Prattling Repost: The Other Computer War

Something I posted four years ago that’s worth repeating, now that the video of the movie has been replaced with a fresh HD copy. A part of Acorn Computer became ARM, the leading designer of processors for mobile computing:

At the same time the competition between Microsoft and Apple was beginning, in England there was the computer rivalry between Sinclair and Acorn. I think somewhere in the basement I still have my tiny Sinclair Z80 computer, which was distributed in America by Timex. This 2009 movie, featuring Martin Freeman, is a lot of fun and well worth watching.

Bridging the Generation Gap

1967! The year that my favorite musical genre — Psychedelia — came into its own. Youth culture was taking over! The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and Jimi Hendrix joined the Beatles and the Stones on the Pop charts. But there was still plenty of music for adult contemporary audiences.

On ABC-TV that year was a remarkable special. The show was a tribute to the songs of Rodgers and Hart, when Hart had been dead for almost 25 years. It featured a one-of-a-kind lineup of performers:

  • Bobby Darin
  • Petula Clark
  • The Mamas and the Papas
  • The Supremes
  • Count Basie
  • The Doodletown Pipers

Petula, The Mamas and the Papas, and The Supremes had hits in ’67 that kids liked, but they were also acceptable to a middle-aged audience. The Doodletown Pipers were a group of TV singers in the 60’s.

Petula’s duets with Darin are very nice. Bobby was obviously very happy to be singing with Count Basie.

Note: Embedding isn’t allowed for the first video, so you’ll have to watch it on YouTube. Don’t know why the same requirement wasn’t made for the second.

Part 1

Part 2

Alexa, We Need to Not Talk

Having watched “The Man Trap” on Star Trek, Thursday, September 8, 1966 at 8:30, I’m a first generation fan. Despite that, I don’t care to converse with computers, so there are no smart speakers in the house. My FireTV remotes have a mic for Alexa, and using the button for it means you don’t have to start commands by saying “Alexa…” I test the feature occasionally, with the results being useful about 75% of the time.

Amazon has a new feature, called Sidewalk, integrating with their Internet of Things (IOT) things. Creating a WiFi mesh between residences sounds cool, but just because something can be done doesn’t mean it should be done.

Keeping Score

Trump has added blogging to his list of failed ventures. But I’ll be fair to the ex-prez in exile and note that Google has a worse track record.

  • From the Desk of Donald J. Trump: May 4, 2021 – June 1, 2021
  • Prattling before the Pratfall: September 5, 2006 – Present

Coming up on 15 years for doggie rattus dot commonus. Now that’s staying power!