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…630q
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Oh great, it gets even better. When I tried to reflow the solder it seemed like something on top was burning. Turns out the whole board is coated in something. I just tried cleaning it off of this spot with 91% isopropyl and it did *nothing*. I'm pretty sure this isn't flux because it completely clear. I can only see it like this with a light reflecting off of it at the right angle.

The EXACT SAME device also has this in it which is some of the ...

2025-05-27T18:36:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…4tve
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The EXACT SAME device also has this in it which is some of the most beautiful soldering I have ever seen.

The sixties must have been a wild time.

This is the worst soldering I have ever seen on a device and ...

2025-05-27T18:34:27Z

This is the worst soldering I have ever seen on a device and it's not even close.

I'm too excited not to share this before next week's ...

2025-05-18T16:07:23Z

I'm too excited not to share this before next week's video because I still doesn't feel real.

That is my Data General microNOVA fully put back together and running flawlessly!

Seeing this working after just having it "around" for so long is wild. A lot of help and luck made this happen. I'm so happy and appreciative that this has been able to come together to this point.

The three main options I know of are these: - Just use a flatbed, ...

2025-04-10T18:54:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…hst4
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The three main options I know of are these:

- Just use a flatbed, possibly find a bookedge model like my Avision
- Get a dedicated book scanner like the CZURs I have reviewed and accept a quality vs. convenience trade off.
- Cut the spine and use an doc feed scanner

I've heard there are phone apps for it if your phone has a decent camera but I haven't looked into those myself.

I'm reading a Data General manual right now and it's ...

2025-04-02T21:41:47Z

I'm reading a Data General manual right now and it's telling me about a key combination that ends a program. It's not telling me *what* the keys are, just that the combination does exist.

Thanks DG.

(Also, note "optaining" up above, I've seen TONS of typos make it into DG manuals lol)

Data General, SERIOUSLY? This header cable isn't 0.100in ...

2025-03-14T17:56:36Z

Data General, SERIOUSLY?

This header cable isn't 0.100in spacing, it is 1ft/100 spacing.

That is a Data General microNOVA booted off of a floppy! It's ...

2025-03-03T01:27:30Z

That is a Data General microNOVA booted off of a floppy!

It's not doing anything useful yet and it turns out my one boot disk is just to initialize an HDD or something. But hey it's a start!

Does anyone know anything about this possible Apple II plus desk? ...

2025-02-27T20:59:33Z

Does anyone know anything about this possible Apple II plus desk? I couldn't find any info but bought it anyway because I love period stuff like this.

I LIVE for weird stuff like this! It's tape for fixing ...

2025-02-25T18:43:16Z

I LIVE for weird stuff like this!

It's tape for fixing tractor paper holes tearing!

Man, the lens on this camera is terrible. You have to be super ...

2025-02-24T17:15:21Z

Man, the lens on this camera is terrible. You have to be super close to anything to have it in focus.

(Alt text: It's a tektronix C-5 oscilliscope camera)

I woke up this morning and remembered something crazy, I have a ...

2025-02-19T14:02:57Z

I woke up this morning and remembered something crazy, I have a functional Data General!

Yesterday was a ton of fun with Usagi Electric working on this thing!

There are still some quirks to iron out, but man what a relief to have made so much progress!

(Oh yeah, the video out on the terminal works!)

I've got a really special announcement, on February 18th ...

2025-02-12T18:11:57Z

I've got a really special announcement, on February 18th (just under a week from now) Usagi Electric will be stopping by the office and we're going to tear into my Data General Dasher Terminal to try to get it working! We're going to live stream the adventure in it's entirety and later I will be editing it into a more digestible video. It should be a fun time and hopefully a positive outcome!

Youtube Stream Link: https://www.youtube.com/live/1xMQuZiG9FE
Twitch Stream Link: https://www.twitch.tv/techtangents

Despite using mobile touch screens all the time, there's ...

2024-12-22T15:40:26Z

Despite using mobile touch screens all the time, there's still something I find fascinating about full size touch screen desktop monitors.

It just feels so weird and cool even if the idea of actually using it sounds terrible.

Gmail's automatic spam filter knocked this one out of the ...

2024-12-18T20:50:57Z

Gmail's automatic spam filter knocked this one out of the park.

Cool, I'm being called a "libcuck feminist" in ...

2024-11-10T14:18:26Z

Cool, I'm being called a "libcuck feminist" in comments because I bemoaned the advertising of the product I was covering using sexually suggestive terms on my always family friendly vintage computer videos that I know for a fact kids do watch with their parents.

I'm sure they totally weren't emboldened to share their misogynistic views in new places after any recent events.

I had no idea aligators were endangered at some point. It also ...

2024-11-07T19:50:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…rxzf
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I had no idea aligators were endangered at some point.

It also feels very strange to learn about that through BYTE.

THERE WAS A HEX BASE ADDIATOR CLONE!? ...

2024-11-07T18:33:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…6nvv
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THERE WAS A HEX BASE ADDIATOR CLONE!?

BYTE....come on... This is an article that teaches you C macros ...

2024-11-07T18:17:09Z

BYTE....come on...

This is an article that teaches you C macros so you an make C use BASIC syntax.

I am so tired of AI LLM garbage being FORCED into every aspect of ...

2024-10-17T15:51:48Z

I am so tired of AI LLM garbage being FORCED into every aspect of life now. Youtube is now providing context aware automatic reply options for creators on the backend.

The erosion of human communication like this is going to have disastrous consequences in the long term.

I made my server look like it came from a mall novelty shop in ...

2024-09-14T21:03:23Z

I made my server look like it came from a mall novelty shop in 2002...

and I couldn't be happier!

I have just encountered something so stupid that I didn't ...

2024-08-28T15:44:59Z

I have just encountered something so stupid that I didn't believe it was real at first. Ebay has added a feature to have AI generate a description from a product based on the photos. I just encountered it in the wild and had to confirm it is in fact a 1st party ebay feature

https://innovation.ebayinc.com/tech/features/magical-listing-tool-harnesses-the-power-of-ai-to-make-selling-on-ebay-faster-easier-and-more-accurate/

I will NEVER knowingly purchase an item with an AI generated description. I have eyes, I can see the photos. This adds nothing and reduces the likelihood of the seller adding actual information there