ArakinNov 19, 2022
Prof Brian Cox
Hello! Very much looking forward to starting a new chapter here. Browsing through an old box in the garage just now, I found these, and for some reason I thought it would make an appropriate first post. My 1990's computing history.
Nov 19, 2022 at 1:22pmWeb
Show threadtittyactivismNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox
Cool Linux distro you got there!
🐧
Show threadCOMPU73E ❄️Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox wow awesome 🐧
Show threadSinjoNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Windows 95 beta - brave man!
Show threadArmanNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox astronomically awesome that you are here!
Show threadAadesh Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox linux represented
Show threadYurkshireLadNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox ah yes, the good old days!
Show threadmerely rhysNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox The pang of nostalgia this inspired damn near killed me.
Show threadPaul_KNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox dos on a disk... The good ol' days lol. 3 hours to load the operating system, a day to configure it and then a week of cursing when it crashed and you had to start again lol
Show threadProf West Wing Chicken ShackNov 24, 2022

@PaulBUK @profbriancox

I had a Casiopea device - first version, with a keyboard - and I demonstrated it running MS-DOS 6.something at a conference I was speaking to in Florida in 1999.

Cool stuff to do, but really totally pointless.

😊

Show threadBill DobieNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Welcome!
Show threadbicodegasNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox "high density" on the floppy... It's been a while.
Show threadTomatoGrilledCheese Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Yes! Welcome to Mastodon!
Show threadMrCElk Rob GibsonNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Hello Brian, hope you are having a great day.
Show threadDavid ColarussoNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox I recently had a similar discovery. See https://mastodon.social/@Colarusso/109326782861344131 The real question is, "is there a box that will run them?"
Show threadRichardNov 19, 2022
@Colarusso @profbriancox I have a USB floppy drive for the 3½" disks! Not tried it recently I am sure it won't work on my Chromebook!!
Show threadJames McArthurNov 21, 2022
@egooner @Colarusso @profbriancox Used to make the singles double sided with a hole punch!
Show threadEclectic MiscellaneaNov 19, 2022
@Colarusso @profbriancox Loved that game growing up, back in the days before in-app purchases and subscription models.
Show threadDan JonesNov 24, 2022

@Colarusso

I recently inherited a bunch of 3½" floppies, along with a USB floppy drive, from my grandfather.

Plugged the drive in, and it worked fine. Windows apps launched fine in wine. I mostly wanted the several disks containing genealogy files, which loaded in Gramps with no problem.

@profbriancox

Show threadDavid ColarussoNov 24, 2022
@danjones000 @profbriancox nice.
Show threadAndrew RNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox It seems appropriate that you should be accreting disks.
Show threadLight Language MessagesNov 19, 2022
Welcome @profbriancox I’ve started here myself this week too, also studied physics but shifted into metaphysics and art
Show threadEmmaDingleNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox hello fellow old human!
Show threadMIKEY_HNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox how much storage capacity do/did they have (and what went before)? Think of the change if we're now talking about DNA data storage.
Show threadLaure-KatrineNov 19, 2022
@mikeyh @profbriancox 1.44MB. Innovative at the time of course. My first computer was a 286. 640KB RAM. 20MB hard drive... Like I regularly have photos bigger than that now. Did my degree using that though.
Show threadDarren CarverNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox welcome to anther lad from Oldham 👍
Show threadNickyWNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox thank you for moving over here. I wonder how long this will last before a crisis moves us all somewhere else!
Show threadLady Melinda WoodhouseNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Ahhhh those were the days ☺️
Show threadLord Arse! 🕹️ Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox nice. I've still got the disks that came with my Atari ST. Some were clearly used more than others!
Show threadProf Brian CoxNov 19, 2022
@LordArse I'm off to the garage again to look for some of those. I think they will be around. I had an ST for running Cubase
Show threadTomatoGrilledCheese Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox @LordArse Yes, please post any old computers you still have. Game consoles too if you have them. They are all glorious!
Show threadLord Arse! 🕹️ Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox The musician's computer! That would be cool to see.
Show threaddkeyNov 19, 2022

@LordArse @profbriancox

I think you'll find that was the #Amiga 😏. But I'll conceded both were excellent 😍

Show threadciarin7Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox @LordArse if you guys find space quest, let me know
Show threadLord Arse! 🕹️ Nov 19, 2022
@ciarin7 @profbriancox I've got SQ3, if that helps? 😊
Show threadciarin7Nov 19, 2022
@LordArse @profbriancox brilliant!
Show threadDave LeeNov 19, 2022
@LordArse @ciarin7 @profbriancox I used to love playing those. I've nonidea where my copies of them went. Come to think of it, they might have been, erm, borrowed from a mate!
Show threadNick PerryNov 20, 2022
@LordArse @ciarin7 @profbriancox that is awesome
Show threadrf10Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox @LordArse I blew my first year student grant on an ST and wrote my first "music" on it. It might have been a borrowed (ahem) copy of Cubase.
Show threadRoss BurtonNov 19, 2022
@LordArse @profbriancox I had an ST and have no recollection of selling it… I wonder if it’s in my parents attic still!
Show threadReeseMaMaNov 19, 2022
@ross @LordArse @profbriancox the floppies are somewhere around here. I think I'm breaking out centipede to play on Thanksgiving.
Show threadTed MaulNov 19, 2022
@LordArse @profbriancox arrgh, grocer's apostrophe on disk 5. Cannot unsee 😀
Show threadmatsimpskNov 19, 2022
@LordArse @profbriancox That photo is pure Silica Shop.
Show threadSteveHNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox
Haha! In September I moved house and threw out hundreds of those, along with dozens of Zip discs (remember those?). I can still remember being amazed at how much information they’d hold, though (compared with a single book, for example).
Show threadProf Brian CoxNov 19, 2022
@sfh300 I've still got a load of those as well. I don't want to throw them out - I want to read them in :-)
Show threadSteveHNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox
Oh, I transferred the stuff I wanted to keep on to hard drives years ago, I just seemed to hang on to the more individual-seeming floppies and Zips. Probably a bit like hanging on to actual books even though you’ve bought the Kindle version. In any case, I’m sure your discs hold more information worth hanging on to than mine ever did. 👍
Show threadSteve TraylenNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox I had forgotten Manchester Uni had done a Linux distribution - I never tried it when at Sheffield.
Show threadTom-bstone 🪦⚰️Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox so cool! That Linux floppy must be a very early release from 1994!
Show threadSam SwaineNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox good to see you here. Hoping this is the real you 😉
Show threadRay CarpenterNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Ah, the memories 😉
Show threadMafeesh Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox That Roland disc - so sexy!
Show threadProf Brian CoxNov 19, 2022
@mafeesh Not when you had to load it in on stage half way though a gig
Show threadMafeesh Nov 19, 2022

@profbriancox

Ok, let's rock this!
<sector not found>

Show threadIoannis Kingdom 🐧🇬🇧🇬🇷Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Surely you have some old ST software you can post? From your days of being the legendary D:Ream keyboard player? :)
Show threadProf Brian CoxNov 19, 2022
@jkingdom3 I have, and I will.
Show threadVoltaireNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox That’s a lot of followers in 10 minutes
Show threadCraig GrannellNov 19, 2022

@profbriancox Ah, when disks got good(ish). (I much preferred those over the 5.25in things with my C64.)

Here’s my “old and new” computing history pic: https://mastodon.social/@craiggrannell/109330516836064250

It’s like looking at distant cousins, seeing the ZX Spectrum next to a Pi 400!

Show threadVincent 🌻🇪🇺 en 🌹☘️Nov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Love it! I find the feel of this place a bit BBSsy, perhaps I too shall install a “unix like operating system” to enjoy the fediverse!
Show threadJaxxAINov 19, 2022
@profbriancox welcome to Mastodon!
Show threadstellthNov 19, 2022
@profbriancox Awesome. Wow I think I gotta look at some of my old boxes and see what gems I can discover.