So then, 64 what, exactly?

Intel's newest lands in an old standard: Commodore 64 | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

For the uninitiated, the Commodore 64 Keyboard PC was introduced back in 1982 packing a MOS Technology 6510 1MHz (yes, that's one megahertz) chip running the Commodore kernal accessed via BASIC commands....

Well, a lot has changed in 30 years....

And no service contract?

News from The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- China is dumping counterfeit electronic parts into the Pentagon's supply chain, two senior lawmakers alleged on Monday, putting U.S. troops at risk and undercutting the American economy.

Hard life on Chicago's North Side in the 1940's...

Amazon.com: The Man with the Golden Arm (50th Anniversary Edition): 50th Anniversary Critical Edition (9781583220085): Nelson Algren, William J. Savage Jr., Daniel Simon, Kurt Vonnegut, Studs Terkel: Books

A literary tour de force, here is a novel unlike any other, one in which drug addiction, poverty, and human failure somehow suggest a defense of human dignity and a reason for hope.

...Nelson Algren's best-known (and probably best) novel was also the inspiration for a 1955 movie starring Frank Sinatra as Frankie Machine and Kim Novak as Molly-O (and a theme song that, we guess, was played by every high school marching band in the country that year).

New to our reading list.

Duck!

Asteroid close encounter tomorrow night! - Boing Boing

Don't forget that a 1,300 foot asteroid, about the size of an aircraft carrier, will fly by Earth tomorrow even closer to us than the moon....

All right then

Michele Bachmann Suggests Mitt Romney Is ‘Frugal Socialist’ | Election 2012

So I didn't really miss too much, did I.

Not over yet

News from The Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Tens of thousands in the chilly Northeast remained without power Sunday, eight days after a rare October snowstorm knocked much of the region into the dark.

 

Oh brave new world

Minnesota: It's OK to use a GPS tracker on your spouse if you co-own the car

 

October 30

IMG_0465, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

The morning after. A big, heavy, wet snow, although no more than many other winter snows we've seen here over the years. What made this one special was its freakish earliness (October 29) and the fact that so many trees still had leaves so late in the season. The leaves caught the snow and tree limbs were popping all over town. For a while, it sounded like a giant popcorn popper.

October 29

Yes, October, I said – this is the tree branch that wiped out our power, phone, and cable TV and blocked our driveway for bonus points. October 29 was a Saturday. The driveway was cleared the following Tuesday, the power restored Friday, and the phone lines (including DSL) was fixed yesterday afternoon – eight days after the snow. Turned out there were a couple of million other people up and down the Eastern seaboard with much the same problem.


IMG_0464, originally uploaded by tedcompton.

Verizon guy...

...in the driveway, as we speak. 

...iPhoned

Gates

Photo: Phil Compton

Still no network

For a moment this morning I got so bored I started dusting.

Fortunately I've recovered. But where is Verizon? Does Verizon still exist in this strange, disconnected world?

...iPhoned

I'm going to start a cargo cult

Take all the dead phones (and a modem) out front and build a big bonfire in front of them, and I will wear a hard hat and a tool belt and paint a big red V on my chest (yes, savor the image) and be the high priest, and we will perform bizarre, unspeakable rituals to call the V-man back and then all the phones will come back to life and speak to us, and beep; they will rise from the dead.

I might even pass my hat around and ask for donations. That might help. You never know.

...iPhoned

Has Verizon vanished?

A week and still no phone lines.

Somewhere, Ma Bell weeps.

...iPhoned

Now the problem will be...

...staying awake in all this warmness.

No network yet but mostly, things are working.

...iPhoned

After absentmindedly flicking light switches all week...

...it turns out the only light in the house that came on is in the kitchen. It's 2:45 AM and the truck just drove away. I'm going to leave the kitchen light on the rest of the night just to celebrate. The radiators aren't hot yet but it already feels warmer. Tonight is the sixth night since the power went out.

Next, net.

...iPhoned

Party's over

We've had a mild (50-ish) week but it's supposed to start getting colder tomorrow.

Officials say the power company is "working around the clock" but I have yet to see a power company crew working at any time of day or night anywhere around here. I did see one phone company guy at work a couple of blocks away, and a cable truck driving around.

Maybe tomorrow. Who knows?

...iPhoned

Chasing the wild amp

They're there, you just have to hunt them down.

...iPhoned

Headlight

iPhone abstract: Phil Compton

Nice, huh?

First time all week I've left the house without a charger cable and I'm sitting right next to an outlet at Wendy's. Who knew?

We're thinking this might be the last cold night. Or not.

...iPhoned

Open the window, Bunky...

...it's warmer outside than in.

...iPhoned

Hot shower!

Good for another 3,000 miles.

...iPhoned

Whoever wrote it's always darkest just before the dawn...

...must have lived in a warm climate. It's always coldest. 

A passing construction worker said the plan is to have everyone in town back on power by the end of the day tomorrow. But they have to start somewhere, right?

We actually saw a power company truck yesterday but it wa just a scout. 

AT&T wireless service has been atrocious. I go to McDonald's for breakfast and Wi-Fi. I carry a charging cable everywhere I go. 

...iPhoned

Send amps

I carry a power adapter everywhere I go. No unused outlet is safe. Thermodynamics is kicking in a - we lose heat more slowly as we approach absolute zero. This morning's indoor temp 45° - only three degrees lost overnight. I am starting to have dreams about hot coffee.

Maybe a little sun today.

...iPhoned