confused--robot's CD collection @confused--robots--cd--library - Tumblr Blog

thevaultoftheatomicspaceage

#automotive #van

thevaultoftheatomicspaceage

#volkswagen

kimi-wa-kasa-o-sashiteita

Radio Astronomy (ph. Fritz Goro)

#radio astronomy #strip chart recorder #test equipment #analog

edwhiteandblue

False color infrared image of Artemis II at LC-39B, 03/31/2026 | 📸 NASA/Bill Ingalls

#infrared #false color

certified-delinquent

I wish to know a block of magnetic core memory carnally

Core memory uses toroids (rings) of a hard magnetic material (usually a semi-hard ferrite). Each core stores one bit of information. Two or more wires pass through each core, forming an X-Y array of cores. When an electrical current above a certain threshold is applied to the wires, the core will become magnetized. By the late 1960s, a density of about 32 kilobits per cubic foot (about 0.9 kilobits per litre was typical. The cost declined over this period from about $1 per bit to about 1 cent per bit. Reaching this density requires extremely careful manufacturing, which was almost always carried out by hand in spite of repeated major efforts to automate the process. Core was almost universal until the introduction of the first semiconductor memory chips in the late 1960s. Wikipedia

commodorez

Alright, fine, y'all want to put your money where your mouth is, and actually...

BUILD SOME MOTHERFUCKING CORE MEMORY?

Learn how core memory works with Core64, an interactive core memory kit, Arduino compatible.

There. Modern kits to build and play with core memory. Andy does fine work, and you get to weave up to 64 bytes (depends on how dexterous/patient you want to be and which kit you pick) of honest to goodness core memory.

Here's his VCF East exhibit from last year:

Go nuts.

#analog #digital #core memory

dinosaurspen

CDC 1604, via CHM (archive)

itsapmseymour

They got new photos of the moon,

I knew she had colors hiding in there 🥹

rendoas

These photos were not taken by Artemis II.

They are photos taken by Ukranian astrophotographer Ildar Ibatullin.

He has an Instagram and sells hi-res downloads.

I wish people would stop scrubbing photographers' names from their work. Attributing his photos to Artemis II seems to be popular right now.

#moon #photography

thevaultoftheatomicspaceage

#vintage equipment #digital #user interface #control panel #vintage electronics #IBM

pinkblanc

Life Magazine, February 1963

#vintage equipment #wires

architectureofdoom

Uferpark Attisholz Süd (former sewage treatment plant), Luterbach, Mavo Landschaften, 2019

thevaultoftheatomicspaceage

1962 Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT

#automotive

thevaultoftheatomicspaceage

1980 Mercury Antser Concept

#automotive #concept car

velvetvexations

Weird Fantasy (1950) #18 written by Al Feldstein and drawn by Joe Orlando, with editor Bill Gaines

velvetvexations

So he said it can't be a Black. So I said, "For God's sakes, Judge Murphy, that's the whole point of the Goddamn story!" So he said, "No, it can't be a Black". Bill just called him up and raised the roof, and finally they said, "Well, you gotta take the perspiration off". I had the stars glistening in the perspiration on his Black skin. Bill said, "Fuck you", and he hung up.

Al Feldstein, Tales of Terror: The EC Companion

iconuk01

Just to add context for those not aware of the impact of this story.

The reason it was so important for narrative purposes, was that the plot concerns the visit of the Astronaut, in his completely opaque spacesuit, to a planet populated entirely by self-aware robots (originally from Earth) who have built their own society and are petitioning to be allowed to interact with Earth again as equals.

They have a democratic government and free choice of careers etc. as the orange robot serving as guide tells the Astronaut.

The Astronaut notices that there are two different types of robot on this world; the orange ones, who are in charge, gifted access to all information and facilities. and the blue robots, who are seen as more limited in function, have less access to information and resources, and are not allowed positions of power or as wide a choice of employment opportunities. Even transportation is segregated.

The Astronaut investigates further and discovers that the blue and orange robots are actually structurally identical, there is absolutely no difference between their potential or capabilities, and it is only because the orange robots are instructed by their Educator system to consider themselves superior, that the difference exists.

The Astronaut tells the robots they are not ready for re-alignment with Earth, until they come to terms with their own unfairness, and how Earth had had to deal with this issue themselves. When that time comes, the robots will be able to ally with Earth.

Then he leaves in his spaceship, and it's only in that one final panel that we see the Astronaut is black.

Not subtle, nor should it be, but for 1950 this was a breathtakingly powerful statement, perhaps the first of it's kind in the genre.

The black character was not a caricature, or comedy relief, he was a main character in his own right, a human who "simply" was black.

assortedinsanities

Ok, but this story is sadly revolutionary even now. That is not just a human who happens to be black, as far as every other character in this story is concerned this is the most important, maybe even the only human they ever see, who happens to be black.

As depressing as that is, but a black person just casually representing the entirety of humanity is a breathtakingly powerfull statement even today, a quarter of a century later.